Is there a way to store music on the computer as lame -aps and transcode on the iPod to say 128 AAC without having 2 copies of all my songs on my computer? The reason I ask is that before I sold my PSP, SonicStage would convert on the fly for anything I put on there (before SS broke). That would be a really great way to save some space depending on the quality of the file after transcoding (which is a bad, bad naughty thing to do according to some).

foo_pod works great. Though I don't transcode MP3s.

Neither do I, but foo_pod does turn my .flac's into either LAME or AAC's very nicely.

This is actually my wife's ipod and if I mention foobar she will flip out.

If by any slim chance it's a Shuffle, iTunes will transcode ALC to AAC on-the-fly - http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....ST&f=20&t=41510 (posts 16, 19, and 22).

Nope. 30gb iPod with video. That was a great thread though. I searched before I posted and didn't see that one. I would really rather not transcode from mp3 to aac but I decided way back when (last year) that I didn't have the storage for a lossless compression and lame -aps would give me best bang for buck. I ripped all my stuff to ogg once before and lost the compatibility war. I figure your not going to really notice it that much through headphones anyway (by transcoding, that is).

Why not just dump the LAME files straight into the 'pod? Unless they're huge, it shouldn't be a problem.

- edit -
I gotta ask - why?

This is actually a feature that a lot of people request with iTunes but only shuffle users have that feature unlocked. The rest of us will either have to sqeeze what we have onto our iPods, transcode (god forbid), or start ripping at lower bitrates.

I am surprised that Apple hasn't already unlocked this feature for other iPods. MusicMatch Jukebox has had this feature for the longest time. I remember that one of my friends was boasting that MusicMatch would convert mp3's on the fly to 96kbps mp3pro for his portable DAP (eventhough it didn't support mp3pro).

I am making a general statement from MY experience (andn I have the ABX tests to show) but, if your wife is using the basic Apple supplied earbuds then transcoding down to lower bitrate files shouldn't be too bad.

The best way to do this is to have two copies of the files on your hard drive then setup two smart playlists. One that picks out the lower bitrate files and another for the high bitrate files. That way you can syne the lower bitrate playlist to your wife's iPod while you keep the high bitrate playlist on your computer. I have to do this for my lossless library. I have one Apple lossless library on my external hard drive and one -V 2 --vbr-new Lame 3.97b1/b2 library also on my external hard drive. I sync the -V 2 playlist (and other playlists containing -V 2 files) to my iPod while I keep the Apple Lossless library on my hard drive.

You have 30GB, and you still wring your hands over saving a few bits? Gimme a break. Toss the -aps onto your iPod and you're done. Saves hours, no foobar, the wife's happy, hooray problem solved.

I personally have a collection of 40GB of mp3s in APS, and if I had an Ipod, i would also use it as a mass storage device...

I just found out that dbpoweramp can convert/transcode files on the fly while transfering them to mobile DAP's. dbpoweramp has a free 30 day trial of the Lame mp3 encoder but you can convert to other formats such as iTunes/QuickTime AAC and Nero AAC for iPod compatibility.

And yes (to continue the comments from riggits and shade), I use my iPod as a portable audio player, portable video player, and portable storage device. I need a minimum of 5GB free so that I can use it carry around my files. I also need about 15GB for video storage which includes about 5 movies, a dozen concerts, and a lot of music videos. This really doesn't leave me with a whole lot of room on my 60GB iPod for music and the -V 2 --vbr-new/--aps mp3 files that I have don't really help with file size issues.

If someone can't hard the difference between the source mp3/lossless file and transcoded file then go for it.

That is about the only option I have found for on the fly conversion without using Foobar (which would have unlimited use of the Lame mp3 encoder, iTunes AAC encoder, and Nero AAC encoder).

You know, you COULD make foobar look quite pretty and un-foobar-like.. that would make it invisible to your wife...

There'd still probably be quite a bit of digging around in menus and stuff. Granted, I actually hate using iTunes but I think your average user isn't willing to do that.

this brings up another question i've been wondering about for a while:

right now, "transcode + copy to portable device" takes longer than just "copy to portable device."

in order for the additional transcoding step to become negligible, we'll have to get LAME to approach HD/flash write speeds.

is this a pipe dream? i hear that version 4 is all about optimization.

You could also use MediaMonkey (http://www.mediamonkey.com) which supports transcoding while transfering to ipods and other portable players. But this feature is only available in the pro version which costs 19 Dollars (29 Dollars with lifetime license).

Big_Berny

The files are currently on there in -aps and it's about 19gb out of 30gb. If we put any video on there and we continuously get new cd's so eventually there might be a problem. Can always start pruning out some of the crud but I like having everything with me. As far as the wife and foobar, let me give you an example. I have OpenOffice.org on one computer and she was afraid to use it because it wasn't MS Office. See where I'm going. Also, I like foobar but I end up spending so much time getting it set up the way I want, that I don't actually use it. And I usually just try to make it look like iTunes anyway. I don't have near as much time to spend at the computer anymore, so iTunes is really simple and there is no effort to put music and podcasts on the player (especially since I have the subscriptions set up on iTunes, as well). If I have to talk her through "How do I put x on there?" I can just say "Plug it in.". That's oversimplified but you get what I'm saying. Farpenoodle, why do you hate iTunes? Don't get me wrong, it is a bit bloated and draggy but I never really understand people's dislike of it. (Disclaimer: I am not a fanboy! iTunes may cause upset stomach, bloating, headache and diarrhea. Please consult physician if you experience theses symptoms.) Thanks for the suggestions on dbpoweramp and mediamonkey. I think I installed mediamonkey once and never used it.