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  • #1

    Help me pick out an MP3 player

    Hi,

    I have decided to get an mp3 player, or more specifically a .wav player. I have ripped songs from a bunch of MY CDs, and I would like to play them on some type of portable device. These songs are all uncompressed and approximately ~60M each. I don't like compression, and given that fact that most new players have at least 5G of space on them, I don't see the point. I want something with impeccable audio quality (ie: a wide frequeny range), and I would prefer something which uses real batteries (say AA or AAA). I don't like rechargeable batteries, especially the kind that are expensive to replace. I want this mp3 player to be like a portable hard drive, so that I can just the plug in the USB2/firewire cable and move files directly without having to use some sort of program (ie: Itunes). I prefer something well built, as I have a habit of dropping things! What would you recommend? I haven't set a buget as I don't really know what is out there. I looked at the Ipod, but I didn't like the idea of having to use Itunes to upload/download songs. I have also heard that you can't copy songs (or other information from the hard drive) to other computers - which just seems plain silly to me!

    I should also mention that actual hard drive units are bad ideas!
    Last edited by X-Caliber; 10 February 2004, 01:01.
    ASUS P2B-DS REV 1.06 D03 w/ DUAL 1.4GHZ Tualatins; Matrox Parhelia; M-Audio Delta 410

    Apple Powerbook G4 - 1.33GHZ
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Hate to tell ya, but your chasing a dream
    If there's artificial intelligence, there's bound to be some artificial stupidity.

    Jeremy Clarkson "806 brake horsepower..and that on that limp wrist faerie liquid the Americans call petrol, if you run it on the more explosive jungle juice we have in Europe you'd be getting 850 brake horsepower..."

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    • #3
      Yeah, I don't think one exists in this dimension...

      To achieve 5 GB of storage they usually resort to hard disks. And the lossless requirement is a bit tough also. The only one that comes to mind is the Rio Karma, which uses Monkey Audio, and comes with USB2.0/Ethernet, but AFAIK it uses a built-in battery, has a hard disk and uses a special program for file transfer. Of course some more PDA-like devices might offer support for more audio formats.

      If Pontis ever got their sh*t together they might make one player like that. My SP600 is an old player but it is a step in your direction, it operates on normal batteries (i use accus though), has gigabyte-class capacity without a hard disk and doesn't use a special program to transfer files. But wouldn't be trusting them 'cause they screwed us SP600 owners over by promising support for formats other than MP3
      Last edited by Tempest; 10 February 2004, 02:46.

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      • #4
        Perhaps the Nex, in combination with a number of CF-cards ?
        Frontier Labs: Home: Soil Sampling and Testing Laboratory
        http://www.frontierlabs.com/

        (IIRC, az has one and he'll most likely comment on it when asked nicely )


        Jörg
        pixar
        Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die tomorrow. (James Dean)

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        • #5
          No, I had (it was stolen) a Nex. It's not bad, but it's way past its prime.

          Look into the Archos jukebox, or the new iRiver ones. http://www.iriveramerica.com/products/iHP-120.asp

          That iRiver is the only competitor to the iPod IMHO.

          And you're NOT going to get that kind of storage space with regular batteries. Companies are using rechargables because they need the storage density.

          And there's nothing wrong with HD units. Unless you're going to be listening to music while working with a jackhammer - with the MP3 player strapped to the jackhammer. In fact, a HD is absolutely necessary for the storage densities you want.

          You know, after reading your request list again, you don't want an MP3 player. You want a diskman.
          Gigabyte P35-DS3L with a Q6600, 2GB Kingston HyperX (after *3* bad pairs of Crucial Ballistix 1066), Galaxy 8800GT 512MB, SB X-Fi, some drives, and a Dell 2005fpw. Running WinXP.

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          • #6
            Am I the only one who things the current best solution is still a portable CD player capable of playing Mp3 files ?
            "For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism."

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            • #7
              I've got one of those. In fact, I'm using it right now. It's nice because it's very cheap (about $40 these days). I leave it plugged in at my desk all the time, so batteries aren't an issue. But I leave it at my desk because it's too big.

              Swapping CDs is a PITA though. Once you get to around 5-10 CDs full of MP3, you're swapping all the time. And the two line display isn't enough to do anything like set up a playlist.

              Choosing what to burn onto a CD at home, in preparation for what I might want to hear at work, is annoying.

              I'd really like an MP3 player with a HD, so I could just bring my music and not worry about all that.
              Gigabyte P35-DS3L with a Q6600, 2GB Kingston HyperX (after *3* bad pairs of Crucial Ballistix 1066), Galaxy 8800GT 512MB, SB X-Fi, some drives, and a Dell 2005fpw. Running WinXP.

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              • #8
                Then wait for those tiny 4GB hard disks to become larger in capacity and cheaper to make.
                It's simply a questions of time, and I bet it won't be long.
                "For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism."

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                • #9
                  Re: Help me pick out an MP3 player

                  Originally posted by X-Caliber
                  I looked at the Ipod, but I didn't like the idea of having to use Itunes to upload/download songs. I have also heard that you can't copy songs (or other information from the hard drive) to other computers - which just seems plain silly to me!
                  No problem here, you can always use an Ipod as a portable harddisk. And with third party programs like ephpod, etc you can copy songs from your Ipod to another computer without any problems.

                  And you should really get a Discman if you don't like compressed mp3's.
                  Last edited by KeiFront; 10 February 2004, 11:51.
                  Main: Dual Xeon LV2.4Ghz@3.1Ghz | 3X21" | NVidia 6800 | 2Gb DDR | SCSI
                  Second: Dual PIII 1GHz | 21" Monitor | G200MMS + Quadro 2 Pro | 512MB ECC SDRAM | SCSI
                  Third: Apple G4 450Mhz | 21" Monitor | Radeon 8500 | 1,5Gb SDRAM | SCSI

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                  • #10
                    there is a solution, as tempest said:

                    the rio karma is supposed to support FLAC files, which is a lossless codec, iirc. and the player features a 20gig hd.

                    mfg
                    wulfman
                    "Perhaps they communicate by changing colour? Like those sea creatures .."
                    "Lobsters?"
                    "Really? I didn't know they did that."
                    "Oh yes, red means help!"

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                    • #11
                      Yeah, but FLAC and monkey compression really only give you 2:1 compression or so, not much improvement.
                      Gigabyte P35-DS3L with a Q6600, 2GB Kingston HyperX (after *3* bad pairs of Crucial Ballistix 1066), Galaxy 8800GT 512MB, SB X-Fi, some drives, and a Dell 2005fpw. Running WinXP.

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                      • #12
                        The iPod rocks. It's really a great player, and I wouldn't use iTunes even if you paid me. Just use one of the half-dozen third party apps.

                        - Gurm
                        The Internet - where men are men, women are men, and teenage girls are FBI agents!

                        I'm the least you could do
                        If only life were as easy as you
                        I'm the least you could do, oh yeah
                        If only life were as easy as you
                        I would still get screwed

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                        • #13
                          nay... get an HP iPaq H1940.

                          you get a 320x240 screen 16bit, MP3 player, gaming speed (it uses ATI Imageon graphics, with full TnL), internet (Bluetooth or with WiFi expension, graphing calc, notepad, ms office, and unlimited expandibility with SD/SDIO, add GPS or 1.3MP vid camera.

                          Can't ask for more (except maybe a kitchen sink)

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                          • #14
                            Get a PocketPC with a compactflash slot...load linux on it.

                            Then add a 5GB Hitachi/IBM Microdrive and you're in business...
                            Let us return to the moon, to stay!!!

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                            • #15
                              You did see the thread in digtal imaging about new products

                              http://forums.murc.ws/showthread.php?s=&threadid=46716


                              8G CF card

                              Hardly "economical" but...

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