MP3 uploads/IPod compatability/WM playlists

[Dr. Will]

Am generally very happy with my Orbit 2 so far and although sometimes the ringtones crackle a little the MP3 sound quality of the Audio Manager is great and it works well plugged into my car stereo (much more powerful that an IPod mini) Two questions though-

1. Does Apple protect tracks that have been downloaded/uploaded with ITunes from being used on any other device than an IPod? My girlfriend has an IPod with a number of tracks on it and I tried to transfer them to my storage card plugging both my phone and her IPod into USB ports on a laptop so that both the IPoD and the Orbit 2 were acting as removable drives. Copying worked but the tracks were inaccessible (hidden as 'Protected' in the root directory) though were interestingly recognised by Windows Media Player- how come?

2. So I tried to use Windows Media Player instead, despite the lack of audio booster and the less friendly design. However there seems to be no functions to create new playlists- how come? Also the different categories were not transferred, they were all listed under 'Unknown' Artists.

3. When I transferred my MP3s (that had been created using Sony Ericsson Disc2Phone) from my old Sony Ericsson W810 on the Orbit 2 everything was impeccably transferred and all categoried retained. It is a bit inefficient for me at the moment though to create new tracks on my old phone then copythem over (Disc2Phone will only save onto the W810). Is there a decent MP3 creator that I can download that will create MP3s from CDs/downloads onto my Orbit 2 in one step, retaining all categories?

[neilm]

There is no easy solution to this, and it frustrates many people.

Apple iTunes tracks can only be played on compatible iTunes devices, and WM devices are not compatible. The only way to get iTunes files played on a WM device is to re-rip them to a different format. That in itself is difficult as each iteration of the iTunes software plugs another hole which the rippers had exploited. The only current program I know that can rip iTunes files is WMA-Convert (If I remember correctly)

[Michael_Mcr]

Originally Posted by Dr. Will

Is there a decent MP3 creator that I can download that will create MP3s from CDs/downloads onto my Orbit 2 in one step, retaining all categories?

Easy CD-DA Extractor is the software that i use for anything mp3 / audio.

I have been using it for several years now and it tops every other program i have tried for all round versitality and features. I have cut n pasted below the main blurb from their website:

Music Converter All-In-One: Easy CD-DA Extractor

Audio CD Ripper: Rip audio CDs to selected audio format.
- AccurateCDDATM ripping engine for accurate and high-performance CD ripping
- Bypass audio CD copy-protections
- Detect and report audio/data errors
- Get disc information from Internet disc database
- Edit or automatically fill metadata with Cover Art support
- Read CD-Text
- Digital audio processing (Volume level, RMS, Fade In/Out, ...)

Audio Converter: Convert audio files from one format to another.
- Convert audio formats
- Edit metadata of audio files
- Edit or automatically fill metadata with Cover Art support
- Digital audio processing (Volume level, RMS, Fade In/Out, ...)

CD/DVD Creator: Burn Audio CD, MP3 CD/DVD, Data CD/DVD, and DVD Video.
- Burn Audio CDs compatible with all home/car CD-players
- Write CD-Text
- Supports Unicode and long filenames
- Supports UDF, ISO/Joliet and DVD Video file systems
- Make disc image from CD and DVD
- Burn CD and DVD from ISO, BIN, IMG and CUE disc image
- Make 1:1 identical copies of CDs and DVDs


Includes iPod compatible AAC and high efficiency aacPlus encoders from Dolby / Coding Technologies.
Supports all popular audio file formats such as 3G2, 3GP, MP1, MP2, MP3, Windows Media Audio (WMA), Ogg Vorbis (OGG), MP4, M4A (iPod AAC and Apple Lossless), AAC, aacPlus (HE-AAC, AAC+, HE-AAC+PS, eAAC+), FLAC, Musepack (MPC), WavPack (WV), WAV, AIFF, Monkey's Audio (APE), CUE and M3U.

[Bassey]

Cheer Michael. I must give that a look. Is it Vista compatible?

[nickt333]

I've had a similar experience- able to store aac format files on storage card on phone (from itunes music folder) and play using windows media, though artist recorded as unknown, though track names are shown correctly. Is there anyway of changing the artist name on the device or making it record the artist name by naming the imported folders in a certain way??

Thanks