Music Manager Replacements

I just pulled out an old iPod that I would like to use again. But I do not wish to download iTunes because it is so clunky. Are there any good replacement program for iTunes that I could use just to manage the music that is on the iPod? I have a Windows machine that automatically upgraded to Windows 10, not sure if that makes any difference. I just want something light and easy to manage. Thanks!

I hate iTunes, and I have nothing but bad things to say about Apple… but in this case, you’re really better off just taking a deep breath and downloading iTunes.

iPod Manager (formerly or possibly still known as foo_dop) is a plugin for Foobar2000 which used to be quite well regarded (mainly because it was really the only alternative to iTunes) but it’s not received an update in four years… caveat emptor, as they say.

On top of that, iPods are difficult to justify nowadays… My old iPod was a 60gb model which was ginormous at the time… but now I have twice as much capacity in an SD card that lives inside my Android phone. Time moves on. I took my iPod to bits in the end to replace the HDD and never put it back together again, because it dawned on me that I didn’t miss it. Carrying a battery-powered device with a spinning hard disc inside it, explicitly for the purpose of playing music… seems as old hat today as going round with a cassette player strapped to your butt seemed when we were all going nuts buying iPod Photo. (For the same price that today can get you a Samsung Galaxy… You feel old, yet? I do… I’ve still got a Walkman in the cupboard! 😉

Thanks! 🙂 Yeah, I think I will just download iTunes. I found the iPod after not having used it for about 4 years I think… I just thought that since it’s there, I might as well try to get some use out of it, it’s a 80 GB iPod Classic after they started to roll out other types back in the day. It took me even longer to find a cord for it around the house after I located the device. Main reason I am not playing music from my phone is trying to conserve battery life. I agree, I think it’s somewhat silly to carry around a spinning hard disc just to listen to music. But what the heck, I think I will just load it up and toss it in the car, keep it perpetually charged on a USB outlet and plugged into my Aux audio line.

iPod Manager (formerly or possibly still known as foo_dop) is a plugin for Foobar2000 which used to be quite well regarded (mainly because it was really the only alternative to iTunes) but it’s not received an update in four years… caveat emptor, as they say.

I use it. It’s confusing to use at first but I’ve never had any issues with it outside of that.

Thanks! 🙂 Yeah, I think I will just download iTunes. I found the iPod after not having used it for about 4 years I think… I just thought that since it’s there, I might as well try to get some use out of it, it’s a 80 GB iPod Classic after they started to roll out other types back in the day. It took me even longer to find a cord for it around the house after I located the device. Main reason I am not playing music from my phone is trying to conserve battery life. I agree, I think it’s somewhat silly to carry around a spinning hard disc just to listen to music. But what the heck, I think I will just load it up and toss it in the car, keep it perpetually charged on a USB outlet and plugged into my Aux audio line.

Now THAT is a good idea. I’ve got my phone with me 99% of the time so I play in-car music from that, but for those emergency occasions where I forget my phone or it’s broken or something… I keep a clapped out HTC Desire in the glove compartment with about 40gb of "emergency" music – God forbid that I should have to put the RADIO on… 😉

Depending on how old the iPod is, you might want to try installing Rockbox (http://www.rockbox.org/) on it. Rockbox is a free replacement firmware which will allow you to use your computer’s built-in file manager to manage the music files on it.