Configuring Music Playback

Several of the iPod's settings relate to the way in which music plays. These include Shuffle, Repeat, and Sound Check.

Shuffling Music with Shuffle Settings

You can use the iPod's Shuffle feature to have songs play in a random order. To shuffle music, use the following steps:

1.	Choose Main menu, Settings. You'll see the Settings menu.
2.	Highlight the Shuffle command (see Figure 6.1). Figure 6.1. You can use the Shuffle setting to have an iPod play your music in a random order.
3.	If you want the songs within a selected browse category or playlist to play in a random order, press the Select button once. The Shuffle setting will become Songs. This causes the iPod to shuffle the songs within a music source when you play it. Note The Shuffle Settings feature works on any source of music you select, including playlists or any of the Browse categories, such as Artists, Albums, Genre, and so on. When you use the Songs mode, all the songs will be selected and play in a random fashion.
4.	If you want the iPod to select random albums when you select a browse category or playlist, press the Select button twice. The Shuffle setting will become Albums. This causes the iPod to select an album randomly, play all the songs on the album, choose another album randomly, and repeat this pattern until you turn Shuffle off again.
5.	Select the music you want to play in a randomized fashion and play it. On the Now Playing screen, you'll see the Shuffle indicator to remind you that you are in Shuffle mode (see Figure 6.2). Figure 6.2. The Shuffle indicator reminds you that you are playing in the Shuffle mode.
6.	To disable the Shuffle feature, press the Select button until you see Off next to the Shuffle setting. Your music will again play in a linear fashion.

Shuffling Music with the Shuffle Songs Command

On an iPod's Main menu (this command doesn't appear on an iPod mini's Main menu), you'll see the Shuffle Songs command. If you choose this command, all the songs on the iPod will play in random order. You can't choose a specific group of songs to play, such as a playlist, this command plays all the songs in the iPod's music library.

Repeating Music

The Repeat feature enables you to repeat an individual song as many times as you'd like or to repeat all the songs in a selected music source as many times as you can stand.

Note

Like the Shuffle Settings feature, the Repeat feature works with any music source you select, including playlists or any of the Browse categories.

To repeat the same song ad infinitum, choose Main menu, Settings. Highlight Repeat and press the Select button once so that One is displayed next to the Repeat setting. Select the song you want to hear and play it. It will play and then play again until you pause the iPod or choose a different song. While the song plays, the Repeat One indicator will appear on the Now Playing screen (see Figure 6.3).

Figure 6.3. You can make the same song play over and over until you just can't take it anymore.

If you want to repeat all the songs within a selected music source, choose Main menu, Settings. Highlight Repeat and press the Select button twice so that All is displayed next to the Repeat setting. Select the music source (such as a playlist) you want to hear and play it. It will play and then repeat until you pause the iPod or choose a different music source. While the music source plays, the Repeat All indicator will appear on the Now Playing screen (see Figure 6.4).

Figure 6.4. You can use the Repeat All mode to repeat all the songs in a selected music source, such as a playlist.

To turn Repeat off, choose Main menu, Settings. Highlight Repeat and press the Select button until Off is displayed next to the Repeat setting. Music will again play one time through and then stop.

Using Sound Check

iTunes' Sound Check feature causes songs to play back at the same relative volume levelif you have ever been jolted out of your chair because of one song's volume level being much higher than the next one, you know why this is a good thing. Using the iPod's Sound Check setting, you can cause the iPod to use the volume levels set by iTunes when Sound Check is on.

Note

The current state of the Equalizer is shown next to its setting on the Settings menu. For example, when the Equalizer is turned off, "Off" will appear next to the EQ setting.

To use Sound Check, make sure it is on in iTunes. Then, connect your iPod to your computer so the iPod's music will be updated, or you can perform a manual update if that is how you have configured iTunes for your iPod. After the update is complete, on the iPod choose Main menu, Settings. On the Settings menu, highlight Sound Check and press the Select button. The Sound Check setting will become On to show you that it is in use. When you play music back, it will play at the same relative volume level.

To return the volume level to the "normal" state, choose Main menu, Settings. Highlight Sound Check and press the Select button so that Off appears as the Sound Check setting.

Using the iPod's Equalizer

The iPod also has a built-in Equalizer that you can use to improve (improve being a relative term, of course) the music to which you listen. The iPod includes a number of presets designed to enhance specific kinds of music and other audio sources. To use the iPod Equalizer, do the following steps:

1.	Choose Main menu, Settings. Note If you have created your own presets on the iTunes Equalizer, they won't be available on your iPod. The iPod includes a set of presets, and those are all that you can use. Fortunately, the list of presets is quite large, so this isn't much of a limitation.
2.	Highlight the EQ setting and press the Select button. You'll see the EQ menu (see Figure 6.5). On this menu, you will see all the presets that are available to you. The list is pretty long, so you will need to scroll down to see all your options. The presets include those designed for specific styles of music, such as Acoustic, Classical, Jazz, and so on, as well as for situations in which you might be using your iPod to play music, such as on Small Speakers. Figure 6.5. Choose an Equalizer preset on the EQ menu to activate it. Tip If you want to see a visual representation of the effect of the Equalizer preset you are using, view the Equalizer in iTunes with the same preset selected. See Chapter 17, "Equalizing Your Music," to learn how to do this.
3.	Highlight the preset you want to use and press the Select button. You'll return to the Settings menu, and the preset you selected will be shown next to the Equalizer setting (see Figure 6.6). When you play music, the Equalizer will adjust the volume levels of various frequencies to enhance certain frequencies and to reduce the levels of others. Figure 6.6. If you like bass, try the Bass Booster Equalizer preset.