portable audio question

[Testin da Cable]

awwrite people. as I know next to nothing about audio/hifi related kit, you, yes you now have the chance to help me out. I'm toying with the idea of getting one of these. I like the look of it, and it seems to do lots of stuff including the recording and playing of standard mp3s. Well fine, but I remember huge discussions about portable 'dedicated' mp3 players. Now. What would you advise? the minidisk player? an mp3 player? which one/mark/subtype? Go for it...and the most persuasive argument nets you a FREE WIJ!!!1 sticker.

 

[nath]

My friend has one of them, he's very chuffed with it. I think it's probably worth it.

 

[Testin da Cable]

you don't have to wash your mp3s through a special program of some sort do you? you see, I once had an mp3 player that required that. The software only let you encode at 96KBit and it did something to the mp3s so you couldn't play them in a different unit :/

other than that possibiltiy the minidisk player looks pretty good atm.

 

[MYstIC G]

I would answer, however I don't want that f'kn sticker

 

[legendario]

There is now a netmd real jukebox plugin that allows the conversion of mp3 to atrac3 (on yer netmd) without bastardising your mp3s.

I have one...they own.

 

[.cage]

Ipod. settle for nothing else.

It may be apple, but it absolutely fucks over every alternative

 

[Testin da Cable]

Originally posted by MYstIC G
I would answer, however I don't want that f'kn sticker

gwan then. I'll give you something else

 

[MYstIC G]

Personally i'd pick the item with the highest sound quality you can obtain. I have myself a Bang & Olufsen BeoPlayer2 [ www.beoplayer.com ] and tbh the software isn't important, the formats aren't important (does mp3/wmv/soon to do ogg supposedly).

iPods are nice but they're bulky imho, for you i'd go with a dedicated MP3 player in the end though, because you're clearly "techie" enough to be able to make use of it.

My best advice though would be to go to your local shopping center & hastle as many sales assistants as you can into demonstrating the various kit for you (if they wont do it they suck) because at the end of the day its a decision you have to be comfortable with.

 

[Testin da Cable]

hmm thanks G. wise words there mate. I'll see if I can get the B&O peeps here to demo me that player. It looks sweet imo

 

[Embattle]

Stay away from netMD.

BO are normally lots of style no substance

 

[Nylex]

Originally posted by Embattle
Stay away from netMD.

What's wrong with NetMD? They're quality!

 

[Testin da Cable]

do feel free to explain why Embattle

 

[Embattle]

I have an NW-MS7 which uses the same type of transfer method and software, OpenMG Jukebox, tbh I found the transfer a complete bastard sometimes as it changes MP3s to atrac3 etc. The software that you use with it tends to be a little rough too, I much prefer to do what I want than be slightly limited by bastard copy protection methods and silly software.

 

[Testin da Cable]

oh dear, now that's exactly what I don't want. fs

 

[gremlin]

netMD is a nice idea but let down with the software, there's no way to avoid having to convert your mp3s to atrac before uploading, so you end up with a huge directory on your hdd full of atrac files, plus it takes a while to convert each track.

I agree that B&O stuff is overpriced stuff for stupid people.

I say go for the ipod.. there's a windows version out now which comes with a FAT32 formatted hdd (ie writable in linux, tdc).

 

[.cage]

iPods are nice but they're bulky imho

they're tiny? sure you're not getting them confused with those horrible creative jukebox things?

http://www.apple.com/ipod/

 

[S-Gray]

Didnt "Tecnation" do a review on the IPod?

 

[Embattle]

http://www.nomadworld.com/products/jukebox_zen/

 

[MYstIC G]

Originally posted by gremlin
I agree that B&O stuff is overpriced stuff for stupid people.

The home stereo systems are as they only sell on the "look mom I wave my hand in front of it & the CD bay opens" novilty value. However they manufacture a variety of other good quality stuff. My Gran has a B&O TV that she's had for as long as I can remember, its never broken (thats serious, still hasn't even needed a replacement tube yet) and is arguably better quality than a lot of TVs you can buy in the shops today.

Secondly whats wrong with wanting something that is both functional & stylish? I had a perfectly good MP3 player before my Beo, it just happens that my Beo is a shitload better & oh crap, send me to hell it looks better as well, i've forsaken my geek heritage! I must go and purchase something really fucking ugly & cheap looking to make up for it!

I'm not confused about the iPod either, compared to my Beo its a fat bastard. Don't get me wrong I think the iPod is a very well designed piece of kit, however I carry enough things on my person & its too big afaic. And just fyi cageypoos I wouldnt compare a creative jukebox to anything, except maybe a skip or trash can.

Anyhow as I said earlier TdCikins the best way to find whats right for you is to go into the shop & hastle people with name badges who are wishing they'd get past puberty & be able to get a better job than be pissed about by a man looking for an MP3 player on a Saturday

 

[.cage]

ahh, sorry
and yes, that beo does look quite uber

 

[Testin da Cable]

it does indeed how many tracks can you get in there G? is it 128/<average track length> or do they do something with compression?

 

[wolfeeh]

Oi, enough of this travesty

/me takes TDC aside.

dude. proud owner of more personal sound kit than you can shake a stick at, including absolutely top end sony walkman, cd player, minidisk recorders... and my new baby... an Apple iPod. (mac version)

5/10/20 gig capacity, i have 20.

takes all flavours of mp3's, doesn't give you any shit about piracy (comes with a nice sticker that says don't steal music and that is like the sum total of its security)

now, how would you like the ability to store 4000-5200 tracks in something the size of a cigarette packet, that doesn't weigh too much, looks fantastic, and has CLEARLY the best interface of any device known to man.

zap an entire album of music to it in around 10 seconds via firewire.

the best earbud headphones around...

there's not much else to say really, if you leave this thread long enough, the cries of ipod will drown out everything else by an order of 10 to 1.

get one. you will not regret it.

(ps. if you have a mac, get the mac one rather than the pc one, as you can use it with both (with special software on the pc... the pc one tho can't be read by a mac)

 

[MYstIC G]

Originally posted by Testin da Cable
it does indeed how many tracks can you get in there G? is it 128/<average track length> or do they do something with compression?

It is indeed i'm afraid, however as the storage cards are interchangeable its not something that bothers me. To be honest as i've already tried to steer this thread, I wouldn't specifically recommend my Beo as its not for everyone (because i'm unlike Wolfy cos he's clearly a total fanboy who only buys apple, eats apples & shags apple pie..... ).

"doesn't give you any shit about piracy" <- the fact an iPod comes with a sticker makes it more "dont be bad" than most other MP3 players i've seen btw As for earphones the Beo's have finally replaced my very very very very old sony in-ear pair that have done me proud for about 6 years

Anyway, i'm still not gonna put one over the other, Beo & iPod are both good, however they're both different. With something like this you really need to get your hands on the goods to know what "feels" right for you.

P.S. I've still not been told what I get instead TdC

 

[Scooba Da Bass]

Get Ipod, it's the daddy of portables. That's about it

 

[Testin da Cable]

Originally posted by MYstIC G

P.S. I've still not been told what I get instead TdC

you sure you feel like finding out?

 

[MYstIC G]

Whats the worst that can happen..... unless its something else Wij related of course.

 

[Testin da Cable]

disco

 

[wolfeeh]

oi

meg that's not fair.

i have a MILD rave about how fucking brilliant mac os X is, and how it does somethings about 50 bazillion times better than equivalent ms product... that doesn't make me an apple fanboy. i still have 2 windows pc's and 2 windows laptops.

i think you'll find a resounding chorus of iPod going on here anyway.

granted your beoplayer may be a nice bit of kit.... i won't deny that, but only so long as you don't deny the sheer brilliance of the iPod

 

[legendario]

Gah read my fuckin post at the start.

There is a real jukebox plugin (although shite it's better than open mg.)

And you dont have to convert to atrac3 on your HD first. The mp3 is converted as it is copied to yer netmd.

 

[granny]

I'd go for a dedicated mp3 player tbh. What I want in a portable stereo is 1) smallness 2) good quality playback 3) holds lots of songs - in that order. And having to carry MD's around as well is just a pain in the arse.