I have a pledge from Sandisk (for next firmware update) regarding Podcasts and Audiobooks…
Please consider everything under ‘Podcasts’ folder as a podcast and similarly everything under Audiobooks folder as an audiobook. It would be ideal if all podcast providers actually tagged their MP3s properly (with Genre Podcast and filling Album Title and all) but the reality is that more than half don’t and some of my favorite podcasts end up classified under Songs (typically under unknown genre)… Another side effect of a Podcast being classified as song is that ‘Fast’ playback is no longer available as an option.
Yes, I can possibly use MP3Tag to edit (add) the tags but Podcasts are really transitionary and this sort of editing is typically not worth doing as these are deleted right away after listening. So, my pledge for next Firmware update is that everything under Podcasts are classified as such.
I also have a minor pledge that Podcasts and Audiobooks are directly accessible from the top level menu as opposed to going under Music and then scrolling down to select Podcasts.
Message Edited by PodcastGuy on 01-21-2009 04:54 PM
I think what PodcastGuy was saying is that when he syncs the podcast (most likely with WMP) it isn’t labeld from the original source. So it doesn’t go to Podcasts or Audiobook. Mine does sometimes too. I have to change most of them…
I would also like a different option then “music” for podcast or audiobook. I don’t understand that and didn’t when I got my Fuze. These are not music related type things, they are audio, but not music. I consider them different and separate from music.
I think what PodcastGuy was saying is that when he syncs the podcast (most likely with WMP) it isn’t labeld from the original source. So it doesn’t go to Podcasts or Audiobook. Mine does sometimes too. I have to change most of them…
I would also like a different option then “music” for podcast or audiobook. I don’t understand that and didn’t when I got my Fuze. These are not music related type things, they are audio, but not music. I consider them different and separate from music.
If PodcastGuy did indeed sync the p-cast with WMP, as you surmise, then it would certainly throw them in with the music. I think it depends on the source of your p-cast…if you get them through MediaMonkey, as I do, you can specify where the “send to” is actually sending…where would they go if I hit “synchronize”? I don’t know…haven’t experimented, since I found a way that works for me. Now if your p-casts come from a fruity source then using MSC mode should allow you to drag and drop the p-casts right into the appropriate folder…although in reference to SlotCAR’s point, I always put mine on the internal memory.
Would it be nice if they were seperate, like “voice”, “radio”, “recordings”? Sure…but I’m ok with it this way.
@sansafix wrote:
The Folder Audiobook and Podcasts content is already handled as such, without tagging required.
This is not true. At least for me, it does not work that way FYI I’m using 01.01.22A and the Podcasts are stored on the external uSD card.
I do NOT use WMP. Simply copy my podcasts directy to the folder using Windows Explorer… If the ID3 Tags are not properly setup in the MP3 file, they will not show up under Podcasts unless I use an MP3Tag and edit. In the minimum Album Title should be filled and Genre=“Podcast” should be set and ID3 v2.3 should be used for tagging.
Message Edited by PodcastGuy on 01-21-2009 10:03 PM
Message Edited by PodcastGuy on 01-21-2009 10:05 PM
@sansafix wrote:
The Folder Audiobook and Podcasts content is already handled as such, without tagging required.
This is not true. At least for me, it does not work that way FYI I’m using 01.01.22A and the Podcasts are stored on the external uSD card.
I do NOT use WMP. Simply copy my podcasts directy to the folder using Windows Explorer… If the ID3 Tags are not properly setup in the MP3 file, they will not show up under Podcasts unless I use an MP3Tag and edit. In the minimum Album Title should be filled and Genre=“Podcast” should be set and ID3 v2.3 should be used for tagging.
Message Edited by PodcastGuy on 01-21-2009 10:03 PM
Message Edited by PodcastGuy on 01-21-2009 10:05 PM
Have you tried the internal memory? It’s worth a shot…I have never had to retag any podcast.
@sansafix wrote:
The Folder Audiobook and Podcasts content is already handled as such, without tagging required.
This is not true. At least for me, it does not work that way FYI I’m using 01.01.22A and the Podcasts are stored on the external uSD card.
I do NOT use WMP. Simply copy my podcasts directy to the folder using Windows Explorer… If the ID3 Tags are not properly setup in the MP3 file, they will not show up under Podcasts unless I use an MP3Tag and edit. In the minimum Album Title should be filled and Genre=“Podcast” should be set and ID3 v2.3 should be used for tagging.
Message Edited by PodcastGuy on 01-21-2009 10:03 PM
Message Edited by PodcastGuy on 01-21-2009 10:05 PM
Have you tried the internal memory? It’s worth a shot…I have never had to retag any podcast.
Try the following. Take one of your Music MP3’s and move it to Podcasts folder (using Internet Explorer). It does not show up as Podcast… In other words, the Podcasts folder has no special treatment by Fuze. It’s just like any other folder.
Now the Podcasts that I download from various websites are created as simple MP3 files without ID3 proper tagging applied. Fuze will assume are Music and put them under “Unknown” genre even if they are placed under Podcasts folder.
Try the following. Take one of your Music MP3’s and move it to Podcasts folder (using Internet Explorer). It does not show up as Podcast… In other words, the Podcasts folder has no special treatment by Fuze. It’s just like any other folder.
Now the Podcasts that I download from various websites are created as simple MP3 files without ID3 proper tagging applied. Fuze will assume are Music and put them under “Unknown” genre even if they are placed under Podcasts folder.
I see. All mine coming in through MediaMonkey get tagged by MM. I just watched it as one loaded in…at the bottom, it said, 1 file to be tagged, and then it was done. So you don’t use a “podcast catcher”, just get them from various sources? An actual podcast program would save you a lot of aggravation, sounds like.
Try the following. Take one of your Music MP3’s and move it to Podcasts folder (using Internet Explorer). It does not show up as Podcast… In other words, the Podcasts folder has no special treatment by Fuze. It’s just like any other folder.
Now the Podcasts that I download from various websites are created as simple MP3 files without ID3 proper tagging applied. Fuze will assume are Music and put them under “Unknown” genre even if they are placed under Podcasts folder.
When I first Got mine I had a podcast from Indie Feed of Brett Denned Singing Aint No reason. I synced it to my fuze, and it was in the Song List not the Podcasts (I was mad when I looked in podcast, and it was not there). So I deleted it. Went back and did a drag and drop to the podcast folder, Worked Like a Charm! Now if I do the same with an MP3 it Shows as a podcast (I left the genre empty on the tag). If I change the tag to anything It wont show in podcast
Try the following. Take one of your Music MP3’s and move it to Podcasts folder (using Internet Explorer). It does not show up as Podcast… In other words, the Podcasts folder has no special treatment by Fuze. It’s just like any other folder.
Now the Podcasts that I download from various websites are created as simple MP3 files without ID3 proper tagging applied. Fuze will assume are Music and put them under “Unknown” genre even if they are placed under Podcasts folder.
When I first Got mine I had a podcast from Indie Feed of Brett Denned Singing Aint No reason. I synced it to my fuze, and it was in the Song List not the Podcasts (I was mad when I looked in podcast, and it was not there). So I deleted it. Went back and did a drag and drop to the podcast folder, Worked Like a Charm! Now if I do the same with an MP3 it Shows as a podcast (I left the genre empty on the tag). If I change the tag to anything It wont show in podcast
Let me be clear again. I never synced anything to my Fuze. I don’t use WMP and I would not like it to mess with my Fuze.
I copy using Windows Explorer (or drag and drop if you want to call it that way). Unless the ID3 tags are setup correctly as I indicated above, simply dragging and dropping the Podcasts does not work…
BTW, I am an embedded software engineer with close to 2 decades of experience now. Although Fuze is relatively new for me, I am not a newbie for computers and gadgets. You are probably not listening to as many podcasts as me as I imagine most owners are more worrying about their music libraries. I currently have podcasts from 3 dozen sources… Some are recognized correctly as Podcast because they are properly tagged. Others either have no ID3 tag or have ID3 tags with Genre other than “Podcast” or have not properly filled the “Album”. Placing these improperly tagged Podcasts under Podcasts directory does not work.
Once again, take one of your music MP3 files and move it via drag and drop under Windows Explorer to Podcasts directory. It will not be recognized as Podcast by Fuze. Fuze does not seem to care about folders at all as of 01.01.22A firmware.
Try the following. Take one of your Music MP3’s and move it to Podcasts folder (using Internet Explorer). It does not show up as Podcast… In other words, the Podcasts folder has no special treatment by Fuze. It’s just like any other folder.
Now the Podcasts that I download from various websites are created as simple MP3 files without ID3 proper tagging applied. Fuze will assume are Music and put them under “Unknown” genre even if they are placed under Podcasts folder.
I see. All mine coming in through MediaMonkey get tagged by MM. I just watched it as one loaded in…at the bottom, it said, 1 file to be tagged, and then it was done. So you don’t use a “podcast catcher”, just get them from various sources? An actual podcast program would save you a lot of aggravation, sounds like.
Well, not all sources provide an RSS feed or even when they do their source is not properly tagged. A lot of Podcasts are freely available in MP3 format via iTunes. Most are properly tagged but some end up wrong. Fixing the ID3 tags of various sources is simply annoying and is a bit pointless since the typical action after listening is deleting the podcast. Once all the podcasts on the device are gone, I go ahead and get new batch…
As you describe MediaMonkey seems to be retagging the files as it moves to Podcasts directory so that is why you do not see this issue for most of you. Probably another manager might be doing similar things. I simply use Windows Explorer to manually manage the files. It would not be an aggravation at all, if Fuze treated Podcasts folder as a special folder like it is claimed here. It simply does not work that way under 01.01.22A (v1 device)
So I deleted it. Went back and did a drag and drop to the podcast folder, Worked Like a Charm! Now if I do the same with an MP3 it Shows as a podcast (I left the genre empty on the tag). If I change the tag to anything It wont show in podcast
Let me be clear again. I never synced anything to my Fuze. I don’t use WMP and I would not like it to mess with my Fuze.
I copy using Windows Explorer (or drag and drop if you want to call it that way). Unless the ID3 tags are setup correctly as I indicated above, simply dragging and dropping the Podcasts does not work…
BTW, I am an embedded software engineer with close to 2 decades of experience now. Although Fuze is relatively new for me, I am not a newbie for computers and gadgets. You are probably not listening to as many podcasts as me as I imagine most owners are more worrying about their music libraries. I currently have podcasts from 3 dozen sources… Some are recognized correctly as Podcast because they are properly tagged. Others either have no ID3 tag or have ID3 tags with Genre other than “Podcast” or have not properly filled the “Album”. Placing these improperly tagged Podcasts under Podcasts directory does not work.
Once again, take one of your music MP3 files and move it via drag and drop under Windows Explorer to Podcasts directory. It will not be recognized as Podcast by Fuze. Fuze does not seem to care about folders at all as of 01.01.22A firmware.
What I meant to say If how wvwe unclear, was Sync Doesnt work, for me Drag and drop does. I understand your problem, I would like to see it fixed some how. For now I just put my music podcasts (12 of them now) in the music folder, under an album named for the author. My tech and design casts I have to fix the tags up a little and then drag and drop.
Once again, take one of your music MP3 files and move it via drag and drop under Windows Explorer to Podcasts directory. It will not be recognized as Podcast by Fuze. Fuze does not seem to care about folders at all as of 01.01.22A firmware.
I have got one idea (cannot try it until I’m home): Did you try to put the podcasts to the internal PODCAST folder?
I remember when I put a new µSD to the Fuze it creates the directories “MUSIC”, “MUSIC/AUDIOBOOKS” and “MUSIC/PODCASTS” while it uses the folders “MUSIC”, “AUDIOBOOKS” and “PODCASTS” at its local drive. So I create the folders “AUDIOBOOKS” and “PODCASTS” in the root folder of the cards manually. I always put my audiobooks to the AUDIOBOOKS folder - and Fuze handles them as audiobooks - independent of the “Genre”-tag.
I never listened to a podcast so I do not know if there is a difference between podcasts and audiobooks… Just an idea
What I want is for any track with the Genre of “Podcast” to be able to added to a playlist. That more then anything annoys me to no end.
What I do now is have a folder in music called “Podcasts” and I change the genre tag to be blank. Then I can add them to a playlist and actually have them show up in the playlist.
I use the audiobooks folder on the card for my podcasts, and use the audiobooks folder on the internal memory of my Clip for podcasts on it. This seems to be more reliable than using the podcast folder. Some have reported problems when playing long podcasts on their Clip or fuze(files more than 5 or 6 hours long?). This needs to be fixed. Any length file should play properly, and the elapsaed time should be indicated properly, and the autoresume should work properly. Audiobooks and podcasts should be accesible from the top menu, and not through the music menu. There should also be a way to play part of a book or podcast, then some music, then resume the podcast or audiobook easily, without having to remember which file it was in the middle of playing. There should also be variable speed playback between half and double normal speed with automatic pitch correction. I know Sansafix said this is not easy to do, however this is crucial for for podcasts, lectures, and audiobooks, as many speakers speak much too slowly, and lectures can be very time consuming to hear at normal speed(some might be over an hour and a half each). Another feature I want for audiobooks and podcasts is special equalization setttings(perhaps one or more than one for male speakers and one or more than one for female speakers) that help make noisy voice recordings more intelligble. I want this to be more sophisticated and more effective than just setting custom equalization manually.
Here’s an idea. How about a player/recorder emphasizing voice recording and playback with a basic LCD screen, mono mode(listening to speaker walking around in stereo can be dizzying. Mono mode is greatly appreciated to solve this), a microphone jack, advanced recording and playback features, use of a AA battery, navigation by folders, a full sized SDHC card slot, and no videos or photos. In addition to a mic jack, the player should let you monitor recordings in real time, and have a display of the recoding level.
FYI I’m using 01.01.22A and the Podcasts are stored on the external uSD card.
