[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by stlbud

Seriously, would someone give me some guidance and demonstrate how they manage a smaller space for their music files?

Sync Groups based on new music added in the past "x" days (I use 60 days), and Sync Groups based on genre.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by stlbud

Seriously, would someone give me some guidance and demonstrate how they manage a smaller space for their music files?

Sync Groups based on new music added in the past "x" days (I use 60 days), and Sync Groups based on genre.

[stlbud]

Originally Posted by David Tucker

Too much work. I don't know what I want to listen to when I have my player. I'll be constantly trying to decide what I want to have on there. There's only one option that works for me...all of it and always.

Exactly my point.

[doogald]

Originally Posted by stlbud

Seriously, would someone give me some guidance and demonstrate how they manage a smaller space for their music files? Do you just pick a few and hope it gets you through the week? Is it a constantly changing selection? How do you manage that? Playlists?

I'll start this by saying that I do this for an iPod with iTunes, but:

1. I rate all of my music, and only songs with three stars or more (out of 5) make it to the device. (I have well over 60 GB of music but most of it I definitely do not need with me all of the time.)

2. I have a smart playlist that gathers all of those songs. If the capacity would be greater than the device, then:

2a. I create a smart playlist of all of the 5 star songs, one for all of the 4 star songs, and one for three star songs that creates some sort of criteria for selecting music, but is limited to x GB. The criteria may be the 3 star songs totaling x GB that I have least recently listened to (so recent listens will roll off with the next sync).

2b. I then create a smart playlist that includes any songs in those three smart playlists

2c. (I actually have a regular playlist called "songs to move to iPod" which is designed to be songs I always want with me, which is included in that smart playlist is 2b).

3. I limit what gets synced to the iPod to just those playlists.

Can the Zune software do something like that?

[stlbud]

Originally Posted by doogald

I'll start this by saying that I do this for an iPod with iTunes, but:

1. I rate all of my music, and only songs with three stars or more (out of 5)

Thanks for your comments but it is still too much work. I live a spontaneous life, have an eclectic library of music and enjoy listening to whatever I want when I want. Besides, Zune player only has a 3 level rating system for each track - heart, no heart, broken heart.

I realize I'm something of an enigma when it comes to my taste in music but the schemes I see really only work for people who have a strong preference for one genre or limit their listening experience to the most recent tracks.

Maybe I'll just carry a USB harddrive with all my audio files on it and leave the Zune at home.

[David Tucker]

Stlbud...my music taste isn't even all that eclectic and it would still pose difficulty for me!

What's your Zune Tag?

Doog...the Zune autoplaylists can do all of the same things but what we're saying is that while it is an available option, its not the one that we prefer. We both would like to have our entire collection available.

[doogald]

Hey, I was just answering a question - the one that I quoted. It was a lot of work at first (though made easier by rating everything one star and then just changing the ones that I wanted 3, 4 or 5 as I came to them), but adding new music it takes about a minute to rate an album's worth of music.

As for limiting to the most recent tracks, actually, I tend to limit to the music that I haven't heard in a while - as I said, taking the x GB of the least recently played music. And my collection is pretty broad as far as genres.

If Zune has only three ratings, you leave behind the stuff you do not like, take all that you love, and then limit the one's that you like but don't love.

Or not, whatever.

(By the way, the 5.7 GB of music on my device would get me through 3.6 days if I played 24 x 7. My least recently played songs are from Jan 1, 2008 [though I tend to listen to podcasts as much as I do music.] I'd say that a 32 GB Zune should get you pretty far.)

[Phillip Dyson]

These days I'm mostly digesting Podcasts and Audiobooks but I have a pretty eclectic library myself. I can't think of a major genre that wouldn't have a noticeable presence in my library. Of course if you call me on something like Ska, I might have to concede.

I'm pretty confident that I'll be purchasing a 32GB ZHD but I don't know what I'll do for my music. My only consolation is that I have a ZunePass. If I'm near a hotspot, I should be able to pull most music down that I want to listen to. If I don't have it on my device.

From that 32GB I know the OS and Apps (when they materialize) will take up some of that space too. It is quite the quandry.

I posted this somewhere else, but this thread seems more appropriate.

I just checked the stats on my Zune80.

• 32.42GB Used
• 25.83GB Music
• 70.15MB Pictures
• 1.80GB Podcasts
• 138.41MB Channels
• 3.72GB Audiobooks
• 3.99GB Reserved Space

Technically I only need the one Audiobook that I'm listening to and I don't really listen to the Channels. That should buy me a few megabytes.

[SoundMix]

Larger drive capacities allow for higher quality (bitrate) or lossless files...and therefore better sound quality. It is about the music...isn't it?

I also like a diverse collection of music, and will not be limited to 32GB. MS could have at least added an SD slot for memory expansion.

Paul

[Arcadium]

This is the single, most retarded thing Microsoft has done. Now, I'll be buying a Zune HD, but I was also hoping to buy a Zune 120 to replace my Classic with Christmas money. Now what the hell am I going to do?

Flash players, I bared with it. Even though I'd like to have the chance to get a bigger storage later on, I have a 4 for running and sports, so I was okay. I could imagine the Zune 120 just becoming "Zune", like the 30's first year, and the Zune HD being just the Zune HD. It would be smart.

I am severely disappointed, and now kinda pissed that I now have to find a new Hard-Drive based player. But hey, maybe if this new iPod Classic has a camera, it'll be the one I get, and deal with iTunes again.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by SoundMix

MS could have at least added an SD slot for memory expansion.

Yeah, I would have really liked to have seen that as well. Done properly, it would have largely eliminated all this frustration from users we're seeing.