iTunes and Rio500 on Windows XP possible?

[Tom]

Hi,

Does anyone know if the Windows version of iTunes supports the Rio500?
I've been searching and it seems the pair works under Macs. I'm hoping
to get an iPod soon and I don't really want to manage my music through
two different applications. Plus, the RioPort Audio Manager is a pain
(admittedly, I haven't tried recent versions). Does MusicMatch work
with both iPod and Rio500?

On a side note, does iTunes store it's music as MP3? I know it uses
AAC, but does it use AAC on the computer's drive? I've played with
MusicMatch/iPods (before iTunes for Windows came out) and MusicMatch
ripped MP3s, then transferred them to the iPod. That would be
convenient for my Rio500 (mp3 only).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Galley]

Hi,

Does anyone know if the Windows version of iTunes supports the Rio500?
I've been searching and it seems the pair works under Macs. I'm hoping
to get an iPod soon and I don't really want to manage my music through
two different applications. Plus, the RioPort Audio Manager is a pain
(admittedly, I haven't tried recent versions). Does MusicMatch work
with both iPod and Rio500?

RealPlayer 10.5 supports both devices.

On a side note, does iTunes store it's music as MP3? I know it uses
AAC, but does it use AAC on the computer's drive? I've played with
MusicMatch/iPods (before iTunes for Windows came out) and MusicMatch
ripped MP3s, then transferred them to the iPod. That would be
convenient for my Rio500 (mp3 only).

Thanks in advance.

Yes, iTunes can import tunes as MP3, but its encoder is rather poor. You're
better off using CDex, if you wanna stick with MP3 for compatibility with the
Rio500.
http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/

 

[Tom]

Thanks. I downloaded RealPlayer 10.5 and the Rio500 plugin.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work well. The first time I plugged
it in, I was told to reformat the memory. I did so and tried copying
two files. It hung on the second file (which is really scary, hearing
how people lose internal memory due to incomplete transfers). I
restarted, tried again and successfully copied several files. I
plugged it in again after noticing some 12-minute 0kbps songs and
RealPlayer told me to reformat again. It was worth a shot.

I ended up downloading RioPort Audio Manager again. The tranfers went
flawlessly, but many songs are still being uploaded with a 12-minute
length and 0kbps (it skips the song when you try to play it). And it's
always the same songs. I remember a similar problem with my Win2k
setup. I grabbed MDRio500.dll from
http://www.rioworld.org/rio500-new.htm last time and it worked. I'll
try again with both applications once the file is in place.