OMG I Freaking Hate Apple (need help moving to new portable digital music)

HughFreakingDillon

warning: this post is going to be a typed out version of Grampa (Abe) Simpson yelling at the cloud.

sorry. I fucking hate apple. I have an ipod and iphone because I started with an ipod many many years ago, and figured once I bought stuff through itunes, that if I didn't have apple hardware, I'd lose all that music (or at least not be able to listen to it on the go). 

but man am I sick and fucking tired of their garbage interface, how for some reason it chooses on the fly to change what my song title/album title/album artwork SHOULD BE, instead of what I uploaded, etc. 

I think once our current iphone contracts are up, I'm done. we're switching. but in the mean time, I need to know what you non-apple users use for digital music. 

this is what my needs are:

-my iphone doesn't have enough storage. I have a shitload of music. I was so pissed when they discontinued the classic 80G with the wheel. I didn't have a phone at the time. I still, honestly, don't give a shit about having a phone. but for a while, it seemed that apple decided if you wanted to have music, it was also required you talk to people. so now I have a phone and a freaking ipod. but I can't get all my music on my ipod because if it isn't in the cloud, it isn't on my ipod. back in the day, you'd upload a cd, and BOOM, there it was, on your ipod after you synced it. now it's in the goddamn cloud. or it's not. because i upload something, now I have to download it on my pc. and sometimes it isn't allowed to be in the cloud. why? I DON'T KNOW. it's arbitrary. it makes no fucking sense. I just want to be able to upload a cd and sync it to my ipod and it's there. 

-will another brand of digital music player be able to play itunes music (mp4's)? I think a long time ago apple made the excuse of increasing their cost per song from 99 cents to a buck 29 so it was no longer protected (you could listen on a non apple product), but I don't know if this actually works. I'd love love LOVE to be able to just hit a button and BING my apple library was exported to another interface. 

-I don't care about syncing over wi fi. sure, it's convenient when I buy a song on my phone it shows up on my ipod. But it's not necessary. so, what interface do non-apple users use? windows media player? winamp? I don't recall what others are out there. 

I looked on amazon and holy shit are there a ton of quality (looking) players out there at a fraction of the price of iTrash. But I guess people need twitter. 

any recommendations for a 47 year old geezer?

PJ_Soul

Apple blows! I was recently gifted an iPad Mini 6 by work, and while it was awesome of them to give us all iPads, I fucking hate using it. It's so inflexible - it limits so many options. And I agree, the interface is trash. The only thing I really find it good for is reading e-books. So it's basically a $600 kindle, lol.

I will give Apple one thing: their AirPod Pros, which work also gifted to me at Christmas, are AMAZING noise cancelling earbuds (pricey too). The best ever. So at least they got something right.

Sorry, I'm just I guess the crazy cat lady throwing cats and ranting against Apple next to you. I have no clue about mp4 devices. I subscribe to Spotify, and it is by far the best thing I pay for. I absolutely love it.

bootlegger10

I've lost two sets of AirPods.  I'm like a five year old kid that loses everything.

Indifference71

HughFreakingDillon said:

warning: this post is going to be a typed out version of Grampa (Abe) Simpson yelling at the cloud.

sorry. I fucking hate apple. I have an ipod and iphone because I started with an ipod many many years ago, and figured once I bought stuff through itunes, that if I didn't have apple hardware, I'd lose all that music (or at least not be able to listen to it on the go). 

but man am I sick and fucking tired of their garbage interface, how for some reason it chooses on the fly to change what my song title/album title/album artwork SHOULD BE, instead of what I uploaded, etc. 

I think once our current iphone contracts are up, I'm done. we're switching. but in the mean time, I need to know what you non-apple users use for digital music. 

this is what my needs are:

-my iphone doesn't have enough storage. I have a shitload of music. I was so pissed when they discontinued the classic 80G with the wheel. I didn't have a phone at the time. I still, honestly, don't give a shit about having a phone. but for a while, it seemed that apple decided if you wanted to have music, it was also required you talk to people. so now I have a phone and a freaking ipod. but I can't get all my music on my ipod because if it isn't in the cloud, it isn't on my ipod. back in the day, you'd upload a cd, and BOOM, there it was, on your ipod after you synced it. now it's in the goddamn cloud. or it's not. because i upload something, now I have to download it on my pc. and sometimes it isn't allowed to be in the cloud. why? I DON'T KNOW. it's arbitrary. it makes no fucking sense. I just want to be able to upload a cd and sync it to my ipod and it's there. 

-will another brand of digital music player be able to play itunes music (mp4's)? I think a long time ago apple made the excuse of increasing their cost per song from 99 cents to a buck 29 so it was no longer protected (you could listen on a non apple product), but I don't know if this actually works. I'd love love LOVE to be able to just hit a button and BING my apple library was exported to another interface. 

-I don't care about syncing over wi fi. sure, it's convenient when I buy a song on my phone it shows up on my ipod. But it's not necessary. so, what interface do non-apple users use? windows media player? winamp? I don't recall what others are out there. 

I looked on amazon and holy shit are there a ton of quality (looking) players out there at a fraction of the price of iTrash. But I guess people need twitter. 

any recommendations for a 47 year old geezer?

Spotify.  I held on for awhile with using an ipod for music separate from my iphone but it just became a huge pain in the ass.  There isn't much that Spotify doesn't have and I still have my itunes library on my phone for things not available on there which is mainly PJ bootlegs.  I know Spotify doesn't pay artists shit but you can't beat $10 a month for pretty much every song you can think of.  And I buy a shitload of cinyl so I don't feel guilty about it.  I was hesitant at first but it has worked out great.

Get_Right

I love Apple music.  No more CDs, uploading, or anything.  Search for an artist, record or song, and 95% of the time it is right there. And my music is consistent across multiple devices. I do not really listen to PJ/EV boots so that is not a problem for me. I could see it being frustrating if you had a ton of music not available on Apple music, but I have not found that to be the case for my tastes.  I also really enjoy the curated playlists Apple creates based on my history.  Sometimes they really nail it, and they suggest new music which I otherwise would not have heard.  Embrace the cloud. Sorry I do not have a solution for you.

HughFreakingDillon

Get_Right said:

I love Apple music.  No more CDs, uploading, or anything.  Search for an artist, record or song, and 95% of the time it is right there. And my music is consistent across multiple devices. I do not really listen to PJ/EV boots so that is not a problem for me. I could see it being frustrating if you had a ton of music not available on Apple music, but I have not found that to be the case for my tastes.  I also really enjoy the curated playlists Apple creates based on my history.  Sometimes they really nail it, and they suggest new music which I otherwise would not have heard.  Embrace the cloud. Sorry I do not have a solution for you.

there's a lot of cd's/music that I own that isn't available on Apple or Spotify, and for some fucking reason, if the track name of a live song is the same as another track in my library, it fucking deletes my live version and converts it to the studio one. I went to go listen to a Watchmen bootleg the other day, for example; an all acoustic show they played in australia. available for download only on their website. well, I went to listen to it on my phone, and apple had changed all the tracks to the studio versions. it's maddening that it does this. And it has done this to many of my pearl jam and other bootlegs. I'll be listening to a live show, and in the middle of it, the next track is the studio version, not the live version. 

or tracks were on my phone or ipod that all of a sudden are greyed out because they are no longer available on the cloud, for some stupid reason that no one can tell me. 

I guess I'm just a creature of habit. I just like the old way of uploading my cd's and digital music to my digital music device and be on my way. Apple has become such a pain in the ass ever since they introduced apple music and the cloud. But I suppose it supports the masses of people who aren't my age and just listen to playlists or whatever. these people aren't ripping rare songs off youtube and uploading to itunes and finding just the right artwork to go with it, lol. 

HughFreakingDillon

PJ_Soul said:

Apple blows! I was recently gifted an iPad Mini 6 by work, and while it was awesome of them to give us all iPads, I fucking hate using it. It's so inflexible - it limits so many options. And I agree, the interface is trash. The only thing I really find it good for is reading e-books. So it's basically a $600 kindle, lol.

I will give Apple one thing: their AirPod Pros, which work also gifted to me at Christmas, are AMAZING noise cancelling earbuds (pricey too). The best ever. So at least they got something right.

Sorry, I'm just I guess the crazy cat lady throwing cats and ranting against Apple next to you. I have no clue about mp4 devices. I subscribe to Spotify, and it is by far the best thing I pay for. I absolutely love it.

I had never researched other forms of music player since owning Apple products. I was absolutely blown away how cheap literally every other device is. But I guess it's because they don't come with the ability to download apps or have some crazy fucking camera. I really wish I had done more research about 10 years ago. 

MayDay10

Back in like 2004, I had converted all my audio media into digital files, organized them, in order to listen on my IPod.  It took quite a bit of time and effort.

A few years down the line, I was an early-adopter of a "Droid" phone.  To my horror, none of my digital media files would work in my phone or anything other than that stupid ipod or itunes.  They were worthless.  I discovered how terrible Apple is, overpriced, and everything is proprietary so you are forced to keep spending money on their shit.  I havent spent a dime on that company since.

Halifax2TheMax

Have you tried a seance and channeling Steve Job?

Hobbes

Pono

HughFreakingDillon

Hobbes said:

Pono

haha, I did think of that when I was writing this rant. wasn't it shaped like an obelisk? try putting that in your pocket comfortably. oh Neil. 

Hobbes

HughFreakingDillon said:

Hobbes said:

Pono

haha, I did think of that when I was writing this rant. wasn't it shaped like an obelisk? try putting that in your pocket comfortably. oh Neil. 

Is that a Toblerone in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

LB260405

I still buy CDs and rip them to iTunes. I still download music from HDTracks and the download cards given with vinyl records and drop them into iTunes. Streaming is scary. Haha. I also still use an iPod Classic -- with a twist.

Enter Dr. Frankenstein or, as he calls himself on Etsy, PiratePTiPods. He takes the click wheel iPod body and puts in a new battery, carrier board and memory card. He can install 256MB cards all the way up to 1TB! WAV/FLAC/ALAC fans rejoice!

I know this doesn't cure your disdain for Apple, but is it really an Apple product at this point? It still utilizes the old operating system, and does not recognize the cloud -- this should eliminate any renaming/deletion of tracks. Plus, if you have an RCA to 3.5mm cable, you can hook it up to your HiFi system. This has proven to be one of the most used purchases I've made in the last five years. Plus, after five years of almost daily use, it's still running like a champ.

LB260405

And if you're really thinking about ditching Apple products all together, here's a Sony Walkman. It looks like it has a MicroSD slot. You could get a high-capacity card and dump all of your files on it. I have not used this product, so I can't comment on the interface, but past models of the Walkman have very high reviews.

https://electronics.sony.com/audio/walkman-digital-recorders/walkman-mp3-players/p/nwa105-b

HughFreakingDillon

LB260405 said:

I still buy CDs and rip them to iTunes. I still download music from HDTracks and the download cards given with vinyl records and drop them into iTunes. Streaming is scary. Haha. I also still use an iPod Classic -- with a twist.

Enter Dr. Frankenstein or, as he calls himself on Etsy, PiratePTiPods. He takes the click wheel iPod body and puts in a new battery, carrier board and memory card. He can install 256MB cards all the way up to 1TB! WAV/FLAC/ALAC fans rejoice!

I know this doesn't cure your disdain for Apple, but is it really an Apple product at this point? It still utilizes the old operating system, and does not recognize the cloud -- this should eliminate any renaming/deletion of tracks. Plus, if you have an RCA to 3.5mm cable, you can hook it up to your HiFi system. This has proven to be one of the most used purchases I've made in the last five years. Plus, after five years of almost daily use, it's still running like a champ.

wow, so I send him my old classic 80G ipod and he does that? how much?

HughFreakingDillon

LB260405 said:

And if you're really thinking about ditching Apple products all together, here's a Sony Walkman. It looks like it has a MicroSD slot. You could get a high-capacity card and dump all of your files on it. I have not used this product, so I can't comment on the interface, but past models of the Walkman have very high reviews.

https://electronics.sony.com/audio/walkman-digital-recorders/walkman-mp3-players/p/nwa105-b

awesome. thanks!

LB260405

Pricing varies based on capacity, type of memory card and battery. $140 for 128GB is the lowest and up to $640 for 2TB + 3000 mAh battery (I didn't realize he upped the capacity to this amount). This pricing is for the "upgrade an existing iPod" option. He also does built-from-scratch versions. The pricing for these is obviously a bit higher. By the way, I have no association with this dude outside of the initial purchase. I'm just trying to help out a fellow iPod Classic fan. I hope you find something that makes you happy.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/666636164/custom-upgrade-sdxc-ssd-upgrade-service?click_key=a8dee57e6a833a9a567fe9cad3491c29503b1cfe%3A666636164&click_sum=abbd44d8&ref=shop_home_recs_3&frs=1

HughFreakingDillon

Again, that's awesome. thanks so much! 

AS242348

Could you not just use your iPhone as if it was an iPod? That’s what I do.
I have all my ripped CD’s and downloaded music on an external hard drive. Then I hook it up to iTunes on my PC, plug in the iPhone and copy it over. My phone is a 512GB model.

I do have a free Apple Music subscription through my credit card provider but rarely use it (prefer Spotify for streaming) and you can turn off library sync if you want. 

GlowGirl

AS242348 said:

Could you not just use your iPhone as if it was an iPod? That’s what I do.
I have all my ripped CD’s and downloaded music on an external hard drive. Then I hook it up to iTunes on my PC, plug in the iPhone and copy it over. My phone is a 512GB model.

I do have a free Apple Music subscription through my credit card provider but rarely use it (prefer Spotify for streaming) and you can turn off library sync if you want. 

That is what I do. I have the 256GB iPhone and I have several thousand songs on there. I like not having to worry about a good connection in terms of streaming music. They are all right there on the hard drive of the phone. And I still have plenty of room on my phone for more.

mookeywrench

Amazon music. You get 3 months free to test out if it fits your style or not.

pjhawks

I miss the iPods. They were fantastic. Small to fit easily in hand or pocket. Easy to load and use. Now the iPhones are too damn big and don't like the music functionality.  i have a bunch of songs from old CDs and such that are just listed as like 'track' because I can't get them changed to a name. Was super easy in iPod days but now it doesn't let me do that through iTunes. I tried to look up why but can't get any answer that allows me to change them.  Got a new PC so might try on there. 

and that god damn U2 record just won't go away. i've tried deleting that fucker and it comes back and back. id punch Bono in the fucking face for that one if I could.  Biggest thing about that is the songs suck.

mickeyrat

I use apple music app for streaming(comes with my phone plan). I use their cloud storage by simply adding an album or song to my library, saves a ton of space.. For those items not found on that service , I download to my phone(samsung device) using the native samsung music app. works well for me.

consider a phone with expandable storage.....

https://www.androidcentral.com/best-android-phones-expandable-storage

Johnny Abruzzo

I read about this about Apple Music a while back. Just still use the "Music" iMac app which doesn't do all that override stuff. I still have an iPod (got the electronics store to replace the battery). But mostly use the Music app on my boosted memory iPhone.

PJ-Cubs

I am so happy that I found this thread.  Like a bunch of others, I am a big fan of my old iPods and use them for most of our music, including a ton of boots.  I do not do Spotify or Apple streaming.

Our old Mac died a while back and we were finally going to replace it.  We only used it for pictures, music and the internet.  We were looking at a Mac mini but I am not sure if we should get one based on the posts above.  I have spent a lot of time renaming and organizing music and don’t want to lose that work.  Is the Mac mini a safe choice or are there better options?

LB260405

I have never had issues with the Music app renaming my files. I do not subscribe to any of their services, so that could be the reason. I think you should be safe with the Mac Mini if you're not using their streaming or cloud services.

Hugh--
Do you have an Apple Music subscription? Are your ripped files stored on iCloud? Is this why the app is renaming your files?

Johnny Abruzzo

Yeah I don't subscribe to Apple Music so it doesn't try anything funny on my music. Of course now the "Join Tracks" function is not working currently when you import a CD. So you'll get Brain Damage playing on shuffle without Eclipse...

LB260405

I still use a click-wheel iPod because I don't want to use up all of my phone's storage with music files. I also don't want to prematurely exhaust my phone's battery by using it as a music-listening device.

Plus, the 512GB iPhone 13 is still more expensive than an iPhone SE + 512GB iPod Classic.

HughFreakingDillon

LB260405 said:

I have never had issues with the Music app renaming my files. I do not subscribe to any of their services, so that could be the reason. I think you should be safe with the Mac Mini if you're not using their streaming or cloud services.

Hugh--
Do you have an Apple Music subscription? Are your ripped files stored on iCloud? Is this why the app is renaming your files?

yes, yes, and I'm guessing that is why. 

HughFreakingDillon

and the cloud is a big problem. pretty sure it's the entire problem, actually. but my kids are terrified of me shutting it off. when you do that, all  your photos/files go back to your phone. if you don't have enough room on your phone for those files to transfer, they are simply POOF gone. but I can't get my kids' stuff off their phone to make more room. it's really odd. it says my youngest has nearly no storage left, but when i plug it in to our laptop to transfer, almost none of it is there. so it seems like it's in the cloud AND on her phone, but it won't show up to transfer from her phone. so I'm going to need to make some kind of "genius bar" appointment to get this done so we don't lose anything. 

THEN, I recently found out external hard drives have a life span of about 3-5 years. So I have to keep buying new EHD's constantly so they don't fail and we lose all our pictures/files. technology is fucking nauseating. 

LB260405

Ha! Brain Damage without Eclipse is sacrilege.

Don't shut it off. Maybe take Johnny's advice -- use your desktop computer for the Music app and ripped files only (transferred to your iPod Classic). Use your phone (and your childrens' phones) for Apple Music streaming and iCloud storage.