# iTunes will play it, iPod will not. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 4, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-will-play-it-ipod-will-not/527609 "2010-02-04T00:28:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-will-play-it-ipod-will-not/527609/1 "2010-02-04T00:28:21Z")
I have a file that will play in iTunes but not on my iPod. It happens to be an old-time radio download of a Nero Wolfe episode. From iTunes, if it helps: Kind: MPEG audio file Format: MPEG-2, Layer 3 Size 3.8 MB Channels: Mono ID3Tag: v2.3 Encoded with: Unknown When I bring it up on the iPod, it’s displayed like any other song, with the time at 00:00, title, name, artwork etc, but it never starts playing. Help, and thanks! ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-will-play-it-ipod-will-not/527609/2 "2010-02-04T00:31:04Z")
You can try right-clicking it in iTunes and selecting “Make MP3 Version…” This will cause iTunes to re-encode it (even for files that are already MP3), and the iPod will probably like the new one better. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-will-play-it-ipod-will-not/527609/3 "2010-02-04T00:51:39Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > You can try right-clicking it in iTunes and selecting “Make MP3 Version…” This will cause iTunes to re-encode it (even for files that are already MP3), and the iPod will probably like the new one better. There is no such option. I right clicked and tried “Create AAC Version” but the iPod wouldn’t play that either. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-will-play-it-ipod-will-not/527609/4 "2010-02-04T01:39:02Z")
I have no answer for you, but wanted to say iTunes and iPods do weird things sometimes. I had one song that every time it played on my iPod my iPod would reboot itself at the end. Only that song. Every time. No matter if it was the first song I listened to or the 100th between synching. It played fine in iTunes. It was an aac file. I got a new computer and a new iPod and it works fine now. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-will-play-it-ipod-will-not/527609/5 "2010-02-04T01:39:44Z")
Ive only had that happen with MIDI files. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-will-play-it-ipod-will-not/527609/6 "2010-02-04T01:53:09Z")
You might try burn it to CD, and then importing the CD, or just converting the song to AIFF. It’s possible that it’s encoded as some really low bit rate that the iPod doesn’t grok. ---
**Author:** ![Cleophus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@Cleophus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cleophus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-will-play-it-ipod-will-not/527609/7 "2010-02-04T01:55:30Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > There is no such option. I right clicked and tried “Create AAC Version” but the iPod wouldn’t play that either. This setting is changed in iTunes’ preferences, under the import settings. I’d try the AAC reencode first, though. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-will-play-it-ipod-will-not/527609/8 "2010-02-04T02:14:32Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > You might try burn it to CD, and then importing the CD, or just converting the song to AIFF. It’s possible that it’s encoded as some really low bit rate that the iPod doesn’t grok. How about 18Kbps? ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-will-play-it-ipod-will-not/527609/9 "2010-02-04T02:48:01Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > You might try burn it to CD, and then importing the CD, or just converting the song to AIFF. It’s possible that it’s encoded as some really low bit rate that the iPod doesn’t grok. I put it on iTunes and converted it to AIFF. I then plugged in my iPod to sync, and the file was duly moved to my iPod. WRONG! I actually had to drag it and drop it onto the iPod on iTunes to get it there. I don’t guess this last little twist has anything to do with my original problem, which was indeed solved by the AIFF conversion, thanks **beowulff**. But while I’ve got this thread going, why would I have to use the drag and drop maneuver? And what’s the difference between AIFF and AAC? And MP3 for that matter? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-will-play-it-ipod-will-not/527609/10 "2010-02-04T03:28:05Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > I put it on iTunes and converted it to AIFF. I then plugged in my iPod to sync, and the file was duly moved to my iPod. WRONG! I actually had to drag it and drop it onto the iPod on iTunes to get it there. I don’t guess this last little twist has anything to do with my original problem, which was indeed solved by the AIFF conversion, thanks **beowulff**. But while I’ve got this thread going, why would I have to use the drag and drop maneuver? And what’s the difference between AIFF and AAC? And MP3 for that matter? I’m not sure about the drag and drop - I’d have to see it happen. As far as the file types: AIFF is “Raw” music data - an uncompressed stream of 16bit 44.1KHz samples - the same format that Audio CDs use (to be perfectly accurate, AIFF can handle other formats, but no one cares about them). MP3 is highly compressed, using a lossy psychoacoustic compression scheme. It’s typically 4-10 times smaller than AIFF. AAC is a more modern compression scheme. It’ preferred by Apple, because it give better sound with the same file size as MP3, and as an added bonus, it supports DRM, so the Apple could lock purchased tracks to specific machines. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-will-play-it-ipod-will-not/527609/11 "2010-02-04T03:33:01Z")
dupe ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-will-play-it-ipod-will-not/527609/12 "2010-02-04T04:58:03Z")
MPEG-2 Layer 3 isn’t the typical format for what’s called an mp3 file. Those are normally MPEG-1. However the audio format is, as far as I know, the same or at least backwards compatible, though that may not make much difference to the program trying to play it. MPEG-2 is normally used as part of a video file, most notably DVD movies. So it’s likely that iTunes/Quicktime is treating it as a movie file with audio only, and not a format that the iPod can read. I’m not certain on that - I have had a similar experience because the ATI All-in-Wonder records FM radio to MPEG-2 files that it labels ‘mp3’, and they aren’t easily readable without fancy tricks or usually a format conversion. AAC is incidentally MPEG-2 Part 7, though it’s also MPEG-4 Part 3. Also to respond to something **beowulff** said - as a codec, it doesn’t ‘support’ DRM any more than any other codec (which is to say it doesn’t). The DRM used by Apple simply encrypts the data file (as they used to do for music, and continues to do for movies). ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-will-play-it-ipod-will-not/527609/13 "2010-02-04T10:46:19Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > MPEG-2 Layer 3 isn’t the typical format for what’s called an mp3 file. Those are normally MPEG-1. However the audio format is, as far as I know, the same or at least backwards compatible, though that may not make much difference to the program trying to play it. > MPEG-2 is normally used as part of a video file, most notably DVD movies. So it’s likely that iTunes/Quicktime is treating it as a movie file with audio only, and not a format that the iPod can read. I’m not certain on that - I have had a similar experience because the ATI All-in-Wonder records FM radio to MPEG-2 files that it labels ‘mp3’, and they aren’t easily readable without fancy tricks or usually a format conversion. It could be that. I’m reminded of the behavior I had with a 5th-gen iPod. That generation made a distinction between audio podcasts and video podcasts, though both types would show up in the podcasts subfolder under music. Attempting to play a video podcast through that route instead of the videos\