Alright guys, so SSL is in the mail heading for my door. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to prepare my music or computer for SSL. I was thinking maybe I should start organizing my music in iTunes or something. Bacially, I know that when it comes I am gonna be very anxious to play with it so I would like to get all the preliminary work out of the way. In addition, I have a gig this saturday-I would love to use it on that day. So I would love to have everything in up and working condition ASAP. Thanks.

Make sure the ID3 tags on your mp3s are all present and correct, and look at adding bpm tags if you don't already have them. The tips & tricks section has some pointers for how to do this best depending on if you're Mac or PC. A lot of people here swear by iTunes, personally I swear at it, but if you want to use it I hear it integrates well.

You may also want to go out and get hold of a power adapter from Radio Shack or wherever. You may not need it, but if you're impatient like me you'll want to be prepared :)

how does the power adaptor help?

oh yeah i forgot to mention that i will be using an external hard drive

power adaptor = life saver, if your pc crashes/goes out/whatever. Cause during reboot time etc. your SSL unit is w/o juice which means NO sound at all, even not at the thrus!

so power adapter for the ssl box-hey nik39-how much time do you save when you do your batchfile process-i am a little unclear what exactly that does!

It does analyze all files in advance, not during playtime. That doesnt really save time, but it will avoid hiccups, b/c SSL doesnt need to analyze/stripe any mp3 file during playtime... cause its done in advance :)

Peeti, I think you might need an ext. power supply anyway as (From what I have read here) many users suffer from the problem that the SSL box doesnt power/start-up w/o the power supply. Still I dont know why this is not listed in the known bugs section.

That issue you are speaking of nik39 is only an issue with older macs. PCs and newer macs don't have that problem.

not exactly true. i had this issue with a powerbook that was less than 6 months old. it is really hit or miss (it seems more hit on mac laptops and more miss on all desktops)

Actually It works well without a power adapter on my mac, and it has the lowest required specs(G4 500mhz). It seems that the powered USB port are not really consistent by model, and that you would be wise to get one, since you may have a laptop that doesn't conform to USB standards.

I don't they're even consistent within models.

Josh would it be possible to compile a list of models or familys of the macs that don't conform to the USB standard? I know everybody including myself recommends just getting the adapter, but when I'm shopping for my next powerbook I would hate to get the one that doesn't supply the power when using any other usb powered devices.

well that's my point, within identical models, users get differing results.

would this be a fine power adaptor for the ssl box

www.radioshack.com

All 5 other SSL owners I know personally have that problem, 3 of them are PC users, 2 are mac users (1 is a "newer" mac).

Peeti-V, could you report here if you get any problem when using i-tunes-SSL synchronization and external hardrives?

im still having problems with itunes synchro... i cant play any track when i synchro SSL and itunes.

this is true. the powerbook i got 6 months ago didn't provide the full usb power, the new one i got does. both 1.5ghz 15" powerbook 512mb ram.

POWER adapter?

What type is recommended?

If there a specific type - Where do most people get them in the UK?

(i'm waiting to receive my SSL - like Peeti-V)

Maplin do loads of power adaptors:

www.maplin.co.uk

hth

Paul

I know radio shack got one-I tried posting the link but it didn't show up. Should this be fine?

i didn't realize they had radioshack in england, heres the link: www.radioshack.co.uk

I don't think we have Radioshack in England, and that link just ends up at the US online store. I think (I may be wrong, though), that Radioshack own Maplin in the UK, which stocks similar stuff.

Paul

strange, everytime i used that link it sent me to the us site too. i just figured it was because i went to the us site first or it was reading my ip and forwarding me.

www.radioshack.com <-- international store locator

Radio Shack is the same as Tandy, who recently closed all (most?) of their stores in the UK. Maplin will sell what you want, but I don't think there's a link between the two. TO be honest, the adapter is so standard you'll be able to get one at Dixons.

That's corrent, I confused Maplin with Tandy...

Paul