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What to Replace an iPod Classic with

If you're old enough to have grown up buying CDs, or – like me, old enough to have grown up buying records and then CDs and you don't refer to records as “vinyls” 😉, then you probably have a large selection of music in your iTunes Library, a 120 or 160GB iPod Classic, no need of Spotify or Apple Music and a nagging concern about what to do when your Classic fails.

In an ideal world, you'd buy another Classic, but since the Classic is no longer available, the best advice is to accept that and move on. It does however, address one concern: if you were prepared to spend your money on another iPod Classic, then you can probably justify the money on a 128GB iPod Touch, even if it means going without breakfast a few times.

The question now is “will the features of an iPod Touch be enough to outweigh the limited 128GB storage with its unused and unwanted apps that take up valuable storage space?”

Well, I've had no option but to find out, and based on my experience so far (a couple of weeks), the short answer is yes. An additional question may well be “but how do I fit 134GB of music onto a 128GB iPod Touch?” Obviously, that can't be done but it is possible to manage it in an easy and convenient way.


  • What's the point of this thread? Wouldn't it be better placed in the iPod Touch community?

    Anyone already using the iPod Touch already knows, one way or the other. The point here is to help Classic users decide on the best way to to replace their Classic and as the Classic reaches the end of its life, there's never been a better time to consider your options.

  • Now I've had to move on, I have discovered that the most suitable replacement for me is the 128GB iPod Touch but what alternatives are there for the undecided?
    • Other brands of high capacity mp3 player. (They cannot use iTunes.)

    • Buy a kit to convert the broken Classic into a solid state hard drive. (Probably more suitable for gadget freaks who like hacking stuff. Also, some later versions of the Classic can only use up to 128GB of storage, no matter how much storage you add to the device.)
    • Give up on music. ( 😮 Not to be recommended!)

So the point of this thread is to help iPod Classic users decide whether the iPod Touch will work for them and one thing we can do is to compare the two devices to see if the features of the Classic are present on the Touch and whether the Touch has additional features that make up for the loss of a Classic.

Let's start with the limited storage capacity of the Touch at 128GB.

a 128GB Touch cannot hold a 145GB (or larger) Library.

  • No, you're right, it can't. However, if you think of your music as two types; the Must-Have music that you might want to play at any time and therefore want available on the iPod and the Nice-To-Have music that it would be nice to hear every now and again. Once your Must-Have list is less than roughly 90GB, just put it on the iPod. Then create a Smart Playlist with the Nice-To-Have music in it. Smart Playlists use rules to include or exclude songs from them and we can use these rules to limit the Playlist so that it can fit on the iPod. More than this, we can design the Smart Playlist to remove and automatically put back songs at every Sync, based (for example) on when they were last played. By using the additional Nice-To-Have Playlist, every Sync would remove recently played nice-to-have music and replace it with a new selection.

By the way, 90GB of music is approximately 12,000 songs which will play continuously for 40 days!

A point to note: even if you never use Playlists, you can use them as the control method to add music to your iPod and with a big Library, it's the only way. Manually Managing would be a nightmare. You don't have to “play by playlist”, you can still play albums or songs in the same way as you are doing now.

Let's have a look at the limitations of the Classic and the things we always wanted but never got on it:

  • An obvious one to begin; when browsing Cover Flow on the Classic it's not possible to add a song to the On-The-Go Playlist:

    On the iPod Touch, while browsing any of the music lists, you can tap-and-hold a song title and a pop-up enables adding to the Play Next list. You can even add a complete album in one go. Play Next is like the Up Next in your iTunes Library, you're adding it to the queue. Play Next is similar to the On-The-Go, but the songs played are not saved as a list once played. It is superior to the Classic's On-The-Go feature. (it does have a slight quirk though, added songs go to the beginning of the list rather than the end of it.)

  • The Classic has a rubbish way of playing Podcasts (only from newest to oldest):

    I haven't explored the Touch's Podcast App fully yet, but one thing is for certain, you can choose to play oldest to newest if you prefer. Podcasts can be downloaded directly to the Touch.

  • Improve the Lyrics display:

    The Touch has a much better Lyrics display. Lyrics are just below the play controls on the Now Playing screen, just scroll down the page.

  • It takes forever to scroll through the Cover Flow menu on the Classic:

    The Touch displays four album covers in the window, you can scroll up and down the list, it's faster to respond (no wait-for-cover image to load as you scroll) and there is a quick A-Z index on the right hand side for faster scrolling.

  • Compilation albums are at the far end of the Albums menu, which takes too long to reach:

    Compilation Albums have their own menu on the Touch as well as appearing on the main Albums menu. Scrolling through the full albums list is quicker than on the Classic.


The improvements in the Touch compared to the Classic include:

  • improved browsing by album cover and a larger image of the cover

  • a Now Playing banner at the bottom of every music menu window. Tapping it brings up the full Now Playing screen
  • the ability to see and change the rating of a song while browsing, even if it is not currently playing
  • a quick index to allow finding one item in a long list. It does not appear on my Playlists menu, but that may be because I don't yet have enough items on the menu
  • on some menus, choices of sort order (e.g. on the Artist menu, sort by title or oldest first/newest first and on the Albums menu, sort by Artist or Title)
  • Create Regular playlists on the iPod
  • Edit existing Regular Playlists on the iPod
  • Add a description to both Regular and Smart Playlists
  • Wi-Fi and access to the iTunes Store (I haven't explored any of this - in fact, I've turned my access to it off).
  • Bluetooth. You can now Bluetooth your music to a compatible Bluetooth speaker or headphones. It still has the 3.5mm headphone jack, for wired headphones.
  • A Notes App (not part of the Music App). This could be useful for making notes about managing your music library (for example).

In addition, although the Touch has the lightning connector, you can buy an optional adaptors or cables with lightning to 30-pin connector for physical connection to your existing dock.

This a is a very brief account of a very complex device. If you have a specific question about replacing your Classic with the iPod Touch (such as does it do so-and-so, or can I do this on the Touch), ask here and I'll see if I can find and describe the facility.

Posted on Sep 15, 2017 3:46 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Nov 16, 2017 12:07 PM

Hello B-Ribs,

The music playing function is much better than the Classic. As I stated above, it has several features that we would have liked on the Classic but never got.


To address your specific points, shuffling music is great. You can go into the Songs list and there is both the Play and the Shuffle button at the top of the list of all songs. It's the same on the Albums and Compilations lists. On the other lists (Artists, Genres and Playlists, you simply go into one genre, or one Artist, or a Playlist and again, you have the Play and Shuffle buttons). So as far as I can tell, you cannot shuffle artists, playlists or genres.


Playing Podcasts:

Oh dear, what can I say?

On the Classic, playing Podcasts involved a bit of a learning curve. On the latest Touch, one uses the built-in Podcast App it's a major learning curve! I don't like it!


Two things though;

  1. there is a user here on the forums (cyberbiker) who appears to have undertaken writing detailed explanations of how to get the best out the Podcast App that you use on the iPod Touch. (Podcasts are not played within the music app, they have their own player.) Cyberbiker has offered plenty of advice for Podcast users and it's a great help.
  2. plenty of people have suggested using alternative Podcatchers to Apple's built-in app, but they all seem to be as bad as each other - I'm not sure I understand why.


Of course, it shouldn't actually be necessary for cyberbiker to have to explain how to use the App, it should be intuitive, but that's not his fault (or hers - I haven't found out yet). That's down to Apple. But looking at the alternatives is saddening. I'm currently trying an app called Podbean but I couldn't recommend it in its current form. Others I've looked at are worse still. Two I looked at in the app store had such poor demonstrations and pictorial examples of their app that I won't even give them a try, despite being free. Truly awful.


So am I saying the Touch is useless at playing Podcasts? No, but getting the best out of it involves far more work than it should in this day and age.


As for buying a "new" Classic from anywhere. Well, obviously it's not factory new. (It'll be known as "new old stock" or you will find only used ones when you actually look). I've just looked on Amazon UK and when I clicked on "new and used" offerings, the nearest to new was actually refurbished, but the price was not far from a new 128GB Touch. Most of the Classics on offer were in fact used and that will come with it's own issues. My personal choice as you will have seen is not to bother, but instead go for the Touch - and I'm confident that I made the right decision. Ask yourself; will a Classic from Amazon come with an Apple warranty? (As far as I know, the answer is no, it doesn't.)


I really liked my Classic, but ...

For those of us old enough to remember, the change from 160GB Classic to current iPod Touch is similar to the change from records to CDs.


Using records is akin to performing a ceremony - in the best sense. We lost that with the introduction of CDs, but at least we got the better features of CD, such as being able to play them in the car without putting them onto tape. (For anyone who doesn't get that, ask your parents...)

25 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Nov 16, 2017 12:07 PM in response to B-Ribs

Hello B-Ribs,

The music playing function is much better than the Classic. As I stated above, it has several features that we would have liked on the Classic but never got.


To address your specific points, shuffling music is great. You can go into the Songs list and there is both the Play and the Shuffle button at the top of the list of all songs. It's the same on the Albums and Compilations lists. On the other lists (Artists, Genres and Playlists, you simply go into one genre, or one Artist, or a Playlist and again, you have the Play and Shuffle buttons). So as far as I can tell, you cannot shuffle artists, playlists or genres.


Playing Podcasts:

Oh dear, what can I say?

On the Classic, playing Podcasts involved a bit of a learning curve. On the latest Touch, one uses the built-in Podcast App it's a major learning curve! I don't like it!


Two things though;

  1. there is a user here on the forums (cyberbiker) who appears to have undertaken writing detailed explanations of how to get the best out the Podcast App that you use on the iPod Touch. (Podcasts are not played within the music app, they have their own player.) Cyberbiker has offered plenty of advice for Podcast users and it's a great help.
  2. plenty of people have suggested using alternative Podcatchers to Apple's built-in app, but they all seem to be as bad as each other - I'm not sure I understand why.


Of course, it shouldn't actually be necessary for cyberbiker to have to explain how to use the App, it should be intuitive, but that's not his fault (or hers - I haven't found out yet). That's down to Apple. But looking at the alternatives is saddening. I'm currently trying an app called Podbean but I couldn't recommend it in its current form. Others I've looked at are worse still. Two I looked at in the app store had such poor demonstrations and pictorial examples of their app that I won't even give them a try, despite being free. Truly awful.


So am I saying the Touch is useless at playing Podcasts? No, but getting the best out of it involves far more work than it should in this day and age.


As for buying a "new" Classic from anywhere. Well, obviously it's not factory new. (It'll be known as "new old stock" or you will find only used ones when you actually look). I've just looked on Amazon UK and when I clicked on "new and used" offerings, the nearest to new was actually refurbished, but the price was not far from a new 128GB Touch. Most of the Classics on offer were in fact used and that will come with it's own issues. My personal choice as you will have seen is not to bother, but instead go for the Touch - and I'm confident that I made the right decision. Ask yourself; will a Classic from Amazon come with an Apple warranty? (As far as I know, the answer is no, it doesn't.)


I really liked my Classic, but ...

For those of us old enough to remember, the change from 160GB Classic to current iPod Touch is similar to the change from records to CDs.


Using records is akin to performing a ceremony - in the best sense. We lost that with the introduction of CDs, but at least we got the better features of CD, such as being able to play them in the car without putting them onto tape. (For anyone who doesn't get that, ask your parents...)

Nov 17, 2017 2:00 AM in response to B-Ribs

I don't have specific knowledge of the Nissan, but my old Mazda 3 had the Apple dock connector, into which I plugged my old iPod. I now have a newer car with USB socket and the new IPod Touch. I use the following adaptors and I assume that one of these might be suitable for you.

  • There is an adaptor that you can plug into the iPod's Lightning connector and the other side has a 30-pin dock connector socket to enable plugging a new iPod into an old connection: Lightning to 30-pin Adapter - Apple
  • My newer car has a USB connector, so I can use the Apple cable that came with the iPod Touch. However, that would mean taking not just the iPod, but the cable out to the car and back again. (What a faff!). So I purchased the 0.5M Lightning to USB cable which plugs from the new iPod to a USB socket in the car: Lightning to USB Cable (0.5 m) - Apple
  • Finally, I also purchased the adaptor that allows me to plug my new iPod into my old iPod docking stations, such as the Klipsch RoomGroove and the Bose docks: Lightning to 30-pin Adapter (0.2 m) - Apple


That last one (the 0.2M cable) was because I did not want to use the first one (the Lightning to 30-pin "block") on my docking stations in case they broke the docking station connector.

Sep 16, 2017 2:49 PM in response to raymoner

I doubt you can replace the classic's docking port easily. 😮


Data recovery might be slightly easier, but you'll still need to open up the device. See USB TO 1.8 HARD DRIVE ADAPTER - COMPLIANT WITH 1.8" ZIF AND 1.8" IDE (50 PINS TOSHIBA TYPE): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & A… for an example of the additional hardware you will need for recovery (others are available, was just the first result) and Recover media from an iPod for the technique to extract the media from the device.


tt2

Jan 2, 2018 2:32 AM in response to cape17

You would have to search locally to you for speakers that have the 30-pin dock connector, but there are several issues with that.

  1. It may be difficult to find a unit that meets your needs now. A quick check of Amazon UK and USA produced a couple of docks, but I had to hunt for them.
  2. You mention "going overseas", a phrase usually used by Americans rather than Europeans. Most, but not all, countries outside of the USA (and Canada) use a 220-240 volt power supply, as opposed to the USA's 110-120 volts. So any mains powered unit you use will have to be able to handle 240 volt supply (most units can, but don't take it for granted).


Try searching for speaker with 30-pin dock connector.


From the symptoms you mention, it suggests that your wall socket charger has failed.


  • However, you should be able to use any mains powered USB supply, providing it can deliver at least 500mA. The mA figure should be provided on the box and on the device itself.
  • Another alternative you could consider is a power supply bank. These are battrey packs with a USB outlet, that you charge up from the mains but can take with you. You then plug your iPod into the power supply bank to charge it up. If you decide on one of these, get one that can re-charge a device several times bfore it needs to be re-charged. Th small power banks (say 1,000mA) will not be powerful enough.

Sep 16, 2017 2:42 PM in response to the fiend

One question I have is, my ipod classic's 160gb power port broke on it, so I am unable to plug it in to my computer anymore. Can I even fix this? And if I purchase an ipod touch 128gb, is there any way of salvaging all the data that is stored on my Classic? I would 'hate' to lose all of my songs/audiobooks... I'm currently not using my ipod at all as I don't want to run out of battery life(then what would I do)!!!!!!!

Sep 16, 2017 3:11 PM in response to raymoner

raymoner wrote:


is there any way of salvaging all the data that is stored on my Classic? I would 'hate' to lose all of my songs/audiobooks...

Ah! So none of the content of your iPod is in your iTunes Library? That is awkward, but as tt2 has advised...


raymoner wrote:


... my ipod classic's 160gb power port broke on it, so I am unable to plug it in to my computer anymore.

What exactly is wrong with the dock connector? Is it mechanically broken or could it just be pocket fluff in the dock that's preventing the connector from making good contact? Try gently blowing out the connector area and the cable connector to remove any fluff.

Nov 15, 2017 11:08 PM in response to the fiend

I really appreciated your post: I have an iPod Classic that is remarkably still functioning and syncing with iTunes on my iMac. I mostly listen to podcasts and let it shuffle around the roughly 6,000 tracks of music in my library (sometimes though playlists). Does the Touch perform those tasks easily?


That's really all I want from an iPod, and the Touch seems to be a non-cellular iPhone stuffed with lots of apps that I either don't need or have on my actual iPhone. Do you have any thoughts about buying a "New" iPod Classic from one of the suppliers selling through Amazon? Thanks.

Nov 16, 2017 2:40 PM in response to the fiend

Thank you for your time and insights; it's been really helpful. My main reason for hesitating has been my car's proprietary iPod connector (it's a 2009 Nissan/Infiniti connector) which allows me to manage the iPod with steering wheel controls, and displays track info on a screen. I'm certain it won't work with the new OS, even with an adaptor, but my Classic is 7 years old and I'm tempting fate by relying on it. So I'll probably pick up a Touch and let the old device live out its days entirely in my car.


Thanks again!

Jan 1, 2018 5:27 AM in response to the fiend

Hi fiend


I have a question please can you assist.


I too have an iPod classic which i love it is working perfectly and syncing with my libarary. However my problem is it no longer charges with the usb in a wall socket. it will only charge in a car or if sitting on a speaker that has the old charging system underneath.


this makes it difficult when out with it, as I don't always have access to a car when over seas and cannot take an old JBL speaker. do they still sell the old small units you could sit them on.


thanks for your kind attention.

Jan 2, 2018 2:44 AM in response to the fiend

Well, I have a 4th generation iPod Nano which suits me perfectly - it's small, robust, and reliable. As and when it no longer functions I'm forced to buy an iPod Touch - £200 plus £20 for the charger - which is larger and won't fit into a pocket as comfortably, not as robust, and contains a lot of facilities I simply don't want. It may have even been discontinued by then on the theory that everyone has, or wants, an iPhone, which I most certainly don't.

Jan 2, 2018 7:58 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Roger Wilmut1 wrote:


Well, I have a 4th generation iPod Nano which suits me perfectly - it's small, robust, and reliable.

My original post, and the purpose of this thread was to address the needs concerns of users with large capacity iPod Classics, with their (probably) large music libraries, since the only Apple option now (excluding the 256GB iPhone) is a device with a smaller capacity than those Classics - and which has additional features, unwanted by some, including yourself I note. I was doing my bit (and my best) to help those people understand that all was not lost and hopeless.


Now that I have been using the new iPod Touch for a while, I can confirm have I have got over the loss of my treasured Classic. The current iPod Touch is good and meets my needs - as far as my music library is concerned. However, in case anyone (including Apple) should think that I think it's simply the best thing ever... it does have its Achilles heel.


Podcasts!


If I understand you correctly Roger, judging by your contributions to discussions about Podcasting, in the Producing Podcasts community, it would appear that you're a bit of a fan of Podcasts yourself. So if you do listen to Podcasts, you may be alarmed to hear that the absolutely worst thing on the current iPod Touch is Apple's Podcast App.


It started out as "in need of improvement", and has unbelievably become much worse with successive updates. There is no defending it - it's awful! User cyberbiker has resorted to lengthy explanations for others on how to get the best from the app. I was under the impression that Apple products were intuitive and not require an essay-length explanation on how to play one episode after another.


In this past week I've heard from an acquaintance who tells me that she has finally abandoned the Apple Podcast app as unusable after struggling with it through those updates (and she used the phrase "finally abandoned" and identified each update as the cause, I didn't ask). I suspect she's not alone: I now have only one subscription in the app, preferring to use an third-party app instead, despite it having its own curious foibles.


As I mentioned in my initial post, the Classic was not the most rewarding of experiences when it came to listening to Podcasts. I preferred using a 2nd gen Touch for my Podcast listening. But the Podcast App on the current Touch is far, far worse than the Classic. Curiously, I've read a couple of journalist reviews about the app and iOS 11, both claiming that it's good, but interestingly, despite mention of users (listeners) being considered above all else, what sticks in my mind from both reviews was the supposed benefits that iOS 11 will bring to Podcast providers, largely in the form of statistical analysis.


Well, here's a statistic that seems to escaped everyone's attention:

The Podcast app, in its current form in iOS 11 is so bad that it is now known that users are looking for alternatives and finding them. This means that there will be fewer statistics to analyse, because there will be fewer people using Apple's app, hence reduced usefulness, not more, for producers. That cannot be regarded as a good thing. (The Podcasts for iOS forum - should you be able to find it, hidden as it is under Site Map, should alert even the most loyal Apple employee.)


I make no pretence about the app's shortcomings about this app, nor do I shy away from discussing it. But when will Apple wake up I wonder (rhetorically)?

Jan 2, 2018 8:05 AM in response to the fiend

Actually I never listen to podcasts! Advise on the techincal side, yes; actually listen to any of it, no.


What I do may be mildly unusual: I have around 3,600 jazz tracks on my Nano (I know that's not a lot by some people's standars) and I shuffle the entire contents and play through them on buses or trains. It takes about a year. when I first started doing this, with a smaller iPod with a spinning disk, it was always crashing and losing the shuffle. The present Nano has crashed very occasionally, but it's mostly reliable - though I never tempt fate by using any of the other facilities, so the clock is way out. Being of a suspicious nature I suspect that the Touch is likely to be more liable to losing the shuffle one way or another: quite apart from not fitting so comfortably into a pocket.


I've seen a number of complains about the Podcasts App which certainly seems to be a mess; I don't advise on it because I don't have an iOS device.

What to Replace an iPod Classic with

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