Shuffle play list not so random

[RBEmerson]

I have some playlists that are built album by album. The list runs "track 1, album ; track 2, album A;  track 3, album A", etc. On shuffle songs, two things happen that IMHO are bugs. 1) I get a run of successive tracks in the list - tracks 3,4,5 of album A. 2) The some tracks appear frequently while some are rarely played. This all points back to a need for better randomization.

[andrewilley]

Shuffle is not random chosen per each track, it is a pure shuffle - i.e. it takes all of the songs in whatever list you have requested, and puts them in a new randomised order, and then plays that whole list from start to finish. Thus Shuffle mode will not repeat the same song within the current shuffled session,until the entire session has been played. Of course by the nature of random, you may statistically find some songs still appear side by side, although that would be rare.

Check the track counter in the metadata line, it will start at 1 and progress all the way to the end of the total number of songs in the category you have chosen. Unless the shuffle mode is changed or playback reset anyway (which you can tell by seeing if the track counter returns to a new '1' again).

Andre

[RBEmerson]

OK, gotit. There is one application of randomizing and then that randomized list used. That takes care of the "don't repeat it". It also explains why stepping forward or backward shows the same order of tracks. Or scroll forward to album h, track 9, scroll back to album q, track 4, and further back to album f, track 22. Scrolling either way shows the same order; this is a new, randomized, version of the playlist (repeating the obvious, I know). In a couple instances the randomizer has put three tracks up in order. Once is a surprise, twice is curious, and three times is a problem. For me, shuffle can have a problem. The next playlist shuffle I select, I'll check for any hint of tracks retaining the original order. 

The repetition I mentioned might, now that I understand the process, might be a function of the playlist length. I'll check that, too. 

[andrewilley]

If you do hear a group of tracks that seem to be in their original (unshuffled) order, as you say you can always scroll back track by track to see what the actual listening order was. There could be an odd instance where you get some tracks appear side-by-side (that's the nature of random) but statistically it should not happen often. If you get a lot of instances of more than two tracks played in non-random order, could get a screen recording of skipping through them one-by-one, and a view of the original unshuffled order in the library view too? First do make sure that the metadata track counter line hasn't jumped back to '1' (indicating that a reshuffle has taken place, which means you won't be able to skip back past that point either)

Andre

[RBEmerson]

About, the "non-random" event, and the one that started my thoughts about how shuffling should work, and possible changes was definitely past what the "12 moneys randomly typing" would be likely to do in short order. The tracks were, of course, from a single album, they were early in the shuffled list, but not at the start. They are definitely separate files and showed up, when I inspect the shuffled list, as such in sequence as played. That I heard three in a row was startling enough to inspect the list at the time. I won't swear to a second occurrence in the same shuffled list, but I'm moderately sure there was one. 

NTL I'll follow up on your request for diagnostic screen grabs.

[maxmp]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes pure random shuffle can put couple of songs in a row, which should be rare but still a possibility, esp. for small number of songs. 

I guess it’s possible to add extra pass over shuffled list to reduce unwanted track combinations. What is needed is a set of rules, like no 2 songs from same album in a row, etc. 

[RBEmerson]

I suppose a shuffled list could be saved, reshuffled, and then queued, but that's a few steps and tossing old temporary list on top... long way to go for a short trip.

I'll look for a another occurrence. I suppose the mythical 12 monkeys typing could produce a full, or partially, sequential list. I'll watch to see if they do it again.

Meanwhile, given the recent explanation, I think it's better to expect a shuffled list, but watch for another surprise.