Custom Equalizer

Attach iPod > Launch iTunes > Select iPod from sidebar on the left of the window. Highlight a song (or multiple songs) and right click for Info window. Go to Options and find Equalizer Preset. There you can assign an existing preset or if you dislike any / all of those you can prepare your own from the main iTunes viewing window by selecting Window > Equalizer . Select your song(s) and play around with the EQ settings until you find the setting that satisfies you. It is a Custom setting ready to be identified by your own choice of label. do so then follow the steps above to assign that newly-created EQ to the song(s) in your iPod.

Did you make sure to highlight a song first? Another setting to check for your iPod will be in the Summary page: "Manually manage music and videos".

A Mac method that works with applications when changes are made in this way: Close iTunes after the changes, then relaunch. Do the same with the iPod. Unmount; relaunch iTunes; re-connect and try your new settings. Please be sure in your iPod Options from the Summary page that you have checked: "Manually manage music and videos". The Custom should be available then for all devices not just your iTunes Library. Failing that, you could assign the preset in the iTunes Library then re-import them into the iPod.

The songs are in your iTunes Library? Do the adjustments there, (because you are working on files which exist on your computer), then drag them to your iPod. It is strange that the setting is not globally available because it appears that you have all the options covered; it might be excessive to do a complete system restart but it might be worth is a try. As you can see from the screen shot, there is no problem selecting for my device:

I will try one of my iPods on my XP machine and get back to you about the complication. I am sorry that it is not working smoothly for you.

A few points of clarification will help. I just undertook the operation using my iPod Shuffle attached to my XP machine. I have iTunes 10.2.2. I created the EQ preset in iTunes first; I named it as "Kenneth's Preset" to add it to the list. Then I opened the iPod to view the songs; highlight-- Control + I for Info > Options and there was the preset ready to be assigned. Here is the screen shot from XP:

Do you have the latest version of iTunes? That might be the sticking point. Other than that I think that I have covered all the bases that I can think of. Perhaps another Forum member can add some insight.

I think that I can see the difficulty now. You want to put the preset as an option in the list for the Settings inside your iPod! The management of your iPod contents is best handled from within iTunes. If you download straight to the iPod you want to be able to assign the preset straightaway rather then wait until you sync the contents with your computer. Do I have the sense of your thoughts? I don't believe that you can alter the preset list inside your device; the controls for setting the custom EQ are available only in the EQ window of iTunes. Once you have assigned the custom setting in iTunes, it becomes embedded in the audio file and plays accordingly in your iPod. You will notice that you cannot access the settings of your iPod when it is attached to the computer; there also is no mechanism for altering the EQ (as you can do with the slider for Volume Limit), other than to select the default presets.

The files as they come through iTunes will have the preset and sound according to your setting as they play in the iPod because the file will have been altered (modified) on your computer. Once they reside in your iPod all is well and good; if they come to your iPod by way of a download from the iTunes Store you will not be able to modify them with your EQ until such time as they are synced to your computer. Thereafter they will have that modification preference and saved in your backup files-- original file + modified version. The only modification available from the iPod are the listed defaults. Computer ➡ iPod is your best option for modifying the files.