hard drive mp3 players

[jtuba]

Besides the iPod, what kind of mp3 players do the tubenet community use?

[dopey]

I had a lyric the first ones, when mp3 players FIRST came out cost me a ton to!...

however now a days, if I have a large trip coming up, or need music for somtehing I tend to just make a mp3 player out of our old laptop.

I dont' use it often since music becomes 'old' so often and I'd rather not be constantly updating it, so when I need music I just delete allt he old music, put new music on it print a playlist and then I have a full working DOS mp3 player. The screen has been removed so its a mere keypad and u just hit the number and the song plays....

[CJ Krause]

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[Leland]

Besides the iPod, what kind of [hard drive-based] mp3 players do the tubenet community use?

I'm waiting for an answer to this question.

[AndyCat]

I use a Creative Jukebox 3. A lot cheaper than an iPod (cost me £140), and I upgraded the HDD (it uses a standard laptop one) to 80gb with no problems (cost - £70).

So for £210, cheaper than a 20gb ipod, I've got a 80 gb MP3 player, that will record live music as MP3 or WAV (uncompressed), will output to Headphones or 2 line outs, has a credit card sized IR remote, and with my extra battery will play for 18 hours (tested!).

It's not as trendy as an ipod tho

[Chuck(G)]

It is very cool how many mp3's will go on a single CD versus how many songs go on a CD.

And there's a good reason for that. MP3 is a lossy compression algorithm. Codecs are a very hot topic in digital audio and video and not all MP3 codecs perform the same.

Here's a good place to start for more information:

http://codecreview.com/

[Matt G]

It is very cool how many mp3's will go on a single CD versus how many songs go on a CD.

And there's a good reason for that. MP3 is a lossy compression algorithm. Codecs are a very hot topic in digital audio and video and not all MP3 codecs perform the same.

Here's a good place to start for more information:

http://codecreview.com/

I wholeheartedly agree.

MP3's are often easily heard to be digitally compressed. While Charlie might not notice this while cruising @ 70mph in a SUV generating tons of wind and road noise, once you put these MP3's into any system of above average quality, you can always hear the compression. In fact even on audio CD's you can hear some compression or what is referred to as "coldness" when compared to a good analog source. Better equipment has gotten rid of that in the CD realm, but MP3's are often over-compressed to save on bandwidth. If anyone remembers the advent of the MP3, it was simply to put music through the internet at a "passable" quality as opposed to full sized .wav files.

While I could choose to purchase albums online and avoid a trip to whoever, I will stick with the CD. At least a first generation copy is high quality.

Has anyone done any generation testing of MP3 codecs? Is that included in that test? That would beinteresting to hear how that works out.

[Leland]

Has anyone done any generation testing of MP3 codecs? Is that included in that test? That would beinteresting to hear how that works out.

Do you mean an "mp3 of an mp3 of an mp3"? Those sound progressively worse with each generation, if that's what you're asking. Each encoding loses fidelity, and it's pretty noticeable.

I've been ripping my CDs lately at 128 kbps AAC, and they sound pretty much like 160 kbps mp3. They're not stellar, but they're good enough to listen to over earbuds or my car's stock stereo. They're not a preservation of my music library; rather, they're a way to make all of my music more portable.

The coolest part is something that I didn't expect -- I can now go, "Hey, I've got this recording that's got this really neat part... let me show you..." and within 20 seconds I've got it ready to show off. I couldn't do that when my music was stuck in the CD stacks at home.

[Tubadan]

I use the Creative Nomad Jukebox... 40 GB for the price of a 10 GB iPod. It is a little heavier but none the less is so much cheaper for same quality in my opinion.

[The Impaler]

I bought the Dell version which is called the Digital Jukebox in the 20gb variety. I got it with an extended warranty and a discount, so it ended up costing about $300, but with some extras. Right now I've got 76 albums on it, and I'm not quite at 25% of the total capacity. It's been wonderful, especially for road trips (I'm a high school band director), but also as a teaching tool in the classroom, and most especially in the marching band realm (I created a mouthpiece buzzing warm up on Finale, saved it as a WAV file, then converted it through musicmatch to mp3, then onto the Dell DJ - easy to run right into our portable speakers outside, and my brass players get a great mouthpiece warm up every day).

[Stefan]

I have been researching mp3 players because my wife said she wants an ipod. Of course, I started looking into the cheaper alternatives - like the Creative mp3 players. From many of the reviews I have read, the Creatives seem to have all sorts of problems. Mainly problems with freezing up and just completly breaking. On Amazon, review after review says this. I am pretty sure I am going to spend the extra money and get the Ipod.

Stefan

[Leland]

I have been researching mp3 players because my wife said she wants an ipod. ..... I am pretty sure I am going to spend the extra money and get the Ipod.

If there's any way that you can hold the different mp3 players in your hands, use their controls, and see how well or poorly they integrate with their music management software, make the effort to do so.

I won't suggest what to buy, but you've got to try them out for yourself to see what they're really like.

[Stefan]

I agree that it is important to hold them to see which one feels best and works best for your hand. But when such a vast majority of people say the same negative things about a product, I tend to stay away.

I think once you have a particular unit for a while, you will get used to it. Kind of like a tuba.

Stefan