need serious advice

D

draqla

Guest
need advice from people who have a quite big expierence on mp3 players.

I have no exact requirements, but want to know what choices could be the best.

1. sound quality
2. battery replacement
3. durability
4. measurements

I dont know yet, what would be better.. 1GB flash, or bigger HDD player. To be honest space isn't the most important thing to me, but of course everyone wants to have more space.

I dont have and price limits, as better once to pay more than by cheeseparing and pay twice.

Everyone who can give the best choice and small reason why he thinks that player is the best, are welcome.

PS: all who care just about display color & shining buttons, please do not replay.

Thanks.
 
I have an iPOD Shuffle. :)
Fully satisfied, I don't need a screen. I don't need an AC adapter.
Great sound, ultra cool and easy!
Forget bells and whistles, just music!
If it was today it was the 1GB version.

Bigger capacity?
Only...
The iPOD Mini (but HD...).
iPOD Nano today definitely.

But main use is music riding the motorbike and flash memory for work use so :thumbsup:

I have Senheiser MX500 but I prefer the iPOD ones.

Just my 2cents...
 
draqla said:
I have no exact requirements, but want to know what choices could be the best.

1. sound quality
2. battery replacement
3. durability
4. measurements

1. Does SQ matter to you? Are you an audiophile? Can you tell the difference between tracks encoded at 64kbps and 320kbps? If SQ DOES matter, you need to trust your ears and audition as many players as you can lay your hands on without having to commit your cash in advance. If SQ doesn't matter, pick any page on a site like advancedmp3players.co.uk and go with whichever takes your fancy, as you really won't care either way.

2. ALL batteries can be replaced. It's just that some players let you do it in the comfort of your own home, and some have to be sent away. Surely the question you should be asking concerns the battery's average running time between charges. Unless, of course, you travel a lot and can't get to an AC socket or PC USB, in which case you'll automatically need to narrow your choices to only those players with removable batteries.

3. I'm gonna stick my neck out here and recommend the only MP3 player I'd send out onto a battlefield: Creative's Zen Touch (20GB or 40GB models). This thing is built like an armoured tank - even a drop from a first floor window onto concrete couldn't stop it from working!! If you care about durability, you'll find a great many players made from so-so materials that scratch and dent easily - Sony's NW-HD5 and Apple's iPod being two prime offenders!

4. How long is a piece of string? You'll need to tell us what your requirements are. Is your player going to be kept in a pouch on your belt, in your pocket (jacket or jeans?), or perhaps in a rucksack? Does weight matter to you? If so, forget the Zen Touch mentioned in 3. above: it weighs the same as a family car (not literally, but you get the picture). For lightness, a small flash-based player may suit you better. There are really too many variables we don't know to make a call on this point.

You've also got to consider how much music and other data you're planning to store - now and in the future. Will 1GB really be sufficient? If money's no object, go for the maximum capacity that the player meeting all your other requirements is available in.

Sorry to sound like I'm being difficult, but there's really a lot to consider when looking for a DAP, so you need to be a bit more precise about your particular needs before you commit to buying anything. I know you say you have no exact requirements, but this just means we could (and some probably will) bombard you with conflicting arguments to support our own preferred machine. You'd end up with mental indigestion rather than a clear outline of the two or three players worthy of your shortlist :)
 
Thanks Falp and Shadowritten for their suggetions.

Thinking more I think I will stay at Flash memory DMP. As I am going to use it in a gym, going to work, traveling. HDD is to big in my opinion, and I would need special setting.

So about flashes> Is IPod Shuffle the best choice? anybody had any bad responses about it?

What would be alternative choises?

to Shadowritten: SQ between 64 and 192 is really very big on a Hi-fi system, i donno about portable mp3 players, have no expierence on them.
 
Shuffle is a serious waste of time!, the battery goes for like 5 hours (rated for 8), the little Sony ones that look like cig lighters (not the bean ones) have gorgeous styling, 70 hour battery life and have a three link OLED display, whereas the shuffle doesn't even have a screen. I usually love any ipods but the shuffle really does have ZERO advantages over the competitions.
 
draqla said:
to Shadowritten: SQ between 64 and 192 is really very big on a Hi-fi system, i donno about portable mp3 players, have no expierence on them.

Agreed. That was the point I was making.

What a lot of people either don't know or choose to ignore when discussing digitally compressed music is that this almost always means LOSSY music. It's absurd for audiophiles to bang on about MP3 or whatever not sounding as close to the original source at this or that bitrate, or using this or that device/pair of headphones. They're just stating the obvious: compressed music ISN'T A HIFI MEDIUM!! Nor are most DAPs anywhere near high-end when compared with really decent home systems.

So, as I see it, any like-for-like comparisons between these two entirely different means of enjoying music are of relatively little value. If you want hifi, listen to CDs on your home setup. If you just want to hear your favourite music on the move and carry as much of it with you as you'll need, get a DAP. And always bear in mind that for the most part, you'll be using your DAP in less-than-ideal listening conditions. Even if your DAP of choice was an audiophile's dream (I believe the Rio Karma came closest to being so), you'd scarcely be able to discern this objectively when sat next to a family of four - complete with screaming kids - on a crowded train; or with a fire engine hurtling past you on the busy, noisy streets of a major city like London!

Thinking about it, I reckon you'd come closer to achieving a credible portable hifi listening experience with an old cassette Walkman. At least music on tapes wasn't compressed.
 
Heard that Sony NWE407 allow just drag and drop mp3 from your pc.
Is it true? Sonicstage isn't compulsory?

One more question: Isn't there any problems lisening big mp3 files on flash players? I have loads of 70minutes sets.
 
shadowritten said:
Thinking about it, I reckon you'd come closer to achieving a credible portable hifi listening experience with an old cassette Walkman. At least music on tapes wasn't compressed.

:suicide:
 
Cloysterpeteuk said:
Shuffle is a serious waste of time!, the battery goes for like 5 hours (rated for 8), the little Sony ones that look like cig lighters (not the bean ones) have gorgeous styling, 70 hour battery life and have a three link OLED display, whereas the shuffle doesn't even have a screen. I usually love any ipods but the shuffle really does have ZERO advantages over the competitions.
Are you sure?

The shuffle states 12 hours, it lasts a whole week driving my bike and the weekend during the beach... :D

Zero advantadges.. are you sure? Look for my other threads about it and SQ vs Sony for example... :devil:

As for compression... 192 and + Mp3 sound awesome on my player, but a bit compressed if plugged into the HIFi of course... :cool:
 
You are correct falp my error, it's rated for 12.

It was all those ilounge comments from people whose Shuffle was only going for 5 hours that made me assume it was only rated for 8. The Shuffle is regarded as the best sounding ipod but I find it hard to believer that it would be superior to those Sony flash players, Apple badly needs to release the 2nd gen shuffle.
 
Cloysterpeteuk said:
The Shuffle is regarded as the best sounding ipod but I find it hard to believer that it would be superior to those Sony flash players
Don't know about other iPODs (never heard them), but I believe in those I heard... :thumbsup:
Apple badly needs to release the 2nd gen shuffle
:confused: The Shuffle has a few months :nono: alive and kicking! :D
 
D12sale said:
I didn't think any of Sony's mp3 players were drap & drop?
you can use vaio music transfer but wmp stops you from doing this because there copyright the music you download or rip on to it
 
draqla said:
need advice from people who have a quite big expierence on mp3 players.

I have no exact requirements, but want to know what choices could be the best.

1. sound quality
2. battery replacement
3. durability
4. measurements

I dont know yet, what would be better.. 1GB flash, or bigger HDD player. To be honest space isn't the most important thing to me, but of course everyone wants to have more space.

I dont have and price limits, as better once to pay more than by cheeseparing and pay twice.

Everyone who can give the best choice and small reason why he thinks that player is the best, are welcome.

PS: all who care just about display color & shining buttons, please do not replay.

Thanks.


The iAudio 5 is one of the more versatile Flash players, and it's less shiny but onthe whole more solid alternative to the Sony NW-E series. Rather obtuse because it relies on too few controls for too many functions, it nevertheless does everything you could want from a Flash player. Radio, recording, and regular playback. It is drag & drop and transfer speed is decent. The 5 takes one AAA battery. I dropped mine a couple of times, had no problems beyond the plastic scratching / denting. It's a little thick for a flash player, probably due to the inclusion of standard battery capability but it's not terribly big. Would I pay £150 for one now with the 2Gb Nano being available for less and many other 1Gb flash players being available for under £100? That's a tough one. It is still definitely one of the better ones though.


The Sony NW-E's are slow to load, not drag & drop and don't really go near their rated battery life, especially if you play with the display. Oh yes, the display... is virtually invisible in daylight, but very cool looking at night and indoors. They look really nice though and the controls are very well thought out. The strong point of the Sony E-series is mainly look and feel.


Despite the 'display colour and shiny buttons' which it has, the new iPod Nano is a very good flash player. They've improved the sound from the slightly lackluster Photos and cured some sound problems that the hard-disk based iPods had for the last 2 years. The quality is certainly good. It is ridiculously thin and easily slips into any pocket. It does scratch noticeably like any other iPod though, although I've found mine durable enough (it's taken similar impacts to those that have killed an NW-E507 with no issues and barely perceptible case damage). Batterywise, I have no idea what Apple are going to do but they have always offered replacement batteries for iPods and Minis so I don't think the Nano will be any different. The truth of the matter is that most players with user-replaceable batteries last 2-3 years (as with those with built-in batteries), then when you actually need spare batteries, you find it next to impossible to get hold of because the manufacturer's discontinued it. The iPod, due to it's incredible popularity can be assured of future battery support.
 
Thanks for coments to everyone. I appreciate it.

one more question: Had anyone had any expierence with Creative flashes? (they also dont use any chained software). any responses?
 
Good value. Pretty decent sound. Fast loading and generally all the features you could normally want. The non-playback features are a little basic or not that great (recording is poor for example) but it does the job well. The Nano Plus and the Muvo TX/SE are good value for what you get.
 

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