Which MP3 player NOT an IPOD!!!!

[PRH]

Not sure if I had bad luck but only had a Mini Ipod for 2 days before the battery failed to hold its charge for more than a couple of hours and the Mains Charger bought with it also failed - just made the Ipod flash and never managed to charge it!

So the question is, can anyone help with a comparable MP3 player - one that holds around 1,000 tracks, for about £140 which is mains rechargeable and lasts a decent time on one charge?

Is an MP3 player as good soundwise as an Ipod??

Thanks for any advice you can give.

PRH

[drmoze]

Sony NW-E107 1gb flash player. 50+ hours on one AA battery. And if you cna rerip or convert stuff, Atrac3+ at 64 kbps sounds really good and will fit even more music on the player.

[reevesy]

just got the new archos gmini 202 better screen and 17hrs battery life than the previous 200.its my first 20gb player ,£148 from amazon and i'm well happy. simple to use (unless you're using 98se then its fanny around time with drivers) small,looks good and importantly sounds good especially with my senny sps headphones.also sounded good through my amp using a ten quid cable.
no problem reccomending it especially if you want an alternative to an ipod.

[Jazz Monkey Jr]

Originally Posted by PRH

Not sure if I had bad luck but only had a Mini Ipod for 2 days before the battery failed to hold its charge for more than a couple of hours and the Mains Charger bought with it also failed - just made the Ipod flash and never managed to charge it!

I think you have been a bit unlucky there, was it new?
iPods have got great sound, especially with their heaphones.

[shadowritten]

Originally Posted by mal600908

iPods have got great sound, especially with their heaphones.

You're serious, aren't you?

I think the iPod sounds terrible - with or without the fashion accessory white phones. And that's not me being anti-Apple; it just DOES sound ropey with moderately priced cans. Judging by the opinions of people on here and across the Net, I'm not alone in thinking this ...

[sirlukas]

Originally Posted by mal600908

I think you have been a bit unlucky there, was it new?
iPods have got great sound, especially with their heaphones.

Good joke, where did You find it, on Apple website


I always recommend iRiver and iAudio, look for some of my posts with links to those little miracles.

[Sasso]

eeheheh I think you would find nearly any mp3 player with better sound than the ipod, its not its headphones they are quite decent on my HD5, its the iPod itself.
I was thinking of buying a set of iPod headphones and painting them red.

How about wait till November or December for the Sony A1000 6GB player, that will surely be better than any mini. Or you could buy the iPod Nano and risk a cracked screen, not to mention burning a hole in your pocket at the same time.

Just remember that 'sound quality' on this forum is usually a subjective misnomer for 'heavy bass', and in such cases should be qualified by the fact that it is mere opinion.

On the other hand, whether people who are anti-iPod accept it or not, the iPod does have great objective sound quality. The supplied earbuds may not reproduce bass to their requirements, that is all.

[Sasso]

its not the earbuds that are the problem. With the HD5 they have plenty of bass, its all due to the Ipod itself. And the bass isn't all the problem, the treble is also bad. Basically overall it sounds bad, (like a tin can) and distorts easily. Unless you buy $9999 dollar headphones. But if you could afford that then why would you have an Ipod, just listen to your expensive car stereo.

[JohnG]

Judging by the opinions of people on here and across the Net, I'm not alone in thinking this

For the purpose of balance, that opinion is expressed by those people who seem to want to slag apple and ipod off at any oportunity - the Sony HD5 brigade who seem to have a chip on their shoulder about something

[PRH]

In answer to the question from Mal600988 - yes it was a brand new Ipod. At least Currys refund the money without hesitation.

[FaxFan2002]

I've compared quite a few mp3 players now with a pair of sennheiser px100`s and every time the apple kit comes out on top, especially the shuffle for some odd reason. But it's all very subjective. If I was looking I'd take a pair of decent can's into a shop and ask to listen to a variety of units - however beware of the "rates", better sounding units can sound crap with low rates of 128k - i'd never go below 256k and the apple ripping is fantastic.

Originally Posted by Sasso

Basically overall it sounds bad, (like a tin can) and distorts easily.

In your opinion. Others might think someone else's DAP sounds like a disco at full volume. But that is *their* opinion.

My point is that 'sound quality' in such opinions is purely subjective and cannot be stated as fact if any discussion is to remain of merit, otherwise the discussion becomes little more than a gathering of opinionated bigots.

[shadowritten]

As Mick's Cat says, people often use 'lack of bass' as an unfair yardstick by which to judge SQ. I don't, incidentally, prefering now to refer only to sound COLOURING - i.e. what's achievable with the custom EQ settings on a DAP.

[JohnG]

I was refering to the posts "all over the internet telling everyone how bad the iPod sounds". Everyone has to remember that a lot of these posts are written by people still at school who have never even heard proper hifi and yet they still try and tell us what sounds good or not.
I'm getting fed up of people keep saying that most people who buy iPods do so because it's cool and never listen to it before buying. How many of you HD5 owners actually got to listen to YOUR music playing on the machine before buying it ? I would guess at about 1% of total owners.