Pocket Tunes FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions)

www.pocket-tunes.com

Copyright © 2002-2004 NormSoft, Inc.
All rights reserved.

What devices does Pocket Tunes run on?
What is MP3?
What is Ogg Vorbis?
How can I convert my CDs to MP3 or Ogg Vorbis?
Will Pocket Tunes run from flash memory?
How can I install audio files faster?
Why Can't I Install My Audio Files?
Where can I find music?
Why can't I hear any music through my headset on my Treo 600?
Why can't I make/receive phone calls while using ShoutCast?
Where can I find ShoutCast stations?
Why do I keep getting a "Buffering..." message?
Why does the audio sound bad when using the equalizer or volume boost?
Why do I hear crackling or skipping when playing music?
Does Pocket Tunes Play XYZ Format?
How can I convert my MP3 files to Ogg Vorbis?

Pocket Tunes works on any PalmOS 5.2 or later device.  It will also work on the Tungsten T.  We officially support the Palm Tungsten T, T2, T3, C, E, Palm Zire 71, Garmin iQue 3600, Sony UX-40/UX-50, TJ35, TJ37, TH55, Tapwave Zodiac, and Handspring Treo 600.  Other Palm OS 5.2 devices may work as well, and we'd appreciate hearing from you if you find a device that does or does not work.

At this time, we have no plans to support any Palm OS 4.1 or earlier devices (e.g. Tungsten W, Treo 300, Sony T665 etc.).  Many of these devices cannot decode compressed audio without additional hardware support, and while some of them can, we do not plan to support them at this time.

Pocket Tunes also will not run on some PalmOS 5.0 devices made by Sony (specifically, the NX, NR, NZ, and TG series are not supported).  This is because Sony decided not to support the standard audio API on their early PalmOS 5.0 devices.  Since they have not released any information about their proprietary audio API, we are not able to add support for these devices.  Going forward, Sony has made a commitment to support the standard audio APIs.

MP3 is a compressed audio format.  It allows you to store digital music on your computer or handheld without taking up too much space.

Ogg Vorbis is a compressed audio format similar to MP3.  Pocket Tunes plays both Ogg Vorbis and MP3 files.  Ogg Vorbis provides better audio quality at a smaller size and is patent- and royalty-free.  It has been gaining in popularity recently.  More information can be found at www.vorbis.com

Many CD ripping (recording) programs have built-in support for MP3 and Ogg Vorbis.  A popular (and free) ripper with MP3 and Ogg support is CDex.  You can download CDex from http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/

dBpowerAMP is another free CD ripping program.

Yes, you can install Pocket Tunes and/or skin files to flash memory.  However, if you install the program file to your flash card, you may not be able to install audio files via HotSync; you will have to use a card reader or other installation software to install audio files.  You will also not be able to play ShoutCast stations from your web browser when Pocket Tunes is installed to an expansion card.

Also note that while playing Pocket Tunes in the background, the application will remain loaded in main memory, so you may see "phantom" copies of it when using some launchers.  This is normal, and the "phantom" copy should go away if you launch pTunes, hit Stop, and then exit.

Installing files using Palm's HotSync capability can be very slow on some handheld devices.  You can purchase a card reader for about $30 US that will let you copy files to your flash card from your PC.  There are also several software packages that you can use.  (Note that NormSoft, Inc. makes no recommendations or guarantees about any of the software listed here.)

• Softick Card Export
• Pilot Install

Difficulty installing audio files by HotSync can be caused by several things:

1. Make sure you are trying to install a supported file type. Pocket Tunes currently supports MP3, WAV, or OGG files.
2. Make sure that you have Pocket Tunes installed to main memory; the Palm will not recognize Pocket Tunes as an audio player if it's on the expansion card.
3. Make sure you have enough space left on your expansion card. You can check this with a program such as Filez, which is available for free from www.nosleep.net
4. Make sure that your Pocket Tunes trial has not ended. If it has, you may not be able to install MP3 files. You can purchase Pocket Tunes at www.pocket-tunes.com
5. Make sure that the "Lock" switch on SD cards is turned off.
6. The Palm Install tool sometimes gives a "File does not exist" error message if the audio file you are trying to install has a very long filename or has unusual characters in its name. Try renaming the file or moving the file to another directory with a shorter name. This is a limitation in the Palm Install tool, so there's unfortunately nothing NormSoft can do to fix it.

Finally, you may also want to try using a USB card reader or try using one of the Palm install tools listed in this FAQ.

Most music is covered under copyright law and is not legally available on the Internet.  However, there are several artists who have chosen to make their songs available, and there are several places to obtain songs whose copyrights have expired.  You can find a few sample songs at http://www.vorbis.com/music.psp as well as some links to other freely-available music.  You can also purchase MP3 music online from www.emusic.com

In order to play music through headphones on the Treo 600, you will need the stereo headphone adapter that Handspring sells on the Accessories page of their web site. Music will not play through the headset that is included with your Treo.

The Treo 600 is not capable of receiving voice data and Internet data at the same time.  Whenever you are on a voice call, you will not be able to access the Internet.  Similarly, whenever you are accessing the Internet, you will not be able to receive a voice call.  (If you are surfing the web or checking email, these operations typically only take a few seconds, after which you will be able to make or receive phone calls.  However, with ShoutCast streaming music, the Treo is continuously receiving data from the Internet and cannot accept a voice call.)

Note that you can receive SMS messages while streaming MP3 music.

Using the web browser on your Palm, visit www.shoutcast.com  You will find hundreds of ShoutCast stations to listen to.  You can also set up your own ShoutCast server to stream your own music.  Please follow the instructions from www.shoutcast.com to set up your server.  Sorry, we can't provide technical support for setting up ShoutCast servers; please use the resources provided on that web site.

There are several possibilities for this message to occur while playing a ShoutCast station.

• Your Internet connection is not fast enough to support the speed of the station.  In general, cell networks and modems cannot play stations of 64kbps or higher.
• The ShoutCast server is overloaded.  If there are too many users, some ShoutCast stations can become overloaded and can't keep up with all the listeners.
• You may not have enough coverage to play streaming audio.  Make sure that you have a good signal; streaming generally requires a stronger signal than web browsing because of the large amount of data that your handheld receives.
• The cellular network (or local wireless network) may be overloaded.  If there are too many users trying to access the wireless network, the data speed will slow down.  Try again during non-peak periods or try a lower bitrate station.
• There may be temporary network problems between you and the server.  There are typically a dozen or more network servers between you and a ShoutCast server; if any of these servers is having trouble, they could cause a slowdown in the network.

You have to be cautious when using the volume boost, since it can easily degrade the audio quality.  Here are some tips...

For the volume boost, using more than +3dB is likely to produce an effect known as "clipping", which means the digital signal hits its maximum or minimum value.  This typically causes a crackling or static sound.  There are some techniques to minimize this effect (usually at the expense of higher CPU usage), and we may incorporate these techniques to minimize clipping artifacts in the future.

Note: As of version 2.2, Pocket Tunes uses a real hi-fi equalizer, so it will produce much higher quality results than previous versions.  You should still take care not to set the bands at extreme values because clipping will occur, which is an unavoidable consequence of amplification.  If you do hear clipping, then lower all the bands, but keep them the same in relation to each other.  This will give you the same equalization effect but will lower the volume and reduce clipping.

We have found that some expansion cards are very slow and can cause crackling or skipping while playing music.  Test your card with the VFSMark program (download it from www.palmgear.com) to determine if the "read" speed is causing the problem.  We have found that read speeds of approximately 50% or lower exhibit these problems.

Pocket Tunes currently plays MP3, Ogg Vorbis, and uncompressed WAV files.  Pocket Tunes uses a plugin architecture, so developers are free to add additional formats.  If you are a developer interested in writing a Pocket Tunes plugin, please email support@pocket-tunes.com

We are always keeping an eye out on the available music formats and may support new formats that become available to us.  Unfortunately, many of the emerging formats (such as AAC) require hefty licensing fees from the owners of the patents, and some formats (such as iTunes) include DRM (digital rights management) technology.  DRM technology limits what consumers can do with music that they download.  Most companies are reluctant to license their DRM technology for fear that people will figure out how to remove the protection from their files.

Pocket Tunes 1.4 and later supports MP3 files natively, so this is no longer necessary, and it is not recommended.  However, we will keep this information here for your reference.

There are several software packages available for "transcoding" MP3 files to Ogg Vorbis.  This is not a complete list by any means, but here are a few programs that will do the conversion.  (Note that NormSoft, Inc. makes no recommendations or guarantees about any of the software listed here.)

• dBpowerAMP Music Converter (free)
• Ogg Encoder Decoder by Media Twins
• Super Audio Converter
• Blaze MediaConvert by Mystik Media
• One-click Audio Converter by StreamWare Development
• Audio Conversion Wizard by LitexMedia

You can also do the conversion as a two-step process using the free MP3 player, WinAmp.  Set the output plug-in to be the Disk Writer plug-in.  Then open and play your MP3 files.  The files will be converted to WAV files.  To convert them to Ogg Vorbis, use a tool like OggDrop or OggEnc (available from http://www.vorbis.com/download_win.psp ).

If you have the original CD or audio source, it is generally better to use that original source than the MP3 file when converting to Ogg Vorbis.  Converting from MP3 to Ogg Vorbis may degrade the audio quality somewhat.  There are some people with strong opinions on converting from MP3 to Ogg and vice versa.  My opinion is: Try the conversion.  If you like how it sounds, great!  If not, find the original CD or audio source and encode it from that.