Add songs to iPod without using iTunes?

Big Katuna wrote:
I have a 150 GB of songs and movies, about 23K items.

Movies chew up a bunch of disk if you have higher than SD quality. I have a couple but that is not included in my track disk space.

tragusa3 wrote:
I don't currently have that much...something happened in my last transfer to the new computer. I lost a bunch that I had tried to copy from my brother. So, I used the larger number to make my point. :) I currently have about 33GB and it's only 8,500 tracks. I rip mine in at full quality, not mp3. Not sure why, as I never sit for "critical listening". How much space was 50,000 tracks taking up? mp3 quality?

Most of my tracks were ripped at 100% VBR and it consumed the greater portion of a 500GB drive. I was trying to do a drive replacement to a 1TB drive and something when wrong. It got FUBARed. I have about 8,000 tracks now on about 45GB and I still listen to a limited selection. I have about 500 1960's tracks on a thumb drive is what I listen to mostly. 60's on 6 on Sirius in the truck. I rarely use CDs or mp3 player in truck anymore.

I have a 150 GB of songs and movies, about 23K items.

I don't currently have that much...something happened in my last transfer to the new computer. I lost a bunch that I had tried to copy from my brother. So, I used the larger number to make my point. :) I currently have about 33GB and it's only 8,500 tracks. I rip mine in at full quality, not mp3. Not sure why, as I never sit for "critical listening". How much space was 50,000 tracks taking up? mp3 quality?

tragusa3 wrote:
I don't think the answer to your question is complicated at all. Use itunes, but don't buy the music through the istore. Buy discs however you'd like and with itunes open when you insert the disc, itunes will ask if you want to rip it into the library. It's that easy.

I have nearly 50gb of music and not a single song purchased through the itunes store. I like having the physical media at home.

Out of curiosity how many tracks is on 50GB? I had 50,000 tracks at one time and never knew what was where...played lots of tunes but all within a limited range. Thanks.

I don't think the answer to your question is complicated at all. Use itunes, but don't buy the music through the istore. Buy discs however you'd like and with itunes open when you insert the disc, itunes will ask if you want to rip it into the library. It's that easy.

I have nearly 50gb of music and not a single song purchased through the itunes store. I like having the physical media at home.

Media Monkey is a powerful iPhone/iPod App. It has a much stronger database and converts various formats on the fly, burns CDs, etc.
has a free version with upgrades available for converting.

SharePod is another easy/free one to use.

christopherglenn wrote:
AFIK iTunes is the ONLY way to get things on the ipods.

There's been alternative apps available for quite some time. When I owned iPod Touchs, I used the free CopyTrans Manager. But there are others including Sync iOS, though haven't used it personally.

I've had a subscription to eMusic for some time. Most individual titles are 0.49, though some of the more popular tracks can go for 0.79. Tracks download as standard MP3 files, which can be synced via iTunes or another third party app.