The Crossfade Settings for an IPod

Songs that you add to your iPod can play in random order, alphabetically or in organized playlists. In any case, the device generally inserts a small gap of silence between each track played. Crossfade eliminates that gap, allowing songs to transition directly into each other. Applying crossfade to your entire library may take several minutes.

Purpose

Crossfade eliminates the gap that normally exists between two songs played back to back on your iPod. When one song is about to end, the start of the next song in the queue is blended, or faded, in. This creates a seamless transition between the two songs. The iPod can fade together two songs for a maximum of 12 seconds, or a minimum of one second.

Changing Settings

As with all other changes to your iPod library, adding the crossfade feature to your music must be done through iTunes. To crossfade your library, go to the "Edit" tab of the iTunes toolbar and select "Preferences." In the "Preferences" pop-up window that appears, select the "Playback" tab. After you check the box next to "Crossfade Songs," use the slider to select the number of seconds you want the songs to fade into each other. Select "OK" to confirm the change. Your library will automatically begin to format all songs for crossfading. A message at the top of the iTunes window alerts you when the process is complete.

Sync

Once you have added the crossfade preferences to your iTunes library, your iPod must be synced before the preference is applied to music on the device. Sync your library by connecting your iPod to your computer. Click the name of your iPod in the iTunes source list. Select the "Music" tab, then click "Sync" in the bottom right corner of the screen. The sync will replace everything on your iPod with your current iTunes library. If you only want to sync certain songs, click the "Library" link in the source list and manually drag the files to your iPod's listing in iTunes.

Undoing Crossfade

Applying crossfade is not a permanent action. To reverse the crossfade feature, return to the "Preferences" menu in iTunes and uncheck the box next to "Crossfade Songs." Click "OK" to save the new settings. The feature will remain on tracks currently on your iPod until the next time you sync the device with the iTunes library.