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its time to sing and dance

cool. i was just thinking of re-ripping my old "Big Country" cd's, since they are 160 kbps

Allows CDs to be imported at the same sound quality as iTunes Plus.

This puzzled me when I saw it earlier today. You could already do this with iTunes 8.0 – AAC, 256kbps, pretty straightforward.

The only differences in 8.1 appear to be that they've relabeled the "Higher Quality (256kbps)" dropdown option to "iTunes Plus", and switched on VBR by default. Rather misleading for 8.1 to label this a "new" feature, IMO.

Mar 11, 09 - 09:38 pm Comment from: silverhawk

Well, anybody, is it snappier?

I don't know why I always get excited for updates? but I do!

Yowza! It sure is snappier – I'm resuming my ongoing CD import project, and the encoding just *flies* now.

So, despite my earlier gripe above, two big thumbs up from me on the functionality front!

@Gabriel

I was puzzled by that at first too, but you have to take into account the widespread user demographics. People who visit sites like this likely have greater understanding of data compression methods. At the same time, the is still an enormous number of iTunes/iPod users that find the custom CD import feature to be gibberish. This isn't for us, it's for them; and subsequently makes their user experience a better one.

I heard switching on VBR (variable bit rate) saves some space but it burns your battery due to a higher cpu usage. Anyone know if this is true?

@ Unregistered Blahger

Point well taken, though they could have easily stated that it's now *easier* to import CDs at "iTunes Plus" quality (which is true), rather than outright claiming it to be a new feature (which is false).

@ VBR?

I can't say for certain, but I'm guessing that the improved encoding performance in 8.1 makes the higher CPU usage issue not as much of a concern as before.

iTunes DJ bug -- I can't drag songs to reorder them. Party Shuffle worked this way, and the iTunes help says "Creating a custom mix using iTunes DJ: ...To change the order or add new songs, drag them."

Anyone else experiencing this?

DOESN'T require a reboot??? That's new, thanks Apple!!

Mar 11, 09 - 10:17 pm Comment from: Derek in Milan

Apple should have released a headphone adapter with iTunes 8.1 so that....oops, wrong whine.

Apple have done something to iTunes 8.1 that I dont like, and when I find it, I am going to post endless whiny posts here.

I've got a stiffy !!!

Mar 11, 09 - 10:33 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

@ Derek in Milan,

You can also check out the MacWorld forums.

Lot's of whining over there about the shuffle.

Mar 11, 09 - 10:35 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

"Lot's"? Pardon my illiteracy.

Mar 11, 09 - 10:56 pm Comment from: silverhawk

Crave, for some reason, has "lot's" of complaining about the shuffle as well.

Mar 11, 09 - 11:10 pm Comment from: nekogami13

I have yet to see a genius sidebar for movies or tv shows.
Are they sure it is there?

Mar 11, 09 - 11:13 pm Comment from: ken1w

@ PowerMacMan

> DOESN'T require a reboot???

FYI - Safari updates always require a reboot because the underlying WebKit components are common "parts" also used by Mail, iChat, and other apps.

But it's good to know that this iTunes update does not, before I decide when to do it. Thanks.

Mar 11, 09 - 11:22 pm Comment from: feral

so shnappeee

*hic*

Mar 12, 09 - 12:08 am Comment from: Sixvodkas

@VBR;

My iMac is connected to a 1000VA UPS, and VBR encoding hasn't drained it yet

Mar 12, 09 - 01:15 am Comment from: qka

DOESN'T require a reboot??? That's new, thanks Apple!!

I don't ever remember an ITunes update requiring a reboot. iTunes is just an app. Safari, and other security updates, yes. ken1w is correct in his reasons why.

Mar 12, 09 - 02:56 am Comment from: MacBliss

First one here to notice something really cool in QT 8.1!!

APPLE FINALLY ADDED A DATE STAMP AND VERSION ID IN THE APP REVIEWS!! They even separated the number of reviews of the current version and from all previous. How is that for listening to user feedback. Thank you Apple!

Mar 12, 09 - 06:46 am Comment from: Sarasota

Allows CDs to be imported at the same sound quality as iTunes Plus.

Huh? I've been able to rip CDs at a better quality level than iTunes Plus (in Apple Lossless, AIFF or even 320kbps AAC) since the beginning. What's new here?

Allows CDs to be imported at the same sound quality as iTunes Plus.
iTunes Default is now set to 256K rather than 128K AAC.

iTunes 8.1 is much faster on Windows than before, scrolling though my library of 1000+ CDs on NAS is snappier as is Coverflow; and as expected it's even lovelier on Mac.

Mar 12, 09 - 08:05 am Comment from: twilightmoon

Sarasota,

As has already been mentioned in this thread, it's new to call it "iTunes Plus" for the majority of users who do not understand the gobble dee gook about encoding bit rate and VBR.

As for VBR, I assume VBR (the signature") means it might drain his iPod's batteries quicker. I'd be interested to know this too.

In the iTunes store, Apple seem to have removed the "iTunes Plus" designations from albums, so can't tell now if they have DRM or not.

I'd been shopping around in iTunes and gathering info on some albums I was thinking of getting, and suddenly it looked like none of them were iTunes Plus anymore - including ones I'd previously saved to my list as being "iTunes Plus".

It also seems to have caused problems for people trying to upgrade their DRM'd purchases: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1937419&tstart=0