Ipod Questions

[Peter]

When listening to my ipod I not infrequently get short gaps or interuptions of no sound (less than a second). Any idea what might be causing this? Don't think its a short in my earphones because the gaps aren't related to movement of the cord or anything like that. Thanks.

[medjuck]

Has the song continued while there was no sound or does it pick up where it left off? If the latter you probably need a new battery.

[erhodes]

When listening to my ipod I not infrequently get short gaps or interuptions of no sound (less than a second). Any idea what might be causing this? Don't think its a short in my earphones because the gaps aren't related to movement of the cord or anything like that. Thanks.

Ipods do this. It's one of the basic problems with the device. It's related to the battery issues...even if the battery is new...but it's not a battery problem as such.

Ipods skip under specific circumstances. If you use the device in a way that requires the hard disk to move around accessing different files, part of the fallout will be excessive drain on the battery and, in worse case scenarios, skipping, i.e., what you described. Also, if the cache becomes depleted in the midst of playing a long piece, there can be a pause while it fills up.

I used to get a lot of skipping. The Apple support site addressed this. I modified my usage in accordance with their suggestions and it ameliorated the problem, though it didn't stop altogether.

I also have found that the ripping process sometimes results in a corrupted file, which, in turn, causes a very noticeable dropout in playback. I have a couple of titles that will not play all the way through, though there was nothing wrong with the source cd. The difference here is that the interruptions are always in the same place and for the same durations.

I think you may find sites other than Apple support that deal with this kind of thing. If the skips are very frequent and happen every time you use the device, it may be defective and you should take it to an Apple store or otherwise secure some service.

Ipods are great little devices but they have a lot of problems like this...IMO, too many problems for their price.

[Peter]

I've got the Nano, so no hard drive. Flash memory I believe. I'm starting to think it might be battery related. Seems better with a freshly charged battery.

Edited February 27, 2007 by Peter

[md655321]

On three ipods I have never had any skipping. I would try for a replacement unit if its still under warranty.

[Aftab]

Are the gaps happening during a song or in-between songs (like on a live album or 2 tracks that blend together)

[Noj]

Sometimes there can be a problem with the way the tracks are encoded. I've gotten bad mp3s from eMusic which have a rhythmic skipping noise.

[Peter]

The gaps are in songs. Pretty much all my files come from CDs.

[jcmusic]

I am having the same trouble at times with my 80GB ipod. It happens just in the begining of songs, like the first 1-4 seconds. It will skip or dropout for a split second and then be fine for the rest of that song. Can I fix this some way? I always play my ipod on shuffle.