iLAS
iLAS is a very simple application that allows you to import a CD or encode a playlist in iTunes using Lame 3.97. It doesn’t sparkle and it won’t make you go oooohhhh or aaaahhhh but it will do the one thing it is designed to do.
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Using
- After installing iLAS open iTunes
- Select the playlist you’d like to encode
- Click on the scripts icon on the top of the screen and choose “Import with iLAS”
- Relax with a cold one while you get mp3′s all up in your business
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Complete Uninstall
- Delete the application (Applications -> iLAS)
- Delete the iTunes iLAS script (your-home-folder -> iLAS)
- Delete the cache folder (your-home-folder -> Library -> iTunes -> Scripts -> Import with iLAS)
- Curse the monster who made you do all this
Thanks for creating iLAS! It’s great to be able to use LAME again in iTunes. I’ve noticed one bug: it can’t import songs with a ‘/’ (forward slash) in their names. Also, it would be great if more of the metadata was imported such as composer and total number of tracks. Cheers–
Lorrin
Thanks! Appears to work. A good replacement for iTunes-LAME which no longer does for me.
Oops, I spoke a bit too soon. It does seem to have trouble with char encoding issues in tags. Importing tags with diacritics and such, they get messed up.
I’m going to check out ‘Max’.
I’m having the following problems:
- AppleScript event timed out when doing other stuff in iTunes during the import such as renaming songs in the library
- Character encoding problems in tags of imported songs
I’m having to go back to iTunes-LAME for now. I hope this info helps.
Hey,
Thanks for doing this – I really appreciate it, as I used to use Grip (back on my old linux machine) and had no ready alternative on my new Mac.
For those of us unfamiliar with Lame, maybe you could post or point to some description of the various encoding options, and which ones you tend to use?
Cheers -
stupid question, where is the scripts icon?
i’ve just installed iLAS and i am attempting to follow the directions on this page and i am stuck at step number 3.
please help me please?
Where do the converted files go? I selected my playlist in iTunes, and then clicked on Encode Now in iLos; it encoded the songs, but where do I find them?
I’m stuck just like Kevin Budd, regarding instruction #3: I don’t get it…
So I couldn’t find the Script icon you guys mention in your directions like Kevin and Brad couldn’t, so I opened iLas seperately, made a playlist of songs I wanted to encode, and clicked “Encode Now”. The encoded songs went neatly into a playlist in my iTunes entitled “Lamed” that I guess came with the download and installation of iLas, but when I clicked on it, each song had only been turned into thirty seconds of frighteningly loud static.
Hmm, I’m not exactly computer savy, so if someone could help me out that would be great.
Hey Folks, Thanks for trying iLAS. It is definitely a work in progress and has some rough edges. Here are the answers to your questions:
1) the scripts icon *should* appear in the top menu bar. However it appears that sometimes it doesn’t. Search on your computer for a file called “Import with iLAS.scpt” (without the quotes). That file should be in the iTunes “Scripts” folder (Your User Folder -> Library -> iTunes -> Scripts). If that folder doesn’t exist you can just make it. The script icon will be just before the “Help” menu. Alternatively you can just launch the application from the Applications folder while iTunes is running.
2) Converted files are added to iTunes and will go into your iTunes music folder. If you don’t have the “Copy files to iTunes Music folder…” option checked then the files are left in the iLAS cache folder, which is then deleted. Right now there isn’t an option to just stick them in a selected folder.
3) Thirty seconds of horrible static means you are probably trying to use a file type that LAME doesn’t support. What kind of files were you converting?
Seems to work great for me. I don’t know what the various encoding options are, though. No instructions!
First of all thank you very much for this app.
I read the note in the last issue of WIRED Mag. and I just ran to try it.
iLas not only rips CDs. It also re-compresses existing music in my library (ripped with iTunes)
It caught my attention that the MP3s I have re-compressed are originally 128 kbps and the iLas’ MP3 became in 190 kbps.
My question is: it is possible for iLas to transform crappy MP3-iTunes-created into a good quality MP3?
For me is like traying to improve a low resolution, 16 bits, 256 colors jpg just by putting it in Photoshop and increasing the Image Size, changing it to a higher bit, moving the selector to “Millions” color and saving. As you know, what you get is the same ugly file, but heavier.
I hope this isn’t the case for iLas and existing MP3s.
I need badly to improved at least MP3s in my collection targetting audiophiles. iTunes definitely screwed up.
Thank you for your help.
I have the same question as José: does iLAS do anything to already imported songs besides just make them bigger? AND: what’s the difference among the different encoding options?
José, glad you like the application. Unfortunately, your analogy of upconverting an image is exactly what happens with audio files. You’ll get a larger file but it will be of equal, or maybe lesser, quality. Compressing a file is a one way street— you can keep going down, but you can never go back up.
Hey Jon,
I really appreciate what you have done here. I found your program mentioned in the November Issue very briefly but I thought I would give it a shot. I am now in the very slow process of re-ripping all my favourite albums (then it will be on to the rest). My only request is like most of the others; a user guide. Thank you again.
Your friend on the interwebs,
Nate
tell me again why this thing is so great?
Hey Bob, it isn’t great. It’s okay. And it looks like iTunes-Lame has finally been updated. This is an application that does what iLAS does (only it’s better).
Is there any way to change the compression settings. Right now I am getting them set to VBR 210 Kb/s
Guavatone, absolutely. By default it iLAS set to V0 vbr (variable bit rate) which is a high quality mp3 setting. The V0 to V3 settings supposedly created files that are of high enough that it is impossible for a person to distinguish them from a CD. Below is a list of what you can expect for a bit rate with each setting, according to Hydrogenaudio (of course this varies a bit since it is vbr).
-V0 –vbr-new (~230 kbps)
-V1 –vbr-new (~210 kbps)
-V2 –vbr-new (~190 kbps)
-V3 –vbr-new (~175 kbps)
You can also go lower, but you’re gonna lose quality in a way that you may notice. Here are the next three.
-V4 –vbr-new (~160 kbps)
-V5 –vbr-new (~130 kbps)
-V6 –vbr-new (~115 kbps)
The final preset is “–preset voice” which, as the name suggests, is really only good for voice. Music will sound bad using this.
You might have noticed that iLAS only has the V0-V4 as defaults along with the voice preset. These are the only ones I’d suggest using, but if you want to go lower you can edit the text and go lower.
Hope that helps people.
—Jon