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What type of portable music player should I get?

Discussion in 'Techno-Magic' started by Iku-Turso, Feb 19, 2007.

  1. Iku-Turso Gems: 26/31
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    I'm considering of buying a portable music player, but I know jack sh...about them. One thing that I'd need is the ability to record stuff.

    I've heard from somehere that minidiscs would have better sound quality than mp3-players? Is this true? Not that it'd be that important for me...

    So what kind of players can you recommend?
     
  2. Colthrun

    Colthrun Walk first in the forest and last in the bog Veteran

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    A Minidisc player uses re-recordable discs and the sound quality is the same as that of CD players when you record the music directly, without compression. If you record from a PC or using compression, the quality may degrade a bit, but it's still better than most MP3 players I've had.

    However, depending on the make (Sony, for instance, is a b*tch), you may have problems recording your music as you may be forced to use their song management applications for the transferring of the music to and from the minidisc, or be very limited in the file formats.

    Minidisc players also require that you keep buying discs, if you want to record new music and keep your old, and thus they incur on a maintenance cost that MP3 players do not have.


    The sound quality on an MP3 player depends mostly on the level of compression at which the song was recorded. Basically, the bigger the file, the better the quality. Battery life is normally better, as they don't have moving parts, and many recharge directly from the USB port of a computer.

    In any case, I'm old fashioned. I like being able to actually touch my music library (it also gives me something to put on the living room shelf), so I'm a minidisc fan.
     
  3. Dinsdale Gems: 13/31
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    Mini disc players do sound good but they're nowhere near as convenient to use as mp3 players. On mine I had to convert the music into a proprietary format (Sony) which was unusable with anything other than the mini disc player and its jukebox software. I couldn't use the files with Windows Media player or Winamp. If you don't compress the music it stays in the standard cd format (.wav, I think, though I'm not an expert by any means) but then you can only fit 2 albums on a disc. Personally I think they're going to go the way of the Betamax eventually.

    I recently purchased an iPod and am very happy with it. My fiancee has had trouble with battery life on hers and I've heard that's a common problem but so far mine's doing well with good battery life. I think that iTunes is a really good and easy to use program, too. As for recording stuff, I think you can do that with the iPod but I'm not sure so I'll defer that topic to someone else.
     
  4. Erod Gems: 14/31
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    Using your mobile phone as your portable music player is a viable alternative nowadays. For example, I have a Nokia N91 that I use myself. Works great and it has a standard 3.5 mm stereo jack plug, so that you do not have to use any adapters. The only downside is that it is somewhat limited on storage space (4 GB) and it has no Bluetooth A2DP support (high quality audio streaming over Bluetooth). The newer version of the N91 fixes both problems however, it has an 8 GB HD and A2DP support.

    Just another perspective on this... why carry an extra player with you when your mobile phone can take care of it?
     
  5. Harbourboy

    Harbourboy Take thy form from off my door! Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    iPods are great. What is it you want to be able to record? Your voice? Or the radio? In either case, you would need an additional accessory to do that, so some other device might be better.

    I'd have to say that MP3 would win out over Minidisc from a massive convenience point of view.
     
  6. Faraaz Gems: 26/31
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    I second using a phone as an MP3 player. TheN91 is a bit too bulky for my taste but I hear the N95 is a pretty good phone for music...just as soon as it comes out!

    And then there's always the Sony Ericsson W850i ... seriously, the fewer gadgets you have to carry around with you, the better!
     
  7. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    iPods suck at everything.

    My Creative Zen Micro offers voice recording, direct Line-in recording (from any source) to Mp3, and FM Recording as well...all without needing any add-on accessories. :thumb:

    The Zen Micro comes in sizes from 4-6GB...to 8GB for the Zen Micro Photo. If that's not enough space, the Zen Vision: M comes in 30GB and 60GB. IMO, it's the *best* Mp3 player on the market right now. It's not nearly as trendy as the sh**y iPod though. :bad: :rolling:
     
  8. Iku-Turso Gems: 26/31
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    Big memory size would be something I'd need. So even if it's a good idea, the mobile phone doesn't work that well.

    I'm going to use recordings of the books that we use on our courses as a study aid, plus I get to practice using my voice. So a lot of space is going to be required.

    Then the recording qualities should be pretty good if I'm going to record some band practices as well. Maybe I'd need an additional recording mike?
     
  9. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    IIRC, the biggest memory cards for cell phones were <2GB. So until that changes, using your cell as a Mp3 player on a regular basis is just a bad idea...

    I've never heard of someone using a Mp3 player to record an actual band practice. You could use the voice recorder on the Zen Micro to record the sound coming from your amps, but it probably wouldn't sound very good. It would probably sound better if you use a studio mic hooked up to a PC's sound card and use something like Audacity to make an Mp3 output file. I don't really dabble in such audio endeavors like that however... :bad: :rolling:
     
  10. Cúchulainn Gems: 28/31
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    Nah, if you are just doing a 'live in the studio' recording, placing the player in the middle should be good enough. I used to do that with my minidisk and had no problems.
     
  11. Sydax Gems: 19/31
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    Hehe, I thought Kitrax wouldn't take long to show up... Zen Micro is the best. I even record my Catalan classes with and I get very clean recordings.
     
  12. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    You make that sound like it's a bad thing. :bad: :p

    I actually need to retire my Zen Mirco. It just can't hold enough songs anymore. I've had to delete a lot of the music I rarely listen to anymore to make room for the new stuff. Two years ago, I though 5GB was big enough...

    I'm thinking of getting the Creative Zen Vision: M in the 60GB flavor once I build my next computer and have extra funds again. :thumb: :rolling:
     
  13. Harbourboy

    Harbourboy Take thy form from off my door! Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Except storing and playing music, which they seem to do pretty well.
     
  14. Dinsdale Gems: 13/31
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    Hear hear, Harbourboy! I love my iPod.
     
  15. Disciple of The Watch

    Disciple of The Watch Preparing The Coming of The New Order Veteran

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    I second that.

    I have an old Creative MuVo, which apart from the firmware problems - which were fixed by an upgrade - it still works like a brand-new, so I definitively go the Kitrax way, support Creative and bash that sorry excuse of a MP3 player iTrash.
     
  16. Dinsdale Gems: 13/31
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    I don't see too many specifics about why iPods suck so much. What do you feel is wrong with them? I've never had the slightest bit of trouble with mine. The software and iPod istelf are easy to use and it plays back my music with no probems. The only negative I've heard about them is that they have a reputation for poor battery life.
     
  17. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Most likely what's wrong with them is they're trendy and popular and that kind of thing rubs some people the wrong way :lol: ;)
     
  18. Dinsdale Gems: 13/31
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    I believe you've hit the nail squarely on the head, Blackthorne. :lol:
     
  19. Harbourboy

    Harbourboy Take thy form from off my door! Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    iPods do suck. At making my dinner and doing my housework for me. But they're great for listening to music on, so I suppose that's something. I wish they could grant wishes, though. Then they'd be really cool.
     
  20. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    Well...first, if you want them to do anything other than play back apple's lame proprietary audio format, you have to buy add-on accessories. There's no removable battery, so you have to ship the entire unit back to apple to replace it. Speaking of battery life, it's *finally* up to par with the other players of its class...now that it's in the 6th generation or so. :rolleyes: No "mass storage" feature. Cheap construction (several of my co-workers are on the 2nd or 3rd iPods because theirs kept breaking, even with protective cases). They only support iTunes, so any other subscription based music service is out of the question.

    Oh, and the only reason other brands like Archos and Creative Labs haven't stomped the iPod to death long ago is because it's a trendy piece of garbage with a huge ad campaign. It's amazing how far a piece of s**t can go when get get Bono to sing an annoying song while dancing around with an iPod. :bang:

    Does that answer your question Dinsdale? If not, I’m sure DotW can add a few things as well. :rolling:
     
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