Saving space on your iPad

[Matth3w]

Another forum member mentioned this in another thread (I can't find it in my myriad of subscribed threads), so credit goes to him or her.

It was right in front of my eyes, and all of you long time iTunes users probably already know this trick...but right on the Summary sync page of iTunes when your iPad is plugged in, there is a checkbox option about 3/4 of the way down the page to convert any audio file with a quality of over 128kbps to AAC.

I had 8.10GB of music on my iPad before this...I checked the box and hit sync, and now my music only takes up 5.3GB of room!

Honestly, I don't notice a difference between 128kbps and 192kbps, especially if listening via headphones...I don't sit there and say "wow this sounds like 192k song" so this is no difference to me. In addition, I don't use my iPad all that often for music, but if it matters to you obviously don't check the block.

Here is a screen shot just in case you are confused as to the location of this option:

 

[Matth3w]

Actually it's going to be a little more, there was an error syncing one darn song so iTunes quit syncing. We will see what the end result becomes. Stand by

 

[brhon]

Matt-great tip. I had not noticed that either. That saved me a lot of space. Thanks

 

[Matth3w]

How much space did it save you?

 

[col.bris]

Does it affect songs uploaded or all music converted

 

[Matth3w]

It only affects songs being transferred to the iPad from what I can tell. And it doesn't affect the music on your computer if you are syncing from a particular folder. Like it doesn't seem to affect the original...it's like it converts it and sends it to the iPad but leaves the original alone.

 

[GeeWillikers]

I can absolutely hear the difference between a 128 and 192k music file. Your mileage may vary. I prefer to keep top quality and vary the mix frequently. Works for me.

Seriously, I have 32GB of tunes onboard right now and that's more than enough music for a couple of weeks. Most of my music is 192VBR or higher and I went to a lot of trouble to get it that way. It wouldn't make sense to downgrade it for the sake of a few MBs.

 

[Matth3w]

I certainly can't. I definitely didn't buy the iPad to turn it into an iPod, I have one of those solely for music. It's not really a "few" megabytes for me. The final amount saved me 3GB worth of space, that's a decent amount of space. That's almost 25% for someone with a 16GB.

 

[GeeWillikers]

My iTouch is a 64 as is my iPad. I went that way because I don't like to sweat space.

I think whether you can hear the difference depends a lot on how they were encoded and which headphones you use to enjoy them. Apple headphones, in my opinion, are about the worst thing you can do to your ears. If you want to enjoy good quality sound, you need a quality product in your ear. Which headphones are you using?

 

[GeeWillikers]

Ninja edit..

Right now I have about nine GB free on my pad. That's a lot. If I ever got to the point that I ran out of space, I'd really have to take a really hard look at what I had on my pad that I didn't need before I killed the quality of my music.

 

[Matth3w]

I don't really listen to music much on the iPad, so it's inconsequential to me. Music would be one of the first things to go if I needed more space for movies on my 64GB iPad.

I have the Apple headphones, but not the stock ones...the ones with the inline mic and volume control that are about 80 bucks. I'm not really an audiophile and when I'm listening to a song at medium to low volume, the highest I ever listen on the iPad, it could 65kb for all I care.

I have a remix of a song from the Book of Eli sountrack that for some reason is 64kb or something, can't tell the difference.

But then again I was an artilleryman for 3.5 years.

My entire music collection is only 8GB and that's WITH all the crap my wife listens to added in. The music that I had before we got married was maybe 5-6GB.

I would never dream of having 32GB worth of music on an iPad, that's what an mp3 player is for...but that's just ME, obviously just my personal feelings. Obviously you are much more into music so I can see why you would use that as your main staple for the iPad.

For me it's videos, then apps, then photos, then music last in my orders of priority.

 

[fairoasis]

Thanks for pointing this out. I like to keep a little jazz on my iPad to listen to while I do other things. This really freed up some space. More room for TV shows and movies.

 

[Matth3w]

These are the ones I have, Gee:

Apple - iPod - In-Ear Headphones