Posts Tagged ‘iTunes’
Question Asked: Can I Listen to my iTunes Songs Away From Home?
There’s nothing built into iTunes that will allow you to stream your music to somewhere you aren’t. You can stream music to other rooms in your home, on the same wi-fi network, with Airport Express, which I talk about here.
However, there is a number of solutions that will let you stream music over the internet from iTunes. A co-worker recommended Simplify Media to me a few days ago. He was using it primarily to stream music from his iTunes library to his iPhone while he was on the go.
The reviews I read of the iPhone app were less than desirable, mainly because of a strain on battery power. So I skipped that aspect of their application.
I installed the PC software at home, where my library is. Then installed it on my iMac at work.
I logged in and it told me it’d take a bit to process my library because it was so large. Once done, the library I named “Home” showed up in my iTunes Shared Library list. Along with all my playlists.
And the best part: the audio quality is perfect. There’s no compression or loss of quality as far as I can tell. It sounds as though I am sitting at home and listening to the tracks on my computer.
Also, Simplify Media also does photos over the same process. So you can get access to all of your photos as a shared library in iPhoto, as well.
This answer pertains specifically to iTunes. However, Simplify Media also works with any media player of your choice that supports shared music libraries. It’s not limited to iTunes, though that is what it was designed for.
Question Asked: Can I Use More Than One Airport Express At a Time?
Absolutely.
You can configure as many Airport Expresses on your home network as you want to. Whether you’re using them to extend your wireless network, or to stream music through iTunes, there’s no limit.
Just be sure to configure them with different names, when you’re setting them up. This way you know which one’s which, when setting iTunes to stream music to another room.
Question Asked: How Do I Use An iTunes Gift Card?
An iTunes gift card is pretty easy to “use” or “redeem”, and highly beneficial, because it’ll store that balance in your account. So you don’t have to use it all at once, all your future purchases will use the gift card, until it’s gone.
To redeem a gift card, you’ll need to open iTunes.
- Click on the “iTunes Store” link.
- Then click on your e-mail address in the top right corner of the window.
- You’ll be prompted for your password, to authenticate.
- Click on “Edit Payment Information”
- You’ll see the “Gift Cards and Certificates” section. Click on the arrow in a circle.
- Enter your redemption code on the back of your gift card(s), and click “Redeem”
- That’s it.
The balance automatically gets added to your account, and will be deducted from as you buy things from both iTunes, or your iPhone/iPod.
As of now, there is no limit on how much credit you can have in your account. However, that is subject to change at any given point in time.
Question Asked: How Can I Stream Music From My Computer to My Stereo?
Surprisingly, a lot more people are doing this now. Instead of shuffling discs around, or worrying where you left that copy of Vanilla Ice’s Greatest Hit, people are copying all of their CDs to their computer, and playing them in iTunes or Windows Media Player.
This is ideal for streaming to a stereo, and it is extremely easy.
You’ve got a few options, as far as streaming does:
- If you’ve got an Xbox 360
or PlayStation 3
connected to a wireless network, you’re already one step closer to streaming.
- If you don’t have a NextGen gaming console, you can pick an up Apple Airport Express
. (I just picked one of these up a few weeks ago.)
They both will perform the same functions. However, I’ve found that the Apple Airport Express
The other upside of the Apple Airport Express
Configuring the Apple Airport Express
Question Asked: Can I Sync My iPod With Windows Media Player?
Despite what Apple would like you to believe, your iPod does actually work with Windows Media Player.
By default, it won’t work. However, you can purchase an add-on application called MGTEK dopisp, for a small price of $19.95. Once you’ve installed MGTEK’s application, you’ll get a new option in Windows Media Player to “sync” your iPod (once you’ve registered it with MGTEK’s software, of course.)
Sync iPod With Windows Media Player
Once your iPod is connected, it’s a very simple process to drag files from your library to the Sync List. Once it’s full of tracks you want to sync, just click the Start Sync button at the bottom (not pictured) to begin the process.
Speed-wise, it’s about as quick as iTunes is. I transferred about 200 tracks to my iPod via this method last night, and it took about a minute and a half, give or take.
There’s a lot of reasons why people argue one versus the other, iTunes vs WMP. While some people use WMP because they’re anti-iTunes, that’s not the case for me. I moved to Windows Media Player mainly so I could stream music from my terrabyte music drive directly to my Xbox 360 and/or Playstation 3, which I can’t do with iTunes.
Hope that answers your question. I know some people are hesitant to spend money on add-ons for some applications, but MGTEK is 100% worth it.