Songs skip after few seconds

There are several possible explanations. First, play the affected song(s) in iTunes and make sure they are okay there. If so, remove them from your iPod and resync. That will probably fix it. If they skip in iTunes the problem is with the song. Re-rip it.

If I understand the problem, it sounds like what was happening to me with some podcasts, specifically those from cbc.ca , but only when you try to play it a second time. You'd try to replay it or fast-forward, and all you got was a 1-second blip from the opening, unless you re-synced and had it flagged as "New". All other podcasts were okay. They (cbc.ca) have fixed it now.

See http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1457871&tstart=0 for the podcast encoding issues.

I had the same problem with some songs and found that it was only the songs in MPEG format that were a problem. If you select the song in itunes, right click, and choose "convert selection to AAC", it will create a second copy of that song in itunes. Then replace the MPEG formated song on your ipod with the AAC formated one. This fixed the problem for me. Hope it helps.

None of these solutions worked for me. I have one particular song that plays for 15 seconds and then skips to the next one. But I can fast forward ahead to 1:15 or whatever of the song and it will play, but even if I fast forward it the song stops playing after 15 seconds. I have tried restoring the ipod a few times and even converting the song- but nothing works. Even if it's the only song on the ipod it still stops playing after 15 seconds. Any idea why?

Message was edited by: Peppers131

I understand what you are saying, mine has done it twice now, fortunately the first time it happened I just downloaded the same version of the song from another source, but with the second one, I've tried about 10 different versions, all skipping after 15 seconds! Could it be a problem with the hardware of the ipod?

Pete

After posting my last comment on this discussion, I did what was mentioned above with my problem song, "convert to ACC" and it is working fine now

For some unknown reason every once and a while a song will not "encode" properly when being converted into digital format (.mp3). This is the cause of the glitches that make the song skip past. This can be fixed by re-encoding the song at a different speed (The standard is 128kbps but can also be done at 160kbps and 192kbps in iTunes).

Now to re-encoding the glitched songs:

First off check the original encoding speed. This can be done by selecting the glitched song, right clicking and choosing the "Get Info" option and the bit-rate (encoding speed) will be in the summary tab. After you check the current encoding speed the settings for importing music into iTunes may need to be changed. You can change these by going into the "Edit > Preferences ~ Advanced tab > Importing tab" once here simply change the box labeled "Import Using" from "AAC Encoder" to "MP3 Encoder". Now all that needs to be done is to change the bit-rate. Choose one of the bit-rates from the "Setting" box that is different from the current bit-rate of the skipping song. Once the setting is chosen click "Ok" and then go to the "Advanced" menu and there should be an option to "Convert Selection to MP3". Now it is as simple as selecting the affected song and then going into the advanced menu and choosing the "Convert Selection to MP3" option to fix your glitched tunes! Every song that is converted using this will be encoded with the bit-rate chosen in the earlier stages.

Hopefully this helps, good luck re-encoding =)

thebballman

WoW! Thanks so much! It finally worked after I changed the bit-rate and converted it. It was one of my fav. songs that was skipping too so I'm really glad it's now fixed! Thanks again:)

Mine wont convert to ACC since I downloaded the album from itunes. The song only skips on the ipod, not while playing from itunes. It seems like a glitch in the ipod.

Karen, have you tried converting it to an MP3 format?

If not look about three posts up for how to re-encode the song, hopefully it will help.

Yes, bballman, I've tried converting to mp3 by following the directions above, but a message about not being able to convert songs with protected formats comes up. The song, "Fall at My Feet" by James Blundt comes in two versions: Explicit, which skips on my Nano, and I guess normal. The other day I downloaded the normal version and it doesn't skip. Cost me an extra $.99.
Thanks for your help, though.

Yes, you cannot convert the protected audio files bought from the iTunes store, but if the song skips you have a valid reason for complaint and you can probably get a refund or credit on the money you spent if the song doesn't work.

I remember a while back burning the songs onto a cd to play in my car so today I ripped that song, "Fall at Your Feet" into an mp3 file and brought it into iTunes and it also works now without skipping. My iPod Photo recently died and the song never skipped while playing on it. I think I will try to get a credit.