I’m considering getting an iPod. Let’s say I convert my CDs to mp3. I happen to have fairly wide-ranging taste. Pretty mainstream though, so I’d say my collection is eclectic rather than eccentric.
When converting my CDs, I believe the artist, song, and album information is also saved. Is this true? Is it automatic or manual?
In addition, because of my eclectic tastes, I’d like to be able to playback…
… songs by a particular artist (sometimes I’m just in a mood for No Doubt)
… a particular album (sometimes I just gotta hear Abbey Road)
… songs in a particular genre (Classical, Reggae, Rock, Country, etc.)
… songs in a particular mood (sometimes I’m rockin’ down the highway, sometimes I’m melancholy)
Other than listening to an album of course, I’d want the songs to be selected randomly across artists. As I think about this I guess what I want is to be able to attach attributes to a particular song (artist, album, genre, mood, etc.) and be able to play songs randomly by selecting an attribute.
Can I do this on an iPod? If so, how many attributes can you attach to a particular song?
Bonus question: Is there a connection to play an iPod through a car stereo system? (and is it better fidelity than the old connect-your-portable-CD-player-via-the-cassette-player?)
You can select a particular artist and play all songs by that artist, either in order or randomly shuffled. (The artist’s name must be consistent; your iPod will not consider “Captain Beefheart” and “Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band” the same artist.) You can also choose an album and play all the songs either in order or randomly shuffled. I don’t think you can select by genre, although you could make genre playlists that would acomplish the same thing (e.g., create a playlist titled “Reggae” and import all the reggae songs you’ve uploaded to it–this would be easy to do by sorting your iTunes library by genre). You could do the same with moods (create an “easy listening” playlist, a “high energy” playlist, a “driving music” playlist and so on).
When you use iTunes to rip a CD, the software automatically calls the Gracenote CDDB and fills in the artist, album name, song titles, genre, year, etc. I don’t have an iPod, but as Biffy notes, it’s easy to make a playlist sorted by any criteria supported by iTunes (in addition to the metadata supported by the mp3 spec, you can add Comments to any song as well as rate it on a scale of 1-5). Lastly, there are all kinds of iPod accessories, including car adaptors; here’s a good place to start, though there are many, many more.
As mentioned above, iTunes and the iPod can do everything you asked about. I’ve done 'em all about 1,000 times over on my 20GB iPod I bought myself for my birthday a few months ago. I love my iPod, or as I call it, my precious.
You can also create what are called “Smart Playlists” in iTunes that allow you to mix genre’s and artists automatically. I have one for Morrissey and the Smiths that automatically includes every song with either Moz or the Smiths as the artist. If I wanted to filter that a bit I could also tell it only to play songs from those two that I rated three stars or higher.
For another example, I have several things in iTunes that I don’t want to hear in normal rotation, such as Christian praise songs, audiobooks, comedy albums, and Holiday stuff. So I made an “All Music” Smart Playlist that excludes those four genres.
On the iPod itself, you can also create an “On The Go” playlist while you’re out and about. An example? I have all the albums from the Cardigans on there, but I only wanted to hear their new stuff, which I have in two albums (the main release and the single). I just browsed to the Cardigans albums, clicked and held on one until it flashed, then the other. Both albums are then added to my “On The Go” playlist. Love it!
It’s automatically done by the iTunes jukebox software, unless you disable it in the preferences. The information is taken from the Gracenote online CD database, and if your CD is too obscure, it might not find anything. You could,m of course, enter/change the data manually as well.
The first three are no problem. The fourth could be done with a little work on your part. For example, you can put the word “melancholy” in the comment field of all your melancholy songs, then create a “Smart Playlist” that picks a bunch’a songs with “melancholy” in the comments.
You can stick a crapload of text in the songs’ comment fields, and use playlists to key off those terms. Easy as pie.
Several options are available:
FM transmitters.
Cassette adapters.
If your car’s stereo unit has audio-in ports, you can run a line-in from the iPod to those.
Denison has the ice:Link, which connects your iPod directly to your car’s CD changer. You can then control the iPod while driving using your regular CD controls.
It sounds like with just a little effort, I can have everything I want (and more). I suppose I could download iTunes and play around even if I don’t own the iPod yet.
As far as incorporating the iPod into my car stereo system, I wish all vehicles’ sound system had input ports. I’ve never owned a car with them. Perhaps with all the mp3 players now out there, the demand will rise.
I would advise against the FM Transmitter for your iPOD in your car. It’s pretty balky to work and is prone to interference. In Southern California, it’s hard to find a clear channel to tune into.
Thanks for the advice BobT. For most cars then that leaves the cassette adaptor, and my experience with them for portable CD players was not particularly impressive. The sound coming out of the car speakers seemed to have a narrow frequency and dynamic range, compared to the original CD via earphones for example.
Thanks for the link Nonsuch. Very interesting. In addition to the statement about in-car listening, this is from the link…
(bolding mine) :dubious: Huh? I don’t know about all of you, buy my first place to listen to music is not my computer. It is my stereo system, using CDs or satellite radio.
From what I’ve seen of white-collar office drones, plugging away for eight hour-days behind a computer, listening to music is a very popular way to make the time fly.
I’m sure they’d prefer to listen to their music on a stereo, but…
From a layman’s perspective, it seems simple enough to have a factory-installed Ipod-type device in your car’s dashboard that has an input port for uploading songs and outputs to your car stereo speakers. Why hasn’t it happened yet?
I use a Belkin FM Transmitter with my iPod all the time, especially on my drive between Orange County and Los Angeles. It can be tricky to find a clearish frequency, but usually I’m able to find one. My main problem is that it’s a bit quiet, so I have to turn up my stereo – meaning that interference that would otherwise be barely noticeable is more audible.
One suggestion I’ve heard is to retract your car’s antenna if you can, the theory being that it makes the stereo less likely to pick up other stations.
I would prefer a tape adapter or a jack, but alas, I took out my vintage 1989 OEM Honda tape deck and replaced it with a low-end Kenwood CD player that lacks jackage.
I’ve been quite happy with my FM transmitter. I’ve been using it over a year, driving in the SF bay area and around LA. It’s all about finding the right spot in the car for it. It helps if the transmitter connects to the device with a wire, like this one (similar to mine):
I can keep my ipod safe in a cup holder, and velcro the transmitter on the dashboard to the right of the radio, which gives the best reception. It took a bit of hunting to find a spot for it. It also helps to have a transmitter that can be tuned to any station, not just a few preset ones.
The one drawback of mine is that it doesn’t turn off by itself, so you need to remember to turn it off when turning off the ipod, or it will eat the battery overnight.
Another choice (and the one I have) is an FM Modulator. Basically, they splice it inline with your antenna wire. You plug your iPod into the modulator, turn it on, tune your stereo to a particular frequency, and away you go. There’s no interference, since it disconnects your antenna when you turn on the modulator, unless you happen to tune to a super strong station.
They cost about $40, and about the same amount to get installed.
