itouch and comps

[Jim Clark]

I posted this in "Portable Audio" and got no replies. I should have known better than to stray outside RR : )

Say I have an Ipod touch and a compilation file on my PC that I want to get into said Ipod as a whole "cd". So we're clear, this is a mix cd already in MP3 form, already on my computer and I want to move the whole thing - songs in order - over to my Ipod Touch. For the official record the comp in question in Nobody's most excellent 2009 quickie comp!

How exactly does one accomplish this via itunes? Everything I do dumps a bunch of individual tracks on the thing. A playlist sucks since I have then go in and manually do everything. I also hate all of the clutter of having all the individual tracks scattered about the various menus.

Random rant - $299 and no camera? really?

I wish my Creative Zen Vision M was still alive : (


Thanks,
jc

[noddin0ff]

To avoid playlists... the clutter is due to all the tracks having different artists and album names. What I would do is (in iTunes)

1) (not essential) Duplicate the whole mix so you have two copies of everything

2) Get info on all the tracks

3) Rename the album for all to Nobody's Quicky Comp

4) Rename the artist for all tracks to "Various"

5) Port the renamed album to the iPod.

Probably not the most elegant solution. But I'm not always elegant.

dw

[Jim Clark]

Thanks, appreciate the info!

jc

[Troy]

A playlist sucks since I have then go in and manually do everything.

It's not like you're washing the car or cleaning fish here man, c'mon! Make a playlist and drag and drop the songs into it. Then connect the iPod and drag and drop the playlist into it. The songs will automatically follow.

it will take MUCH less time to create than it took for you to type that first message!

[noddin0ff]

It's not like you're washing the car or cleaning fish here man, c'mon! Make a playlist and drag and drop the songs into it. Then connect the iPod and drag and drop the playlist into it. The songs will automatically follow.

it will take MUCH less time to create than it took for you to type that first message!

I dunno, I don't keep my whole life on my iPod, just select albums. And, Nobody's Megamix fills all the menus with a bazillion artists to sort through to find the albums I put on. I can go to playlists for the megamix, but it's the finding my other needles in the haystack that came with the megamix that is bothersome. Not that I'm complaining about the Megamix. I really like it. I just feel Jim's headaches...

[Troy]

I dunno, I don't keep my whole life on my iPod, just select albums. And, Nobody's Megamix fills all the menus with a bazillion artists to sort through to find the albums I put on. I can go to playlists for the megamix, but it's the finding my other needles in the haystack that came with the megamix that is bothersome. Not that I'm complaining about the Megamix. I really like it. I just feel Jim's headaches...

Why drag over a 'bazillion' artists? Why not just drag over the songs you like?

Why not make a playlist with those 15 songs you like and then just play that playlist?

I really think you guys are complicating this way more than is needed.

[Jim Clark]

Why drag over a 'bazillion' artists? Why not just drag over the songs you like?

Why not make a playlist with those 15 songs you like and then just play that playlist?

I really think you guys are complicating this way more than is needed.

It's not tidy! Seriously now when I open up my albums it looks like I have 25 albums that I don't really have and I'm sorry, that bothers me. I'd like to add a bunch of comps to this thing and so it's gonna be the same problem x 50.

Apple spends a fortune putting out glitz. Is it really to much to ask to add a mix CD and expect it to play just like a Snog CD? How does something like this get overlooked? I just happened to google itouch +compilation and lo and behold I am not the only person with a problem with this (thanks for being a ally on this Nod!). For the record - none of those solutions really worked either. Then again, I can add a level to my MP3 player, so there's that : (

jc

[Troy]

It's not tidy! Seriously now when I open up my albums it looks like I have 25 albums that I don't really have and I'm sorry, that bothers me. I'd like to add a bunch of comps to this thing and so it's gonna be the same problem x 50.

Not tidy? You're kidding, right?

So your issue is that when you list by album in your iPod, the reality is that you only have one song from that album? This bothers you that much? Why don't you just buy/rip/install the whole album, then?

Riddle me this Batman, do you install whole albums on your iPod even if you don't like all the songs? If you do, why, and if you don't, then how is that different? Those aren't complete albums either.

But if you want to play that comp, why are you looking at "albums," anyway? A comp is not an album, it's a playlist comprised of songs from disparate albums. You should be looking at "playlists" for that.

Apple spends a fortune putting out glitz.

Don't try and bait anyone with your anti-Apple sentiment. If you don't like their products don't buy them.

Is it really to much to ask to add a mix CD and expect it to play just like a Snog CD? How does something like this get overlooked?

It didn't get overlooked, you're just refusing to use it the way it's designed. If you use the playlist feature like you're supposed to for playing a mix of songs from different source albums, you won't have this problem. It's like putting your pants on backwards and then complaining how crappy the pants are because they don't fit.

I just happened to google itouch +compilation and lo and behold I am not the only person with a problem with this (thanks for being a ally on this Nod!).

Yeah, the world's filled with people that don't take the time to learn how to use their technology.

For the record - none of those solutions really worked either.

My solution works, you just seem to refuse to use it.

Then again, you can always do as FA suggests and rename the album on all those songs to "Comp," but the problem there; should you ever decide to install/rip more songs from that album that one song came from someday, you'll find they won't all appear together. No, the correct answer is to make a playlist.

[ForeverAutumn]

When I have this issue, I just import all the songs to iTunes and then change the album title of all the songs to something common. Just like Noddin suggested. What's not tidy about that?

If you want to keep the original album title for reference later, copy and paste it into the notes section before you change it to the new title. This shouldn't take you more than 20 seconds per song...max.

[MindGoneHaywire]

You do have to right-click on the CD when it appears in iTunes if you want to change anything, including check the compilation box. Apologies if this was covered here, but I didn't see it. If Gracenote doesn't recognize the CD, it will present as 'Aduio CD' next to where the disc icon shows up after you insert the disc. From there you can check that box so that the files are imported as a compilation, not as though it was an album by one artist. It would be helpful from there to type in the name of the comp & 'various artists,' Yes, it does help to create a playlist, but you don't even have to. You will want to input the song titles before importing, though. This is a pain, but worth it in the end.

If you don't want to bother with a playlist, once they're imported into iTunes, when you want to move the files to the Touch, if you're not ripping directly to it, instead of dragging and dropping 15 or more files individually, click on the first one. Then press the shift key and click on the last one; all will be highlighted. Troy showed me this trick a few months ago and it is invaluable. From there you can drag and drop as one block. Move it to the Touch, either to the Library, or to a playlist if you take a second to create it, which I recommend. I have at least a couple of thousand playlists in my iTunes...and without them navigating my library would be a complete mess.

I got started with making individual playlists years ago when I started ripping my collection to my computer, so I see it as an indispensable part of the process. Inputing info for homemade comps is something that no technology allows us to get around that I know of. But I gave up on MusicMatch after they changed up their software so that it didn't allow for info on individual tracks. Once I couldn't label a track on a comp to reflect different artists, I moved to iTunes permanently. That was nearly 6 years ago & I haven't looked back. But there are some things that make using it more manageable, and right-clicking to the 'get info' feature to facilitate input or editing of info is a biggie for people like us.

[Jim Clark]

Well after all this exchange of information and ideas I actually got to use it for the first time during my workout last night. The sound quality was so bad that it wasn't worth listening to. After some trial and error I think it's pretty obvious that the headphone jack is jacked up (n p i) I keep getting this scratchy sound throughout playback and it's not on the ripped tracks. It also occurs when using an rca to mini plug in every studio mixer here at the gym so it's not the headphone plug. Volume was also an issue, as in not nearly enough of it.

Luckily I had my trusty "vintage" portable system of cdp and portable amp so I was not without music and that is the main thing. In the end, this thing isn't for me so it's gonna go back. A 120 gig classic isn't out of the question though.

Thanks for all of the feedback.

Regards,
jc

[Troy]

Well after all this exchange of information and ideas I actually got to use it for the first time during my workout last night. The sound quality was so bad that it wasn't worth listening to. After some trial and error I think it's pretty obvious that the headphone jack is jacked up (n p i) I keep getting this scratchy sound throughout playback and it's not on the ripped tracks. It also occurs when using an rca to mini plug in every studio mixer here at the gym so it's not the headphone plug. Volume was also an issue, as in not nearly enough of it.

Luckily I had my trusty "vintage" portable system of cdp and portable amp so I was not without music and that is the main thing. In the end, this thing isn't for me so it's gonna go back. A 120 gig classic isn't out of the question though.

Thanks for all of the feedback.

Regards,
jc

I got nothing for you scratchy sound issue. They sound ok on the computer?

Most people find the iPod to be the best sounding mp3 player on the market, so I'm not sure what your issue is there.

There is a volume attenuator (found under settings) in the pod that you can adjust to increase your volume ceiling.

[Mr MidFi]

Well after all this exchange of information and ideas I actually got to use it for the first time during my workout last night. The sound quality was so bad that it wasn't worth listening to. After some trial and error I think it's pretty obvious that the headphone jack is jacked up (n p i) I keep getting this scratchy sound throughout playback and it's not on the ripped tracks. It also occurs when using an rca to mini plug in every studio mixer here at the gym so it's not the headphone plug. Volume was also an issue, as in not nearly enough of it.

Luckily I had my trusty "vintage" portable system of cdp and portable amp so I was not without music and that is the main thing. In the end, this thing isn't for me so it's gonna go back. A 120 gig classic isn't out of the question though.

Thanks for all of the feedback.

Regards,
jc

Are you using the OEM earbuds? Cuz those things aren't really that good.
Just a thought.

[Finch Platte]

Shoulda stuck with the MiniDisc.