How do YOU listen to AM?

[gr8sho92]

As MP3 technology is ubiquitous for the most part, there are many many ways to listen to AM. I'll start this off with posting the 2 primary ways I do this.


Laptop computer. running windows XP and using Real Player. I've found Real to be very reliable and has other uses beyone AM. I also use the pause feature from time to time. I primarily use this way when working, with AM streaming in the background.
Mobile Phone. Palm Treo 650 with Seido extended life battery, using Pocket Tunes Deluxe 3.1.8 and an unlimited data plan from Sprint. The power of this method is I can listen to AM virtually anywhere in the USA. The most fun I have with this option is connecting up to AUX in car and listening to AM while driving, or at the beach relaxing.


Cheers

[KeithieW]

Windows XP and WinAmp.

Works really well for me.

I have playlists set up for all the different streams so that if one fails the others kick in if necessary.

I also have different playlists for different stations.

[Rick and Roll]

with my ears of course!

[gr8sho92]

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: with my ears of course!

[gr8sho92]

Windows XP and WinAmp.

Works really well for me.

I have playlists set up for all the different streams so that if one fails the others kick in if necessary.

I also have different playlists for different stations.

Yep, that's a good one too although I've seen cases where Winamp would skip. Not sure why.

Interestingly XP doesn't have a native player that recognizes .PLS files. I've always had a player installed that was capable of playing .PLS so the problem never hit me, but I recently ran into a case where I had sent a link for AM to a friend that also enjoys prog and I got back a question saying it didn't play with windows medial player.

P.S. Vax, I see that there is a link in the FAQ for the question of listening to AM. Were you going post the stuff I sent you?

[VAXman]

Yep, that's a good one too although I've seen cases where Winamp would skip. Not sure why.

It runs on Weendoze... nuff said.


Interestingly XP doesn't have a native player that recognizes .PLS files. I've always had a player installed that was capable of playing .PLS so the problem never hit me, but I recently ran into a case where I had sent a link for AM to a friend that also enjoys prog and I got back a question saying it didn't play with windows medial player.

Shhhh... or the evil one and his Miscreant Idiot Coding Rejects Outputting Specious Often Flawed Technology - Redmond Academy of Teenaged Software Neophytes Emitting Substandard Technology cut-throats, you don't have any choice here is where you are going to go today whether you like it or not, criminal monopoly will cram yet another half-baked ill-conceived piece of shitware up everybody's arse and then declare it the standard -- not adherent to any actual standards -- music player.


P.S. Vax, I see that there is a link in the FAQ for the question of listening to AM. Were you going post the stuff I sent you?

When I get to it....


Now to the thread question... listening to Aural Moon...

17" Powerbook with iTunes. Aural Moon is then streamed to an Air Port Express which is connected to a Bose Companion 3 sound system. Therefore, I am free to roam about without ever losing sound.

On the road, I listen to Aural Moon with my Powerbook and iTunes. I have a Sprint EVDO card which gives me internet access (via cell phone mobile network) anywhere I go. I have a piece of software called InsomniaX which, when activated, allows me to close the Powerbook without it going to sleep. Once tuned in, I can safely store the Powerbook away.

FWIW, about 9 out of every 10 Aural Moon listeners uses iTunes.

[mossy]

That's a high percentage on itunes, vax. I had no idea.

Like kw, we use Windows XP but have VLC Media Player.

At work, Windows XP and WinAmp

[NorCalKurt]

As loud as I can get away with.:knowing:

[prickly]

of course iTunes...

[lotus]

Windows XP Winamp. Puter connected via a M-Audio sound card to Hifi..

[schupdoggy]

In the house - home pc / windows xp / winamp / pc speakers (Harmon Kardon)
At the store - laptop / windows xp / winamp / pc speakers (Harmon Kardon)
In the garage - laptop / windows xp / winamp / home stereo (Yamaha - 1000 watts per channel)

[KeithieW]

9 out of ten use iTunes eh?

They must be the ones who don't post in the forums...... :)

[gr8sho92]

9 out of ten use iTunes eh?

They must be the ones who don't post in the forums...... :)

:LOL:

Vax, can you tell from the server logs how users are connecting?

While I own an iPod, I don't use iTunes on my laptop. On Windows, this application is very expensive memory-wise and loads a bunch of crap into memory at startup.

[PeterG]

At work: Macintosh G5-> iTunes-> crappy external PC speakers

Home: Macintosh G5 -> iTunes -> Nice Computer Speakers
and
-> Wireless to Airport Express-> to Living room Stereo (10 speakers)
-> Wireless to Master Bedroom Stereo
-> Wireless to Workshop Stereo

Can get the whole house crankin' 8-)

(JV too!) :D

[GORT]

I use itunes too

[VAXman]

:LOL:

Vax, can you tell from the server logs how users are connecting?

Yes I can which is why I said that.




While I own an iPod, I don't use iTunes on my laptop. On Windows, this application is very expensive memory-wise and loads a bunch of crap into memory at startup.
Anything on Weendoze is bloat. The programming paradigm and model for Weendoze is bloat, bloat bloat and more bloat.

What they call DLLs were intended to be shareable libraries (born of the shareable image library concept in VMS and taken to Weendoze NT by Dave Cutler). However, the Miscreant Idiot Coding Rejects Outputting Specious Often Flawed Technology permitted anyone and their grandmothers to load DLLs. Thus, you install a piece of software on Weendoze and hundreds of shared (DLLs) images are loaded. There's no reason to write them as DLLs if you are not going to share and or publish the API so that others could use them as well.

Sing this to the tune of Row, Row, Row your boat:

Bloat, bloat, bloat your OS,
Force apps not to be lean.
Memory, memory, memory, memory...
its consumption is obscene!

[RogorMortis]

Home (office) - Windows Xp - Itunes - 7 speaker system (Winamp for AAC stream when there's trouble with the stream which has been a massive problem lately) Funny Apple doesn't allow Itunes to cope with AAC stream even though they use AAC format for files) I haven't made a a connection to the main stereo system as I don't often use it now as the wife does not like prog.....
Work - Windows Xp - Winamp - 2 quiet speakers

[MrMagoo]

Home: Mac/iTunes, optionally fed to RocketFM for the house amp
Work: WinXP/Winamp with headphones

[Bmithra]

PC with XP using winamp, pre aol version, with Cambridge Soundworks PC speakers. Six speakers. Can crank it loud enough to hear anywhere in the house, including while showering.:rawk: :rawk: :rawk: :rawk: :rawk:

Bmithra

[jtmckinley]

Downstairs in studio: Windows XP running Winamp, either through my near-field monitors or through the PA depending on volume level desired.

Upstairs in TV room: Ubuntu Linux with Totem movie player through my home theater system. Sometimes I'll also listen via Xbox 360 through home theater system whilst playing a game, but not that often.

Work: Windows 2000 running Winamp through headphones.

[VAXman]

Home (office) - Windows Xp - Itunes - 7 speaker system (Winamp for AAC stream when there's trouble with the stream which has been a massive problem lately) Funny Apple doesn't allow Itunes to cope with AAC stream even though they use AAC format for files) I haven't made a a connection to the main stereo system as I don't often use it now as the wife does not like prog.....
Work - Windows Xp - Winamp - 2 quiet speakers
Apple (iTunes) *does* permit AAC streams. We (Aural Moon) do not stream AAC. We stream AACplus (aka HE-AAC v1). This is not AAC. It uses a spectral band replication codec.

AAC was developed by Dolby and was adopted by MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) as an international standard. THere is no licensing fee with AAC which makes it more attractive than MP3 which does.

[OverHillandDale]

including while showering.:rawk: :rawk: :rawk: :rawk: :rawk:

Bmithra

Okay, that, perhaps, is an image we could have done without. :bash:

[Rick and Roll]

I use Windows Media Player, but on occasion have used itunes. For the show, I will rip with the WMP and convert using itunes. However, Winamp has been used in the past and is good.

I only tap into Aural Moon three or four times a week, and rarely at work, so it's not a big deal to me.

[gr8sho92]

Okay, that, perhaps, is an image we could have done without. :bash:

TMI, right?

But actually I do like to have music with me even there and the Treo 650 is very handy for this.

[gr8sho92]

I use Windows Media Player, but on occasion have used itunes. For the show, I will rip with the WMP and convert using itunes. However, Winamp has been used in the past and is good.

I only tap into Aural Moon three or four times a week, and rarely at work, so it's not a big deal to me.

You're using this http://wiki.cdyne.com/wiki/index.php?title=Playing_PLS_Winamp_files_in_Window s_Media to play AM in WMP?

[gr8sho92]

Home (office) - Windows Xp - Itunes - 7 speaker system (Winamp for AAC stream when there's trouble with the stream which has been a massive problem lately) Funny Apple doesn't allow Itunes to cope with AAC stream even though they use AAC format for files) I haven't made a a connection to the main stereo system as I don't often use it now as the wife does not like prog.....
Work - Windows Xp - Winamp - 2 quiet speakers

Remember the days when desire for technology meant having a great receiver, speakers, turntable?

Inspired by some of the responses here, I dusted off an old PII 300MHz laptop and connected the audio output into my stereo and cranked up AM through my Sony receiver and Bose speakers. Not bad at all. :D
Unfortunately my family too does not share my liking for prog so I do this when I have the house to myself.

[OverHillandDale]

At work: Real Player on Win 2000 thru mediocre computer speakers.

Mobile: Laptop running Win XP - I can use either Real Player (128 feed) or iTunes (58k) and use built in speakers or earphones.

At Home: Sitting at the main computer (server runs Win XP) I'll use Real Player+ (128k) and Harmon karbon speakers with bass floor speaker.

For the house system I use Slim Server 128K feed software which is streamed to a Squeeze Box hooked to Stereo Receiver in living room. Dreaming of multiple receivers throughout the house to come.

Problems I have with iTunes is getting kicked off the stream when really busy.

What I like about real player is .pls ability and I can use the 6-12 hour instant replay feature and go back and play sections I missed in a day. Sometimes it will cause streaming issues, but I just refresh the connection and it's okay.

I love the 128k stream - it's the best on the net. Nobody else sounds as good!!!

[Yesspaz]

Vista, Winamp

[jrstudioboss]

i-tunes on the G4 tower at home, and winamp, win 2000, and bose wave radio at the studio - I'm curious about the use of the Treo - like the possibilities!

[gr8sho92]

I use Windows Media Player, but on occasion have used itunes. For the show, I will rip with the WMP and convert using itunes. However, Winamp has been used in the past and is good.

I only tap into Aural Moon three or four times a week, and rarely at work, so it's not a big deal to me.

I looked into this a bit more and figured out what Rick meant. The problem with WMP is that it doesn't understand .PLS files, but it can open any of the MP3 AM streams (but not the AACplus). To do it, you have to click on File and then Open URL and add the appropriate URL. This works fine.I tried it under XP SP2 using v10 of the player. This is still more expensive than Real Player or WinAmp, the former being the cheaper of the 2.

I also have Quicktime on my machine for other reasons and tried that. This is cheaper still by 6MB but you give up seeing the artist and track name in the window. AACplus is not supported or at least I couldn't get it to work.

[gr8sho92]

I'm curious about the use of the Treo - like the possibilities!

Yes, it's very cool. Like I said, get a good extended life battery as this will kill the standard battery in less than an hour. When I investigated playing shoutcast streams on the 650, I learned at the time that only PocketTunes is coded to support playing in the background on Palm OS. What this means is you can be catching some rays on the beach, listening to very cool music, and browsing the internet or playing games or doing email, etc. Maybe the best part is if someone tries to call you when you're doing this the incoming call will go straight to voicemail. R)

Version 3.1.8 Deluxe is what I have.

[Roger -Dot- Lee]

Vista, Winamp

Damn, Spaz, I'm sorry to hear that.

I listen to AM the same way now that I did when I first found this besainted site oh so long ago: Mac running some flavor of OSX via iTunes. At one point, for one miserable afternoon, I was forced, at gunpoint no less(*), to listen to The Moon on an XP system with Winamp. No matter how much we diddled with it, the 128k stream sounded much like the 56k stream. My friend didn't believe that it sounded better on a Mac. I brought my leeeetle laptop over, plugged his speakers in, and queued up a nice long tune (Pär Lindh Project/Mondus Incomprehensidus, or whatever it's called) and did a nice side-by-side comparison.

I'm proud to say that I was actually able to convince him that the Mac sounded superior. He didn't convert (no surprise, as he codes Flash(**) and ColdFusion(***) for a living), but I managed to plant enough doubt in his mind that he's actually considering it as an alternative.

(*) OK, so it was a staple gun and I was helping a friend install some wiring. Work with me here.

(**) :urp:

(***) :doncab

[progdirjim]

Windows XP and Real Player. (iTunes is a crappy piece of software. If the ipod didn't have a 160GB device, I wouldn't even deal with it.)

[VAXman]

Windows XP and Real Player. (iTunes is a crappy piece of software. If the ipod didn't have a 160GB device, I wouldn't even deal with it.)
Damn it, Jim. At least put a Warning: Humor notice on your posts when you do that. I spewed the Guinness I had in my mouth on my monitor.

[OverHillandDale]

Damn it, Jim. At least put a Warning: Humor notice on your posts when you do that. I spewed the Guinness I had in my mouth on my monitor.

You mean you don't have the iSpew Screen for your monitor? I think they have them in coffee, Coca Cola, Milk and Guinness.

[lotus]

Windows XP and Real Player. (iTunes is a crappy piece of software. If the ipod didn't have a 160GB device, I wouldn't even deal with it.)

Well Jim, according to Vax (and 90 % of the listeners) your post is a sacrilege..

But I agree 100%. iTunes is crap..The only good thing on it is that it synchronize well with the iPod..And on the iPod I can only comment good things..

Vax, you cannot comment on other players as they are Windows based, and you cannot (or are not willing :) ) to test them..

[VAXman]

Well Jim, according to Vax (and 90 % of the listeners) your post is a sacrilege..

But I agree 100%. iTunes is crap..The only good thing on it is that it synchronize well with the iPod..And on the iPod I can only comment good things..

Vax, you cannot comment on other players as they are Windows based, and you cannot (or are not willing :) ) to test them..
Well, there was an Archos MP3 play here at one time. A complete piece of shit and the software -- well, weendoze only based -- was just as crappy.

Zune has become a non-product. Why? M$ couldn't do anything revolutionary that would have it compete with the iPod.

[lotus]

Well, there was an Archos MP3 play here at one time. A complete piece of shit and the software -- well, weendoze only based -- was just as crappy.

Zune has become a non-product. Why? M$ couldn't do anything revolutionary that would have it compete with the iPod.

I am listenig with WinAmp, free software, which does not force you to use Quicktime (a 40 Megabyte bomb) to do the setttings..

iTunes just wants you to buy music crap from their site..

[OverHillandDale]

You know you can sync your iPod from Real Player. You don't have to use iTunes to do so.

[VAXman]

You know you can sync your iPod from Real Player. You don't have to use iTunes to do so.

How? Talking about crap software, REAL is REAL CRAP!

[podakayne]

back in the day it was from a Mac w/windows media player...later after becoming a patron its from G4 or G5 via itunes...i like my monitors speakers, and will use headphones to jack in when i feel the need.

at home ...G4(one of them)...kitchen w/good speakers

gee peter i'm green w/envy

[progdirjim]

Well, there was an Archos MP3 play here at one time. A complete piece of shit and the software -- well, weendoze only based -- was just as crappy.

Zune has become a non-product. Why? M$ couldn't do anything revolutionary that would have it compete with the iPod.

The ipod is NOT revolutionary. My 1st mp3 player was an Archos, at a time when there WASN'T an ipod. It was primitive, sure, but it was innovative. When I showed it to people, their jaws dropped (this is, I don't know, maybe 10 years ago). It survived a drop on concrete at 20+ mph, for a few weeks before it died. The hardware was pretty solid.

My 2nd mp3 player was a Creative Nomad. At that time, the 40GB Nomad was $100 cheaper than the 20GB ipod. Now that I've used both, I have to say that the Creative software is WAY better than itunes, and the user interface is WAY better than the ipod. The ipod is a decent product, and has two major advantages: the size factor (nice and small) and the capacity (160GB). The only reason I bought the ipod is that my 40GB Creative was full and I didn't want to delete anything.

As I said, the ipod is a decent product, but I'm tired of people worshiping Apple without holding them accountable.

I wasn't joking when I complained about itunes. It doesn't even understand filing solo artists under their last name. David Bowie is filed under "D"??! LAME!! Try loading album artwork if you have Bowie, David. itunes can't find it.

Oh yeah, and the ipod, when you're scrolling (with that stupid touch wheel), and you get to "Z", what happens? Duh, you have to go backwards all the way to "A" instead of wrapping around to "A" like the Creative. Yuk.

I was editing this post, adding info about the weak connector on the bottom of the ipod (PM me if you want details), and Firefox crashed. Hmmm. Sounds like $teve Job'$ version of e$tabli$hing a monopoly.

While I'm ranting, anytime you're in itune$, they're trying to $ell you mu$ic.

[abmlober]

Interestingly XP doesn't have a native player that recognizes .PLS files. I've always had a player installed that was capable of playing .PLS so the problem never hit me, but I recently ran into a case where I had sent a link for AM to a friend that also enjoys prog and I got back a question saying it didn't play with windows medial player.

When you open .m3u files and .pls files in a normal text editor, you see that they are just ASCII files, and you wonder even more, why WMP does not understand them...

For listening to radio streams I use XMPlay, a really tiny tool with some nice features. WinAmp always brings chaos to my registry, so that mp3directcut and mp3tag no longer work correctly. My MP3 collection is administered with WMP, but to listen MP3 I use VLC media player.

When I am away from home, I use WMP11 on my office laptop or my Archos Gmini (30GB)...

Ciao,
Andreas

[VAXman]

The ipod is NOT revolutionary. My 1st mp3 player was an Archos, at a time when there WASN'T an ipod. It was primitive, sure, but it was innovative. When I showed it to people, their jaws dropped (this is, I don't know, maybe 10 years ago). It survived a drop on concrete at 20+ mph, for a few weeks before it died. The hardware was pretty solid.
I never said it was. I was referring to the Zune. A late comer to the market and it offers nothing new; in fact, it's more limited than many of its competitors.


My 2nd mp3 player was a Creative Nomad. At that time, the 40GB Nomad was $100 cheaper than the 20GB ipod. Now that I've used both, I have to say that the Creative software is WAY better than itunes, and the user interface is WAY better than the ipod. The ipod is a decent product, and has two major advantages: the size factor (nice and small) and the capacity (160GB). The only reason I bought the ipod is that my 40GB Creative was full and I didn't want to delete anything.

The difference has always been the size. The 2.5" form factor drives are cheap because they are also used in laptops. The 1.8" ff drives cost more and thus, the devices using them cost more.


I wasn't joking when I complained about itunes. It doesn't even understand filing solo artists under their last name. David Bowie is filed under "D"??! LAME!! Try loading album artwork if you have Bowie, David. itunes can't find it.
Neither do the sites we link with for bands. THe CDDB doesn't either. I wonder what your other software does with Jethro Tull or Timothy Pure or Pink Floyd... Floyd, Pink? What do you file 5UUs under?



Oh yeah, and the ipod, when you're scrolling (with that stupid touch wheel), and you get to "Z", what happens? Duh, you have to go backwards all the way to "A" instead of wrapping around to "A" like the Creative. Yuk.

That doesn't bother me as much as not being able to scroll through an alphabetical heading (A-Z) and then drill down. With hundreds of artists, it is difficult to scroll to one quickly.


Apple now owns Firefox?


[QUOTE=progdirjim;29987]
While I'm ranting, anytime you're in itune$, they're trying to $ell you mu$ic.

I'm in iTunes all day long. I've never ONCE gotten an add for music purchases. In fact, I don't even have a link to the iTunes Store in my iTunes! You can turn it off you know... don't you?

[gr8sho92]

For listening to radio streams I use XMPlay, a really tiny tool with some nice features.

Thanks for the pointer, Andreas. I'm listening to AM using XMPlay now. Talk about tiny! The entire download is 305kb (yes, kilobytes) and some of the modules are optional. Reminds me of the old DOS days when people took pride in building small useful applications.

(BTW, it doesn't appear to support AACplus.)

It uses about 6.7MB of memory when running, and the display contains the available song information (artist and track title). Net is this is fine solution, albeit not mainstream, way to listen to AM. If anyone has a player that can beat this, I'd like to know about it.

[VAXman]

Somebody posted this for me on the Marillion on-line forum and I thought I'd share it here.

Redmond, Seattle. A screen saver of a roaring log fire flickers on a huge LCD monitor perched on a wide expanse of mahogany desk. Bathed in its glow, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his PA, Atkins, are drinking eggnog - whatever eggnog is, Americans always seem to drink it at Christmas.

"Hell of a year!"
"Hell of a year, sir!"
"And all the big news happened in January, didn't it?"
"Er, yes sir."
"Windows Vista launches, The 'big wow'."
"Oh... I see sir, yes sir."
"You say 'yes, sir' as if you mean 'no sir'?"
"No sir,"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir."
"Goddamit. Why don't people like Vista? What was wrong with the big wow?"
"Nothing sir, it's just not quite the wow effect we were after."
"And what are we doing about that? Was there a problem with the marketing? I spent a fortune on it."
"No sir, it was more a problem with the product. It didn't quite live up to the 'wow' expectations."
"But it looks like Mac OS X, comes in six versions and it's about to get a service pack. What more do people want? Are we planning a new ad campaign?"
"No sir. The old one was fine. We didn't have time to make any significant improvements to the software so we've just decided to redefine the industry standard of 'wow'."
"Good thinking."
"Yes, sir. Our lawyers have been busy since February. I'm happy to say it's been successfully redefined, sir."
"Excellent, what does 'wow' mean now?"
"More like 'Hmm'."
"The big 'Hmm'. I like it. Has it had any effect on sales?"
"No."
"Hmm."
"That's the spirit, sir."

[progdirjim]

Apple now owns Firefox?

I was (tongue in cheek) implying that Apple was monitoring my post and crashed my browser to prevent a negative post.


I'm in iTunes all day long. I've never ONCE gotten an add for music purchases. In fact, I don't even have a link to the iTunes Store in my iTunes! You can turn it off you know... don't you?

Well no, I don't. :shootmeno I wouldn't have bitched about it if I knew that. It's certainly possible that I'll like itunes better as I become more familiar with it. The Creative software was so damn intuitive (at least for me, and I know that can be subjective) though.

I like the ipod OK, and it does have some advantages, but I get really weary of the "Apple good, everything else bad" preaching that goes on pretty much every day. I'm no particular fan of Microsoft, but can we just stipulate that you (and quite a few others) hate them a lot, their software is bloated, and their management are boneheads to a man, and not talk about it every day? (8-D Please?:deadhorse

[Michael]

I use itunes..i also used winamp as well a while ago.

[Rick and Roll]

I'm no particular fan of Microsoft, but can we just stipulate that you (and quite a few others) hate them a lot, their software is bloated, and their management are boneheads to a man, and not talk about it every day? (8-D Please?:deadhorse

What would there be to talk about then? (Seriously, thank you for articulating that Jim)

This verbal masturbation about how one sound system is better/worse than the other is the highlight of my day!

I have friends who hate Microsoft too. I just smile and turn the other cheek.

I only use itunes to convert music to mp3. As Dale says, you can use Real Player instead for the ipod. You can use anything for most things really. And you know what? It's all free. So I can't complain.

WMP works just fine to hear AM. So does itunes or Winamp.

As for the ipod, I have no need or want for one. I'm too busy, and I have all the music I need. If there were no more recordings I would be set for life. I just buy because I care. Shit, I can't even file my music in a decent amount of time anymore. It's hard enough just to get back to the kind artists who send or turn me on to music. My one kid has his ipod implanted in his ear. My head would explode if I had to put my music on the computer to put it on something else.

It's just not that important to me to have a portable music device like an ipod. Great idea if you like it though, it's a cool thing. But I'm never in one place long enough to enjoy it.

[VAXman]

I like the ipod OK, and it does have some advantages, but I get really weary of the "Apple good, everything else bad" preaching that goes on pretty much every day. I'm no particular fan of Microsoft, but can we just stipulate that you (and quite a few others) hate them a lot, their software is bloated, and their management are boneheads to a man, and not talk about it every day? (8-D Please?:deadhorse
Well, it's all commodity market crap. I just weighed the pile of malodorous sweat socks against the buckets of fetid noxious shit and I choose the former as the least olfactory offensive.

As a VMS bigot, we used to have a saying: unix isn't all that bad once you get used to its smell. I'll take the unix based OS X over that montage of hacked-up shite known as Weendoze any day.

[VAXman]

I have friends who hate Microsoft too. I just smile and turn the other cheek.
You have smart friends then.

I only use itunes to convert music to mp3. As Dale says, you can use Real Player instead for the ipod. You can use anything for most things really. And you know what? It's all free. So I can't complain.
I've asked how now twice and still no answer. If REAL does this then please explain how.


It's just not that important to me to have a portable music device like an ipod. Great idea if you like it though, it's a cool thing. But I'm never in one place long enough to enjoy it.
I have one and seldom use it. I houses my iTunes library for when I am on the road but I've found I usually just tune into AM.

[Rick and Roll]

I have one and seldom use it. I houses my iTunes library for when I am on the road but I've found I usually just tune into AM.

I've seen yours in action...you do spend more time on the road than I do and the plug in feature to the car is handy...

I used to make cassette mixed tapes long ago. I realized that I ended up with full CD's anyway...dopey me. I'll just pull out CD's for the car for trips now.

[OverHillandDale]

Well, it's all commodity market crap. I just weighed the pile of malodorous sweat socks against the buckets of fetid noxious shit and I choose the former as the least olfactory offensive.

As a VMS bigot, we used to have a saying: unix isn't all that bad once you get used to its smell. I'll take the unix based OS X over that montage of hacked-up shite known as Weendoze any day.

Well, then. I do believe you've made your opinion on the matter ABUNDANTLY CLEAR. :deadhorse

I hearby call this matter completely, utterly, ultimately and finally CLOSED.

WE NEVER, EVER, NOT IN A MILLION, GAZILLION YEARS, NEED to hear about it again unless it is specifically solicited.

[VAXman]

Well, then. I do believe you've made your opinion on the matter ABUNDANTLY CLEAR. :deadhorse

Opinion? Not. Fact! Yes.



I hearby call this matter completely, utterly, ultimately and finally CLOSED.

Not so fast...


WE NEVER, EVER, NOT IN A MILLION, GAZILLION YEARS, NEED to hear about it again unless it is specifically solicited.
We? I.

I'm still waiting for the RealPlayer/iPod instructions alluded to herein so that I may assess it for myself. I have tried to figure it out but its less than intuitive interface eludes me.

[gr8sho92]

I'm still waiting for the RealPlayer/iPod instructions alluded to herein so that I may assess it for myself. I have tried to figure it out but its less than intuitive interface eludes me.

The Help Content talks about this. On my server, I do see my iPod listed as a device that it can sync to but haven't been motivated to try it. I only use RP for listening to streams.

My master library is setup using iTunes only because that's what I've gotten used to. If you recall, the original iPod was sold with and was only supported by MusicMatch via firewire interface until Apple released iTunes software. I still use MM to rip MP3s because I like their tagging function which is still not available on the new Yahoo replacement software.

[tracer]

Was this note a thread on listening to the Moon? I don't care about which OS someone is using, I whatever works for my needs at the time. In the spirit of the current postings I offer this ... http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant

[gr8sho92]

Thanks for the pointer, Andreas. I'm listening to AM using XMPlay now. Talk about tiny!

I'd be curious if anyone else has had experience with this player. If nothing else it's fun to play around with.

I followed the directions provided and removed the extra plug-ins provided by the original zip file and the entire player is as follows.

12/21/2007 09:06 AM 269,892 xmplay.exe
12/23/2007 10:29 AM 3,353 xmplay.ini
2 File(s) 273,245 bytes

Maybe we should all write in and get them to either change the name to AMPlay or get a branded version for the station!

P.S. I suspect there is a plug-in to make AACplus work, but the fact that this works for MP3 as-is is quite qonderful.

P.P.S. There is no installer supplied but it doesn't really need one. You just need some basic skills to unpak the zip to someplace you can find and then run the app.

Cheers,
Carl

[abmlober]

The XMPlay homepage gives some plugins. And to choose one skin is also nice.

[abmlober]

:-]

[gr8sho92]

The XMPlay homepage gives some plugins. And to choose one skin is also nice.

Okay, I give up. Is there one from you? I thought you might be hinting there is an AM skin there?

[cribguy]

iTunes

[Toccata]

I listen to Aural Moon into my bedroom with a PC Windows Vista + I Tunes + connection via a M-Audio Card to a Hi- Fi Toshiba MC 663DW with 2 speakers, shortly I'll buy others 2 speakers!! Sometimes I use phones!!
Unfortunelly I can't to listen Aural Moon into my office , my pacients don't like it, I have a PC there but I use just to guard the folders, files and cases of the pacients by an specific program, without Internet.
When I arrive at home I am crazy to listening prog. music then I turn on Aural Moon!! :hot: :aua: :yougo :D

[Rick and Roll]

IUnfortunelly I can't to listen Aural Moon into my office , my pacients don't like it,

Maybe you should play some Thinking Plague....it's as pleasant as dental work!:rolleyes:

[Toccata]

Yes Rick!! With synths and theremins amplificated, the turbine sound disappears, could be a good audio therapy, the bacteries are killed by the high audio frequences!!:aua: :D :rofl:ha,ha,ha....
By friend!!
Toc.

[Michael]

Well My iPod finally died.So the wife for some reason picked me up a zune.I was like im going to hate it.Well its alright.But it gets me to something you guys should check out(was looking for a player to replace itunes.Well i found one and You can stream with it to its called Foobar2000 http://www.foobar2000.org/.It uses almost 1/8 of the Memory of iTunes and at lest to me sounds 10X better.Its a bit tricky getting use to it but Im loving it.If you want to try it and want to steam the moon go to File/Add location and put in the url.But anyway i thought you guys may want to try it out and see for yourself s im glade i did.

Also a edit in it can do aacplus streaming :)

[VAXman]

Well My iPod finally died.So the wife for some reason picked me up a zune.I was like im going to hate it.Well its alright.But it gets me to something you guys should check out(was looking for a player to replace itunes.Well i found one and You can stream with it to its called Foobar2000 http://www.foobar2000.org/.It uses almost 1/8 of the Memory of iTunes and at lest to me sounds 10X better.Its a bit tricky getting use to it but Im loving it.If you want to try it and want to steam the moon go to File/Add location and put in the url.But anyway i thought you guys may want to try it out and see for yourself s im glade i did.

Also a edit in it can do aacplus streaming :)
I wouid try it out but it's platform specific.

As for memory, FooBar doesn't do video (not that I care about video in iTunes) so that may be some of the size that iTunes consumes. I checked an iTunes on a PeeCee and it's 16MB. How big a footprint does FooBar have?

[Michael]

I wouid try it out but it's platform specific.

As for memory, FooBar doesn't do video (not that I care about video in iTunes) so that may be some of the size that iTunes consumes. I checked an iTunes on a PeeCee and it's 16MB. How big a footprint does FooBar have?

Right now Im streaming the moon and its using 4,500k memory.Thats to 60,000k iTunes uses when its running the moon.

[VAXman]

Right now Im streaming the moon and its using 4,500k memory.Thats to 60,000k iTunes uses when its running the moon.
I'm running a program and it's using 100% of the CPU. I suppose I need a faster CPU too. :horsepoop [1]


iTunes, on my Powerbook, is using 240+MB of virtual address space (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_address_space). The statistics monitor says that it's resident in 40+MB of physical memory -- That's only 2% of my total physical memory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_memory#Primary_storage). Personally, albeit I'll have to trust the OS X/unix memory management subsystem's decisions, I'd rather see MORE physical memory used and less paging/swapping (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_memory) for virtual I/O (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_memory). However, it could be that the 200M of other pages are for options in iTunes that I am not currently using; thus, proper for it to be paged out of the working set (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_set).

With memory access on the order of nSecs (nanosecond: 1e-9) and disk access on the order of mSecs (milliseconds: 1e-3), memory is a MILLION times faster (1e-3/1e-9 = 1e6). I'm very happy that iTunes is memory resident and consuming that whole 2% of my entire physical memory configuration.

I also have my streaming buffering set to large. iTunes can take and buffer all it wants. I hate stream hiccups.

Also, being multi-threaded (and I've written my share of multi-threaded apps), the thread managers keep heap (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heap_(data_structure)) set aside for the various threads. I know I can listen to AM on iTunes streaming in and being streamed out to my AirportExpress to speakers while ripping CDs and watching a video. I could probably be downloading from the iTunes store too but I don't buy music on line. The point being that I don't miss a single note of what is playing on AM while all of this is running.

On the PeeCee and Weendoze, who can actually tell what portion of memory an application is actually using. It's DLL hell. Are all of the DLLs that have been loaded for this application included in the tallies for memory usage by the statistics tool(s) available? I'd doubt it.

I could go into the translation buffer look-aside design, translation buffer mismatch and translation buffer invalidation schemes of each of the OSs and point out the benefits of leaving things in memory, but I don't want to bore you with too many OS design details all at once.

The point herein is that memory use is no metric of performance; however, the more physical memory in today's virtual memory environments, the better the general overall performance. Don't snarl just because a program is using it without a thorough understanding of the nuances of VM.


Footnotes
[1] If you believe this, I am MORE than willing to see you one.

[Michael]

Holy Crap Vaxman my brains going to explode!!!!=8^O You lost me at PeeCee:surrender.Really It seems to me to foobar runs a bit better than itunes but it might be just me and foobar is just a audio player and thats it so it really don't need a massive footprint :).

[gr8sho92]

The point herein is that memory use is no metric of performance; however, the more physical memory in today's virtual memory environments, the better the general overall performance.

I agree with the points made in this post. These points are surely valid for larger applications that manage a lot of data.

When it comes to streaming shoutcast (which is what this thread is about), this is a very focused and specific task. The music comes down the wire to my computer and I want it to come out the speakers. On some machines I have, they are very resource challenged including my work laptop. It uses over 430MB of RAM just to boot the darn thing and the vast majority of which I have no control over since the asset doesn't belong to me. Using an unobtrusive player that uses a small amount of RAM is very useful in this situation. If you have a very very low-end machine that has a small amount of RAM (say 160MB total), running an application with a small memory requirement is handy.

If you are so inclined Vax and have low-end w* machine around, try XMPlay just for grins.

I want to point out that I DO use iTunes to manage my personal music library because of my iPod. But for listening to AM, XMPlay does the job nicely in a very stealthy way.

Cheers

[VAXman]

I agree with the points made in this post. These points are surely valid for larger applications that manage a lot of data.

When it comes to streaming shoutcast (which is what this thread is about), this is a very focused and specific task. The music comes down the wire to my computer and I want it to come out the speakers. On some machines I have, they are very resource challenged including my work laptop. It uses over 430MB of RAM just to boot the darn thing and the vast majority of which I have no control over since the asset doesn't belong to me. Using an unobtrusive player that uses a small amount of RAM is very useful in this situation. If you have a very very low-end machine that has a small amount of RAM (say 160MB total), running an application with a small memory requirement is handy.

If you are so inclined Vax and have low-end w* machine around, try XMPlay just for grins.

I want to point out that I DO use iTunes to manage my personal music library because of my iPod. But for listening to AM, XMPlay does the job nicely in a very stealthy way.

Cheers
The claim, as I read it, what that the smaller memory footprint made it better.

I don't know the XMPlay s/w and I guess I never will. I looked to download it and try it, but it is Weendoze only.

The thing to remember is that iTunes is a collections of myriad functions including playing Video. Personally, I would have preferred Apple to divorce the Video from iTunes and create an iVideo/iWatch/iTV application but they did not. It's like a single guy with a sedan. He really only uses one seat but the others are still there. Should he buy a motorcycle? Or, stick with the sedan in case he wants to pick up a videographer, a database manager, a shopper and TV broadcaster?

My first comment about the 100% CPU was from a real customer situation. If you don't understand what the computer metrics you are observing mean, then you'd be best off to stop wasting system resources to collect/view them. The story is quite humorous. If you want to know, I can describe it in another thread or a PM.

[gr8sho92]

The thing to remember is that iTunes is a collections of myriad functions including playing Video. Personally, I would have preferred Apple to divorce the Video from iTunes and create an iVideo/iWatch/iTV application but they did not. It's like a single guy with a sedan. He really only uses one seat but the others are still there. Should he buy a motorcycle? Or, stick with the sedan in case he wants to pick up a videographer, a database manager, a shopper and TV broadcaster?


I don't have a problem with the designpoint. A 5th gen iPod or better can do video so the application that supports syncing it should do all of the work necessary to feed it data. I've been using iTunes as soon as it became available and was using MusicMatch before that (this is what Apple was shipping with the Gen I iPod).

Let's say you have a lot of music stored locally. In order for iTunes to start, it needs to read some XML files. If the library it manages is large enough, you may need to wait anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds just to open iTunes application. Same on the closing side when it writes the XML back out to disk apparently. This isn't a big deal to me if I need to deal with managing updates to the iPod.

But when it comes to listening to AuralMoon, I've gotten spoiled by the "instant on" aspect of smaller applications like XMP, or running PocketTunes on the Treo 650.