Need a good MP3 player
 

I need some suggestions on a mp3 player. I am going to use some Etys headphones with them.

I have read many good things about the Etys,in particular it cuts down the Dbs across the spectrum (no more hearing little Johnny ask his daddy,"are we there yet?",thus giving you better fidelity too. I have a Bose wave radio at my office,and have had other Bose products in the past. "No highs,no lows must be a Bose",is sadly more truthful than not. After hearding both type of Bose headphones at the Bose store I was not impressed.

Now all I need is a good MP3 player,that is small,so as to hang around my neck,and hold about two hours of music. Any recommendations,Thanks.

Do you have a budget? iRiver has a variety of models, including some that are slighty larger than a package of gum.

http://www.iriver.com

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Michael Steinberg
Editor
BizTrip
www.biztrip.com

IMO you're going to get tired of loading and re-loading the MP3 player.... also, two hours of music when your moods are changeable may equate into not wanting to listen to anything you happen to have on the player! If you don't mind something larger, the iPod is the best you can get, ESPECIALLY if you're going to use the Etymotics. I have the ER-4Ps and while they sound incredible they're very very very revealing of source limitations... the iPod is the only MP3 player I've ever heard that A.) has enough power to drive the Etys and B.) sounds good enough to listen to through them. There's also the side benefit that you can throw a good chunk of your music collection onto it and carry it all at once. I even throw audio books on mine for those LOOOONG trans-pacific flights.

I've been using the Samsung Yepp! 128MB pendant MP3 player with the Etys 4P with excellent results. Around two hours of music after that you do need to reload.

Battery life is about 4-5 hours on a single AAA. Software is so-so, recommend using a separate ripper (MusicMatch) and downloading the Yepp! Explorer from the Samsung web site.

If I were buying today I'd take a good look at some of the USB thumb drive/MP3 players. Easier to work with - no special software and no cable to carry.

Cheers,
Jeff

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"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro"... HST

If you're on a bit of a budget but want the sheer storage something like an iPod gives you, the Creative Nomad Jukebox series might be an option. I have over 300 CDs encoded in VBR stashed away on my 40 gig Jukebox, and it's only about half full...

An ipod is like a Bose headset. Once you try it everything else is a disappointment

Bad analogy for someone who's sprung for Etys.

I apologize for overlooking the Ety’s. I was skimming the thread. I tuned in on the mp3 players. I have had 2, a 64 mg and a 128 mg Rio. They are nice for a jog but don’t cut it for travel. I bought and ipod a few months ago. I keep a couple of audio books and tons of music on the ipod. On a long flight I settle in and leave the world behind.

Here's everything I know about MP3 players. I hope somebody will find it useful.

AFAIK there are three types of MP3 players:

- flash memory based MP3 players. These are players with built-in memory capacity that typically range from 64MB to 256 MB. A typical pop tune is about 3-5 MB at normal compression. So you can do the math. In addition some but not all devices have extra flask memory slot so you can add to the buil-in memory. Flash memory cards come in many varieties but the more common ones are SmartMedia, SecureDigital and CompactFlash. Form factor varies by model but typically about the size of a deck of cards. My favorite in this category is the Rio 500, which unfortunately is no longer available.

- CD Walkman type which plays, what else, CDs. CDs can either be the normal variety (audio CD which you buy at the stores or "ripped" from various audio CDs and made into a compilation) or MP3. Each CD (whether audio or MP3) has 710 MB. A typical audio CD contains about 10-15 songs in the uncompressed (normal audio) file format. A typical MP3-compressed track is, as I said earlier, about 3-5 MB so you can squeeze >100 tracks into one CD. I don't own one of these so I don't have a favorite but if you own a Notebook PC you already have one in your CD-ROM drive.

- hard-disk based MP3 players. The hard drive capacity starts at 5 GB so you can essentially download your whole CD collection into a device slightly larger than a deck of cards. I own a 20 GB iPod and I have almost all of my CD collections in it and still have 6 GB left for extra stuff (address book, calendar, Audible books).


[This message has been edited by bp888 (edited 03-18-2003).]

I inherited an Archos 5GB Jukebox a few months ago. When running the open firmware it really is terrific - lots of features, long battery life, great sound. Given the price they are selling for I would rate it a huge bargain.

That being said, the hardware, while sturdy and durable, is some of the least refined consumer electronics I've ever seen. It's like something Fred Flintstone would have used.

-alan in sitges

Given the choice, I would first go for a hard disk type like the Ipod, after that one of the ones that plays CD's and MP3's recorded on CD. You can get lots of music on one CD in the MP3 format, and you don't have to keep loading and offloading because you run out of memory with some of the smaller units.

It also depends on the usage. The solid state players are pretty much invulnerable to the effects of taking them jogging, for instance, something a CD-based one would have issues with and a hard drive-based one could downright DIE from (head crashes are a woeful thing)

An Apple iPod is a little large to wear around your neck but is arguably the best MP3 player on the market. They have a Windows version if you aren't a mac-o-phile. CompUSA and Apple Stores have ones that you can play with (the touch pad controls are cool) and you can order them at http://store.apple.com. Right now the clearance section (found on the lower left hand corner of the webpage) has some excellent deals on the 10GB and 20GB models.

I just ordered a Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox 2 for $168. 10 GBs of storage and up to 16 hours of playback with the included rechargeable battery. USB 2.0 support included. It's about the size of a CD player, so it's not as sleek as the iPod, but it is priced a lot lower as well.

-Andrew

I have a Sony D-CJ01 MP3 CD Walkman, and I like it a lot: it lasts for a very long time on batteries (a day or two of almost constant play) and has excellent sound quality - some of the cheaper digital players I've tried have good technical specifications in terms of RAM, technology, size etc. but just don't sound good. The Sony is different.

When playing MP3s, it caches quite a lot of music ahead (thirty seconds, a minute maybe) and then actually stops spinning the CD; so I would imagine it is pretty shock-resistant.

It also comes with a backlit stick remote that lets you navigate through your disc.

One other big benefit of this sort of device is that it's really quick to 'download'. I have a 40-speed CD writer, and it only takes two minutes to burn ten or twelve hours of music from my MP3 collection.

All in all, recommended.