...on choosing an mp3 player, please.

I've decided to join "the dark side" and want to get an mp3 player. Question is...which one? I was considering an ipod touch, but there is such a wide range of options. Rather than just jump in, I'd like to step back, and listen to other members' opinions. A couple of concerns I have in making a choice, is that (1) I have an extensive itunes library. I know there can be compatibility issues when trying to manage itunes with non Apple products. Not that it's impossible, but, it can be a pain. I would like to keep things as hassle free as possible. (2) It has to sound good. I think the highest flexibility would come from a user selectable eq, as in manual settings (bass, mid-range, treble) but on the other hand, maybe there are decent sounding preset eq's...

So friends, please...share your opinions, and experiences. Thanks!

Creative is the best

Not the stone, that one is to tiny, maybe the Mozaic is nice

ipod "classic" 160 gigs i think it also depends on what player you use as well.

ipod sucks in many many ways

creative sux!!!!

But apple does also!

dont make me go over there!!!

Now children you must behave or I will send each of you to the corner facing the class.

sorry joe

ipod and mac all the way for me . . . .

i like the ipod touch a lot . . iphone is fine too . .

My wife has a Creative Zen Vision M 30GB which is really nice. After years of treating it like a red-headed stepchild, I finally gave in and bought a 30GB iPod photo off Craigslist for $30. I do not, and WILL NEVER use iTunes to manage my music on the iPod. I use a program named XPlay that allows me to drag and drop music files just like a regular drive. MediaMonkey handles my MP3 library.

Hey JC, I'd go with the IPOD "Classic". It wasn't classic when I bought my 80Gb The 160Gb would be enough for your "extensive" collection. It's big, but it's "robust". I've dropped mine a few times, with no issues

I leave the EQ off, and it sounds amazing. I just use the headphone jack to a rca cable, and hookup to any boombox that has a line-in. My friends get a kick out of me hooking up an IPOD to a 20+ year old boombox

I own the Ipod classic 80GB and now want to upgrade to the 160GB iPod dlassic. But, I don't want Apple's itunes to manage my music library. I'm not too savvy on finding and using a diff. system to manage/share my stuff. I'm tempted to go Bobby's way. That would be the perfect way to go (for me).

Ipod all the way!!!!
I have a creative zen that my son uses as a door stop
does not work with any file format other than mp3 yech!!!
it is an outdated device.
The newest Ipod touch is flash drive technology
and is cutting edge.
no more hard drive to worry about breaking plus no micro moving parts.
the I -touch is a technology I have yet to get bored with and Ive had mine since they were first introduced about a year ago.
mine is 16 gb hd , but now i think they come in 30gb flash.
BTW the newest version of I tunes is genius!!!
Check it out

Thank you gang, for all this excellent input...I really appreciate it. So far, it looks like ipod gets the inod opps, I mean nod!

Fatdog, and THAFUZZ, you both mentioned that you prefer something other than itunes to manage your music. Could you please elaborate?

Thanks again everyone!

JC, and Adam, go here for more info:

http://www.mediafour.com/products/xplay/

Thanks Fatdog...it all sounded great...'till I got to the part that sez "not compatible with ipod touch and iphone". But, is good news, if I go with a different model.

I had several MP3-players in the last years, including a Creative too.

I tell ya never buy a player with a hard-disk.My creative was in repair like 4 times a year.It was free, but it su**ed to not have music on the go for several weeks.

After all these experiences with this one and other ones i finally tried an Apple IPod.

Bought myself the touch when they came out.

And this one is the very first mp3-player i had where the headphones broke down earlier than the unit itself!!After nearly a year of hardcore use it does not have a single scratch on the front and still works flawless.

I just got the newest software-update which allows to add Apps.

In connection with the Wi-Fi that's just great!

I mean i nearly can do everything with my MP3-PLAYER!!How cool is that?


go for apple i say.What you pay is quality, not the name

The ipod wouldn't be to bad but honestly i dont know what is worse the ipod touch or itunes for one thing you cant just drag and drop you have to piss about with there stupid program also i belive you have to pay for there tunes, im not paying for what essentially is a bit stream, you dont get the music on a format like cassettte or cd, the whole ipod thing sucks.

I have a zen micro since 4 years, never was broken,
and still is like new, also the REMOVABLE battery
is okay

I am on my 2nd earphones now, after 4 years
that is not bad

Ipods are awful,considering how you actually need to buy a separate piece to get true line out is pretty silly. Sure with the Zen Vision M you need the dongle but atleast the line out port is right there for you.

I can't stand the lack of formats that the Ipods deals with,the Zen has a wider variety of formats in both audio and video form that it can play so you aren't stuck dealing with conversion processes when you want to watch a video on an Ipod. The Zen will accept DivX movies just fine and all you need to do is resize them for the screen size if you want to save some space.

I can't stand Itunes and find it to be absolutely useless not to mention the whole draconian grip Apple has on copying files off of other computers or where my friends will sometimes import songs onto the Ipod and it won't be tagged at all or if it is it will be tagged with pure gibberish.

I just appreciate the Zen's far more straightforward operation,its wider variety of settings to be tweaked,real line out and a much more pleasant experience when it comes to moving and adding media to the player.

i guess it just comes down to different strokes for different folks

Posted Sep 16, 9:53 PM Hide Post
Ipods are awful,considering how you actually need to buy a separate piece to get true line out is pretty silly. Sure with the Zen Vision M you need the dongle but atleast the line out port is right there for you.

I can't stand the lack of formats that the Ipods deals with,the Zen has a far wider variety of formats in both audio and video form that it can play so you aren't stuck dealing with conversion processes when you want to watch a video on an Ipod. The Zen will accept DivX movies just fine and all you need to do is resize them for the screen size if you want to save some space.

I can't stand Itunes and find it to be absolutely useless not to mention the whole draconian grip Apple has on copying files off of other computers or where my friends will sometimes import songs onto the Ipod and it won't be tagged at all or if it is it will be tagged with pure gibberish.


TOTALLY i tunes is crap i wish i was loaded i would sue apple i paid what 250 pounds for an ipod touch i could **** in there face the biggest waiste of money ever spent.

That is also a reason why I do not like ipods

I love my zen

Wow gang...thank you, some lively discussion going on here. There's a lot to consider...geez, I don't recall analog being this hard!

Some things I can see as potential minus(s)... like non-removeable batteries
hard drives, and ear-buds that just don't stand the test of time. The whole issue of itunes, I can agree...not the easiest way to manage things (fortunately, my son takes care of all those pesky details) but now I (we) have a very substantial music collection built up in that format (not to mention money spent too)! My first real exposure to mp3 was thanks to my son's 4gb sandisk...that has had more than it's share of problems...oh yes, our joint first lesson was to avoid any and all software that offers "free" music (even the stuff that is advertised with the shiny new mp3 you just bought). Yeah right, each tune should come with an audible disclaimer, like "this music file will self destruct in 14 days...and just may screw up your gear at the same time."

Oh well...armed with those lessons in mind, and the great info everyone here has been so kind to offer-I should come out okay.

Oh yes, and apologies to all those members who remember JC saying things like "analog forever", and "man I wouldn't be caught dead with one of those things"...well, ok, I plead temporary insanity, ok, well no, your honour-truth is, I have a teenager living at home!

Thanks again gang, you rock!

I think you mac haters need to lay off the cough syrup

good luck with your quest joe cool !

I dont hate mac seen as they use the same parts now

928GTS-I wasn't aware of the Vision M dongle.It looks to be about the same as the aftermarket Sendstation add on for Ipods.Can you really get an audio only line level signal out through that piece?If so and if the Zen supports drag and drop,I would actually prefer it to my Ipod Touch as I'm not using it much for video.

I don't know about the newer versions of Zen Vision M, but my wife's does support drag and drop.

WOW I guess you really either LOVE apple products or you HATE them.

Me personally have used i-pod from the very beginning.
I still have my 1st generation i-pod and it still works every bit as good as the day it was purchased.
As for drag and drop in i-tunes I have no problems with this on my G4 powerbook.

I'm a bit late to the party but heres my 2 cents:

When choosing an mp3 player always remember mp3 is a junk format. You'll be appalled by the sound quality by comparison to anything analogue and regardless of whatever model you choose it's going to sound rubbish. I'd been dumbed down over the years of listening to mp3s almost exclusively and when I rediscovered my record and tape collection I was shocked by how dull and lifeless the mp3 format is by comparison.

As mentioned, iTunes can be a really invasive and ill mannered piece of software IF (and it's a BIG if) you've already got an established mp3 collection that you manage yourself. If you're just starting to collect mp3's and have, say, less than 100 it'll be ok for you to let it just do it's job. It's when you've got 10,000+ mp3s all set up the way you like that running itunes becomes a bloody nightmare.

It's also a resource hog, so if you've not got a new-ish pc theres a good chance it will slow everything down when being used. One of the main reasons I never use it as an mp3 player on my own pc, which is by no means old or slow either.

That said, I've used either an ipod mini or nano since they came out and, for a player of a junk/disposable format, they work great. The bells and whistles they add every generation might be a nice bonus, but the gimmicks are going to wear off in novelty pretty quickly, you want a player that will do what you want it to, when you want it to and thats find and play the mp3 you're looking for.

One of the biggest problems with a lot of mp3 players is the software they have on them, or what is needed on your pc to connect to them. Theres never been a bigger issue with big electronics companies with lots of audio experience and having zero software experience producing garbage that is unintuitive and poorly coded that the player NEEDS to use to function. Sony were especially guilty of this.

I'll stop the rant now, but the best I can suggest is to actually go into a shop and have a play of the ones in there and see what you find the easiest for navigation and playback.

I do believe the ipod range is one of the best out there for a number of reasons, but I also believe they don't fit 'everyone' and theres a good chance you'll find something else more your flavour if you have a play with some and check out some online reviews. Many people simply get an ipod because they're the biggest seller and most widely known, or just want an mp3 player and it's no-brainer that it'll do that job well.

I'd suggest Iriver are a good starting point as an alternative too.

Good Luck! And please do a review of the one you pick up!!



Rock On.

It also depends on how you are using your player.An Ipod with a Sendstation line-out or Zen with line-out dongle should make the sound quality differences of each player a moot point.If you are simply feeding either of these setups to your boombox,you are bypassing all amping,tone controls,etc. of the players.For this reason they should sound the same out your boombox speakers.However if you plan to do listening through headphones or use the headphone jack of your player as a boombox line-in source there's a lot more players to consider.For sound quality from a headphone jack,I like my Iaudio G3.

Concerning Ipod software I agree its annoying.Everything should be drag and drop as with my Iaudio G3.The EQ is fully configurable and it runs on a "AA" battery also.I still love that little player.

Well, it also depends on how MP3s are encoded. There's only one codec that's worth anything, and that's LAME 3.97 (or 3.98). Always use -V 0 --vbr-new and you'll get the best quality of anything.

I just installed Rockbox on my iPod. Now I can play back:

MPEG audio layers I-III (MP3/MP2/MP1)
Ogg Vorbis
MPEG-4 AAC
Musepack
AC3
WMA
Speex
FLAC
WavPack
Shorten
Apple Lossless
Monkey's Audio
WAV
Apple AIFF
Game audio types ADX, SID, NSF, SAP and SPC

The main thing is GAPLESS PLAYBACK!!

More information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockbox

Thanks everyone for your comments/thoughts/opinions/experience. It's very much appreciated. I never thought there'd be so much to consider, but glad I have this opportunity to learn before buying.

quote:

Originally posted by Jovie:
928GTS-I wasn't aware of the Vision M dongle.It looks to be about the same as the aftermarket Sendstation add on for Ipods.Can you really get an audio only line level signal out through that piece?If so and if the Zen supports drag and drop,I would actually prefer it to my Ipod Touch as I'm not using it much for video.

Yeah,theres a 1/8" jack specifically labeled "Line Out",all you have to do to use it is tell the Zen that you're not using that as an A/V out which is selectable in the menu. It does do drag and drop. I've had one for about 2 years and I never ran into trouble copying media in bulk to the Zen.

quote:

Originally posted by r o y a l ®

I think you mac haters need to lay off the cough syrup Laugh Out Loud

good luck with your quest joe cool !

r o y a l ®

I'm not on cough syrup,I just think the entire Ipod/Itunes system is a complete hash and waste of time.

quote:

Originally posted by Jovie:
It also depends on how you are using your player.An Ipod with a Sendstation line-out or Zen with line-out dongle should make the sound quality differences of each player a moot point.If you are simply feeding either of these setups to your boombox,you are bypassing all amping,tone controls,etc. of the players.For this reason they should sound the same out your boombox speakers.However if you plan to do listening through headphones or use the headphone jack of your player as a boombox line-in source there's a lot more players to consider.For sound quality from a headphone jack,I like my Iaudio G3.

Concerning Ipod software I agree its annoying.Everything should be drag and drop as with my Iaudio G3.The EQ is fully configurable and it runs on a "AA" battery also.I still love that little player.


...a blastaficionado and his money are soon parted...

This is true but even so I doubt any boombox's speakers would really be able to pick up the sound differences between two MP3 players being run headphone out. You really need a good set of headphones or speakers to really hear the difference. Even so this is a moot point because its not really a good idea to listen to an MP3 player through headphone out as you're letting a 50 cent amplifier amplify your sound. I'm part of the whole headphone amplification hobby where you run line out and then use an external headphone amplifier to do your amplification and volume control and I have to say the difference is real and noticeable.