Problem Playing Albums on iPod

[taberski]

Hello,

I'm in the process of copying LPs (Old school vinyl records) to digital format for use in iTunes (10) and my iPod (Classic).

My system consists of an analog turntable, a stereo receiver and a Windows PC (Dell T7500) running Windows 7 Ultimate. I'm using Audacity Beta 1.3.12 and the internal sound card on my PC.

I've successful recorded a number of albums using both .WAV and .AIFF file formats. Using .WAV, I managed to burn these same LPs to CD and play them on a standard CD player. I used the .AIFF file extension for import into iTunes because when I attempted to import the .WAV files into iTunes, I seemed to have lost the track names and so on.

I can import the .AIFF files into iTunes play back the tracks and I can copy the albums to my iPod. I can even play the albums from the iPod via iTunes. What I can't do is play these albums from the iPod itself! All the information is displayed on the iPod (Artist, Album, Titles, Track Numbers, Times and even Album artwork), but when I select a song - the iPod simply sequences through each track as though there is no song recorded (as though the songs have no length). The time displayed in the "Now Playing" screen is correct for each song.

Using "Export Multiple" I've tried "AIFF (Apple) signed 16 bit PCM" and I've also tried "Other uncompressed files" with "Options" set to "AIFF (Apple/SGI)" and "Signed 16 bit PCM". Initially, I had used "32-bit float" as the "Default Sample Format" but subsequently changed it to ""16-bit" with the same results.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thank you,

Kevin

[waxcylinder]

For a start, I hope you are aware that using uncompressed files like WAV and AIFF in your iTunes/iPod will lead to a very large library size. You really should think about using a compressed format like MP3 or Apple's own AAC. Compressing will give you aan audio file which is roughlt 1/10 the size of the equivalent WAV - and at 256kbps you are unlikely to be able to hear the difference. My son who is very fussy insists on using 320 kbps compression.

What I do do is to :
1) export a set of WAVs (44.1kHz 16-nit PCM stereo) with track numbers for each LP (and back up copies for safety)
2) Import these WAV files into my iTunes library - the track names are carried over but no other metadata
3) Use iTunes to convert the WAV files into AAC 256 VBR (iTunes will do this at the settings you have made in your iTunes preferences for Importing CDs)
4) Delete the WAV files - note carefully that iTunes does not actually convert the WAVs instead it makes an AAC or MP3 copy
5) Use iTunes to edit the metadata (album title, artiste, date etc.)
6) Synch the iPod

Personally I find it easier to manage the metadata in iTunes than to fiddle around in Audacity with it - I have the Audacity metada editor turned off in my Audacity preferences.

WC

[taberski]

WC,

Thank you for the reply.

This worked as advertised. I guess I was hoping that the metadata would be encapsulated in the files that I exported. I really thought the .AIFF diles would work the same way as importing the data from a CD. I guess I need to study up on the various file formats.

Is there a way to import the .WAV files (or folders that contain them) into iTunes directly? I wound up importing from the CD.

Thanks again,

Kevin

[waxcylinder]

Is there a way to import the .WAV files (or folders that contain them) into iTunes directly? I wound up importing from the CD.

Yes, just use the "File > Add File to Library..." or "File > Add Folder to Library..." iTunes commands.

I have found in the past that when I have made CDs from my transcribed LPs and when I load them into iTunes from the CD, I got around a 2/3 success rtae of the "CD" being recognized by iTunes/CDDB Gracenote database - and tus all the metadata being supplied in the rip process.

WC

[taberski]

WC,

The reason actually that I asked - is that File -> Add Folder to Library ... doesn't work for me, so I thought perhaps iTunes does not work directly with .WAV files.

Kevin

[waxcylinder]

Kevin,

in which case I'm puzzled.

I always use "File -> Add Folder to Library ..." to add the WAVs that I make with Audacity (44.1 kHz 16-bit PCM stereo WAVs) to my iTunes library - and it works every time. These WAVs will play fine in iTunes and on my iPods, but I convert them to 256VBR AAC (in iTunes) to compress them to reduce the filesize.

WV

[taberski]

WC,

Though I wasn't able to add .WAV files (or the folder that contained them) to my library, I was able to add .AIFF files and then .m4a files created from them by iTunes.

First, I checked "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" under Edit->Preferences...->Advanced. Then after running "Add Folder to Library", I can play the track in iTunes, but not from my iPod after downloading from iTunes. But, if I run "Advanced->Create ACC Version" and download the resulting (.m4a) files to my iPod - they work fine!

Seems a bit convoluted, but it's a workable solution. I don't understand why Add Folder (or Files) to Library just ignores the .WAV files, but it does.

I'll keep poking around - as I have a few more LPs to record - and post anything new that I learn. In the meantime, if you (or anyone else) can think of a reason why I'm having difficulty with .WAV files, I'd appreciate the information.

Thank you,

-Kevin

[kozikowski]

You don't have to suffer with the enormous file sizes in your iPod. Set iTunes Import Preferences to AAC, iTunes Plus and close Preferences. Select the song(s) and Advanced > Create AAC version. That way you can have the full, clear file for making CDs and the compressed, slimmed-down file for your iPod.

But that still doesn't explain why the music on your iPod is silent.

Pull down "piano2.wav" from here...

http://www.kozco.com/tech/soundtests.html

It's six seconds long. Open it in iTunes and confirm that it plays. Copy it to your iPod. Does it still play?

Koz

[taberski]

Koz,

The problem that I'm having is that I can't do anything with a .wav file. I figured out the "Advanced->Create ACC Version" step yesterday, though I don't understand why this step isn't part of the "Add Folder (or File) to Library..." step.

File->Add File to Library... allows me to select piano2.wav which I downloaded and stored locally on my hard-drive), but nothing happens. It's as though iTunes just doesn't know what to do with .wav files. It works fine with .aiff files though. So I'm wondering if there is some other setting I'm missing - a plug-in perhaps?

I'm using iTunes 10 (10.1.0.54 - not the the absolute latest as the last time I let it update it lost my libraries).

Thank you,

-Kevin

[taberski]

Koz and WC,

OK - I think I figured out my problem.

I can - in fact - import .wav files, but I lose most of my meta-data. I'm accustomed to using the column browser with Genres, Artists and Albums. Importing (via Files-> Add Folder to Library...) .wav files places the tracks under "Unknown Artists". Then using "Create ACC Version" converts the .wav files as expected, but places the file names into the artist fields - at least it does for me.

On the other hand, importing .AIFF files places the tracks were I expect and preserves all of the meta-data. Using "Create ACC Version" places the .m4a files in the same Artist/Album entry, and as the .AIFF files are still high-lighted it's a simple matter to delete (remove) the .AIFF files. So this seems to be (for me at least) a cleaner approach.

Now, if I had a CD burning program that would work with .AIFF files I'd be all set. Perhaps I'll try burning CDs directly from iTunes prior to creating the ACC files.

Thank you for all of your help and insight,

-Kevin