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Is it me, or does PA repeat songs in shuffle mode?


ultrarunner2019

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Hey guys;

Is it just me, or does PA repeat songs while playing in 'Shuffle Songs' mode?
I normally select the All Songs category, then turn on Shuffle Songs.
Several times though, when I checked the shuffle mode, I found it to be set to Shuffle All. I don't recall whether I did a reset or what as it appears that Shuffle All is the default mode.
Does it make a difference which category I am in when I turn on shuffle - if I am using Shuffle All or Shuffle Songs.

Is it possible that PA is repeating songs during a shuffle?
I have been watching the track counter, and it does not appear that I have reset the shuffle.
I have also checked my music library for dupes, and found none.

Am I losing it?

Thanks for your help

Ultrarunner

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@ultrarunner2019 Poweramp plays your target list in the random order. Obviously, it won't repeat songs as this is the original list played, if it has no duplications, no duplications played.

Still you can reset your shuffle session (e.g. by manually selecting other track from a list, changing shuffle mode, etc.), that regenerates the random ordering, and in that random ordering the list will be played again, with last song may be appearing on top.

There are a few options which will change the reshuffling approach (and other shuffle options) - just search for "Shuffle" in Poweramp settings.

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1 hour ago, ultrarunner2019 said:

Is it just me, or does PA repeat songs while playing in 'Shuffle Songs' mode?

It's just you I'm afraid. PA builds a complete planned randomised list of everything in the library that is to be played, and then starts at the beginning and works its way through the list.

Of course if you cause a re-shuffle (change the shuffle mode, or start something new playing) then the nature of random means that you could quite easily hear something very soon that was recently played in the old older.

Andre

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Does closing PA and opening another app that uses audio channels - in my case an audiobook reader - cause the shuffle order to be reset?
If not, then what actions within PA while a shuffle list is playing would cause re-shuffle? And if re-shuffle does occur, won't the track counter return to 1/n?

If all else fails I suppose I can uninstall PA and reinstall it - after having cleared all of its data.

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Yes, a reshuffle would cause the track counter to go back to 1/nnn.

You can step back through the history of played tracks, even in shuffle mode. So if you hear what you think is a duplicated song, keep pressing '<<' until you find the earlier track that caused your concern. Use Info/Tags to see if it is the same physical file, or just the same song in a different album (collection, etc). 

Andre

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I just tried that today: I was around 500 deep into the shuffle list that contains about 4,000 songs when I started hitting the << button. Eventually I reached track 001 and had not found the dupe I thought I heard.
But what I did find is that I have three versions of the track: Studio, Live, and my own reverb rendition.
I guess my memory isn't as good as the PA database.

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PA will normally auto-scan new tracks into its library on startup (unless you have disabled that feature).

It would depend on what Shuffle mode you are using, but if your newly scanned items need to be included within a currently playing shuffle sequence, they should normally get added into the sequence at some point after the currently playing track.

Andre

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Thanks for that info; So I'll just add the songs, then search the library to confirm that PA has scanned and added them, but I won't tap on the track to play it; wait until PA plays it through shuffle.
I thought there was an option to have PA favor new additions, but maybe I'm thinking about MusicBee - my player of choice on Windows. I couldn't find this option in PA, but in MusicBee there is an option in Auto-DJ to prefer recently added tracks.
However, I did find an option in PA; Lists > No Reshuffle - so I can play any song in the library without 'messing up' my shuffle list.

I have been using PA for at least five years on my Android phones. I have never used all the options/features it provides, but sometimes when I've got some time to kill I go through the options and discover some really great feature that I want to turn on.
When I just want to listen without a fuss, PA does that very well, as its defaults work very well for me.
My issue with shuffle seems to be more in my head than anywhere else; And then I just remembered that I am running MusicBee on my Windows box, and have it's 'Auto-DJ' turned on. So I may hear a song while listening on the PC and then hear the same song again on my phone through PA. My brain gets confused as to which device I was listening to when I heard a particular song.

Example: This morning I was listening on my PC and heard a certain song. Then I went out with my dog while listening to PA on my phone - same library as on the PC - and wouldn't you know it; the same song that I had heard only an hour ago played!
But it was not a repeat for PA. It was only a repeat in my brain. HA.

In the end, I cannot say why I get 'annoyed' by repetition when I enjoy all the music in my library. I guess it's more of a technical thing than a music thing. I just want things to work as expected - and as I now realize, PA is doing just that!

PA kind of reminds me of an amateur radio app. Hams have historically enjoyed having the ability to tweak and hack their software (and their rigs). PA is like that for music. So much you can tweak and customize.

So let me take this time to thank the developers of Poweramp and those on these forums who have been kind enough to take their time to reply to my (sometimes frivolous) queries - for providing an enjoyable listening experience.
Add to that my new HiFiMAN Deva Pro cans with Bluemini BT DAC; I really have nothing to complain about. PA is a great app and what did I pay for it? Not much when considering what it does.

Oh, and let me add my thoughts on syncing PA with MB.
I have read that it is certainly possible to sync Poweramp on Android with MusicBee on Windows. But my experiences with sync (mostly Firefox) are not very pleasant. I would have to do some more reading, then back up all of my settings before I try it between PA and MB.
 

Edited by ultrarunner2019
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PA doesn't have any smart shuffle features, it simply shuffles whole lists as per the mode you chose. Newly added tracks will be added into the shuffle sequence somewhere after the currently playing item (unless you are shuffling a specific type of category, such as a Playlist, that may not need to contain the new tracks).

Yes, the brain plays all sorts of tricks when it comes to shuffling, but as mentioned earlier PA builds a complete list of all the planned tracks in a randomised order and then plays that list from start to finish - so it never repeats anything unless something forces a reshuffle, and then all bets are off.

Background syncing with other apps can create various issues depending on how accurate the file copies are (does the sync software interfere?) and also whether PA sees/scans the new files before the sync is complete. Personally I do my file copies manually. A FULL Rescan after the sync is complete will fix any issues - but that will also reset any current shuffle sequence of course. 

Andre

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Something weird is going on with my PA app on my Galaxy A51 (Android 11) phone.

I had been playing in 'shuffle songs' mode which I turned on from the 'All Songs' category.
I wanted to find a specific song, so I went back to the 'All Songs' category expecting to find the alphabetical listing of all songs in my library.
There has always been the main list in alphabetical order with the index on the right. I would swipe down to find the first letter of the song I wanted.
But now that index was not visible, and the main listing was anything but alphabetical.
I couldn't figure out what was going on, so I went into the Apps settings and did a 'force stop', then cleared the cache and data. I then restarted PA and found the track listing and index as I would expect. Of course I needed to go to settings to restore my previous preferences.

Any idea of what I might have done to have this happen?

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@ultrarunner2019

Go into the Library > All Songs category and tap the menu (three-dots) icon and select List Options. You can then choose a sorting order for that particular category view. The default method on a new install (or when you clear data) is to sort the All Songs list 'By Title', however you can also ask to view the Shuffle sequence, or various other orders.

You can change this independently for each different category as often as you want, and that setting will also define the running order used to play the songs in that list.

Andre

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5 hours ago, ultrarunner2019 said:

Thanks. Now that you mention it, I remember that is exactly what I had done when I was trying to find duplicate songs in the shuffle.

That view "by shuffle order" List Options feature is handy, but in somewhat limited circumstances. It was introduced in response to requests for a way to see the order of upcoming songs when listening in Shuffle mode, and it does work that way for the All Songs category. However the downside is that it makes any given list always play shuffled until you turn off that List Option, rather than just allowing a temporary glimpse of the currently playing (shuffled or otherwise) order.

There is a medium-term plan to add a more extensive 'Now Playing' view that would show the complete upcoming sequence of songs (shuffled or otherwise, such as regular album by album for example) without the need to change any Library Category ordering. See:

Andre

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