iPod Playlist

[LoisMustDie]

Ok...I just picked up my first iPod. I took it out for its inaugural ride last night to discover that I desperately need a playlist. I just put the iPod on song shuffle and took off out the door. It was ok on the way down hill but I noticed a chink in the armor while hammering up mustard on my SS. Suddenly Cake’s “long line of cars” pops on. I usually welcome a little Cake but man did I slow down when that beast came on. It actually made me get off my bike and change the song.

Questions: where do you put your iPod for quick access; and, what songs are on your favorite mountain biking playlist?

[allison]

We've got the arm bands with the case for exercising. I usually keep it in there and wear it. If I'm wearing a sleeveless jersey (don't want an iPod tan, afterall) I've been keeping it in my new Camelbak Octane 8 hip pocket. I still have to unzip the pocket to mess with the iPod, but at least it's not behind my head.

I've got a few different playlists. If you've got enough songs you like that are upbeat n stuff, just make a Ride playlist and hit play on that when you leave the lot.

[Pho'dUp]

Scott, I got one of these at Target and keep the Ipod attached to my side. Been very happy with it. Sturdy case and strong clip. Plus, you can pop it open, forward to another song and reclose it with one hand.



Leather Folio For iPod Nano : Incase Products


You could also get the remote extension cord/radio adapter and stuff the Ipod in your camelback. It would protect the Ipod and give you control. But at $50 bucks that's almost the price of a new shuffle.




There's a thread back here somewhere with playlists on it you can search for.

my favs for riding are bloody bros, rocket from the crypt/hot snakes, fugazi, modest mouse, thermals and pixies.

[Keith B]

I got the weight weenie shuffle and love it. Takes tons of music on there and is simplicity itself to use. Nice strong clip to grip the shorts or camelbak. Not sure why you'd need/want anything more than the shuffle altho I was tempted by the ability to have an IPod that you show friends photos on.

[LoisMustDie]

Originally Posted by Keith B

Not sure why you'd need/want anything more than the shuffle...

Yeah, the shuffle seems to be built for mountain biking.

Originally Posted by Pho'dUp

Scott, I got one of these at Target and keep the Ipod attached to my side. Been very happy with it. Sturdy case and strong clip. Plus, you can pop it open, forward to another song and reclose it with one hand.

Right on...does it stick to your camelback strap?

[allison]

Originally Posted by Keith B

I got the weight weenie shuffle and love it. Takes tons of music on there and is simplicity itself to use. Nice strong clip to grip the shorts or camelbak. Not sure why you'd need/want anything more than the shuffle altho I was tempted by the ability to have an IPod that you show friends photos on.

I got a mini right before they were all discontinued. I'm not a cash money sista, so I just use that

[gurp13]

Playlists are nice. You can make several different kinds. My favorite is the nested smart playlist. I'll try to explain...

First, you can make a smart playlist that collects songs from your library according to criteria that you select. For example, you can tell it to get all songs in the "Rock" genre between 1980 and 1990. There are many different criteria to choose from. You can also use the "Comments" tag in the file to customize your playlists however you want. I use an "aggressive" tag and "explicit" tag to make sure that songs like that don't show up when I'm in the car with the wife and kids. For example, I can have a playlist that looks for all genres of "Rock" and "Alternative Rock" and "Metal" but excludes songs with "explicit" or "aggressive" in the comments.

Now, here's what's really cool. You can also specify that songs that have been played in a certain time frame, like the last day or last 7 days, don't get into the playlist. That means that it won't keep repeating the same songs. Smart Playlists can be selected to have "live updating" so they think about the songs to see if the song now matches or doesn't match the criteria of the playlist. That way your playlist will be constantly refreshed when it runs out.

Okay, now here's what's really really cool.

You can rate your songs. Five stars for favorites, one star for stuff you never want to hear. Two, three, and four for everything in between. Okay, rate your songs. Now, create a "feeder" playlist. Make a playlist that finds all five start songs not played in the last 7 days. Limit that playlist to 150 songs and check off live updating. At the top, make sure that it says it will match "ALL" criteria in the smart playlist.

Now, do the same things for a four star feeder playlist but instead limit it to 100 songs and not played in the last 14 days. Now, three stars, limit to 50 songs, not played in last 21 days. Now, two stars, limit to 25 songs, not played in last 30 days.

Now you have four "feeder" playlists, right? Now, create a new smart playlist for your personal radio station... At the top, tell it to match "ANY" criteria in the playlist. Now, tell it to look for songs that are in each of the four feeder playlists and that haven't been played in the last day. Tell it to limit the playlist to, say, two hours and make it live updating. Select songs by random.

When you click on this playlist, it should go look at the other four playlists and give you a random sampling of those playlists. What should happen is that you get many 5 star songs, some 4 stars, less three stars and even fewer two stars. No 1 stars, obviously. The point is that now the playlist will "shuffle" your library but it will be skewed toward your tastes now, instead of purely random!

You could add more feeder playlists, too. I use one that pulls songs I've recently added (probably new albums) and a "heavy rotation" playlist that I add songs to that I really really like and want to hear more often.

Smart playlists rule. For riding, I do the same as above, but I limit it to aggressive, metal, hard rock. I put a little \m/ tag in the comments and the playlist looks for that and sorts them according to stars. Then, I get a "radio station" that plays the hard stuff according to my tastes. It's the best thing ever, I think, and means you hardly ever get a buzz-killing ballad when you're grinding out a killer climb.

Hope that helps. If it's confusing and you care to know more, let me know.

[Sprockethead]

I keep my shuffle (first gen) in my pocket and run the headphone cord underneath my jersey so I won't catch a branch. Whenever a song comes on that I'm not in the mood for, I just press the FF button on my iPod from the outside of my shorts. Once you're familiar with the iPod, you don't have to look at it and you can go by feel. It's quick and I can also pause the music when I'm talking to someone on the trail.

[BeantownRider]

I've been using the outdoor case from H2O for my nano. It's not completely waterproof like some of their other products, but protects from rain, dust and shock. The external controls are great and I just clip it to my camelback for on the fly (bike) song changing.

H2O Audio -- Waterproof Your iPod

Also recommend the Sennheiser Sport series headphones, I've got the ones that wrap around your head and they stay one beautifully, have great sound and add a little neon green to your riding attire.

[nappyt]

I use my 1st Gen Shuffle the most. I only have songs that are good for any kind of riding on that.

When I bring my Video iPod I usually know the trail and use the vertical profile data from previous rides to know when to have a hight tempo song versus a low tempo song in my playlist.

The only down side is on off days I know when a song goes from fast to slow while I'm still climbing that I'm dragging more then usual. I know its geeky but hey I am what I am...

I need to get one of those FM adapters for my iPod on the days I just want to listen to the ball game.

I keep the Shuffle on my sholder straps and my Video iPod in my CamelBak.

[LoisMustDie]

Originally Posted by gurp13

Playlists are nice. You can make several different kinds. My favorite is the nested smart playlist. I'll try to explain...

Wow, Nice! I will try that.

[Neccros]

Originally Posted by BeantownRider

Also recommend the Sennheiser Sport series headphones, I've got the ones that wrap around your head and they stay one beautifully, have great sound and add a little neon green to your riding attire.

How much are those??? I have a couple of pairs of E2Cs and E4Cs from Shure and I really dont want to use them for riding....
And I definetly DO NOT want to use the stock ear buds either!!! They pretty much SUCK!!

[gurp13]

I've not used the Sennheisers, but have heard good things about them. For riding, I use a pair of Sony's MDR-828's I think. They're $10 so the price is right and the sound is okay. They're not going to sound as good as your Shures, but for the money it's hard to beat them. And, if they get trashed or whatever, it's no big loss. Hell, at that price they're nearly disposable!

[BeantownRider]

Originally Posted by Neccros

How much are those??? I have a couple of pairs of E2Cs and E4Cs from Shure and I really dont want to use them for riding....
And I definetly DO NOT want to use the stock ear buds either!!! They pretty much SUCK!!

Here a cnet link to the green machines. They have several different styles, all for around $50. The sound is night and day above stock buds, easily worth the coin for comfort and quality.

Sennheiser PMX 70 Sport Reviews. Headphones/Headsets Reviews by CNET.

[Neccros]

In general, do earphones(earbuds) stay in your ears when riding??? or do you always have to adjust them???

Ive thought about using my ipod while riding, I havent yet but may one of these days..

[Waldo]

I've dabbled a little with my 2nd gen iPod shuffle while riding, but only on uncrowded trails. My hearing's bad enough already, and I find it really unsettling when I can't hear other bikes, hikers, carnivores, etc. Plus I've had a few bad encounters with people who were in their own little iWorld, oblivious to others on the trail.

So far I've just used the Marquis de Sade signature model ear buds that came stock, but I'll definitely upgrade
soon. And I just put it in my pack and leave it: I don't trust the clip to hold on rough trails, and I just pull the buds out of my ears if I'm stopped to chat.

As for playlists...damn, Gurp, you are into it! I just have one playlist that's loaded with songs that have a good pedaling cadence to them. I don't mind if some are mellow and some are intense, as long as the rythym is right. I find it kind of fun to see how the different moods of the songs happen to sync up with the trail I'm on and the mood I'm in, rather than me always trying to manipulate it. Only occasionally will I just completely reject a tune and skip to the next.

Considering how cheaply you can score 1st or 2nd gen Shuffles, I can't imagine taking an expensive model out riding. I save my 30gb video model for car & home use.

[gurp13]

Originally Posted by Waldo

As for playlists...damn, Gurp, you are into it! I just have one playlist that's loaded with songs that have a good pedaling cadence to them. I don't mind if some are mellow and some are intense, as long as the rythym is right. I find it kind of fun to see how the different moods of the songs happen to sync up with the trail I'm on and the mood I'm in, rather than me always trying to manipulate it. Only occasionally will I just completely reject a tune and skip to the next.

Considering how cheaply you can score 1st or 2nd gen Shuffles, I can't imagine taking an expensive model out riding. I save my 30gb video model for car & home use.

Well, yeah, but I have over 40gb of music and probably 20gb of that is metal, my favorite. And, I like diversity. So, shuffle's are no good. Besides, now that I have my playlists done and songs rated, why not? I keep my iPod in a case and safely inside the mp3 pocket of my HAWG when I ride. Ain't no thing.

[Kid A]

10K songs on shuffle places in top of my camelback (err, dakine) and ride on!.

[Neccros]

I want one of these!!!!

Welcome to Scosche Industries

[gurp13]

Originally Posted by Neccros

I want one of these!!!!

Welcome to Scosche Industries

Only thing that bothers me about that is that you have it in your pocket or pack and it's got that thing sticking out of the bottom. Wonder how easy it is to snap it off?

Neat idea, though.