Music technology

[cjsmith]

OK, I'm tired of lugging around twenty-year-old cassettes simply because I like one or two of the songs on each of the albums. I don't even listen to cassettes (partially because my car stereo eats them), but I can't bear to throw them all out.

Obviously it would be very expensive to replace every one of them with the analogous CD. I'm a cheapskate. Plus it's a low-density solution: on each CD I would still like just one or two songs. There has to be a better way.

So... what about those MP3 players, for which songs can be purchased one at a time? Question for the LJ brain trust. What do you use? What are the foibles and strengths of the player(s) you've chosen? What's your experience with the various ways to purchase music for them? Does anybody out there have a really wide selection of MP3s for sale, or am I faced with the (quite possibly illegal) prospect of taking a tape like Bobby McFerrin's "The Voice" and hand-recording it? What's your backup technology for your chosen system?

[Edits:
1. The stuff I want (for example, Bobby McFerrin's "The Voice") is not available from iTunes. Is there a bigger site, or at least a weirder site?
2. My car does not have a functional cassette input.
3. Anybody out there doing backups?]

Comments

[mighty-sam.livejournal.com]

Cassette-to-MP3 should not be a problem legally, so long as you do not distribute the files.

Like you, I am about to make the jump to a MP3 player. As you likely know, I am a long-time Apple user, and naturally will go with an iPod. There's three ways of playing an iPod (or other MP3 device) over a car stereo: if your car has a cassette deck, use an adapter ($10-$15, I guess) from the headphone jack that goes into the deck and actually plays through the tape heads. These work very well, and are the cheapest option. Another way (which I will most likely use) is with a device such as the Griffin iTrip, whick plugs into the player then transmits an FM signal to your car radio. These devices have mixed reviews, particularly in areas with a lot of population and radio station density, such as where you are. I have read that Monster makes one that is very good. The last option is to use a line-in if your car stereo has one. Unless you have a plug on the front of your unit, or like rooting around under the dash, this is probably a job for a car-stereo installer. There are also CD players for cars that play CDs of MP3s, which actually read the compressed files.

That covers the auto options. As for tune aquisition, most everything I have is ripped from my CDs. The online stores are supposed to be perfect for a la carte shoppers like yourself, though. I have converted some cassettes, and it is a bit of a job involving recording, editing, and encoding, generally taking about 3x a long as the actual material you want to convert. Sound quality can be iffy, too, depending on the durability of the tape. I did about 6 or 7 cassettes, then said "screw it" and started looking on eBay for CDs. I'd much rather spend $3-$4 on eBay for a CD than go to the hassle of ripping a cassette (or vinyl) to MP3. This kind of audio editing is what I do, and it is a pain in the butt for me... it would be even more frustrating to a noob.

Hope this all helps!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I figured you would be the most authoritative voice I would find on the legality of that conversion. Thanks.

You and I can compare notes on the joys of making the leap! I am particularly looking forward to playlists.

Mmm, didn't know anyone was still making the FM transmitters. Thanks. That might be what I go with, since my car does not currently have a functional cassette player. Next time I upgrade my car stereo (or the car!) I may get either a line-in jack or an MP3-CD-capable unit.

Thanks for the heads-up about the frustration level of converting cassettes. Some of this stuff I'm afraid I can do no other way, but at least I know to go the used-CD route when possible. That's a help. Thanks!

[mighty-sam.livejournal.com]

Glad to be of service.

There is an LJ community called "ipod" that i peek in every now and then. There's been a few threads in there about the transmitters, and most of the people who have problems with them live in the Bay Area.

I'll still do a cassette or LP every now and then. For instance, around 1984 or so Prince had a satellite group called The Family (one hit single... "Screams of Passion"). They did one album and it is a favorite of mine. However, it was only pressed into CDs in Germany, and in a small quantity. There are so few of them out there that the CDs sell for about $100 on eBay. In that case, I'll convert the album rather than buy the CD.

And despite the fact that this album is long out-of-print and essentially unavailable for purchase now, and even if I could get it, there would be no benefit to the holders of the rights because of buying through a 3rd party, it nonetheless would be illegal for me to rip it and give you the files. And that makes no sense.

[soapbox] In the same way that extreme polarization in our society has ruined politicial discourse, such is the same with most discussion on digital rights issues. Both sides are unreasonably dogmatic, and real problems, such as the outlying case I cited above, become mere tools of argument and stand no chance of being realistically solved. [/soapbox]

[pixiecrinkle.livejournal.com]

The best fm transmitter I've used is the Belkin Tunecast II (although mine seems to have developed issues this weekend.) I've heard bad things about the original tunecast -- it had limitations on what frequencies you could use, and that didn't work in cities where all those frequencies were in use already.