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[kirkfrey]

I have an iPod and would like to switch from using iTunes to MC12.  I just wanted to see if everyone was happy with the level of integration and stability that they are seeing with MC12 and iPods?

I just wanted see what others thought before I made the big jump…

[Magic_Randy]

I've been using MC with the iPod since the iPod was released for the PC.  This was before iTunes for the PC was released.  I don't have any issues.  It's been a long term stable interface to the iPod.  It also is a great tool for managing your multi-media library.

[prod]

Very happy here, works great.

[BartMan01]

Happy?  No.
Good enough?  Yes.

There have been constant issues lately (lock-ups, tracks not sucessfully loading, etc), but these appear to be mostly cleared up at the moment.  Not EVERYONE has had issues, but many of us have.

Several things to be aware of before you make the switch:
No 'smart' play lists via MC.  They all become 'dumb' and don't dynamically update on the iPod.
Some people have issues with DRMed files (like those from iTunes) and other special Apple formats.
'On-the-go' playlists get killed by MC.
After re-syncing the iPod with MC, tracks lose their bookmarks.  At least I find this to be the case with MP3 podcasts.

In JRiver's defense, Apple is not 'playing nice' with third parties and MC has some of the best non-apple iPod integration I have seen

[mlefebvre]

No 'smart' play lists via MC.  They all become 'dumb' and don't dynamically update on the iPod.

That's funny.... My MC Smartlists do update my iPod Video...

For example, I created a smart list that list all of the new songs that I imported into MC in the last 30 days, and everytime I sync, the content of the Ipod is updated according to what is currently displayed in the Smartlist....

Michel.

[trott]

nonononono...

With iTunes, they're dynamic on the ipod...
Take a 'unplayed songs which are imported in the last week' playlist. Sync your iPod. Play a song. It will disappear from the playlist without syncing with your pc.

Well, that's the theory at least...

[mlefebvre]

With iTunes, they're dynamic on the ipod...
Take a 'unplayed songs which are imported in the last week' playlist. Sync your iPod. Play a song. It will disappear from the playlist without syncing with your pc.

Well, that's the theory at least...

I see.... But does the iPod still keep the play stats or rating changes done on the iPod? If it doesn't, then I would never want to use that feature...

I guess it would still keep the changes if the iPod only deletes the entry in the playlist and not the track itself... (I'm not really clear if that is the case or not from above).

Michel.

[BartMan01]

That's funny.... My MC Smartlists do update my iPod Video...

For example, I created a smart list that list all of the new songs that I imported into MC in the last 30 days, and everytime I sync, the content of the Ipod is updated according to what is currently displayed in the Smartlist....

Michel.

What trott said.

Yes, the 'smartlists' sync to the iPod - but they become 'dumb' once there.

Example:
In iTunes, create an 'unrated' smart play list on the iPod.  When using the iPod, the play list stays 'smart'.  If you rate a song, it drops off the play list.
Now in MC, create the same smartlist and sync to the iPod.  When using the iPod, the play list is 'dumb'.  It shows the songs that were unrated as of the last sync with MC, not the songs that are currently unrated on the iPod.

If you sync your iPod constantly then this may not be a big deal, but for those of us that travel and are away from our music library for long periods of time the only solution is to fire up iTunes and recreate our smart play lists after EVERY sync with MC.

[BartMan01]

I see.... But does the iPod still keep the play stats or rating changes done on the iPod? If it doesn't, then I would never want to use that feature...

I guess it would still keep the changes if the iPod only deletes the entry in the playlist and not the track itself... (I'm not really clear if that is the case or not from above).

Michel.

The track stays on the iPod, it just drops off that playlist.  You can also emulate some of MC's mix features by using multiple smart play lists on the iPod.  Advantage is that the 'mix' changes every time you load that play list and doesn't stay a static list from the last time you synced.

This is really my biggest annoyance with MC and iPod support. 

The biggest advantage of MC12 is that I can keep my music in lossless format on my PC and have it sync as an MP3 to the iPod.

[mlefebvre]

What trott said.

Yes, the 'smartlists' sync to the iPod - but they become 'dumb' once there.

Example:
In iTunes, create an 'unrated' smart play list on the iPod.  When using the iPod, the play list stays 'smart'.  If you rate a song, it drops off the play list.
Now in MC, create the same smartlist and sync to the iPod.  When using the iPod, the play list is 'dumb'.  It shows the songs that were unrated as of the last sync with MC, not the songs that are currently unrated on the iPod.

If you sync your iPod constantly then this may not be a big deal, but for those of us that travel and are away from our music library for long periods of time the only solution is to fire up iTunes and recreate our smart play lists after EVERY sync with MC.

Now I get it... Good example. My "unrated songs" playlist on my iPod is usually around 2000 tracks.... :-)

I actually think this would be a very good feature to be supported if there is a way to reverse engineer it. It must be some type of flag that is added to to the playlist by iTunes when it creates it or at synch time....

Michel.

[JimH]

Kirkfrey,
Apple runs a forum for iPod here:
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=146

If you read some of the posts there, I think you'll find Apple's support for iPod has it's own oddities.

[Bendra]

Yes and No.  My experience with MC 11 and 12 is that the software works very well and then one day the software just starts to act up and it can be difficult to troubleshoot unless you're a techie and you live for it.

Right now, for no reason, (meaning no recent changes to my computer) MC 12 is crashing with a message that says that something at the address "0x7c910de3", referenced memory at "0Xfffffff8" could not be read.

I restored my iPod, downloaded the latest version of MC12 and it's still happening.  So now I have a blank iPod and MC12 build 189 which doesn't recognize my pod, crashes and leaves cryptic messages.

I am hooked on MC playlist management, but I see myself going back to iTunes just to avoid these hassles and to get dynamic playlist management. 

[AustinBike]

Works great for music (ipod video 60GB, nano gen 1 2GB and gen 2 shuffle).

However, it doesn't work as well for video. I still use itunes for video but would love to take it off my system. As far as itunes is concerned, the 300GB folder marked "music" does not exist.  That is jriver's territory.

[JimH]

... MC 12 is crashing with a message that says that something at the address "0x7c910de3", referenced memory at "0Xfffffff8" could not be read.

The latest version of iTunes changed the itunes.db file on the iPod and this caused MC problems.  It's fixed in a release that will be out soon.

[BartMan01]

The latest version of iTunes changed the itunes.db file on the iPod and this caused MC problems.  It's fixed in a release that will be out soon.

And this is the best thing about MC's iPod support.  Apple goes and changes things that break the MC integration and MC quickly comes out with a fix.

[Olf]

I feel SO limited having to use iTunes, but at least I get dynamic smartlists om my iPod. Smartlists are the only reason i bought an iPod. As soon as there is a 3rd party-app that supports dynamic smartlists on iPod I'll switch in a jiffy. 'Til then I'll stick with iTunes and cry myself to sleep.

[trott]

In fact I would already be happy if the 'playcount' and 'number of plays' were variable on the ipod lists but presumably if these can be made dynamic it would be easy to add more variables...