ipods: is there something a non-hifi person can use

[A Lark Ascending]

This is a worthwhile investment if you don't need one of those docks with speakers:

It's easy enough to connect the iPod to your stereo via the headphone socket but the sound is very tinny. With this you end up connecting via the output at the bottom into one of your amp's inputs. It also has a little handset that allows you to control volume. A much better sound.

Not up to your hi-fis standard when playing CDs/CD-Rs but I only use it for spinning Playlists in the house. More than acceptable for that. Actually makes me think that a lot of the flack about the sound quality of downloads is actually an issuer with the iPod rather than the download itself - even to my tolerant ears they sound better played off a burnt disc or direct from the PC.

The only irritation is that the dock ends in one of those single 'male' plugs; you need an adapter with a female leading to the double connection that you can put into your amplifier's input (I've used the old tape connection). Inexpensive to solve but one extra thing to get.

£30 from Amazon + about £7 for the adapter from somewhere else.

Edited March 21, 2010 by Bev Stapleton

[Neal Pomea]

Could this be moved to the Audio forum? I looked for this topic and couldn't find it. I even searched every forum on the term ipod in this native interface and on Google and it must have been too old to turn up in the search.

I have a new ipod Nano generation 5. Loaded a library of music and wanted it to display artist, album, and song name in my car but it seemed to go straight to a bunch of songs (from cd burns) that listed only Track 1, Track 2. Etc. Now I am working on creating Playlists by Artist Name to see if that kind of indexing will work better in my car. I had to open Itunes and hit Control I to access and edit some indexing information on a bunch of songs.

Question about deleting songs from an ipod. I don't want to sync my whole library, just selected playlists. Should I remove songs from the library before syncing playlists? Sorry if this is obvious, but I don't find very much to be obvious about it, including using the term sync instead of save.

[Shrdlu]

Why does one specifically need an ipod, when there are lots of mp3 players and video players?

My Nokia 5800 phone is superb for mp3 and videos.

Is there something special that ipods do?

[John L]

Could this be moved to the Audio forum? I looked for this topic and couldn't find it. I even searched every forum on the term ipod in this native interface and on Google and it must have been too old to turn up in the search.

I have a new ipod Nano generation 5. Loaded a library of music and wanted it to display artist, album, and song name in my car but it seemed to go straight to a bunch of songs (from cd burns) that listed only Track 1, Track 2. Etc. Now I am working on creating Playlists by Artist Name to see if that kind of indexing will work better in my car. I had to open Itunes and hit Control I to access and edit some indexing information on a bunch of songs.

Question about deleting songs from an ipod. I don't want to sync my whole library, just selected playlists. Should I remove songs from the library before syncing playlists? Sorry if this is obvious, but I don't find very much to be obvious about it, including using the term sync instead of save.

I don't know if there is a way to only sync playlists. But you can always select manual rather than sync mode, and then just drag all of your playlists to the iPod.

Edited March 22, 2010 by John L

[A Lark Ascending]

Why does one specifically need an ipod, when there are lots of mp3 players and video players?

My Nokia 5800 phone is superb for mp3 and videos.

Is there something special that ipods do?

I started with a different MP3 player (I was really put off by the iPods 'must-have' cache). Got an iPod, however, a couple of years back and find it far more flexible.

I'm sure there are equally good (or better) machines but the iPod does all I need of a portable.

[nmorin]

Are there any of these sorts of devices that allow one the choice of using (for the lack of a better term) a "folder view"?

For example, on my PC, I have Ellington cataloged year-by-year (each year is its own folder within an "Ellington" folder) with master takes (from Chronological Classics and what have you) and alternates (from Neatwork, mainly) next to each other in recording order. E.g., "1933" would start out with

001a I Must Have That Man (master take)

001b I Must Have That Man (alternate take)

002a Baby (master take)

002b Baby (alternate take)

and so on.

Generally, I have my jazz collection organized on my PC as Artist->Year->Song (in recording order).

But, given a bajillion titles, I didn't edit the "track number" or "album title" fields--just the MP3 name to get the right leading number for recording order before the song title (001, 002a, 002b, etc).

So, will iPods and their kin always just want to look at the tags and sort by album title and so on, so I am out of luck with my Artist->Year->Song (in recording order) folder arrangement when imported into the portable device--unless I spend a year editing the "track number" or "album title" fields?

Boy, upon re-reading the post, I sure do sound like I have OCD or something.

Edited March 23, 2010 by nmorin

[John L]

iTunes generally orders by arist, album, and track number. But you can create playlists that order your music chronologically in exactly the manner that you want. Therefore, you can have both orderings.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I haven't had an ipod for very long, but the big issues to watch are consistency and tracking what you've done/are doing.

On consistency, itunes will treat artist A as the same as artist a. But the ipod insists they're different artists. Ditto for genres. Ditto for album titles - capitalise a title differently and it'll be where you least expect it. At best, this will lead to overlong lists of whatever in your root directories. At worst, you may lose something, not because it ain't there but you just dunno where.

On tracking, the number of times I get mixed up and think I've put something on the ipod that's not there really is a pain. Also, if you learn something new about a recording and change something in the directory where you keep the real copy, I tunes won't be able to find it, so you have to delete the old version from itunes (and your ipod) and add the new version into both.

Discipline.

MG

[mjzee]

Also, if you learn something new about a recording and change something in the directory where you keep the real copy, I tunes won't be able to find it, so you have to delete the old version from itunes (and your ipod) and add the new version into both.

I don't think you need to delete it. In my experience, iTunes tells you it can't find the track, but gives you the opportunity to direct it to the new location.

[Jim R]

I haven't had an ipod for very long, but the big issues to watch are consistency and tracking what you've done/are doing.

On consistency, itunes will treat artist A as the same as artist a. But the ipod insists they're different artists. Ditto for genres. Ditto for album titles - capitalise a title differently and it'll be where you least expect it.

It seems to me that this is easily fixed. For example, bring up artist A and artist a together in a search, select all, and enter your preferred text (change only the text in the "Artist" box). This will unify these files as it pertains to the artist's name. Once you've learned this, you can avoid it happening further by using the same approach (capitalizing or not) when entering new data.

At best, this will lead to overlong lists of whatever in your root directories. At worst, you may lose something, not because it ain't there but you just dunno where.

With the search function (both on the ipod and in itunes), I've never had a problem finding anything that had been misfiled due to a data entry error. Are you using the search function in itunes and/or on the ipod? (if you wish to search for something on the ipod, I would recommend doing it while it's synced, so that you can use the much simpler and faster search box in itunes).

Also, if you learn something new about a recording and change something in the directory where you keep the real copy, I tunes won't be able to find it, so you have to delete the old version from itunes (and your ipod) and add the new version into both.

I'm not sure I follow you here, MG. When you say "something new", are you referring to some new bit of discographical data? If that's the case, why not just open itunes, find that recording, and enter the new data? The same can be done for the files that are on your ipod while it's synced.

For some reason, I'm also not sure what you mean by "change something in the directory where you keep the real copy". I'm on a Mac, which may operate differently from a PC in this respect, but I see no way to edit any sort of data (except artist name/album title/song title) in the actual music file folders on the hard disc on my Mac.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I haven't had an ipod for very long, but the big issues to watch are consistency and tracking what you've done/are doing.

On consistency, itunes will treat artist A as the same as artist a. But the ipod insists they're different artists. Ditto for genres. Ditto for album titles - capitalise a title differently and it'll be where you least expect it.

It seems to me that this is easily fixed. For example, bring up artist A and artist a together in a search, select all, and enter your preferred text (change only the text in the "Artist" box). This will unify these files as it pertains to the artist's name. Once you've learned this, you can avoid it happening further by using the same approach (capitalizing or not) when entering new data.

Ah, of course, itunes is not my main way of listening to music from my hard drives. I prefer Windows Media Player and only use itunes for stuffing things onto the ipod. So to ensure consistency between ipod and WMP, my files have to be organised the way I want them on the disc, not in itunes.

MG

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

At best, this will lead to overlong lists of whatever in your root directories. At worst, you may lose something, not because it ain't there but you just dunno where.

With the search function (both on the ipod and in itunes), I've never had a problem finding anything that had been misfiled due to a data entry error. Are you using the search function in itunes and/or on the ipod? (if you wish to search for something on the ipod, I would recommend doing it while it's synced, so that you can use the much simpler and faster search box in itunes).

Sorry, I can't see the point of searching for something on the ipod when it's connected to the PC. I use the ipod when I'm out and about, not when it's connected to the pc. And, when you're walking around the shops, trying to find the next album to listen to, having 27 "SOUL JAZZ" and "soul jazz" genres etc just makes a load of effort trying to get to "Wassoulou-Fouta".

Also, if you learn something new about a recording and change something in the directory where you keep the real copy, I tunes won't be able to find it, so you have to delete the old version from itunes (and your ipod) and add the new version into both.

I'm not sure I follow you here, MG. When you say "something new", are you referring to some new bit of discographical data? If that's the case, why not just open itunes, find that recording, and enter the new data? The same can be done for the files that are on your ipod while it's synced.

For some reason, I'm also not sure what you mean by "change something in the directory where you keep the real copy". I'm on a Mac, which may operate differently from a PC in this respect, but I see no way to edit any sort of data (except artist name/album title/song title) in the actual music file folders on the hard disc on my Mac.

See previous post. It sometimes takes a little while, for example, to realise that what on the face of it is one kind of West African music is, in fact, some other kind from the same region (if I spoke Mandinke, Bambara, Peul, Wolof, Dogon etc this would be relatrively easy ). Since I keep everything organised by genres and organised on the hard drives, that means the files have to get moved from one genre folder to another. So, it's not hard to get itunes to know where the music is now but if you've changed the genre, to ensure consistency, you need to delete the original itunes entries and replace them with the new ones. Otherwise the ipod is still going to see the record as part of the old genre. See?

Similar problems arise in West African recordings with artists' names. Many bands worked for the Government under one name and for the private sector under another name (or names, which might be gig-related). Unless you know the history of each band, what's what is not always obvious. But, just as "Izzy Goldberg" is not a different artist to Dizzy Gillespie, so "Keletigui & ses Tambourinis" worked for the government, "Orchestre de la Pailote" worked at the Pailote restaurant and "Orchestre de la Bonne Auberge" worked at the Bonne Auberge inn and are all the same band. Plenty of opportunities to get it wrong through lack of knowledge of what was going on in the sixties and seventies in Guinea. This music isn't as well studied as jazz or other kinds of American music.

MG

[Jim R]

MG, let me begin by saying that I'm only trying to help you with your problems, if possible, and not necessarily get you to change anything. Everyone has their own preferences (and unique needs) when it comes to using ipods, itunes, etc, but it's fairly clear to me that not everyone understands how to optimize the capabilities that the software provides. itunes is pretty sophisticated, so it's no wonder that some folks struggle to learn how to use it, and/or get frustrated with it and write it off as a terrible program. For some, maybe it really is, but for others, I suspect that learning more can make a world of difference in their outlook. I've been using it for years, and I feel like I'm still learning (thanks in part to tips from other members here), so none of this is very surprising to me. So, if I hear you voice a frustration, and I think I have a helpful tip, I'm offering it not only to try to help you, but also with the knowledge that I might learn something too.

At best, this will lead to overlong lists of whatever in your root directories. At worst, you may lose something, not because it ain't there but you just dunno where.

With the search function (both on the ipod and in itunes), I've never had a problem finding anything that had been misfiled due to a data entry error. Are you using the search function in itunes and/or on the ipod? (if you wish to search for something on the ipod, I would recommend doing it while it's synced, so that you can use the much simpler and faster search box in itunes).

Sorry, I can't see the point of searching for something on the ipod when it's connected to the PC. I use the ipod when I'm out and about, not when it's connected to the pc.

Here's the point. You said you sometimes "lose something" on your ipod. In order to find that something, it would seem natural to do a search. The ipod has a search function, wherein you enter a letter at a time. It's a good feature, and it can prove handy when you're out and about, but it is relatively tedious when compared to the search function that's available when your ipod is synced with itunes. So, consider searching for your lost file after you get home. Not only that, but once you've found the lost file, you can easily edit that file (so that you'll be able to find it the next time you're out and about) while the ipod is synced. You can also edit groups of files very easily, and that's one of the great things about the itunes search function, whether you're editing the files on your ipod or the files in your itunes library.

And, when you're walking around the shops, trying to find the next album to listen to, having 27 "SOUL JAZZ" and "soul jazz" genres etc just makes a load of effort trying to get to "Wassoulou-Fouta".

Just so I'm clear... do you wish to have separate "SOUL JAZZ" and "soul jazz" genre labels on your ipod?

Also, just out of curiosity, under what category/heading do you place Wassoulou-Fouta? (This is a region of Africa, correct?). Or, do you have Wassoulou and Fouta under different headings? I'm just wondering if there might be a shortcut to finding something like that on the ipod...

[Jim R]

Since I keep everything organised by genres and organised on the hard drives, that means the files have to get moved from one genre folder to another. So, it's not hard to get itunes to know where the music is now but if you've changed the genre, to ensure consistency, you need to delete the original itunes entries and replace them with the new ones. Otherwise the ipod is still going to see the record as part of the old genre. See?

I don't understand that, perhaps (as I said above) because I'm on a Mac and operate differently. Still, that last sentence ("Otherwise the ipod is still going to see the record as part of the old genre") puzzles me. If the bottom line is having it correct on the ipod, why can't you simply: sync your ipod; select all the tracks on that album; get info (Command-I); change the name of the genre? Maybe I'm oversimplifying it...

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

MG, let me begin by saying that I'm only trying to help you with your problems, if possible, and not necessarily get you to change anything. Everyone has their own preferences (and unique needs) when it comes to using ipods, itunes, etc, but it's fairly clear to me that not everyone understands how to optimize the capabilities that the software provides. itunes is pretty sophisticated, so it's no wonder that some folks struggle to learn how to use it, and/or get frustrated with it and write it off as a terrible program. For some, maybe it really is, but for others, I suspect that learning more can make a world of difference in their outlook. I've been using it for years, and I feel like I'm still learning (thanks in part to tips from other members here), so none of this is very surprising to me. So, if I hear you voice a frustration, and I think I have a helpful tip, I'm offering it not only to try to help you, but also with the knowledge that I might learn something too.

Thanks Jim, I do appreciate this.

At best, this will lead to overlong lists of whatever in your root directories. At worst, you may lose something, not because it ain't there but you just dunno where.

With the search function (both on the ipod and in itunes), I've never had a problem finding anything that had been misfiled due to a data entry error. Are you using the search function in itunes and/or on the ipod? (if you wish to search for something on the ipod, I would recommend doing it while it's synced, so that you can use the much simpler and faster search box in itunes).

Sorry, I can't see the point of searching for something on the ipod when it's connected to the PC. I use the ipod when I'm out and about, not when it's connected to the pc.

Here's the point. You said you sometimes "lose something" on your ipod. In order to find that something, it would seem natural to do a search. The ipod has a search function, wherein you enter a letter at a time. It's a good feature, and it can prove handy when you're out and about, but it is relatively tedious when compared to the search function that's available when your ipod is synced with itunes. So, consider searching for your lost file after you get home. Not only that, but once you've found the lost file, you can easily edit that file (so that you'll be able to find it the next time you're out and about) while the ipod is synced. You can also edit groups of files very easily, and that's one of the great things about the itunes search function, whether you're editing the files on your ipod or the files in your itunes library.

The model ipod I have doesn't have any letters on it, so I would have to search back home, later, as you suggest. I can see the point of this, now. Thanks.

And, when you're walking around the shops, trying to find the next album to listen to, having 27 "SOUL JAZZ" and "soul jazz" genres etc just makes a load of effort trying to get to "Wassoulou-Fouta".

Just so I'm clear... do you wish to have separate "SOUL JAZZ" and "soul jazz" genre labels on your ipod?

[Jim R]

The model ipod I have doesn't have any letters on it...

I'm not aware of any that do. "Search" is one of the menus listed under the "Music" menu on an ipod. If you don't see it listed on yours, you need to go into "Settings"->"Music Menu"->and make sure that "Search" has a check mark next to it (you may want to review all of your settings, as long as you're at it). Once you've activated the search function, just select it, then scroll and click to select sequential letters. As I say, it's more tedious than doing a search in itunes, but it might come in handy while you're on the go.

And, when you're walking around the shops, trying to find the next album to listen to, having 27 "SOUL JAZZ" and "soul jazz" genres etc just makes a load of effort trying to get to "Wassoulou-Fouta".

Just so I'm clear... do you wish to have separate "SOUL JAZZ" and "soul jazz" genre labels on your ipod?

No. When I started out with my ipod, a few weeks ago, I had a load of stuff which I'd labelled inconsistently. I saw that itunes amalgamated all the music in one genre (or one artist) together, regardless of capitalisation, which I thought was fine. As you know, most of this stuff itunes gets from the web to save you the trouble of entering it. Once I had learned how to sync a big bunch of stuff to my ipod, I slammed it all in. And when I tried to play some stuff on a trip to Cardiff, I found that the ipod put all the artists within one genre together, but gave me a new entry on the genres menu every time either the genre's or the artist's capitalisation would alternate. So, in order to get to the items lower down the menu, I had to scroll through a couple of dozen Soul Jazz entries, which was a pain in the arse. So I had to redo them consistently. The problem is that itunes and ipods work differently, which is unexpected and somewhat amateurish.

Okay, what I'm trying to convey to you is that you can label (and/or re-label) everything that's already on your ipod, so that the ipod will function more efficiently for you. There's no need to put up with "SOUL JAZZ" as well as "soul jazz" labels on the ipod, regardless of how the music is labeled on your computer (as long as you're syncing manually, which I strongly suggest to anyone who's reading this). So, to fix this, simply sync your ipod, and open the ipod music files list. In the search box, type in "soul jazz" to bring up only those files in that genre [note: any other files outside that genre which may have both "soul" and "jazz" as part of their tags will also come up, so you will want to sort all the found files by genre]. Select all the files which you want to edit (for example, all the files labeled as "SOUL JAZZ" under genre), select "get info", and in the genre box, type in "soul jazz". Don't make changes to any other category (such as artist, album title, etc). Hopefully that makes sense. If not, let me know.

Also, just out of curiosity, under what category/heading do you place Wassoulou-Fouta? (This is a region of Africa, correct?). Or, do you have Wassoulou and Fouta under different headings? I'm just wondering if there might be a shortcut to finding something like that on the ipod...

Yes, Wassoulou-Fouta is a sort of region, part in Mali, part in Guinea. I use it as an umbrella genre covering the musics of the Bambara, Soninke, Dogon and Peul, to avoid having many small genres. I simply mentioned it because it comes after Soul Jazz and Swing (with which I had similar problems and a multiplicity of apparent categories); I could have said Zouglou

Okay, gotcha. Wow, you must have a lot of genre categories, if it's really that hard to scroll down to the "W's". Hopefully unifying all the ones that are separated due to case sensitivity will help cut down on the amount of scrolling you're currently required to do.

Edited March 24, 2010 by Jim R

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

The model ipod I have doesn't have any letters on it...

I'm not aware of any that do. "Search" is one of the menus listed under the "Music" menu on an ipod. If you don't see it listed on yours, you need to go into "Settings"->"Music Menu"->and make sure that "Search" has a check mark next to it (you may want to review all of your settings, as long as you're at it). Once you've activated the search function, just select it, then scroll and click to select sequential letters. As I say, it's more tedious than doing a search in itunes, but it might come in handy while you're on the go.

Ah, I didn't know about that, thanks. I think that may well come in handy when I have a lot more Soul Jazz on than I have now. I assume I could use it to find an artist. Or indeed, when I have all 70-something of my Sonny Stitt albums on it, to find an album. Can you use that function consecutively to find a specific album (with a specific initial letter I mean) within a specific artist you've found in the same way?

And, when you're walking around the shops, trying to find the next album to listen to, having 27 "SOUL JAZZ" and "soul jazz" genres etc just makes a load of effort trying to get to "Wassoulou-Fouta".

Just so I'm clear... do you wish to have separate "SOUL JAZZ" and "soul jazz" genre labels on your ipod?

No. When I started out with my ipod, a few weeks ago, I had a load of stuff which I'd labelled inconsistently. I saw that itunes amalgamated all the music in one genre (or one artist) together, regardless of capitalisation, which I thought was fine. As you know, most of this stuff itunes gets from the web to save you the trouble of entering it. Once I had learned how to sync a big bunch of stuff to my ipod, I slammed it all in. And when I tried to play some stuff on a trip to Cardiff, I found that the ipod put all the artists within one genre together, but gave me a new entry on the genres menu every time either the genre's or the artist's capitalisation would alternate. So, in order to get to the items lower down the menu, I had to scroll through a couple of dozen Soul Jazz entries, which was a pain in the arse. So I had to redo them consistently. The problem is that itunes and ipods work differently, which is unexpected and somewhat amateurish.

Okay, what I'm trying to convey to you is that you can label (and/or re-label) everything that's already on your ipod, so that the ipod will function more efficiently for you. There's no need to put up with "SOUL JAZZ" as well as "soul jazz" labels on the ipod, regardless of how the music is labeled on your computer (as long as you're syncing manually, which I strongly suggest to anyone who's reading this). So, to fix this, simply sync your ipod, and open the ipod music files list. In the search box, type in "soul jazz" to bring up only those files in that genre [note: any other files outside that genre which may have both "soul" and "jazz" as part of their tags will also come up, so you will want to sort all the found files by genre]. Select all the files which you want to edit (for example, all the files labeled as "SOUL JAZZ" under genre), select "get info", and in the genre box, type in "soul jazz". Don't make changes to any other category (such as artist, album title, etc). Hopefully that makes sense. If not, let me know.

Well, that's what I've done, but I did it back on the original music files, so everything looks the same, no matter which way I'm listening. The point I was trying to illustrate was that consistency is very important and one needs to work out what one wants and stick to it religiously or a mess is what you get.

Also, just out of curiosity, under what category/heading do you place Wassoulou-Fouta? (This is a region of Africa, correct?). Or, do you have Wassoulou and Fouta under different headings? I'm just wondering if there might be a shortcut to finding something like that on the ipod...

Yes, Wassoulou-Fouta is a sort of region, part in Mali, part in Guinea. I use it as an umbrella genre covering the musics of the Bambara, Soninke, Dogon and Peul, to avoid having many small genres. I simply mentioned it because it comes after Soul Jazz and Swing (with which I had similar problems and a multiplicity of apparent categories); I could have said Zouglou

Okay, gotcha. Wow, you must have a lot of genre categories, if it's really that hard to scroll down to the "W's". Hopefully unifying all the ones that are separated due to case sensitivity will help cut down on the amount of scrolling you're currently required to do.

Not really many - 24, and some are umbrella categories. And only 19 represented on the ipod so far.

MG

[Jim R]

Sorry for the delay, MG. We've had internet connection problems.

The search function on the ipod brings up everything (artist name, album titles, song titles) simultaneously. For example, when I do a search for "johnny", I get all artists, album titles, and song titles that include that name. If you want to find a specific album, don't bother typing in the artist's name first, just the album title. Same if you're searching for a particular song.

Press the |<< button to erase one letter at a time; |>> for a space between search words; and hold |<< to erase all the letters at once.

Cheers,

JR

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Sorry for the delay, MG. We've had internet connection problems.

The search function on the ipod brings up everything (artist name, album titles, song titles) simultaneously. For example, when I do a search for "johnny", I get all artists, album titles, and song titles that include that name. If you want to find a specific album, don't bother typing in the artist's name first, just the album title. Same if you're searching for a particular song.

Press the |<< button to erase one letter at a time; |>> for a space between search words; and hold |<< to erase all the letters at once.

Cheers,

JR

Aha! Good job I don't have a load of albums called "Greatest hits" on my ipod

MG

[mjzee]

Is there a way to create a list of albums (album title and artist) from iTunes to keep in a text file or spreadsheet? Not song titles, just albums.

[Noj]

That's one I have tried to figure out too, mjzee. You can use the View Options to pare it down to the information you want, then select all, copy, and paste it into a Word Document, but it doesn't come out neatly formatted.

[mjzee]

I think I've got it, but you need Excel:

1. In iTunes, view as List. Sort by album title. Edit/Select All. Edit/Copy.

2. In a new Excel sheet, Edit/Paste. (All the rest of the steps are in Excel.)

3. Delete all columns except Album Title and Artist. I also moved the Album Title column to the left of Artist.

4. You may have to add a row at the top to label the columns Album Title and Artist.

5. Hopefully, the two columns are highlighted to the extent of the data. If not, highlight the two columns.

6. Data/Filter/Advanced Filter... The "List Range" should show all the data cells. Copy this range to the "Criteria Range" field. Check "Unique Records Only." Hit OK.

7. If you have a lot of albums, leave Excel alone for awhile; it has a lot of sorting to do. It may not look like it's doing anything, but it is.

8. When it's done, it will basically hide rows that duplicate the same album title.

9. Copy the two columns, and Paste Special/Values to a new worksheet. This gives you the result we're looking for.

Edited July 25, 2010 by mjzee

[Noj]

Cool, thanks! I'll try that next time. When I did it I just did a load of highlighting and deleting in Word, then transferred it to Excel.