ok...I'm sure nearly all of you are iPod experts by now...

[Cory Ander]

maybe you can help a frustrated new user. Whenever I load a new group of songs into my iPod and play them back, the music plays in stops and starts for about the first 20 to 25 minutes. So far, this has only happened with the songs I'm loading from my home recorded CDs, not the pre-recorded ones. The iPod is fully charged when this happens, and the CDs I'm loading into them play perfectly on a CD player without these stops and starts. Can anyone offer any advice or help? This is driving me nuts. And please don't do the obvious and suggest I contact Apple. They don't respond to email requests for help, the owner's manual has no trouble shooting guide, and I can NOT use their online manuals or tutorials because they're in the pdf format and whenever I try to access the manuals I'm informed I have to pay a fee! If anyone can help I'd appreciate it. thanks. 10/11/09

[BrunoRepublic]

Originally Posted by Cory Ander

maybe you can help a frustrated new user. Whenever I load a new group of songs into my iPod and play them back, the music plays in stops and starts for about the first 20 to 25 minutes.

Do they play okay from iTunes?

[canadiantire]

Originally Posted by Cory Ander

the music plays in stops and starts for about the first 20 to 25 minutes.

I have to confess that even though I am "supporting" three different home users of Ipod touch, I don't even own one myself.

For the benefit of the readers, you probably meant "the first 20-25 seconds", isn't it?

Let me try to guess...

What model is it? Nano, Touch, Classic?

As "user-friendly" as the Itunes software can be, it is sometimes very difficult to determine where the audio file is read from (particularly when the iPod is connected to the computer.

Is you Ipod still connected to the computer when you experience the problem?

Do the files ALWAYS skip at the same place at each listening or does it skips randomly everytime?

What software tool did you use to "rip" de CDs?

Are you sure that the audio files were ripped in MP3 format (not in WAV or any other uncompressed format)?

What type of computer are you using (MAC, PC)?

Is it from a recent model?

How's the playback of a regular CD on your computer. Do you experience the same behavior?

Have you tried to "rip" the CDs using a third party software instead?

For what it worth, is you Ipod loaded with the latest version of software? Have you tried to reset it (beware that a hardware reset may clear the content of the Ipod)?

Let's see what your answers will be on the above and, maybe it will narrow down to something...

[BrunoRepublic]

Originally Posted by Cory Ander

... and I can NOT use their online manuals or tutorials because they're in the pdf format and whenever I try to access the manuals I'm informed I have to pay a fee!

That's odd. The whole point about using PDF files (as opposed to a Word document or whatever) is that you can easily download an application to read them for free: Adobe Reader.

Adobe - Adobe Reader download - All versions

[Cory Ander]

Originally Posted by canadiantire

I have to confess that even though I am "supporting" three different home users of Ipod touch, I don't even own one myself.

For the benefit of the readers, you probably meant "the first 20-25 seconds", isn't it?

Let me try to guess...

What model is it? Nano, Touch, Classic?

As "user-friendly" as the Itunes software can be, it is sometimes very difficult to determine where the audio file is read from (particularly when the iPod is connected to the computer.

Is you Ipod still connected to the computer when you experience the problem?

Do the files ALWAYS skip at the same place at each listening or does it skips randomly everytime?

What software tool did you use to "rip" de CDs?

Are you sure that the audio files were ripped in MP3 format (not in WAV or any other uncompressed format)?

What type of computer are you using (MAC, PC)?

Is it from a recent model?

How's the playback of a regular CD on your computer. Do you experience the same behavior?

Have you tried to "rip" the CDs using a third party software instead?

For what it worth, is you Ipod loaded with the latest version of software? Have you tried to reset it (beware that a hardware reset may clear the content of the Ipod)?

Let's see what your answers will be on the above and, maybe it will narrow down to something...

thanks. Here goes: it's the iPod "touch" 8GB (which I THOUGHT was the latest, most reliable and user friendly). And no, I don't mean the first 20-25 seconds (though that would be just as annoying) I mean the first 20-25 minutes! It doesn't happen with every single group of songs I load, but most of them. First I load the songs into iTunes library and then into the iPod (if there's some other way to do it I'm not aware of it). Once I load the songs into the iTunes library I don't listen to them from there since computer speakers to my ears don't deliver rich sound. It sure frustrates me that when the songs go from the iTunes library into the iPod there's never any indication that there's some problem...no error code, nothing. And yes, the skips occur at the same spot every time I listen back to them, and it's so annoying I usually just remove that particular group of songs and try another. I only listen to my iPod when I'm away from home...riding my bike, sitting in an airport or on a bus, taking a walk. If I can't correct this most likely I'm probably going to resume taking my portable CD player along as a back up. I'm using a regular ol' Dell PC, not a mac. I use the Roxio Easy CD Creator to rip the CDs. And here's what you're probably most interested in: I rip the files in the WAV format, not MP3 (does that make a big difference)? And when you ask if the iPod is loaded with the latest version of software, what software are you referring to specifically? Thanks again for your time.

[BrunoRepublic]

Originally Posted by Cory Ander

thanks. Here goes: it's the iPod "touch" 8GB (which I THOUGHT was the latest, most reliable and user friendly). And no, I don't mean the first 20-25 seconds (though that would be just as annoying) I mean the first 20-25 minutes! It doesn't happen with every single group of songs I load, but most of them. First I load the songs into iTunes library and then into the iPod (if there's some other way to do it I'm not aware of it).

That is the correct way.

Originally Posted by Cory Ander

Once I load the songs into the iTunes library I don't listen to them from there since computer speakers to my ears don't deliver rich sound.

Just try it once to see if the problems you're encountering are with the iPod or the files themselves.

Originally Posted by Cory Ander

It sure frustrates me that when the songs go from the iTunes library into the iPod there's never any indication that there's some problem...no error code, nothing. And yes, the skips occur at the same spot every time I listen back to them,

Sounds to me that the problem is with the ripping of the files and not the iPod. Are you extracting from CDRs burned as audio discs? Unfortunately, these aren't always very reliable and sometimes don't work well in other drives. It's not easy for a computer to determine if it is ripping an audio disc accurately or not.

Download the latest version of Exact Audio Copy (it's free) from Introduction Exact Audio Copy . It's the best tool out there for extracting audio from CDs.

Originally Posted by Cory Ander

And here's what you're probably most interested in: I rip the files in the WAV format, not MP3 (does that make a big difference)?

It makes a huge difference in file size! WAV files are completely lossless and uncompressed, and take up 10MB for every minute of CD audio. So, your 8GB iPod will only fit a dozen albums or so if you use WAV. Also, it may really decrease the battery life too (not sure how this works for solid-state iPods like the Touch, but it definitely does on the older hard-disk based ones and the Classic). While WAV files offer the very best in sound quality, compressed audio formats can come very close (depending on settings) and give you far much more. When you add the songs to iTunes, right-click them and select "create AAC version". By default, this will compress the song to 256kbps AAC, which is very close to WAV quality but takes up one-fifth as much space.

[canadiantire]

Here is what I've found about the subject.

- "Problem: Some Songs Skip

If the same songs always skip, the song files themselves may be damaged.

• Rerip AIFF or WAV files into the smaller, compressed MP3 format. They may not sound as pure, but they're less likely to skip.
• Reset the iPod. Performing a reset or, as a last-ditch effort, running a restore with the latest version of the iPod Software.".

It seems that the problem comes from the ripping method you are using. There are a few methods that can be used for ripping a CD. Not all software provide you with a choice of the ripping method as it is usually transparent to users (those are: normal, by sector or burst). In some cases, a slow computer may not provide the information form the CD fast enough in order create a continuous file. Such a problem usually introduces gaps in the musical program. Doing other tasks during the ripping may also interfere with the consistency of the file. The most common mistake done when ripping is to listen to the CD at the same time a rip operation is conducted. The majority of the time, no matter how fast the PC is, the ripping will first - take longer and second - the sound file will have hiccups.

I think Bruno's suggestion about re-ripping (one song or two) using "Exact audio copy" could be something to try at first.


Also, Apple regularly issues Itunes software upgrades and less frequently firmware upgrades for the iPod. The firmware basically is a program resident into you iPod and it takes care of all the tasks and activities required to properly work by itself and interface properly with the outside world (A bit like what Windows would do for a PC).

In some rare cases, the firmware may corrupt and the iPod may behave erratically. If you Ipod is less than a year old, I wouldn't worry about this at this point, especially if you say that other files are playing correctly.

Keep us posted on your findings.

[Cory Ander]

Originally Posted by BrunoRepublic

That is the correct way.



Just try it once to see if the problems you're encountering are with the iPod or the files themselves.



Sounds to me that the problem is with the ripping of the files and not the iPod. Are you extracting from CDRs burned as audio discs? Unfortunately, these aren't always very reliable and sometimes don't work well in other drives. It's not easy for a computer to determine if it is ripping an audio disc accurately or not.

Download the latest version of Exact Audio Copy (it's free) from Introduction Exact Audio Copy . It's the best tool out there for extracting audio from CDs.



It makes a huge difference in file size! WAV files are completely lossless and uncompressed, and take up 10MB for every minute of CD audio. So, your 8GB iPod will only fit a dozen albums or so if you use WAV. Also, it may really decrease the battery life too (not sure how this works for solid-state iPods like the Touch, but it definitely does on the older hard-disk based ones and the Classic). While WAV files offer the very best in sound quality, compressed audio formats can come very close (depending on settings) and give you far much more. When you add the songs to iTunes, right-click them and select "create AAC version". By default, this will compress the song to 256kbps AAC, which is very close to WAV quality but takes up one-fifth as much space.

thanks to everyone for their assistance here. Not 100% sure what the terms "lossless" or "uncompressed" mean but as I recall, I used the WAV format for 2 main reasons: first, the customer service representative at Audacity suggested it, and secondly, since I didn't own or plan on using a standard mp3 player, using WAV seemed to make sense. I had already figured out that there was something in the process of the songs going from iTunes into the iPod that was causing the problem, because when I play the CDs through a standard CD player, they continue to play just fine without any skips or stops and starts. I'll try the "Introduction Exact Audio Copy" and the "create AAC version" suggestion soon for future recordings, but just try to imagine how shocked I was when this started happening considering the fact that the primary reason I decided to switch from a portable CD player to an iPod was because of the skipping...only to now experience the exact same issue on the iPod also.

[BrunoRepublic]

Originally Posted by Cory Ander

thanks to everyone for their assistance here. Not 100% sure what the terms "lossless" or "uncompressed" mean but as I recall, I used the WAV format for 2 main reasons: first, the customer service representative at Audacity suggested it, and secondly, since I didn't own or plan on using a standard mp3 player, using WAV seemed to make sense.

Audacity is a free application, so I wouldn't rely on any support from the developers at all. :/

As I said earlier, CD audio takes up a LOT of file space. Even if you Zip them, they're still too large to be practical for downloading or putting on personal players.

What "lossy" formats like MP3 and AAC do is strip out some of the details in the music, which enables it to be stored at only 20% or so of the file size, or even less -- exactly how much depends on your settings, and how much "loss" your ears can tolerate. Had these formats not been invented, the download revolution which has shut all the music stores would not have happened.

Size aside, the WAV format is not well-suited to iPods, since -- having been designed long before MP3 players existed -- it doesn't support adding things like cover art, lyrics, notes, etc. What WAV is good for is if you're transferring vinyl to a computer. You can then convert it to MP3 or AAC for your iPod, but keep the original for listening or making CD-Rs.

[Cory Ander]

Originally Posted by BrunoRepublic

Audacity is a free application, so I wouldn't rely on any support from the developers at all. :/

As I said earlier, CD audio takes up a LOT of file space. Even if you Zip them, they're still too large to be practical for downloading or putting on personal players.

What "lossy" formats like MP3 and AAC do is strip out some of the details in the music, which enables it to be stored at only 20% or so of the file size, or even less -- exactly how much depends on your settings, and how much "loss" your ears can tolerate. Had these formats not been invented, the download revolution which has shut all the music stores would not have happened.

Size aside, the WAV format is not well-suited to iPods, since -- having been designed long before MP3 players existed -- it doesn't support adding things like cover art, lyrics, notes, etc. What WAV is good for is if you're transferring vinyl to a computer. You can then convert it to MP3 or AAC for your iPod, but keep the original for listening or making CD-Rs.

thanks again, Bru. Maybe YOU should design the next "audio wonder" and if so, PLEASE design it so that the use of iTunes is not involved. Since so many of you were kind enough to take the time to offer suggested solutions to my problems, I thought I'd share the result with you. Yesterday I spent about 10 hours deleting the lists of songs with the stops and starts from the iPod and re-entered them using the mp3 recording option. The first thing I noticed is that it took about 4 times as long in that format, and this morning I eagerly listened to the results for the first time. Not only did the stops and starts continue, but NOW the songs skip from one list to another mid song, from the list of "albums" to the list of "artists" to the list of "composers" and so on. And at one point I heard 2 songs playing simutaneously. I'm crying uncle and giving up. This expensive piece of worthless crap is going into my bedroom closet next to my reel to reel tape deck, my BETA VCR, my reel to reel movie projector and my laser disc player....I'll just wait for the next technology to come along and hope it's something a simpleton like myself can use. A little voice in the back of my mind told me when I bought this iPod that I'd have trouble using it and I sure will listen to that voice next time I consider an electronic item....clearly they're not for everyone. But I DID finally receive a response from Apple to my email responses for help, and their response was predicatable...referring me to their tedious online manuals and tutorials that seldom if ever mention my specific problems. I've learned my lesson. Steve Jobs I AIN'T, and I sure hope my Sony Walkman Cassette Players and portable CD players aren't clogged up with dust yet. At least they require that only ONE button be pushed to operate them. But thanks again to everyone for their time.