Mp3 players (1 Viewer)

[golfstick]

I'm after a small solid-state player that I can run with

Preferably with removeable media, but flash memory is fine. I'm thinking around 256mb and something that either supports OGG or is firmware upgradeable.

What do you people reckon? I have looked at a few iRiver models which all look fine except some of them take a single AA battery instead of having an inbuilt Li-Ion one that recharches through the USB port. On this, would those players with inbuilt batteries be plagued by the same issues that iPod batteries are?

Something like this looks alright:

http://www.neuneo.com/products/MP3/mp3_features1g.asp

But I'd want to make sure that it could play other formats if it needed to and that the battery won't screw up like an iPod's..

 

[Soma]

my iriver 599t holds 1 gig. works great.

 

[jm1234567890]

a lithium-ion battery will always screw up eventually (around 2 years continiuous use)... it is not just the ipod's.

which is why a AAA battery is preferable (generally gives around 10h playback which is good enough.

l-ion is only used when weight/rechagability is a major factor. in a 50g mp3 player, an extra 10g or so ain't so bad.

just get two ni-mh AAA batteries and charge one while using the other.

 

[RUB!X]

iriver is all quality ...
i have iriver ifp-595 512mb player picked it up for $429 about 9 months ago ...
i recommend iriver for sure ...u can proly pik up a 256 player for about $300 area ...
ifp 300 series are going for bargain prices if u like battery players (singleAA) ...
500 series uses lithium ion which last longer but as jm1234567890 sed dey eventually die out ...
Newer series are more expensive, and i guess slightly smaller and better ...

 

[mr_speedy]

get nike philips mp3 player if you want to run with it... i got one, its heaps good.

 

[Bone577]

I will also cast my vote for iRiver players. They produce good quality sound (so i hear) and they support OGG IIRC (which is teh besto format).

I see iRiver players commonly reccommended at head-fi.org which can only be a good.

 

[Jago]

another iriver fan here.

i got their 256mb mp3 players months ago for $300. Love it.

 

[dangerousdave]

My friend has an iriver 256MB player, and he loves it.

I wanted a hard disc iriver, but i couldnt afford one. I had to get an ipod instead, oh how much I wish I had an iriver.

 

[redslert]

as much as i would dis-approve anyone buying an ipod, because there are many better units out there...
i have to say that the ipod battery problem is 100% overrated and i would completely ignore that fact in whole when deciding to purchase any mp3 player

the battery problem is RARE! i think for most people the unit will actually break before the battery problem occurs

 

[MedNez]

Hm, I've refrained from posting in this topic due to the fact that suggesting an Ipod would have me burnt at the stake But I have to say the Ipod battery issue is a negligible risk, you'll end up getting an upgraded player in a few years in the next technology jump, before your battery stops working.

However, you can get armbands for Ipod mini's, designed for runners, if you want to take that course of action. I can't comment on the Iriver, as I actually haven't held one or played with one physically, only read reviews.

 

[Soma]

My I river cost $600 and is 1gig.
If I had to go again I reckon I'd just get an ipod.
Or wait till colour ones get cheap and play divx movies and stuff.

 

[redslert]

well the problem is that you bought a 1gig solid state....
if you had went for the iRiver HD unit you could have saved money and got 20gigs..

 

[Skip]

I got an Optima usb 256mb one for $160 with 3yr waranty, works great.

 

[Bone577]

Allow me to plug http://www.headphones.com.au (best damn headphone store in Aus, bloody great) sells iRiver players with free shipping.

The major bonus of iRiver over iPod is that iPod uses crapp apple proprietry formats, and uses crappy iTunes (though you can get winamp plugins and such stuff). iRiver, from memory can play Ogg Vorbis music, which is just awesome. If you havent tried an OGG file, go encode a CD into 96kb MP3 and 96kb OGG. The difference is gigantic, the difference gets less with more kbits, but OGG is still a heaps better.

 

[jm1234567890]

Allow me to plug http://www.headphones.com.au (best damn headphone store in Aus, bloody great) sells iRiver players with free shipping.

The major bonus of iRiver over iPod is that iPod uses crapp apple proprietry formats, and uses crappy iTunes (though you can get winamp plugins and such stuff). iRiver, from memory can play Ogg Vorbis music, which is just awesome. If you havent tried an OGG file, go encode a CD into 96kb MP3 and 96kb OGG. The difference is gigantic, the difference gets less with more kbits, but OGG is still a heaps better.

yeah, but ipod uses ACC, which is similar to OGG.

It is like comparing WMA1 to MP3

 

[Bone577]

yeah, but ipod uses ACC, which is similar to OGG.

It is like comparing WMA1 to MP3

ACC isn't very good.

Do the same test, 96kbps MP3 vs OGG vs ACC. I will let your ears do the rest.

 

[redslert]

Allow me to plug http://www.headphones.com.au (best damn headphone store in Aus, bloody great) sells iRiver players with free shipping.

the day will come when i can afford a pair of Etymotic:ER-4S for that site

 

[Bone577]

the day will come when i can afford a pair of Etymotic:ER-4S for that site

You should see the AKG1000 phones, they don't even list the price.

What I wouldn't do for some electrostats and a high quality source though.


EDIT: I would love some Ety 4S's as well, but is it just me or do they look incredibly tacky for $450 canalphones, I would imagine people would think they are from the two dollar shop.

 

[jm1234567890]

ACC isn't very good.

Do the same test, 96kbps MP3 vs OGG vs ACC. I will let your ears do the rest.

hmmm... well tests show at 64kbit OGG is better...

but here is a test at ~128 (cause VBR)

http://www.rjamorim.com/test/128extension/results.html

 

[Bone577]

hmmm... well tests show at 64kbit OGG is better...

but here is a test at ~128 (cause VBR)

http://www.rjamorim.com/test/128extension/results.html

OGG seems to realy like lower bit-rates. Anything under 100kbps Ogg vs MP3 you would have to be deaf to think the MP3 sounds better. Once you go higher though the difference become far more subtle.


Also, that test seems to give Musepack and Vorbis an unfair advantage, they have a higher average bitrate hence they will have larger files.