Other Hopefully someone here can provide some advice.

[Swami7774]

To make this as concise as possible: I’m looking for a small MP3 player onto which I can move MP3 files from my MacBook Air. I’m replacing my beloved SanDisk Clip Plus, which has died and is no longer made(it didn’t work with Mac, but that’s another story). I don’t need to work through Mac Music for this; I DO, however, need the unit to allow the assemblage of songs into playlists.). The unit needs a screen so I can scroll and find playlists. To re-emphasize: the files I’m using are MP3(some music files, some old tape recordings). Nothing through Apple Music (formerly iTunes) so I don’t have to go through Apple Music Playlists(which, on first glance, is not a user-friendly system). An FM receiver would be nice but is not mandatory. I bought a newer SanDisk but it requires something called an M3U list. I don’t want any part of that. Brand name does not matter. Thanks for bearing with this rather wordy request. Suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[barbu]

well I'm always going to recommend an iPod. Other players may work ok but why not get the best? An old iPod nano or classic would be fairly inexpensive while delivering a great experience.
Your MP3 file will work perfectly with Music/iTunes. You need not subscribe to Apple Music or anything like that. Just import your MP3 files and make your playlists... it's the same old experience as the last 20 years. I still rock a couple old spinny-disk iPods and they work great. They will still sync with OS X 10.15 as well.

As for the sandisk, I'm confused as M3U is a streaming music link, not music files. It should play MP3s just fine.

 

[Swami7774]

well I'm always going to recommend an iPod. Other players may work ok but why not get the best? An old iPod nano or classic would be fairly inexpensive while delivering a great experience.
Your MP3 file will work perfectly with Music/iTunes. You need not subscribe to Apple Music or anything like that. Just import your MP3 files and make your playlists... it's the same old experience as the last 20 years. I still rock a couple old spinny-disk iPods and they work great. They will still sync with OS X 10.15 as well.

As for the sandisk, I'm confused as M3U is a streaming music link, not music files. It should play MP3s just fine.

The SanDisk instructions say the unit only accepts playlists made with M3U. I assume that means I would have to make a separate M3U file for every song and audio MP3 I have. Not going to do that.
Are you saying an older iPod would allow me to assemble playlists using ONLY mp3s without that M3u stuff? And would I be able to assemble the lists on a MacBook Air that is running Catalina 10.15.3? I’d like to move totally off Windows Media, which I’ve been using for my SanDisk for years because it’s very easy. Sorry for the questions.

 

[barbu]

The SanDisk instructions say the unit only accepts playlists made with M3U. I assume that means I would have to make a separate M3U file for every song and audio MP3 I have. Not going to do that.
Are you saying an older iPod would allow me to assemble playlists using ONLY mp3s without that M3u stuff? And would I be able to assemble the lists on a MacBook Air that is running Catalina 10.15.3? I’d like to move totally off Windows Media, which I’ve been using for my SanDisk for years because it’s very easy. Sorry for the questions.

no need to apologize, that's what the forum is for!
I can definitely say "Yes" that any iPod or iPhone ever sold will work perfectly fine with your personal MP3 collection. No need to subscribe to Apple Music or anything like that. Just set iTunes/Music to "Keep Library Organized" (or something to that effect in the prefs), then drag and drop your MP3s onto the application. It will copy all the files into the iTunes folder and organize them according to the metadata. The original files will be unaffected. Then you can start making playlists to your heart's content, and choose which ones sync to the iPod.
You can further simplify your Catalina Music.app experience by going into the prefs and disabling the extra stuff in the interface you don't want. You can disable Apple Music as well as the Music Store. I keep the Music store around because I still buy tracks here and there, but you can very much pare down some of the bloat and get back to an old-school, simple Music/iTunes experience.
Let us know about any more questions!

 

[retta283]

How much music do you have in files?

If you are going for an iPod I'd recommend getting a Nano if you do not have much (or are willing to change the music on the player from time to time) or an iPod Classic that has been upgraded for flash storage. Very nice units and extremely easy to use.

 

[Swami7774]

How much music do you have in files?

If you are going for an iPod I'd recommend getting a Nano if you do not have much (or are willing to change the music on the player from time to time) or an iPod Classic that has been upgraded for flash storage. Very nice units and extremely easy to use.

I change my playlists monthly and they rarely total more than 5 or 6 hours of files. 4GB is plenty of space for me so your advice may point me in the right direction. Currently I’m using my iPhone on walks, etc., but I hate it. far too big and I have to look at it to change song selections or skip ahead. I liked the SanDisk because I rarely had to look at it. Are the Nano and iPod Classic similar?

 

[retta283]

I change my playlists monthly and they rarely total more than 5 or 6 hours of files. 4GB is plenty of space for me so your advice may point me in the right direction. Currently I’m using my iPhone on walks, etc., but I hate it. far too big and I have to look at it to change song selections or skip ahead. I liked the SanDisk because I rarely had to look at it. Are the Nano and iPod Classic similar?

The difference is mostly in size. The Classic is an overall larger unit, and has a bigger screen. It also has much more storage, a flash upgraded unit can get up to 256GB. If you buy a hard drive based one you can get sizes ranging from 5GB to 160GB. I'd say the 30GB would be more than enough if you went with a hard drive.

The Nano are much smaller and lighter, but have less storage. I'd recommend a 2nd gen Nano, which comes in 2, 4, and 8 GB sizes. Comes in a variety of colors too depending on the storage. Small and compact player.

There was also a 16GB variant of the later Nano, but they get more expensive and the later ones are not as easy to control. I'd recommend either a 2nd Gen 4 or 8 GB Nano, or a 30GB 5th gen classic.

Probably will cost between $20-$50, but they are well worth it in my opinion. If you have any more questions about the models or features, I'd be glad to try and answer them.

 

[irishtike]

4th gen nanos and 5th gen nanos are pretty simple to use they are essentially the same as the 2nd gen, just have a bigger screen. they only had 8gb or 16gb for those though.
stay away from the 6th gen nanos, they only have the screen to control the music, unless you use the in-line controls on the headphones. the 7th gen nano has bluetooth, and the in-line controls along the side of it. But nothing beats a click wheel in my opinion.

 

[Swami7774]

The older Nanos look interesting. The only drawback is the need to look at the screen each time. One of the best things about the SanDisk was the ability to change files with a click of a button—no need to look. That’s especially good while walking or running on a sunny day.

 

[irishtike]

The older Nanos look interesting. The only drawback is the need to look at the screen each time. One of the best things about the SanDisk was the ability to change files with a click of a button—no need to look. That’s especially good while walking or running on a sunny day.

you don't need to look at the screen with the nanos with the click wheel, i.e 2nd gen-5th gen. its pretty intuitive to just press the right side of the wheel to move to the next track, left side to go back. and bottom to play/pause.

 

[retta283]

Yeah they can be completely handsfree if you want. I was able to use an iPod Nano with a damaged screen for a month because it was still functional with just the controls. Only the touchscreen iPods really need to be looked at, but they are not worthwhile as dedicated music devices, IMO.

 

[Swami7774]

That’s EXACTLY what I’m looking for. I assumed spinning the wheel was required to move to the next track. Thanks!

 

[Swami7774]

One final (I hope) question: will the older Nanos work with Catalina? I’d hate to buy one, plug it in and have the MacBook not recognize it.

 

[irishtike]

all iPods, that includes the 1st gen classic that uses fire wire are still supported, they don't use iTunes anymore, unless your on windows, they pop up in finder, or music.

 

[Swami7774]

all iPods, that includes the 1st gen classic that uses fire wire are still supported, they don't use iTunes anymore, unless your on windows, they pop up in finder, or music.

Thanks. I’m a rookie when it comes to Apple Music, and recently did my first playlist through Apple Music. I synced it to my iPhone, which showed up in the Finder window(on the left margin). I assume that’s where an iPod Nano 3rd or 4th generation would show up too? Also noticed something else: when adding a playlist to the iPhone, it wiped out the first playlist I synced. I had to add everything back in(multiple playlists). Is that typical of the new Music?

 

[retta283]

I believe this is because it was checked to auto-sync with your playlists, you're able to change a setting that says "Manually manage music and videos" or something similar. Is this a playlist of songs from the Music app or the Apple Music streaming service?

 

[Swami7774]

The playlists were assembled (by me) of mp3 files on the MacBook, then synced to the iPhone. Nothing to do with the streaming service. I found that “manually manage” tab and checked it. Hope it works.