[bangraman]

OK... So I've had it a few days. Like the size, like the navigation, like the overall iPodness of it but I have a few major issues. This is my first hard disk MP3 player, but so far, the iPod is the audio player with the biggest number of 'issues' in such a short time. I'd just like to list these and ask you to tell me if I'm being thick, if there's a cure, etc.


1. Musicmatch.
I just find it very unintuitive to use. I'm more a random access person, can't get used to working with Playlists, and I don't like the playlist-orientated structure of Musicmatch. There are a few other things I don't like about it as well. Does it HAVE to be Musicmatch that I use?


2. Songs are all over the place.
Songs that appear under one iteration of the artist in Foobar and the other programs I was using now appear under multiple iterations in the iPod after transfer. For example, say I have a folder named "Lambchop" and I have several albums as well as downloaded tracks. In Foobar they appear under Lambchop. In the iPod they appear under Lambchop, another Lambchop, yet another Lambchop, etc...
Stuff which I know I put in the album information, etc in doesn't show up under the iPod. Result is I spend ages looking for tracks... pointless.


3. EQ.
Speaking frankly, this is a pile of crap. I select the various settings, tried them under different volumes but for example the Bass Boost setting causes the whole thing to distort. And it's not just the distortion... It just sounds really bad overall when you stick any EQ on.


4. Multiple crashes.
Twice now the iPod only partially responds to my button pressings, doesn't play anything. I've had to reset it (the hold down multiple key things and plug power in).
More frequently it's done odd things like lose time and lose my language settings (Japanese) and refuse to 'stick' when I put them back... Which was cured by selecting the Reset All Settings option. All things considered it's a bit flaky.

 

[cyberhazard]

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman 1. Musicmatch. I just find it very unintuitive to use. I'm more a random access person, can't get used to working with Playlists, and I don't like the playlist-orientated structure of Musicmatch. There are a few other things I don't like about it as well. Does it HAVE to be Musicmatch that I use?

I am using iTunes. Works sweet, no issues.

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman 2. Songs are all over the place. Songs that appear under one iteration of the artist in Foobar and the other programs I was using now appear under multiple iterations in the iPod after transfer. For example, say I have a folder named "Lambchop" and I have several albums as well as downloaded tracks. In Foobar they appear under Lambchop. In the iPod they appear under Lambchop, another Lambchop, yet another Lambchop, etc... Stuff which I know I put in the album information, etc in doesn't show up under the iPod. Result is I spend ages looking for tracks... pointless.

iTunes again. All tunes are neatly arranged by Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres and Composers.

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman 3. EQ. Speaking frankly, this is a pile of crap. I select the various settings, tried them under different volumes but for example the Bass Boost setting causes the whole thing to distort. And it's not just the distortion... It just sounds really bad overall when you stick any EQ on.

EQ Sux. No doubt about it. What a waste of function.
Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman 4. Multiple crashes. Twice now the iPod only partially responds to my button pressings, doesn't play anything. I've had to reset it (the hold down multiple key things and plug power in). More frequently it's done odd things like lose time and lose my language settings (Japanese) and refuse to 'stick' when I put them back... Which was cured by selecting the Reset All Settings option. All things considered it's a bit flaky.

No crashes yet. Had a little trouble at first with the buttons. Then I realized that I kept touching "Menu" when I should be touching "Select". My bad.

 

[Todd R]

Quote:

Originally posted by cyberhazard I am using iTunes. Works sweet, no issues. iTunes again. All tunes are neatly arranged by Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres and Composers. EQ Sux. No doubt about it. What a waste of function. No crashes yet. Had a little trouble at first with the buttons. Then I realized that I kept touching "Menu" when I should be touching "Select". My bad.

Got to second that, mine is working great. I took a look at Music Match, couldn't figure it out so I ditched it.

 

[PodMan]

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman 1. Musicmatch. 2. Songs are all over the place. 3. EQ. 4. Multiple crashes.

1. Don't know about this one. I used iTunes when I had my ipod.

2. The ipod sorts by id3 tag. I would use some kind of program to consolidate all your id3 tags to a more later version, such as id3v2.3 and then carefully look for names that are out of place. Careful with those mass file renamers though.

Does music match allow you to mass change an id3 tag field? Like with itunes, whenever I saw multiple names, all I did was group select and mass renamed the Artist or Album name. That ought to have everything in one place. Even a seemingly blank space at the end of the name may cause the ipod to see it as a different name.


3. Never touched the eq. Apple says it causes additional strain on battery as well. On their page on how to maximize battery, they said to turn off the eq. The volume equalization feature seems to compress dynamic range as well from the limited times I've tried it.

4. Try running a scandisk or disk doctor type of program on the ipod's hard drive. Some system files may be corrupted and in need of repair. Maybe try reloading the firmware as well.

 

[Spad]

Since we're talkin' "issues," here's another for you. Hit Pause twice and listen to the image reverse.

I'm sure this is a "feature," since some of the finest preamps used to include mono and stereo reverse switches.

Actually, I'm only partially joking. Tapping it twice more switches it back.

I haven't had your other problems, and if iTunes is well ported to Windows all of your external issues should be laid to rest.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman 1. Musicmatch. I just find it very unintuitive to use. I'm more a random access person, can't get used to working with Playlists, and I don't like the playlist-orientated structure of Musicmatch. There are a few other things I don't like about it as well. Does it HAVE to be Musicmatch that I use? 2. Songs are all over the place. Songs that appear under one iteration of the artist in Foobar and the other programs I was using now appear under multiple iterations in the iPod after transfer. For example, say I have a folder named "Lambchop" and I have several albums as well as downloaded tracks. In Foobar they appear under Lambchop. In the iPod they appear under Lambchop, another Lambchop, yet another Lambchop, etc... Stuff which I know I put in the album information, etc in doesn't show up under the iPod. Result is I spend ages looking for tracks... pointless.

Sadly, these are both MusicMatch issues. MusicMatch sucks. Windows iPod users really don't know what they're missing -- I know a few people (OK, people with more money to burn than I

) who bought iPods and *then* bought Macs after seeing iTunes. Hopefully the Windows version of iTunes will be close to the original.


Quote:

3. EQ. Speaking frankly, this is a pile of crap. I select the various settings, tried them under different volumes but for example the Bass Boost setting causes the whole thing to distort.

Bangra, what headphones are you using? I've *never* gotten distortion out of my iPod. Even with Bass Enhancer on using KSC-35 or PortaPros -- which should give me major bass -- I've never heard it. Are you listening at obscene levels?

Quote:

4. Multiple crashes. Twice now the iPod only partially responds to my button pressings, doesn't play anything. I've had to reset it (the hold down multiple key things and plug power in).

I've actually heard quite a few reports of the new models doing this. I predict we'll see an iPod update very soon

 

[austonia]

Bangraman, Why are you using MusicMatch??? Have you never heard of Ephpod??? It's free software for Windows iPod and it is really easy to use! Great software!

I never use the EQ, can't see why. I think they just put that in for the crowd that wants MegaBass

iPod uses ID3 tag database, so you have to make sure all your songs are tagged correctly. If you do that, the iPod runs beautifully and everything is sorted just right.

 

[Spad]

Quote:

Originally posted by MacDEF I know a few people (OK, people with more money to burn than I ) who bought iPods and *then* bought Macs after seeing iTunes.

Since a older Mac and a copy of OSX can be had for a few hundred dollars, if I were a dedicated Windows user I would buy one for music management alone.

 

[bong]

i agree with austonia.

1. Ephpod is definately the way to go for Windows iPod users. The program is simple to use and elegant, downloads are blazingly fast, and mounting and dismounting the iPod is fast as well, something Musicmatch definately has problems with. and when you have installed Ephpod on your comp, be sure to turn off the automatic music device detection (or something like that) feature in Musicmatch.

2. the EQ sucks on the iPod. i agree that many of the EQ settings distort the music, mostly sounding like there's an unbearable amount of clipping in the music. i ALWAYS have the EQ turned off. besides, if you have nice headphones, there's no need for an EQ, right?

unless the recording quality of your music is really bad.

3. edit your ID3 tags on your mp3's the way you would remember it. i usually Winamp to do this. but usually i feel lazy, and just make a playlist of all the albums i have on it.

4. try reloading your firmware. i updated mine last night with 1.2.6 (which is the latest firmware for Windows iPod) and it got rid of many bugs on my unit.

 

[maczrool]

Quote:

Since we're talkin' "issues," here's another for you. Hit Pause twice and listen to the image reverse.

Mine switches the channels randomly each time it switches tracks as well as when I hit pause. Sometimes it switches, sometimes it doesn't.

Oh and MusicMatch is the worst computer virus ever created.

Stu

 

[MadDog5145]

3. I hate how the iPod along with the Nomad hard drive players sorts the mp3's by ID3 tag. I understand some people have very organized music collection by ID3 tag, but many, including me, do not. I organzied my music through detailed folders, with genres followed by artists followed by albums. My ID3 tags are a mess and I do not want to sort that mess. What I would like is an option to either organzie music by ID3 tag or by folders like the navigation on the Iriver players. Is that too hard?

 

[bong]

Quote:

Originally posted by MadDog5145 3. I hate how the iPod along with the Nomad hard drive players sorts the mp3's by ID3 tag. I understand some people have very organized music collection by ID3 tag, but many, including me, do not. I organzied my music through detailed folders, with genres followed by artists followed by albums. My ID3 tags are a mess and I do not want to sort that mess. What I would like is an option to either organzie music by ID3 tag or by folders like the navigation on the Iriver players. Is that too hard?

what i did like about my old Nomad Jukebox was that when i transferred a batch of mp3's from one folder on my harddrive, Playcenter will prompt me to provide Artist and Album information. essentially, it will update the ID3 tags when it's transferring. it makes things a lot easier and cleaner on the Nomad Jukebox. i always wished iPod did something similar.

anyway... doesn't the Archos units sort mp3s by folders?

 

[bangraman]

I've downloaded Ephpod. I'm going to have a play with it when I get a chance. Time to uninstall Musicmatch, I think.

 

[austonia]

bangraman please uninstall MusicMatch right away. please dude. I never even used my iPod CD. Keep that virus the hell away from my computer. It's just like RealPlayer software. BAD!!!

Ephpod is the only way to go. Best software I've used for interfacing with a DAP. and free is good, right?

For people that need to get thier tags straightened out, use a program like MP3 Tag Studio, that can batch-read file names and use that to make ID3 tag data in those files. Thats what i do, simple. I name all my MP3's correctly, then let the program auto-tag them.

DAPs like iPod and Zen need accurate tag data to build thier music database. They can't read your mind. Its worth it though, because with a database like this you can search by artist, album, track title, genre, composer, etc...

With players like Archos and Odyssey, that use file names and folders only (instead of an ID3 tag-based database), the music library is very simplistic. No searching or sorting by data fields (artist, album, etc). But for people that don't know what tags are, don't want to mess with them, or just prefer the simple filename/folder navigation, then these players are better suited.

 

[xcalibur]

Quote:

Hit Pause twice and listen to the image reverse.

Cool..this feature is actually gonna be useful for me...i have a pair of inverted 7506s..left channel is right channel...don't ask me how it happened...i bought it off ebay and it came like that...