Can iTunes sync to iPod and down convert bitrate on the fly?

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Level 1

7 points

Can iTunes sync to iPod and down convert bitrate on the fly?

Pretty much all of my music is 320kbps MP3, but my iPod is only 80gb so cannot hold all of my music as it takes up too much disk space.

I don't want to down convert all my music on the computer to 192k as it impacts sound quality, however, I would like the music sync'd to my iPod @ 192k, so as to save space (and fit it all on)

Can iTunes do this, and if so, where is the setting?

I used to do this with a plug in for Windows Media Player, that allowed syncing to iPods using WMP, and that had a down convert feature, which was great. But I don't know if iTunes can also do this?

Dell, Windows XP

Posted on Oct 4, 2009 4:04 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Markus Gantner

Level 1

5 points

Oct 4, 2009 5:13 AM in response to MattCowan01

Yes, it is able to do that on the fly. But as far as i know (and use it) it offers that possibility only if you connect/sync an iPod shuffle. The option is selectable in the overview tab of your connected iPod (shuffle...)

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Answer 2

Oct 4, 2009 8:08 AM in response to MattCowan01

To clarify: iTunes can only do bitrate conversion on the fly while syncing if you have a Shuffle. It does NOT do it for any other iPod. You would have to convert the music using the standard iTunes conversion process which would leave you with two versions of the track.

Or, you could consider syncing a smaller portion of your library.

Best of luck.

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Answer 3

MattCowan01 Author

Level 1

7 points

Oct 4, 2009 8:44 AM in response to MattCowan01

Thanks for the replies

That's pretty stupid! Why on earth did Apple design it so you can only fly-convert when syncing to a shuffle?

As for syncing a smaller portion of my library - I like to have my entire library with me wherever I go, so I don't really want to get into constantly having to sync and unsync stuff to and from it...

Guess I'll have to go back to Windows Media Player to control my iPod untill Apple sort this out (if they ever will)

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Answer 4

Oct 4, 2009 9:05 AM in response to MattCowan01

You can submit your feedback to Apple here:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

Yeah, I'd love to have my entire library with me where ever I go. Guess I need to wait for the terabyte Touch! As your library may also someday get to be larger than the largest iPod, it's worth experimenting with the "Sync selected playlists" option.

Best of luck.

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Answer 5

MattCowan01 Author

Level 1

7 points

Oct 4, 2009 9:27 AM in response to MattCowan01

I used to be able to carry my entire library with me on my 60gb 5th Gen iPod - by downconverting the bitrate as it went onto the iPod. I only have about 100gb or so of music, and downconverting it all to 192k (or under - I have a few mp3's at only 128k) only took up about 50gb! So I was able to carry it all in a single iPod...

That iPod was lost recently (gutted!) and I picked up this 80gb one, and just thought I'd try and use iTunes again (I hate iTunes, always have, but since having my iPhone for a year, I kinda got forced into using it) to control my iPod, but again, iTunes has let me down 😟 Sure you can do stuff like video's, photo's, contacts, calendar syncing with it, that you can't using WMP, but since I only bother to sync music to it (and I don't bother with playlists, just albums and songs) I think I might have to go back to using WMP......

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Answer 6

Oct 6, 2009 6:42 AM in response to MattCowan01

I agree that it is totally ridiculous to allow downconverting on-the-fly for only Shuffles. Just because the Shuffle is small doesn't mean it's the only device that this could be useful for. Is there any logic to not allowing it for all devices? I would love to be able to do this for my iPhone. This is a huge sticking point for me. I love that one of the iTunes competitors allows downconverting on the fly rather than forcing me to keep separate libraries. Separate libraries is pain for a number of reasons: 1. have to use more hard drive space 2. any metadata tied to songs on iPod are not transferred and synced to the metadata for the higher quality music files on my desktop - especially ratings 3. metadata changed on the higher quality files on my desktop are not synced with the songs on my iPhone. Can't Apple just flip the switch to allow downconverting bitrates upon syncing for ALL devices? Please? Pretty please???

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