Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

itunes & my non ipod MP3

by rbrennan Dec 5, 2005 9:06AM PST

I know this has probably been asked and answered a hundred times, please forgive my "newness" to this whole world of MP3.
My question is: My son and daughter have MP3 players by Creative. I have been suggesting to relatives to buy them itunes gift cards for Christmas. Now I hear that you can not use itunes with non-ipod MP3 players.
Is this true? If not is there anything special I need to know in order to download them?
Thanks for the help!
Mom in CT

Discussion is locked

4 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
its tru :(
by yangman88 Dec 5, 2005 9:23AM PST

you can't connect anything except an ipod to itunes. You CAN however buy songs from the itunes music store, since anything you buy there is in AAC format and protected, and burn them onto a cd with itunes and then burn them back onto your harddrive. As you can see, this is a tedious process so i recommend that you get the relatives to buy rhapsody or Napster gift cards(they have them right?) or buy the kids shiny new ipod nanos (Mwuhaha).

- Collapse -
non ipod & itunes
by rbrennan Dec 5, 2005 9:00PM PST

I have been doing a little research and found that there are programs (free downloads) that allow you to convert the itunes to MP3 format to download to your player. I think the sofware is named LAME (I know) have you ever heard of this or tried it? If so does it work?
Thanks for writing, I need all the help I can get!

- Collapse -
LAME is not the answer
by bobpenn Dec 5, 2005 11:07PM PST

Lame is an mp3 codec, meaning that it is a program which will allow you to convert an audio file to mp3. But Lame will NOT break the copy protection of a song purchased on iTunes and convert it to mp3 so that it can be played on the Creative unit. Your only choice is to use software which converts the protected file to mp3, but since you are breaking Apple's copy protection, this sort of software, while available, is technically illegal, especially if you are living in the USA where our laws are very clear about that type of activity.

Ever if you did do it, the act of transcoding from AAC format to mp3 loses quality in the process.

For those who own mp3 players other than the iPod, iTunes is of little value. You need to use Napster, Yahoo, Rhapsody, really, ANYONE else other than iTunes.

- Collapse -
Thanks!
by rbrennan Dec 6, 2005 10:50AM PST

I appreciate your info. Do you know anyone who wants to buy itunes cards?? :{

Back to Headphones & Mp3 Players forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info