The Gretsch Pages: Discussions: Other Equipment: MP3 Player ??

MP3 Player ??

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- Rated: 25 ↑
Apr 25, 2008 9:40 p.m. donwood:

My wife is looking for a MP3 and wants me to ask here because ALL guitar players would have an MP3 player ( 'cept me ). Her search on reviews shows something called a ZEN is pretty good except for something freezing up. Any help on finding her an MP3 would be appreciated ( once again I am of no help ). I still use a reel to reel and cassette player. Me and my dinosaurs. Thanks.. Don
- Rated: 50 ↑
Apr 25, 2008 9:43 p.m. jukebox:

Don't feel bad donwood, I use the radio myself. You could tell her to use a humbar,where she just hums a bar or two! It's cheaper also!!
- Rated: 83 ↑
Apr 25, 2008 9:45 p.m. Mark Synchro:

If she doesn't need huge capacity I would recommend a San Disk Sansa.
- Rated: 212 ↑
Apr 25, 2008 9:46 p.m. Proteus:

iPod. Actually I got my wife an iPod mini for Christmas, and she's never used it...says she's not going to.

You want I should sell it to you?
- Rated: 47 ↑
Apr 25, 2008 10:14 p.m. Timthom62:

A subject that's near and dear to my heart. I spend about two hours a day riding Light Rail to and from work and the MP3 player is the only thing that lets me hang on to what's left of my sanity in a sea of inane cell phone conversations.

The best MP3 player I've had was the Dell DJ30 which, sadly, isn't made anymore. Since it was actually made by Creative for Dell, I replaced it with the Creative Zen Vision:M, which works just fine.

As my music collection had outgrown the 30GB Zen, I passed that on to my wife and got a Microsoft Zune. The Zune is a terrible MP3 player; so unless you need a $300 paperweight, I would avoid it.

Finally I was no longer able to resist becoming one of the Pod People and got a 80GB Ipod Classic, which I absolutely love. I still don't much care for the ITunes software, but there are plenty of options out there that will let you manage the music on an Ipod. I highly recommend the Ipod Classic.
- Rated: 93 ↑
Apr 25, 2008 10:57 p.m. Baxter:

There is no finer music player than an iPod. Personally, I'm a big fan of my wife's iPod Touch, which just completely redefines what a "music player" can be. Instead of being a modern Walkman, it's an entirely new thing... music, videos, surfing the web, email... it's just 99% pure awesomeness.
- Rated: 5 ↑
Apr 25, 2008 11:29 p.m. zero:

ditto on the san disk sansa

i got one around xmas, & thought i was the last guy in the western hemisphere to buy one.

it was cheap $60 or so, holds more than ill every store on it and is easy to use, plus it got good reviews for quality, simplicity and value.

z
- Rated: 9 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 8:20 a.m. Devils_Tool:

I've got a Zen Micro and I haven't had any problems with it. I like Creative products.

David
- Rated: 57 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 8:49 a.m. Curt:

There is a reason that Apple sells 10,000,000 iPods a quarter, they're the best. With that many sold you recognize that a lot of the customers are on there second or third pod. They're easy to load, listen and the AAC format, if you choose to use it, sounds better to my ears than MP3. I own an original gen 1, iPhone and some other iPod I bought two years ago. I will say that for some reason the first generation has better tone than the rest of them.
- Rated: 9 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 9:19 a.m. Space Jase:

I like the Insignia line from Best Buy. They are cheap and you don't need special software to put songs on it. The computer will just recognize it as a flash drive. This feature is gone from some players. Also, get their 2 year replacement plan and you can just trade up in 2 years (or less if it breaks.)
- Rated: 47 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 10:05 a.m. Timthom62:

Now that I've had a chance to try the .AAC format as well as the MP3 and WMAs, I've come to the conclusion that the bit rate of the file and the quality of the headphones have more to do with the quality of the sound than the actual file types. A song ripped at 128 Kbps and the same song ripped at 256 Kbps are quite different, regardless of format.

Most of the digital audio players on the market are very similar in output, it's just a question of what you're pumping through them and what you're using to listen to it.

Lots of people spend a lot of money on the player and then get the cheapest headphones they can find and are disappointed in the sound quality. If the MP3 player is something you're going to be listening to a lot, think about investing in a $50 or $100 set of headphones and you'll be amazed at the difference it makes.

Once you determine what size memory your wife wants on her MP3 player, try out several different ones in that size using the same headphones. This will give an idea of the differences in sound and let you check out the different formats the different manufacturers have for their controls.

Happy hunting.
- Rated: 25 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 10:10 a.m. donwood:

Thanks guys. Wife has become a GDP reader now. Appreciate all the useful info. She's not sure about the iPod route tho. Thanks again. Don
- Rated: 57 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 10:39 a.m. Curt:

She's not sure about the iPod route tho.
Does she have specific questions? They make four models so that can be a little confusing. Also some people don't realize that yes you do have to use iTunes but you don't have to buy from iTunes. You can load and CD and play it in the pod. iPOD
- Rated: 2 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 10:59 a.m. ronny:

Once I messed with the EQ in my3 year old ipod I am very satisfied. It was a "hand-me-down" from my son. I have my entire CD collection loaded in as well as a bunch of Family and Guitar PICs. The earpiece/headphone advice that's been offered is GREAT advice. Even the old style transmitter works well and sounds great in my jeep's sound system. Best Regards Ronny
- Rated: 9 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 1:46 p.m. Space Jase:

I second timthom's headphone advice. Those 99 cent headphones just don't cut it. You don't need to be an audiophile to tell the difference.
- Rated: 20 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 2:23 p.m. DangerousMan:

I despise my Pod. I hate it to bits. It's rubbish - the i-tunes software is absolute garbage too. I'd sell it but I can't as it was a gift. I bought my sister a little Sony MP3 player (can't remember the name but I'll dig it out later) and it's brilliant. It's basic (just plays MP3s albeit with some album art) but does so wonderfully well; the interface is simple to use and much more intuitive than the i-pod wheel. In fact, everybody I know who bought or owns an i-pod has had problems of some description with them.
Best of luck.
- Rated: 9 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 3:07 p.m. Rock Lajoint:

DangerousMan, you're quite sweeping in your condemnation of iPods and iTunes. Care to expand on the 'rubbsh' and 'garbage' conclusions? My experience and that of dozens of friends and family is quite the opposite.

RLJ
- Rated: 9 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 3:18 p.m. Devils_Tool:

I personally don't like the ITunes software, but it's just something I don't personally like. The Sony I bought my daughter a while back was so proprietary, that I couldn't just transfer songs without their software. My wife had a Sansa, and I wasn't too happy with the software interface. To me, my Creative software is a good balance between everything I'm looking for.

David
- Rated: 14 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 5:48 p.m. Tim:

I have a Creative Labs Zen Vision M that I bought from the Creative Labs store on eBay. It is a refurb, has 60gbs of storage, plays great and was only $150. I like Creative Labs because they don't put all that restrictive crap in their players. I was about to go for a Zune until I read about the "security" features in them. As far as an Ipod, I didn't want to spend that much and I've also read/heard many negatives about the player and the software.

As a side note, I also read that the refurbs from Creative Labs have a lower failure rate than the first runs, so buying a refurb wasn't a big deal to me.
- Rated: 57 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 6:38 p.m. Curt:

So a few of you have said they don't like iTunes software and it would be nice if you could clarify this for me. It's the only MP3, AAC player and software I've used and if there is something better I would like to know about it.

I don't understand the "controls" argument either and could use some enlightenment. If you saying that you can't use something other than an iPod on iTunes I get that and think it's a brilliant business plan and has made me a VERY happy stockholder!

Thanks

Edit: PodWorks is great.

PODWORKS
- Rated: 93 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 8:15 p.m. Baxter:

Tim, both the Ipod player and (especially) the software are the best in the business. That's why they've sold so many of them. There's players out there with more features for less money, but Apple just kills 'em on the interface.

And an IPOD actually plays more formats than pretty much anyone else. Last I checked it doesn't support ogg vorbis, and WMA.
- Rated: 9 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 8:24 p.m. Devils_Tool:

Curt: I can't say that the Creative software is "better". It's just my personal preference. I personally like the software when it doesn't integrate itself so closely with my OS that I can't tell what's going on. I have no empirical proof that iTunes integrates itself more or less than my creative software, but everytime I login, my firewall tells me that iTunes is trying to connect. I don't get that with my Creative software.

I have nothing against Apple. I grew up on a Mac. I owed a Mac (in the 80's), a Mac 512, a Mac Plus, a Mac Classic - I love Mac. I however slightly resent the fact that Quicktime is so closely linked with iTunes. Great marketing, but as a non-iPod owner, I'm left cold. It's all personal preference here. My wife has an iPhone and freaking loves it.

David
- Rated: 47 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 8:31 p.m. Timthom62:

The iTunes software is only required when updating the firmware on an iPod, but otherwise there are many different software options that one can use to manage the music on their iPod.

The iTunes software keeps several background processes running on my computer, even when it's not in use, so I only install it when updating the firmware on my iPod and then uninstall it. However, my main objection to the iTunes software is that with 800+ Albums on my computer, the iTunes method of music management (choosing individual songs, etc.) is very hard to use.

For the last few years, regardless of the brand of MP3 player I used, I have been using Media Monkey as my music management software. There are both a free version and a pay version that has a faster CD burner.

My objection to the iPod controls on the iPod Classic has to do with the thumb wheel being used for both scrolling and for volume control. I can be scrolling through a list of Artists or Albums and suddenly find myself cranking the volume instead. Even with the 'Max volume' set fairly low, that can be a painful experience. A button on the face of the iPod to toggle between scroll and volume modes would have been helpful.

Other than that I've been very happy with my iPod and look forward to the day they offer their flash drive players in an 80GB or larger size.
- Rated: 74 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 8:43 p.m. bonedaddy:

So a few observations about the iPod as a pretty long term iPod user.

The headphones. Yes, this is true. With any MP3 player. I have a pair of Shure E-3 in ear monitors that are incredible. Studio reference quality, but you pay a price for that. And, it's purely a $$$ price. I got them on a sale for 99 bucks. They're 200 now.

That being said, I'm going to an audiologist and having molds made of my ears so I can have some custom in ear monitors made. I found a pretty reasonable site, where you can get them for under 300 bucks:

http://www.hearyourself.com/c1000.htm

I'm going for the C1000 model. There is also the C1 model for slightly less. I want them primarily because I fly a lot and want the sound isolation and work in a network lab environment a lot and want the noise reduction.

Also, I don't know anyone who's had a real problem with their iPod that Apple didn't rectify. As a matter of fact, I witnessed with my own eyes a support person at the Apple store drop a refurbished iPod that someone had brought in to have looked at. He grabbed a brand new one off the shelf and replaced her refurb. Try getting that kind of service from Fry's or Best Buy. Not likely.

I realize some people don't like Apple because they view their users as "elitest", and I'm sure in some cases that's true.

I've yet to find a better digital media player. Microsoft tried to test that water with the Zune, and just like with their latest operating system, failed miserably.

Apple has this nailed, it's just how it is.
- Rated: 25 ↑
Apr 26, 2008 11:23 p.m. donwood:

Thanks everyone. Mrs. got a ZEN V Plus, the 8 and 10 yr. old grand-daughters are here and showed her how to turn it off and on. She is presently downloading music and all is right with the world. 'Appreciate all the help. I may even try one after I learn how to work my digital recorder and download music and pics. onto the GDP. ( will it ever happen - i'm getting old too fast ) Mrs. says Thanks...