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      07-30-2008, 09:38 PM   #1
swamp2
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Managing Large iPod Collections

Need some advice on managing large iPod libraries through iDrive.

Goal. Quickly list all songs by an artist when you have hundreds of artists and thousands of songs. The scrolling with the iDrive wheel is waaaaaay too slow. The fast scroll by letter works great when using the ipod itself but mine is always nicely tucked away its home in the center console storage unit. I thought this cool tip for making Smart Playlists would work ( http://cerebrum.leftbrained.co.uk/po...n-on-your-ipod) and it mostly does with one critical drawback. Once you use those lists all you get in the interface (iPod and iDrive) is a list of all songs by all artists whose name begins with the chosen letter.

There must be a work around. iDrive absoultely should have the fast scroll by letter feature of the iPod then all would be fine.

Help!
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      07-31-2008, 05:59 AM   #2
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Swamp

In the exact same boat as you. I have a virtually full 80gb iPod (with mainly contemporary stuff) and a full 60gb iPod (with mainly classical) and found artist scrolling impossible.

The easiest solution I have found is by using the "Genre" Tag. On my 80gb Ipod its by using proper Genres (eg Thrash Metal, Rock, Prog Rock etc). I scroll through these which really filters down your choices.

Because the 60gb Ipod is given over entirely to classical stuff, I just changed the Genres to effectively give me quick alphabetical selection. So for example, Beethoven is filed under a Genre of "A-C", Mozart is under "M-O" etc

Its not perfect but basically by selecting a Genre first in this manner, the next selection is usually no more than 20-30 choices.

Regards

Mick
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      07-31-2008, 11:09 AM   #3
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Rate your songs. Play from the Top Rated playlist. Random it.

Playlists are the key. You are probably skipping past a good chunk of your music anyway.
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      07-31-2008, 11:20 AM   #4
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Use Genre or Playlist ... that is the key. You can create "smart playlists" as well using itunes based on a set of rules criteria, which maybe helpful.

Personally, I find the i-Drive interface remarkably responsive to large lists of Artists and Albums. Certainly more responsive than most i-pod interfaces for the car !
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      08-01-2008, 01:09 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickb View Post
Swamp

In the exact same boat as you. I have a virtually full 80gb iPod (with mainly contemporary stuff) and a full 60gb iPod (with mainly classical) and found artist scrolling impossible.

The easiest solution I have found is by using the "Genre" Tag. On my 80gb Ipod its by using proper Genres (eg Thrash Metal, Rock, Prog Rock etc). I scroll through these which really filters down your choices.

Because the 60gb Ipod is given over entirely to classical stuff, I just changed the Genres to effectively give me quick alphabetical selection. So for example, Beethoven is filed under a Genre of "A-C", Mozart is under "M-O" etc

Its not perfect but basically by selecting a Genre first in this manner, the next selection is usually no more than 20-30 choices.

Regards

Mick
Cool genre might work the best. The key point is that when you browse by genre list lists returned are BY ARTIST rather than by song. For what I want to accomplish this will pretty much do it. Thanks.

@Keto: Thanks but uhhh, totally irrelevant.

@apw: Have you tried scrolling with the iDrive wheel through hundreds of artists? Not sure how you could think this was fast or tenable. If it simply worked exactly like the iPod with the fast scrolling changing to letters all would be OK.
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      08-01-2008, 11:37 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swamp2 View Post
Cool genre might work the best. The key point is that when you browse by genre list lists returned are BY ARTIST rather than by song. For what I want to accomplish this will pretty much do it. Thanks.

@Keto: Thanks but uhhh, totally irrelevant.

@apw: Have you tried scrolling with the iDrive wheel through hundreds of artists? Not sure how you could think this was fast or tenable. If it simply worked exactly like the iPod with the fast scrolling changing to letters all would be OK.
Swamp, they actually changed the implementation of this recently. We never saw the change as by the time the M3's came to the USA, the change has already being made in i-drive.

The old implementation actually showed you the full name as you scrolled through the list. Whereas now, you get a number like 53 ...... (and then the name updates shortly after). The latter implementation allowed for a "speedy" scroll through tracks, artists, etc. The earlier one, was painfully slow. I mean .... really slow.

Unfortunately, its not going to get any better with the current hardware. You just need to wait for the info to upate on the i-drive display ... however, at least you can wizz through the list quickly .....
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      08-01-2008, 12:50 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swamp2 View Post
@Keto: Thanks but uhhh, totally irrelevant.
Sorry, I guess I assumed you spend too much time seeking and searching for artists. Playlists get rid of that. I don't like to look for songs much in the car at all, unless I am looking for a specific song, which is a rare event.

We all organize differently.

EDIT: I used to just randomize my entire collection when I had a PhatBox in the old E46, but then I found I was wearing out the next song button. I generally do not listen to albums, etc.
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      08-01-2008, 12:59 PM   #8
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rate and random. my iPod has a few playlists prefixed with numbers so they're always on top. i hate it too bro
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      08-01-2008, 05:46 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickb View Post
Swamp

In the exact same boat as you. I have a virtually full 80gb iPod (with mainly contemporary stuff) and a full 60gb iPod (with mainly classical) and found artist scrolling impossible.

The easiest solution I have found is by using the "Genre" Tag. On my 80gb Ipod its by using proper Genres (eg Thrash Metal, Rock, Prog Rock etc). I scroll through these which really filters down your choices.

Because the 60gb Ipod is given over entirely to classical stuff, I just changed the Genres to effectively give me quick alphabetical selection. So for example, Beethoven is filed under a Genre of "A-C", Mozart is under "M-O" etc

Its not perfect but basically by selecting a Genre first in this manner, the next selection is usually no more than 20-30 choices.

Regards

Mick
Mick, thanks again. Worked perfectly. Super fast now to browse alphabetically by artist. A great work around. I accomplished the updates to the genre field really quickly since I had already followed the instructions in the link I posted. Do have a look at that.

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      08-03-2008, 06:59 AM   #10
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I have 40GB of music and when I spin the wheel fast the names disappear and numbers work, I can spin the idrive hard 4-5 times and get half way down my artists without issues in a couple of secs.

I know this was only implemented recently, before that it was a lot slower

We have a non idrive 320D with 6fl at work and scrolling down music with that is a disaster.
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      08-03-2008, 01:58 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GarryF View Post
I have 40GB of music and when I spin the wheel fast the names disappear and numbers work, I can spin the idrive hard 4-5 times and get half way down my artists without issues in a couple of secs.

I know this was only implemented recently, before that it was a lot slower

We have a non idrive 320D with 6fl at work and scrolling down music with that is a disaster.
Yes, mentioned the fast scroll above. The real problem is that this feature is available directly in the iPod interface but not in the iDrive interface!
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      08-03-2008, 02:40 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swamp2 View Post
Yes, mentioned the fast scroll above. The real problem is that this feature is available directly in the iPod interface but not in the iDrive interface!
I'm not sure what you mean, I can scroll down 200 artists in 2-3 secs using the idrive controller just by spinning it hard 3-5 times. Intially a number is show then the artists name will overwrite it

I had a read of the previous message about USA cars not getting this feature and am quite surprised, I thought this was introduced into all CIP versions last year.

You should hassle your dealer for a software upgrade???
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      08-04-2008, 12:16 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GarryF View Post
You should hassle your dealer for a software upgrade???
Can anyone confirm an older verison of the iPod interface for iDrive which has a much slower artist scrolling feature and a newer version with a faster one?
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      08-04-2008, 01:39 AM   #14
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Couple of threads discussing it here, you could see it in action by going to the dealer and looking at any new car with the option, I'd still have assumed all cars built this year would have had it though...

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=137884
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153696
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      08-04-2008, 11:05 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swamp2 View Post
Yes, mentioned the fast scroll above. The real problem is that this feature is available directly in the iPod interface but not in the iDrive interface!
Sorry, you've lost me there swamp? When we refer to the fast scrolling and the number appearing against any artist, song list, etc ... its on the idrive screen, not on the ipod.

Again, it is possible to fast scroll through a long list, its just you dont see the name of the song, artist, etc immediately. it takes a second or two for the number to switch to the name.

If you want I can take some photos to explain fully?

Are you using your ipod with the Y-cable or the regular ipod<>USB cable ?

Last edited by apw2607; 08-04-2008 at 01:28 PM..
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