Who else dislikes iTunes?

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by vinyl13, Oct 23, 2015.

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  1. Tuco

    Tuco Senior Member

    Location:
    Pacific NW, USA
    I recently built a new Windows 10 machine, and after reading reviews decided to give MusicBee a shot. It's doing what I want without a lot of customization, which was a bit frustrating trying to use Foobar under Win7 (I was a longtime holdout to WinAmp).

    The control freaks in Apple clash with the control freak in me, so I'll never, ever get on that fruit cart.
     
    moj, klockwerk and tubesandvinyl like this.
  2. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    The player works fine for my purposes and use it sometimes to listen via album shuffle to my whole collection or to listen to stuff I don't have loaded at the moment for streaming. I used to use it all the time to load albums on my iPods, too, but I haven't listened to my iPods in awhile now. I've been using Amazon streaming on my phone instead. I actually would have kept using my iPods, but when they discontinued the large capacity iPods I got worried about how I was going to listen on the go without an iPod, so I figured I better find another method/get used to something else, and I switched to streaming on my phone. So Apple lost money from me with that decision. I haven't updated iTunes since iTunes 11, because I read about various problems or features that were removed (although I don't recall the details of that now). I don't use it for anything else, I've never used the store, etc.
     
  3. tubesandvinyl

    tubesandvinyl Forum Resident

    It's free, yes. But when you're signed in, if you subscribe to a service (music streaming, etc), "they" charge a $10 cover on top of what you would pay the other service provider. Notice how they always want you to "sign into itunes". That way they can gouge you on other things you buy/stream...
     
  4. Bingo Bongo

    Bingo Bongo Music gives me Eargasms

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    I absolutely love it. I have no use for LPs, Cassettes & that other old technology: the CD :shh:, now that I've Mastered iTunes. 5,000+ songs/albums in the palm of my hand! :drool:
     
  5. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    I like it fine. I'm skeptical that anything else would actually be significantly better.
     
    wavethatflag likes this.
  6. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    That's what I'm still using on my desktop PC.
     
  7. You'd been surprised how good music on a smartphone can sound with the right headset/headphones. They virtually all play FLAC and WAV files now, and I'm guessing that the iPhone plays ALAC files. Yes, earbuds are awful and lossless files would be pointless if people were just wearing them.

    Maybe iTunes would attract more than just "lifestyle customers" if they did provide the option of lossless files as well as lossy. Word would spread very quickly.
     
  8. Roberto899

    Roberto899 Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    Thanks. I never realized you could do that.
     
  9. Tuco

    Tuco Senior Member

    Location:
    Pacific NW, USA
    I would have to ask, in all seriousness, how decent a D/A converter these companies are putting into their smartphones? Given that the average smartphone user doesn't care about sound quality, I doubt Apple or Samsung, etal. is spending more than a few dollars on that very important audio component.
     
  10. Are you talking from experience? You'd be very surprised. The Pono Player was a portable player but good sound quality was the main thing the device was made for.

    I suggest you have a listen yourself, with both an up-to-date smartphone, with a decent headset and using FLAC files. These smartphones even play high rez FLAC files.
     
  11. telepicker97

    telepicker97 Got Any Gum?

    Location:
    Midwest
    I downloaded JetAudio for my Droid, it will do 24/192
     
  12. All Rights

    All Rights Senior Member

    I used it to put my cd collection on my iPhone.

    I only listen to the iPhone (with headphones) during the 40 minutes or so that I spend on the subway, to and from work because the ride is such a bore.

    Even when I don't feel like listening to music and I turn it off, I leave the headphones on so no one bugs me.

    Never used it at home- I spin records and CDs.
     
  13. Tuco

    Tuco Senior Member

    Location:
    Pacific NW, USA
    And that is why I put it in the form of a question . . . because I don't have the answer, but I am making an (admittedly) sweeping assumption that unless they are putting a good DAC in their phones, it doesn't really matter what kind of files they play or what kind of headphones one uses, it's not going to sound great. It's a computer that doesn't have to sound great; it just has to send and deliver voice and data, take pictures, store some files, and fit in the hand.

    And yes, I've heard the Pono, and it's a very good sounding portable player, but the DAC in it is a rather pricey part of the piece. Same with my fiio X5.
     
  14. I suggest you try it yourself, if you have an iPhone or another kind of smartphone... not with earbuds though.
     
  15. Synthfreek

    Synthfreek I’m a ray of sunshine & bastion of positivity

    Dude's acting like an iPhone sounds like an early 70s Silvertone am portable radio.
     
  16. John Adam

    John Adam An Introvert In Paradise

    Location:
    Hawaii
    I don't think it's as user friendly as it once was. It can be a pain in the butt [freezing] sometimes when you are in a rush.
    But as a convenient way to buy or listen to a new song I still find it useful. What other options would forum members recommend in 2017 to buy music virtually? (When you are not going to buy a hardcopy, which is my prefered method.)
     
  17. Tuco

    Tuco Senior Member

    Location:
    Pacific NW, USA
    I live in a rural community where cell phone reception is dicey, so no, I don't have a smartphone. However, if I get the chance to audition one, I certainly will. But I remain skeptical for the reasons that I mentioned.

    @Synthfreek if that snipe is directed at me, it is in poor form for the Hoffman forum and is not appreciated.
     
  18. Synthfreek

    Synthfreek I’m a ray of sunshine & bastion of positivity

    You are the one making admitted assumptions that something you haven't even heard "is not going to sound great." That is in much poorer form IMO.
     
    subzro and DumbMagician like this.
  19. tvstrategies

    tvstrategies Turtles, all the way down.

    So... is this thread just for whining, or can someone make a constructive suggestion? If anyone here can suggest an alternative Mac music player that has iTunes functionality, including whole-home and an iOS version, and support for high-res and other missing audio formats, then please ...

    I happen to like iTunes' functionality. Can't think of anything I would want to do that it doesn't let me do, although each time Apple 'simplifies' the UI, it takes trial and error to find again what was hidden. Such as having to learn a new kind of desktop metaphor when iTunes 11 took away multiple windows - consistant with iOS so I sorta understand, but still...
     
    Nostaljack likes this.
  20. Nostaljack

    Nostaljack Resident R&B enthusiast

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    As is typically the case, threads like this are full of "I hate Apple...because....oh, darn it all to heck, I just hate Apple." Don't bother trying to make sense of it or muddle through slanted opinions and flat-out fiction. Just chuckle and move on with your day.

    Ed
     
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  21. pathosdrama

    pathosdrama Forum Resident

    Location:
    Firenze, Italy
    Yeah, real life too. I have a friend who'll buy anything but Apple: Samsung's totally fine for him, despite the bribes and the exploding phones, he just hates Apple because, well, because is Apple.

    The human mind is pretty weird sometimes.

    iTunes is clogged and would greatly benefit of a "split" between the store and the music part, but it's still the most convenient way to handle a solid digital library.
     
    tvstrategies and Nostaljack like this.
  22. Solitaire1

    Solitaire1 Carpenters Fan

    I wonder if the reaction to iTunes is due to the differences between the Mac version and the Windows version. I've not used the Mac version (I'm a Windows user) but my understanding is that iTunes is a much better experience on the Mac than on Windows (possibly due to the differences in the OS).
     
  23. tvstrategies

    tvstrategies Turtles, all the way down.

    I haven't compared them in a while, but they were pretty similar last I looked.
     
  24. Time Is On My Side

    Time Is On My Side Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison, WI
    I mean, isn't worrying about how good the DAC in your portable device kind of forgetting the point? I'd rather just enjoy the music.
     
  25. augustwest

    augustwest Forum Resident

    Location:
    los angeles, ca
    Don't like Apple in general and iTunes is no exception.
     
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