What inexpensive ipod via USB in 2014 Leaf SL?

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jake14mw

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 12, 2017
Messages
180
Location
Connecticut, USA
Hi all,

From just a little research, it seems that the Leaf Interface to play music from an Ipod is fairly good. I would like to purchase an inexpensive Ipod from ebay to use. Does the Leaf work the same way with all ipods? What should I look for? Thanks.
 
I don't bother with that but keep in mind the only non-discontinued iPod is the 6th gen iPod Touch: https://www.apple.com/ipod-touch/ (and that's what https://www.apple.com/ipod leads to).

The last hard drive based Classic was discontinued years ago: https://www.geek.com/apple/ipod-classic-discontinued-because-apple-couldnt-source-parts-anymore-1607952/. The Nano and Shuffle went away earlier this year: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/7/27/16050420/apple-ipod-nano-shuffle-discontinued.

iPod Touches are listed at https://everyi.com/by-identifier/ipod-iphone-ipad-specs-by-model-identifier.html. All iPod models should be at https://everymac.com/systems/apple/ipod/index-ipod-specs.html.

iPod Touch 5th gen (discontinued) can't go beyond iOS 9.x and IIRC, is a bit slower than an iPad 2/non-retina mini.

iPod Touch 4th gen is stuck on iOS 6.x, is really slow and outdated. IIRC, this was the first to have a Retina display. Some of the iPod Touch 4th gens we have at work have flaky/hard to active home buttons, so you need to turn on an accessibility option to access home via a static button on the screen. The screen and device are nice except for the home buttons and terrible performance, besides being stuck on a very old iOS version.

Any iPod Touch older then 4th gen has a really grainy-looking display due to them being 1/4 of the resolution.

iOS is up to version 11 now w/12 probably coming in ~Sept 2018.

iPods that aren't iPod Touches don't run iOS.
 
Have you tried plugging in a USB Drive with music. A simple 32g thumb drive works pretty well in our 2012.

Some of the iPod Touch 4th gens we have at work have flaky/hard to active home buttons, so you need to turn on an accessibility option to access home via a static button on the screen.
My wife's iPod Touch 4's home button died and she did the accessibility option for years until finally the battery was wearing out. Then she gave it to me and told me I could repair it. I bought the parts and spent four hours replacing everything. I was disappointed when the unit did not turn on when I finished, but then I remembered the hard reset, and amazingly everything worked like new.
 
To answer the OP's question directly (maybe he has a large iTunes library)...
Yes: you can use old iPods with the Leaf (via USB) since the interface (Leaf LCD) is very simple; I use to use an old iPod Nano.
Yes: you can also use things like USB flash drives (not enough current to "spin-up" a HDD), but that wasn't the question...
 
Ipod libraries can also be exported to MP3. Then saved on usb drive.

If you want to use a hard drive you might also be able use the power splitting usb cables to use 2 ports for more power, and use une side on a power adapter from the lighter. However with current USB drives a usb stick is much more reliable than a spinning drive in a moving car.
 
The only reason that I was asking about Ipods specifically is because I was under the understanding that the interface was good. It organizes by artist, and shows playlists, etc, right? I have read that with USB, you are limited to the structure on the USB drive, right? I am also thinking that the model of ipod wouldn't really matter because the display of the ipod isn't used?
 
jake14mw said:
The only reason that I was asking about Ipods specifically is because I was under the understanding that the interface was good. It organizes by artist, and shows playlists, etc, right?
The organization is via iTunes. If you have an iTunes library with music you bought or ripped from CD or that you've added w/proper tags (metadata) already, it'll be organized.

If it's just filenames and no tags, I don't know what to say. There was iTunes Match, but I don't know the details.

I used to use a hard drive based 80 gig iPod Classic (still have it) and an earlier b&w click wheel iPod (search https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204217) w/cars that had no USB ports. Used aux in jack or an cars w/o that, cassette adapter or FM transmitter (yuck). That was my means of listening to much of my music.

Almost all of my iTunes library has proper tags and I used to rip from my own CDs. Fortunately, they'd get tagged automatically by iTunes during the ripping process.

Now, the iPod Classic is almost never taken in my car and I listen to a combo of these: AM, FM, XM radio, phone (currently iPhone 8) w/a combo of these: Spotify, Pandora, 1 podcast w/the Overcast app, NPR News app, Apple's music app to listen to a subset of my iTunes music library (I don't subscribe to Apple Music), YouTube to listen to audio of Nightly Business Report. Phone is connected via Bluetooth, not USB.

Previously, my phone had too little storage (64 gigs or less) but now I have an 256 gig iPhone 8, so my entire music library will fit. I need to make changes so that my entire library is synced instead of a subset.

When there wasn't enough storage, I'd just made a couple smart playlists (e.g. my songs that I rated >3 stars, "My Top Rated" (songs I rated 4+ stars), my 3+ star songs that haven't been played in the last 2 weeks (so I could rotate thru my music), song with ___, ___ and ____ artist, etc.). I used to visit places like http://smartplaylists.com/ for smart playlist ideas. A subset of my playlists and smart playlists I'd sync (and leave checked to always sync) w/my phone.

For smaller iPods like an old 4 gig iPod Nano I had, I had no choice but either dumbly fill it up or select certain playlists + smart playlists to sync.

In the past, playlists and smart playlists you could only create and edit on iTunes on the PC and Mac. I don't know if it's still limited to that. In the distant past, the PC/Mac was considered the "oracle", which always contained the truth. iDevices were simply ancillary/satellite devices. You'd always sync to the PC/Mac since that had everything (you couldn't add songs on iDevices before iPhone). If you updated the star rating on a song, you'd want it synced. If you listened to a song, you'd want the last played date update. If you edited playlists or added/removed songs from your library, you'd want your satellite devices to reflect that, etc.

IIRC, an iPhone plugged into the Leaf's USB port will behave like an iPod, besides working w/Pandora on the head unit. I've probably used the USB port for in my Leaf (current and former) for any sort of audio under 10 times, some times just to try it. This spans almost 4.5 years, so you can tell how much I care about that.
 
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