Skip to main content

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: Ipod Classic shuffle options and playlists - Can I do this? (Read 4473 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Ipod Classic shuffle options and playlists - Can I do this?

Hi all

I'm a bit of an ipod newbie (have not even got it yet!) so apologies if any of these questions are obvious to the initiated!  I'm looking to get a 160gb Classic and will be pretty much filling it with mp3s.

1.  By default, can the ipod shuffle within genre?  IE - can I select "Heavy Metal" and have the ipod just shuffle the mp3s with a "Heavy Metal" genre tag? 

2.  Is there any way I can select multiple genres?  IE - can I have the ipod shuffle "Heavy Metal", "Thrash Metal" and "Death Metal" but nothing else?  If so, is this something I can do on the ipod or would I need to organise it
in software on the PC first?  Is playlists an option?

3.  Can you use foobar (or if not, anything else other than itunes) to create playlists for the ipod?

4.  Future-proofing....  Do foobar or similar have a Smart Playlist equivalent?  When new albums are added to my library, it would be good if playlists would update automatically so that when shuffling in multiple genres (#2
above), the new albums would be included. 

Any help would be much apprecited.  "Dynamic Shuffling" (haha) is one of the things I'm really looking forward to being able to do.  So I want to tbe clear on what can and cannot be done before spending a lot of time and money on the project.....

Many thanks

Max

Ipod Classic shuffle options and playlists - Can I do this?

Reply #1
Hi all

I'm a bit of an ipod newbie (have not even got it yet!) so apologies if any of these questions are obvious to the initiated!  I'm looking to get a 160gb Classic and will be pretty much filling it with mp3s.

1.  By default, can the ipod shuffle within genre?  IE - can I select "Heavy Metal" and have the ipod just shuffle the mp3s with a "Heavy Metal" genre tag? 

2.  Is there any way I can select multiple genres?  IE - can I have the ipod shuffle "Heavy Metal", "Thrash Metal" and "Death Metal" but nothing else?  If so, is this something I can do on the ipod or would I need to organise it
in software on the PC first?  Is playlists an option?

3.  Can you use foobar (or if not, anything else other than itunes) to create playlists for the ipod?

4.  Future-proofing....  Do foobar or similar have a Smart Playlist equivalent?  When new albums are added to my library, it would be good if playlists would update automatically so that when shuffling in multiple genres (#2
above), the new albums would be included. 

Any help would be much apprecited.  "Dynamic Shuffling" (haha) is one of the things I'm really looking forward to being able to do.  So I want to tbe clear on what can and cannot be done before spending a lot of time and money on the project.....

Many thanks

Max


you'll want to use the smart playlist feature in itunes and ipod. You can create a rule based playlist that can do almost anything (include certain genres, exclude certain artists, genres, include songs only played in last XX days, etc.).  For now, just download the free itunes software, point it at some of your music files, and use the create smart playlist function. And yes, these smart playlists update automatically.

Ipod Classic shuffle options and playlists - Can I do this?

Reply #2
Right...  I've got an iPod classic with almost 15,000 MP3s on it (mostly LAME V0).  I think I've used-up a bit more than 100GB.  I chose the iPod because it's for the car, and the iPod has the most standardized dock/interface.  I chose the classic for the same reason you are considering it (capacity).  I've had it a couple of years and I'm happy with it.  (It's my 1st and only Apple product.) 

For example, I've made a playlist called "Rock And Popular" that has almost everything except Christmas & Classical.  Most of the time, that's the playlist I'm listening to. 

I also have playlists from each decade from the 50's through the 2000's, plus an "Early 60's" playlist.  These also exclude Christmas & Classical.  I've taken the time to research and update/correct the original release year of each song (when I could find it) instead of using the "default" CD release dates.  For Christmas or classical I can just select the genre, so I don't have a playlist.  I've been collecting some modern recordings of old-style music (Big Band, etc.) and I've been thinking about making a playlist so I can play Big Band without listening to the lousy old recordings made in the 1920's - 1940's.

Quote
3. Can you use foobar (or if not, anything else other than iTunes) to create playlists for the ipod?

4. Future-proofing.... Do foobar or similar have a Smart Playlist equivalent? When new albums are added to my library, it would be good if playlists would update automatically so that when shuffling in multiple genres (#2
above), the new albums would be included.
I don't know of another application that can make automatic "smart" playlists.  But, you can export iTunes playlists in a variety of formats for use with other software/players.      I only use iTunes for making playlists and transferring music to my iPod.  (I'm using Winamp on my computers, but since Winamp has "officially gone-away", I'll eventually have to switch to something else.)

Ipod Classic shuffle options and playlists - Can I do this?

Reply #3
Many thanks for the helpful replies. 

Please could someone clarify what Playlist file formats can be imported into the iPod and, when exporting from the iPod, what file formats can be chosen?

Cheers


Ipod Classic shuffle options and playlists - Can I do this?

Reply #5
I hope the Ipod Classic User Guide holds the answers to those questions. Look around chapter 2.


Cheers for the link.  I've had a look through though and could not find anything about the file format of the playlists (and which playlists can be imported/exported).

 

Ipod Classic shuffle options and playlists - Can I do this?

Reply #6
I hope the Ipod Classic User Guide holds the answers to those questions. Look around chapter 2.


Cheers for the link.  I've had a look through though and could not find anything about the file format of the playlists (and which playlists can be imported/exported).


Just google "iTunes iPod playlist format" and you'll find all you need. Generally iTunes uses its own format, but they can be exported (using iTunes program) to use other places (eg  foobar2000). Keep in mind that I have no idea how the iPod foobar component handles any of this.