I just started “exploring” iTunes 9.1 and downloading iPad apps (in preparation for my iPad’s arrival) and generally poking around. Since my iTunes data is nearing 500gbs (music, movies, apps and podcasts) I like to know what’s new in iTunes so I can hopefully find a better way to organize things. Well, I found this little gem in iTunes.
This is the “Options” section of the iPhone Devices section under the Summary tab. There are a few new things here.
1. Sync only checked songs and videos. This used to only say “songs”. Not a big deal but it does make choosing “what to sync” easier across all devices. An example well one that I’ve been using for years when it just was “sync only checked songs” was I unchecked all random audio files in iTunes. I have TV Theme songs, crappy orchestra tracks from movies I like and sound clips from TV shows that I generally play at parties like, “DOH” from an episode of the Simpsons. I have those unchecked so they NEVER sync to my iPod or iPhone even if they somehow end up in one of my playlists.
2. Convert Higher bit rate songs to 128kbps AAC. This one is SO SO interesting. This is actually an option that was available since (I think) the iPod Shuffle 2nd generation. It may have been on the 1st generation but don’t quote me on that. Basically, the shuffle was a 512mb / 1gb device so it couldn’t hold very much music. Well, as I wrote extensively in this post CD quality is 160kbps and if you have headphones w/ dedicated drivers in them, rip your music as high as you can afford to (data storage being the only limiting factor) because the quality is very important if you care. Well, the iPod Shuffle is small so if you have tons of music at 256kbps, you could hold more music on the shuffle but downgrading to 128kbps (half the file size). Apple FINALLY pushed this to the other devices. I haven’t confirmed this on the iPad, or iPods yet but the iPhone 3GS certainly shows this. I say good. I honestly won’t do this cause 128kbps music sounds like crap on my Shures but if you’re using Apple’s standard earbuds on the go, this is an acceptable quality that allows for more music being stored.
My question was, does this downgrade your music? Nope! According to this Apple KBASE Document:
When the option to “Convert higher bit rate songs to 128 kbps AAC” is selected, are duplicate files added to the iTunes library?
No. The 128 kbps AAC versions of the files are not stored anywhere on the computer.
Another observation. I think it’s time to streamline or improve on this UI.
I think adopting the iPad view of System Settings which is a vertical column that shows all sections on the left and content on the right is much better. Just my opinion. It’s a file cabinet that’s getting pretty packed!
A final note and something that I suggest to people. Organize your playlists. I’m always rotating playlists based on what I’m into or what I just bought. Then I have Devices playlists that are tailored music to go on devices. See? http://grab.by/3BLE. Something you guys might want to do if you are organizing more music.