Per-Track EQ Settings for the iPod in iTunes

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Per-Track EQ Settings for the iPod in iTunes

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Q: Is it possible to set up the iPod to change the EQ setting automatically according to the genre of music? For instance, if a song with the “rock” genre is playing, can the iPod be configured to automatically set the EQ as rock?

- Daniel

A: No, you can’t do this automatically, but you can set the EQ setting for individual songs. Rather than do this for every song on your iPod individually, here’s a shortcut.

In iTunes, create a smart playlist where the Genre is Rock. Click this playlist to display all the songs it contains. Select all the songs (Ctrl-A on Windows; Command-A on Mac), then display the Info window (Ctrl-I on Windows; Command-I on Mac).

Click the Equalizer Preset menu near the bottom of the Info window and select Rock (or whatever EQ setting you want to use). Click OK to close the window and apply this setting.

The next time you sync your iPod, iTunes will re-copy all those songs with the EQ setting you have chosen. When you play them on the iPod, the EQ will change for whatever songs you have applied EQ settings to. You can repeat this operation for other genres you have in your library.

Naturally, this will only work for songs you already have in your iTunes library; while new songs will get added to the smart playlists, they won’t take on the EQ setting on their own. So you will want to check this playlist from time to time to update new music you add. It is a bit of a hassle, but it does the trick!

Kirk McElhearn is the author of several books including iPod & iTunes Garage. His blog, Kirkville features articles about the iPod, iTunes, Mac OS X and much more.

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