BEST MP3 PLAYER?

[theblue1]

OK... I gotta bite.

If you're already a Mac guy, I'm wondering about your aversion to the iPod?

Now, mind you, I went a bit out of my way to buy a "Plays-for-Sure" memplayer (it actually cost me a tiny bit more than the same size iPod Shuffle) because I wanted to be able to play WMAs. That kind of blew up in my face -- at least as far as purchased tracks go -- when the only DL album I've purchased lost "permissions" for about half the songs on it. (Mind you, this is not the player's fault -- those tracks won't even play in the MusicMatch player and they were BOUGHT from MusicMatch's store!)


Anyhow... I'm not saying I'm necessarily gonna get an iPod next time -- but of the hordes I know who have them, most of the folks seem to like theirs really well.

[statikcat]

There are a few apps that will take mp3s off of an Ipod.. so it is far from not being possible

[macleod]

I have an iriver H340 it plays mp3 wma and ogg, has a built in radio and records. I had an i pod but i dont like it when devices try and organize my stuff for me, i would rather do it myself, the iriver shows up as an external fat32 drive and preserves your directory structure. Other good points are that it has a headphone and a line out and also has a built in mic, a line in for external sources and im pretty sure it has digital in and out, you can record the radio and bizarrely it has a usb in and out so you can connect other peoples drives to it and steal there music. Ideal

[matt f]

Originally Posted by macleod

I have an iriver H340 it plays mp3 wma and ogg, has a built in radio and records. I had an i pod but i dont like it when devices try and organize my stuff for me, i would rather do it myself, the iriver shows up as an external fat32 drive and preserves your directory structure. Other good points are that it has a headphone and a line out and also has a built in mic, a line in for external sources and im pretty sure it has digital in and out, you can record the radio and bizarrely it has a usb in and out so you can connect other peoples drives to it and steal there music. Ideal

Cheers macleod for the info, the iriver does look a good product. I like the idea of being able to record ideas into it! The only thing is it doesn't say on the website - if it supports WAV or AIFF (just MP3, ASF), can you play back full bandwidth files (like the ipod) ?
Also is there a way to transmit it radio, fo the car?

[macleod]

Originally Posted by matt f

Cheers macleod for the info, the iriver does look a good product. I like the idea of being able to record ideas into it! The only thing is it doesn't say on the website - if it supports WAV or AIFF (just MP3, ASF), can you play back full bandwidth files (like the ipod) ?
Also is there a way to transmit it radio, fo the car?

Hello, the one i have only records to mp3 but the earlier one does wav, the mp3 sounds pretty good though. The problem is that there is no input level gauge so it ok if you are running from a desk an can use the meters on the desk for level ( you also need to know whether the desk is -10 or +4 ).
Im prety sure it uses wav, i have never tried an aiff.
You can buy an FM transmitter from ebay for the car, if you go for one like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/For-all-iPods-...QQcmdZViewItem
you can crack open the shell and add more winds to the antenna if you wish to make it more powerful, also they only cost a fiver.
All the best

[kechuan]

I gotta second the iriver H340! Great unit and it does play wav and also video with the most recent firmware update.

[picksail]

You can use iPod Rip to transfer audio/video from your iPod back into iTunes.

You can also, use the iPod as a hard drive and drag files directly to it.

[Oscar]

I think iPods are shit. Also, unless it's for a fixed-position purpose (like hardwired into your car's glove box) I am opposed to hard drive based players. If only you could see the vast iPod graveyards my friends have... If it's for all-around mp3 player use (exercising, plane rides, etc) I say flash is the only way to go. My recommendation: http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/u3/

[picksail]

FWIW, I've actually mixed off an iPod. Pretty extensive track count too.

[junior]

creative zen v plus:
http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/musicpl...260506p,00.htm

more features and sounds better than the ipod, imo.

btw, xnjb (freeware) will allow you to connect it to your mac and keep it in sync:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/19205

good luck!

[hogo]

Ipod is still gonna give you the best in options and quality. It is as easy as a google search to find apps to offload stuff from the pod to your comp. I personally used ipod rip.(like picksail said.) It was free, and took about 5 minutes to rip 10 gigs of stuff on my new computer. Plus if you're really on a mac, it's heracy to use any of those other sub standard devices!!

[jdier]

Originally Posted by matt f

I'm looking to get an MP3 player, something along the lines of an ipod - but not an ipod!

Too much $ and not being able to take audio off once it's on the thing.

Any suggestions? I am on a mac.

Cheers

The Creative Zen player is a great unit. It includes and fm radio and a voice recorder.

I got a 30GB one for my dad for xmas for $179.

One of the things I really like about it is that you can get it to recognize as a drive in windows which means that I did not have to load any specific audio or library app.... I just drag mp3's from my drive to the player... and viola!

[dubrichie]

yeah, but jeebus, creative have a BAD track record for QC all round.

i've had and heard of SO many problems with their products over the past 10 years or more that i tend to avoid them if at all possible.

you pays your money, you takes your chances.

regards,

richie.

[junior]

Originally Posted by dubrichie

yeah, but jeebus, creative have a BAD track record for QC all round.

i've had and heard of SO many problems with their products over the past 10 years or more that i tend to avoid them if at all possible.

no problems with creative here - solid.

fwiw, one of the reasons i switched to a zen was because i got tired of having to visit the applestore every time something would go wrong with my ipod. they had to replace it THREE times before i finally got fed up. talk about bad QC...

[Dr.Wu]

its a matter of convenience.
i use my computer to organize all of my music files and the combi of itunes and ipod beats manual data transfer big time.
i add new files (audio and video) to my mac almost on a daily basis and it would be a major pain to duplicate all those addtions manually on my mp3 player.
itunes does it all automatically and helps me organize my shit in any which way.

[treymonfauntre]

i have one of these i'd be willing to sell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_PMP300

[junior]

Originally Posted by Dr.Wu

its a matter of convenience.
i use my computer to organize all of my music files and the combi of itunes and ipod beats manual data transfer big time.
i add new files (audio and video) to my mac almost on a daily basis and it would be a major pain to duplicate all those addtions manually on my mp3 player.
itunes does it all automatically and helps me organize my shit in any which way.

i use a combo of itunes and xnjb - works well for me!
http://www.wentnet.com/projects/xnjb/download.html