MediaMonkey 3.06 Allows iPod Synching Without iTunes

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.mediamonkey.com/news/2008/11/05/new-mediamonkey-306-syncs-with-iphone-3g/' target='_blank'>http://www.mediamonkey.com/news/200...with-iphone-3g/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Ventis Media has released a new version of its award-winning MediaMonkey music management software that syncs with Apple's iPhone 3G and iPod Touch v2. For music lovers seeking an alternative to iTunes, it is the only application capable of syncing to the new iPhone 3G and iPod Touch. Until today, iTunes was the only software that could manage music on Apple's iPhone 3G and iPod Touch. With its new iPhone 3G functionality, MediaMonkey provides a free, powerful alternative for syncing with and managing music collections on these devices. Unlike iTunes, MediaMonkey also allows users to copy tracks from an iPhone or iPod to a PC, enabling users to backup music from their iPhones or iPods."</em></p><p>MediaMonkey is my all-time favourite tool for managing my music, specifically for correcting and updating metadata. It's also extremely adept at removing and embedding album art. Now, it adds a new trick: allowing users to sync their iPhone or iPod Touch without needing iTunes. And did I mention it's free? I sprang for the gold version because I want to support their work, but if you want to take it for a spin, the free version probably does everything you need. <a href="http://www.mediamonkey.com/download/" target="_blank">Download it today</a>.</p>

[phoenixag]

I remember when news about this was earlier posted in these forums. I was very tempted to try it out and even downloaded it. But then I started reading about it and even went through the whole comparison table on wikipedia.

Seems like most of the 3rd party ipod syncing utils (including this one) have one or more features missing (maybe smart playlists, maybe ratings, etc) which make them not as good as iTunes with an iPod.

Further, as iTunes is free, I don't feel the need to switch to another app just yet. I understand there may be performance benefits, but for me, iTunes works just fine (albeit a bit slow, though hardly noticeable on a Core 2 Duo machine).

This is great for people who don't have ipods, of course.

[ptyork]

I found MediaMonkey (v2'ish) to be just as piggy as iTunes, so I saw no benefit in switching for my needs. I did like some of the management features, but they just didn't seem to be all that necessary.

I am excited by Chris' post, though. WMP is distinctively not piggy by comparison, so perhaps this will work. phoenix is right, though. Most of these 3rd party solutions leave off something. I could care less about "genius," but smart playlists and ratings are nice to keep sync'd.

[onlydarksets]

What is it about MediaMonkey that you find "piggy"? iTunes is so incredibly slow on my system, that it's virtually worthless for syncing music. MM runs fine, so (for me at least), this is a welcomed update.

[ptyork]

What is it about MediaMonkey that you find "piggy"? iTunes is so incredibly slow on my system, that it's virtually worthless for syncing music. MM runs fine, so (for me at least), this is a welcomed update.

I reinstalled it yesterday to try and poke my memory on this. It isn't all that bad until you turn on cover art. Then it becomes as slow as iTunes. FWIW, iTunes is slow with or without cover art. It is simply awful. The only acceptably performant tool for my meager system IF I want to have some degree of eye candy seems to be WMP.

That said, I do really like the advanced organizational tools provided by MM. I also like it's ability to natively sync with the iPod for FREE. Honestly, I'm likely to just muddle through with iTunes despite the pains (I rarely use it since I don't actually listen to my music much on my desktop), but I'll continue to keep my eyes on MM.

[phoenixag]

Actually, I agree with the statement that WMP is the fastest of all of them. I love the performance of WMP and use it as the default player for all media files. iTunes on my PC is used for syncing my ipod, and as all my content is there, I mostly play files from it too if its open.

The thing is, once iTunes is loaded up, I find the speed to be acceptable. Even if MusicMatch is faster, I prefer the seamless syncing of 2 Apple products to be better than one with a 3rd party solution.

[onlydarksets]

I think iTunes suffers from serious performance hits when the music files are on the network via Wifi. It seems to do a lot of "re-caching", especially when "Genius" is turned on.