Seriously Considering a Zune 80

[arcana777]

I'm seriously considering a Zune 80 for more music storage space. I currently own the Creative Zen Touch 40GB (which I bought 2.5 years ago). While it allows for use as an actual hard-drive in storing any non-audio data (which I understand the Zune 80 does not), this is no big deal to me! I use a flash-drive (or other method) for most non-music-related-data-transfer anyway.

My Zen Touch hasn't got a full-color display and therefore won't allow for playback of color video or photos. I don't care! All I want is a high-capacity music-storage device because I've got a large music collection that I want to take (and listen to) anwhere!

So, in relation to audio, my primary question is this:
My Zen Touch does not allow more than basic categorization of music. I.E.; I cannot assign sub-genres to primary genres of music. This drives me nuts! I may DESPISE iPods for various reasons but in the very least, they DO allow users to assign sub-genres.

So.... does the Zune 80 allow sub-categorization? If, for instance, I assign a master-genre of "Trance", will it then allow me to sub-divide that genre into "Trance-Vocal" and "Trance-Instrumental" and subsequently allow me to randomize play on "Trance" as a whole OR allow me to randomize the sub-genres of "vocal" or "instrumental" upon a whim? I hope this makes sense.

I'm sincerely interested in the Zune 80 but since I'm only interested in it from the standpoint of cataloging my large music collection contaning many genres/sub-genres, the allowance of sub-categorization is the most important feature to me, personally.

Sure, I may temporarily use the Zune for photos and for storage of a home-made video now and then; But for the most-part, I could care less about these graphical capabilities, to be honest. It's all about the music for me!

It's tough (if not impossible) to find a device that handles only music at the storage capacity I require these days which is why I ask. I'm hoping I'm not berated here for asking about a device which handles more media types than I currently care about. I really haven't got much choice if I fall into the high-capacity market, music-wise. I've got other means for purely graphical storage but in the current MP3-Player market, I truly care only about capacity for music .

Thanks ahead so much for considering my questions!

[Space Toast]

Ok First off.
Welcome to ZB.
1. i believe it does. I think that can be Edited with MetaData.

And also to your interest in high Capacity.. no diss to the Zune.
Ipod has a 160 Gb Model, if thats any better to fit music
HERE is a link to the Ipod 160Gb.
That is just in case you meed more than 80gb.

But if it was me i would go with the Zune 80.

[arcana777]

I actually don't need more than 80GB for a bit yet. I've been "conservatitive" on the bit-rates thus, far (160). Now wish I'd have ripped at a higher rate to account for increasing technology. So thanks, ZuneNerd! It'll take A LOT for me to buy an Apple product!

[Wootmasta]

what you described for sub-genres i don't know is possible (but i don't use genres too much)

what you can do is put in Trance - Instrumental and then it is sorted aphabetically anyway so it would be right under but that isn't as good. I can see where you are comming from. I just have always gone through songs from artists

[arcana777]

To clarify, when I stated "160" in my previous post, I meant 160 KPBS. I meant no reference to the 160GB iPod.

[arcana777]

Yeah, that's what I do now and it annoys me. I'm anal, I know. Sorry.

[mangodroplet]

lol, it's okies :]
We're all anal sometimes

Anyways, welcome welcome welcome!
Annnd. I'm sorry, but I don't think you can sub-genre them....
What you can do, however, is just make the sub-genres actual genres :\

[arcana777]

Ugh! And those sub-genres would make this Zune seemingly perfect!

Yes, I'm frighteningly "anal" about music. I can certainly keep my genre listings as they are but I'd so love to refine them as that iPod (which I so love to HATE) allows me to.

God, I so don't wanna buy an iPOD for so many reasons! LOL!

[jackluo923]

Yes... you can definetly change Genre in on your zune. It works for all zune.

You'll need a program called MP3tag. In that program, you'll be able to choose your own genre. You could also make your own genre, maybe one called "arcana777" if you want.

Also.. you should convert your music down to 128kb/s .wma professional. It'll sound a bit better than 160kb/s mp3. That way, you'll save lots of 25% space + retaining the music quality.

[arcana777]

Originally Posted by jackluo923

Yes... you can definetly change Genre in on your zune. It works for all zune.

You'll need a program called MP3tag. In that program, you'll be able to choose your own genre. You could also make your own genre, maybe one called "arcana777" if you want.

Also.. you should convert your music down to 128kb/s .wma professional. It'll sound a bit better than 160kb/s mp3. That way, you'll save lots of 25% space + retaining the music quality.

Thank you, jackluo, but I'm not sure you understood my post. I'm quite certain I can create any genre, even that of "arcana777". I've created my own genre names over and over again for YEARS in categorizing my mp3s. What I cannot do is create ONE overall genre, let's call it "Rock" and then UNDERNEATH "Rock" (in a Windows Explorer-like-view) specify sub-genres (or sub-folders) such as "Classic", "80's", "90's Grunge," Etc.

I've been a composer for 20 years and completely understand audio formats. If you think 128 exceeds 160, think again. You need to try encoding something other than rock. Try Classical, for instance which sucks at anything under 320. I'm not a novice at MP3 encoding. That is not the point here. I need to know what "dream-functionality" of mine has actually been realized in today's hardware!

[jackluo923]

128kbit/s .wma professional will sound better than 160kbit/s .mp3.

.wma pro and .mp3 uses different compression. It just happens that .wma is newer and more efficient in terms of compression thus it will generally reproduce better quality songs at the same bitrate compared to .mp3.

I'm not saying .mp3 is bad. What i'm saying that if you convert your 160kbit/s .mp3 music to 128kb/s .wma pro, you'll save space and have the same quality music. If you think .wma pro will have compatibility issue in the future, .wma will be great also. The sound quality will be a little worse than .wma pro but quite a bit better than .mp3 at the same bitrate.

If you want to use .wma pro variable bitrate, then that will save you even more space while keeping the music quality.

For classical or any music that you wanted to keep as original as possible, .wma lossless is the best format for your zune. It's compression is about 4:1 meaning each cd will take about 250mb of space. You could also try .wma pro at 384kb/s VBR, that will give you a result of 230.4MB per CD.

I hope this solves the confusion.

[arcana777]

Thanks Jackluo. I've actually never dealt with .wma pro so I appreciate the explanation. I may check into that for anything new I put on the Zune if I end up purchasing it but with thousands of mp3s already in my library, I just can't go re-encode them. I'll lose my mind doing that again. LOL!

[jackluo923]

You don't really have to re-encode them.

When you get your zune, download zalternator. zalterator is a tool created by PityOnU which allows you to sync the zune with Windows Media Player.

There's a special feature in windows media player which allows you to "convert before sync". Convert before sync means that the computer will convert your 160kbit/s mp3 to .wma or .wma pro at the time of sync. The converted audio will go on your zune and your media library will stay unchanged. There's no need for user interaction.

[polishrocker]

sell ur zen and buy a zune 80

[jabbabetes]

Originally Posted by arcana777

Thank you, jackluo, but I'm not sure you understood my post. I'm quite certain I can create any genre, even that of "arcana777". I've created my own genre names over and over again for YEARS in categorizing my mp3s. What I cannot do is create ONE overall genre, let's call it "Rock" and then UNDERNEATH "Rock" (in a Windows Explorer-like-view) specify sub-genres (or sub-folders) such as "Classic", "80's", "90's Grunge," Etc.

I've been a composer for 20 years and completely understand audio formats. If you think 128 exceeds 160, think again. You need to try encoding something other than rock. Try Classical, for instance which sucks at anything under 320. I'm not a novice at MP3 encoding. That is not the point here. I need to know what "dream-functionality" of mine has actually been realized in today's hardware!

That is a fantastic idea. While I'm not nearly as anal about it as you, I like to have my stuff organized as well.