FreeLists / blindipod / [blindipod] Media Player, Itunes and Winamp

["G. McFarlane" <gmcf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi 
Recently I've been putting all my disks onto hard drive, meticulously making 
sure each has the correct information in the tag. I've come across a strange 
anomile in Itunes and wonder if anyone can throw any light on it, or suggest 
other player programs which might be better.

I ripped them all as wav files to hold the quality, then I transferred them to 
mp3s. If I import them  into Itunes as mp3s the tag details all work perfectly. 
Strangely however the original wav files from which the mp3s were made when 
they are imported into Itunes they lose everything except the title of the song 
- at least Itunes only sees this and seems to be unable to work with gendre, 
albums, artists etc. Is this a problem with Itunes and wav format files - I've 
tried almost every alternative - the only one which sometimes works is if I 
save a library once I've finished ripping the files in the first place, but 
this is dependent on the external disk with all the ripped wavs being the same 
drive letter every time.

I've never used the media player or winamp but I thought I'd try the media 
player with these wav files. It does seem to find all the details on the tags 
but it does seem a bit more unwieldy than Itunes. Also I'm afraid I seem 
ignorant about how Media Player works - I forgot to turn on the external drive 
with the wavs and it still played the music. Any suggestions anyone - has it 
made a copy of my files? (I can't find them if it did.)

Finally I know it's often a matter of personal preference but what is the 
general consensus about the best player for ripping, making playlists, quality 
of sound and of course accessibility? I'm thinking of mainly Itunes, Media 
Player, Winamp and Real Pla;yer.

Thanks for reading all this.

Gordon McFarlane