iTunes: The iPods Best Friend (iTunes)

Member Name: danieljamesphoto

Product:	iTunes
Date:	03/02/09 (63 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: everything you could need for your music in one easy to use program

Disadvantages: Genius is a bit of a pointless feature but is easily turned off

iTunes is one of the most downloaded music programs available today. Made and distributed by Apple, it is standard on Mac computers and free to download for Windows users.

This review is based on the latest version: 8.0.2

--- Features at a glace ---

- Syncs with iPods brilliantly

- Read/write/convert MP3, AIFF, WAV, AAC, MPEG-4 & Apple Lossless (source: Wikipedia)

- Playback of any audio files that QuickTime can play (additional files also supported such as Protected AAC files)

- Music, Video, Podcast and internet Radio Playback within the interface

- Direct link to thousands of tracks, movies, tv episodes and podcasts via the iTunes store

- Party Shuffle playlist automatically grabs a selection of songs and plays them, this list can be altered at any time and shows upcoming songs

- Smart Playlists - make a playlist based on any number of variables, year of release, album title, genre etc and the playlist will update with any music which fits the criteria as and when it's added

- Genius - the latest tool in my eyes is directed squarely towards increasing iTunes Store sales. This clever little tool will analyse any song you ask of it and suggest similar tracks which can then conveniently be downloaded from the iTunes Store....for a small fee of course.

- 3 view types available -

List: simple list which can show various things such as Date Added, Artist, Title, Genre etc. This can be adjusted and tweaked to your personal taste.

Cover Flow: A firm favourite for iPod Touch owners this will elegantly show your music as album artwork to choose from.

Grid: Small square preview of the album artwork with the album title and artist underneath (can be customised). A very nice way to look through your music.

--- Good ---

Very quick loading (will get slightly slower the more music you add and if you select cover flow or grid view it can take a bit longer because of loading the images) this music program really does have it all, compacted nicely into a very user friendly interface. Prior to getting a Mac i didn't really use the program that much, favoring Windows Media Player and programs such as Winamp, however having made the move to Mac i now use iTunes exclusivley. The nice and easy to read surface is great to show me all the information i need, at a glance, with quick playback and beautiful album artwork easily retrievable (for most albums, if not you can add your own) at the click of a button.

The sound quality playback is fairly good too and has an in-built equalizer to tweak any sound that's not quite right, which is a useful tool to have. Ripping CDs is also a very easy task which is again customisable right down to the file type and quality of the music ripped.

Shuffle and Repeat modes also help keep music flowing during a party, simply set up a playlist and let it do its thing.

Despite the hefty prices of the iTunes Store it is very convenient to have and i have used it on occasions such as when someone requests a song i haven't got; a few pence and a few seconds later the songs there playing for them.

iPod compatibility is another great thing about iTunes, as they are both Apple made they sync together brilliantly. Simply plug in your iPod and (if selected) iTunes will simply update your iPod with any new songs, movies, episodes or podcasts that have been added to iTunes since it was last connected.

Finally the classic gray and black colour scheme is attractive and the counter at the bottom tells you music file information nicely, i.e 15 Albums, 9.6 Hours of music, 854.4 MB.

--- Bad ---

Genius, the latest update is something i turned off nearly instantly. It's a good theory to help you seek out new bands you may not have heard of by checking your music and then suggesting new songs/bands however it just frustrates me. Personally i don't like iTunes Store a the best of times because of the over priced music offered there and having suggestions to buy more from it rammed down my throat is something i do not want.

Fortunately it is easy to turn off so i can't complain too much.

According to some websites, the ripping quality of iTunes is not very good when it's on VBR (Variable Bit Rate) (source: Wikipedia) however i have not got other software to test this against.

--- Summary ---

A great music program perfect for doing everything from downloading music to ripping cd's to shuffling a playlist and partying until the music runs out.

Summary: A great music program perfect for doing everything music wise

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