INTERACT FORUM

More => Old Versions => Media Center 11 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: howiec721 on November 13, 2006, 08:15:57 am

Title: ipod
Post by: howiec721 on November 13, 2006, 08:15:57 am
Hi,

Does MC convert files in mp3 before uploading  them?  I have a bunch of ogg file.  I noticed they are being converted before uploading them.  What is MC doing?  If this is the case, I might as well convert my ape into mp3 in the first place.
Title: Re: ipod
Post by: Alex B on November 13, 2006, 09:27:31 am
Does MC convert files in mp3 before uploading  them?  I have a bunch of ogg file.  I noticed they are being converted before uploading them.  What is MC doing?  If this is the case, I might as well convert my ape into mp3 in the first place.

MC can convert files on the fly if needed. You can select the used conversion settings. iPods do not support Ogg Vorbis files so the files need to be converted. Naturally it would be better to convert lossless source files instead of transcoding already lossy files.

You can use the Rockbox (http://www.rockbox.org/) firmware for making an iPod to support Ogg Vorbis, but it would not be the same iPod after that. MC would see it as a generic handheld that can be used as a standard storage device. In this case you can freely configure the supported file types.
Title: Re: ipod
Post by: howiec721 on November 13, 2006, 09:39:27 am
So what is MC doing when it says it is converting when downloading to an ipod?  I might as well convert it into that form in the first place.
Title: Re: ipod
Post by: Alex B on November 13, 2006, 09:49:49 am
So what is MC doing when it says it is converting when downloading to an ipod?

I suppose it is converting the file format to the selected supported format (i.e. MP3). :)

I don't have an iPod and I don't know if you can force MC to not convert. In any case you would not be able to play an Ogg Vorbis file with Apple's firmware.

Quote
I might as well convert it into that form in the first place.

Yes.

Edit

A lossy to lossy conversion always decrades audio quality a bit. As you said, It would be better to convert the files only once if you have lossless source files (e.g. directly from APE to MP3).