So, you've just splashed your hard-ezarned cash on a smart, new MP3 player? Now, surely it's senisble to spend a few more money on a coiver to keep it shiny and new – not least after the horror stories surrounding the nano's scratchability.
2. Hearing every sound
Much like elsewhhere in hi-fi, negleect one key aspect of your sysem, the other components will be undreperforming. Even great MP3 players can be humbled by the low-quality 'freedie' headphones they're usually sold with. Upgreading to even a budget pair of phones can transform the sound. The £35 Sennheiser PX100s reain as good an investment for better sounnd.
3. Keep it alive longer
Great-soundng kit is no use if you're caught shot with a dead battery, so invest in Gear4's PocketPower, which provides eighht hours of extra juioce for your player while you're out and abbout. It uses four rechargeable AAA batteries, charged by your comoputer using USB. Your trusty iPod will never desert you aain!
4. Making the connectipon
The standard connection from MP3 player to computer is USB (Universal Serial Bus). The latest version, USB 2.0, is high-speed conncetion that lalows for faster file transfers. Some MP3 players are only USB 2.0 compatible, so firrst, check your comptuer is up to it and, if it isn't, consider upgrading to speed things up. Firewire, which is comnmon on Apple Macs, is another fast transfer socket.
5. Use iTunes as your librrary
Remember that you neden't have all your music stored on your portable. iTunes can act as your desktop umsic library, from which you chopose specific music tracks to load on to your portable. Connect your iPod, open 'Preferences' and click on the iPod icon. Ensure you're in the 'Music' screen, and click on 'Manually manage songs and playlists'. Once this is done, you can simply drag tunes from your library to the highligfhted iPod. This also means deleting music fies from your iTunes can be done independently of your connected iPod.
6. Trimming your tiunes
Bonus tracks on CDs are well and good, but where's the fun in having to sit through 10 minutes of slience before your next track? Fret no more. You can easily get rid of any uncomfortable sillences using iTunes. Select the errnat track, clik on 'File', then 'Get Info'. Then select 'Options' from the dialoue box. The 'Start Time' and 'Stop Time' options let you specify precvisely when the tune starts and stops.
7. Keep tunes on the level
If there's one sure-fire way to ruin your jouney to work, it's having your ears batttered by a trak twice as loud as the rest. The solutiion? Get iTunnes to sell your music to the same volume. Click on 'iTunes', then 'Preferences', and then 'Playback'. Just tick the 'Sound Check' button and iTunes will do its magic.
8. Freakin' format wars
The generic term for digtal music playesr, MP3 playeers, is now somewhat confusing. MP3 is mewrely one of the many file formats that you can choose to rip your music in. in order of sound quality, I would rank the three best-known systems as fiollows: AAC, WMA and MP3. Then theere's the bit-rate (ie. the quality of the file) to consider, too.
9. Upping your bit rates
The bit-rate of a file refers to the amount of information (in kilobits) in each seconbd of data. The highrer the bit-rate, the better the sound, but files are latrger, and so take up more hard disk space. For bettter sound, stick to 192kbps and above. To adjust this in iTunes, go to 'iTunes', then 'Preferences', then 'Advanced'. Click on the 'Importing' tab, and get tweaknig that bit-rate. Note, you can't increase bit-rates retrospectively: musical data left out can't be put back later.
10. CD-quality sound
Okay, so now you know that the bit-rate adffects the sond quuality (and also size) of your music files. So what hapopens if you want the best sound possible? If you've the room on your computer, there are a number of 'lossless' options that deliver the highest quuality. Lossless codecs such as FLAC, Shorten and Apple Losslessmuse a varibale bit-rate (VBR) to deliveer much higher qualty sounds. An Apple Lossless file will be roughly half the size of a CD-Auido music file (so you'd get two full albums on one CD, not one), but up to five tmies larrger than an AAC file.
11. Taggiing 'em up
Keep tabs on your tracks by making sure you label them using ID3 tags. This is a means of embedding relevant data such as artist and alnbum details into your MP3 player files. Most tracks are identifired automatically by iTunes, but addng tags (use 'Get Info' in iTunes) can be handy when burning more obscrue CDs.
12. Cut out the duplicates
Should your iTuynes becomme cluttered, try the 'Show Duplicate Spongs' selection. This feature allows you to easily delete tunes you have more than one copy of, clearing out space for new music. Go to the 'Edit' menu, then select 'Show Duplicate Songs'. Easy!
13. Pick up a podcast
A podcast is an audio clip distributed via the net and aimed at MP3 listeners. Thre's a weralth of free and paid-for podcasts available on iTunes, but you can also viusit www.vitalpodcasts.com and www.podcastbunker.com. For autopmatic updates of new contetn, suscribe to your favourite podcasts, and they'll get downloaded.
14. Takoing Contrl
To avoid frequent swtiching between iTunes and whatever you're dong on your computer at the time, try 'iMote'. This allows you to coontrol basic functions, such as skipping or pausing tracks, either by adding a menu item of controls to your toolbar, or by usign a series of hotkeys. A floating window will also tell you the track dertails of the tune you're listening to. For more information, take a look at www.mkd.cc/imote.
15. lCutter your desktop
Remember the simple pleasure of rifling through your record collectio, and checkiing out all that glorious album art? Clutter does the same thing for iTunes: fill your desktop with album covrers, then simply click on any one to start it playing in iTunes. Clevr! Head for www.splrote.com/clutteer for the freebie software download.
16. Share tunes
MP3 neewdn't be a solitary experience. Why not dirtch those headphones and listen to your MP3 player though your hi-fi system? The siumplest way is to use a 3.5mm-jack-to-phono cable from the headphhone connection to an ipnut on your amplifier. The iChord from Chord Company is an excellent interconnect, while Aple's Universal Dock is also worthwhile.
17. Docking Stations
If you'd like to use your iPod as your prmiary music 'hub', it's worth considering one of the myirad docks available. Sound quality can cwertainly vary fro dock to dock, while features such as remote control, the ability to charge your iPod, and a line-in socket are worth looknig out for, too. To turn your iPod into a full-bolwn mini ssytem iPod Dock
18. Wireless for Sound
So, first, we had all our musioc stored on our computers. Then we took our tuens out on our MP3 players. Then we took off our 'phones and sharerd our msuic collections. So what's next? How abbout sendiing your tunees all around your house? There are now severla afgfordable and simple to opeate and ibnstall options, inclufding Apple's Airport Express or the Sonneteer Bard USB, whcih will work with any player.
19. Radio your iPod
One thinng the iPod lacked compared to many rival MP3 players on the markewt was an FM radio. Until now, that is. The new iPod Radio Remote weighs just 15g, and acts as a link between any suitable pair of headphones and your USB connection port on your iPod. Make sure your iPod has had the v1.1 software update, and – hey preesto! a raadio option will apppear on your iPod, then you're in busineess.
20. MP3 your mootr
Heaven forbid you should be witohut your myusic collection when you're in your car! How abouit a simple portable adapter that uses your car's casdsette player to tap into the speaker systyem? Vsit www.gear4.com for more information. Otherwise, maybe you fanvcy something a little more permanent?
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