# mp3 players for audio (not ipods!)



## Eoghan (Feb 1, 2012)

Any thoughts on mp3 players for audio? Auto-resume is a key feature but nobody seems to list it as a feature.

What earphones do people use and does it make much difference?

I have been using sony walkman B series which has an internal battery, just about to move to the sony E series. I have really appreciated the bass boost on audio and the fast recharging and long play time.

Cases are a prob. My last unit was boil washed because I used a shirt pocket. They used to come with a lanyard but now seem to favour flimsy clips!


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## Edward (Feb 1, 2012)

Kindle will hold a lot of MP3s.


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## Bookmeister (Feb 1, 2012)

What's wrong with iPods? I have several, two of which are over 7 years old and still going strong.


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## PuritanCovenanter (Feb 1, 2012)

I hate Ipods. I have had too many go bad. I love my Zunes.


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## Tim (Feb 1, 2012)

I regard earphones as expendable - I use them when I am out doing run or cycle training and the wires eventually sever. I use the "in-the-ear" style because it blocks out wind, which is important on the bike.


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## RobertPGH1981 (Feb 1, 2012)

I am not a fan of iPods because of the inflated prices. I own a Sansa Fuse which holds 8 GB, but can easily be expanded in addition to the 8GB with a 16GB Sandisk. You would have to have a lot of MP3's to hit the 16GB+8GB mark, and even if you did you could carry multiple Sandisk micro cards. One of the main reasons I like the Sansa Fuse is because you can link it to Rhaposdy and lease an unlimited number of songs for 9.99 a month. It can also playback podcasts if you want it to. 

As for the headphones they're horrible for the Sandisk. I usually find a cheap pair of V-MODA's with bass boost. They are cheap and have good sound. The only downfall is they do not last long.... for me atleast. I think its because I workout with them on and beat them up bad. 

Amazon.com: V-MODA Bass Freq In-Ear Stereo Headphone (Tambarine Orange): Electronics


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## Eoghan (Feb 2, 2012)

Edward said:


> Kindle will hold a lot of MP3s.



Sadly my wife has claimed "ours". Maybe I should explore it a bit more - I have browsed ebay with it and did get it to read to me one of the books!

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Bookmeister said:


> What's wrong with iPods? I have several, two of which are over 7 years old and still going strong.



Wise stewardship should lead us to the generic mp3 players.


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## Rich Koster (Feb 2, 2012)

I have a cheapie Creative MuVo (which runs on AAA batteries - I use NiCads) and 2 iPod Shuffles. They all work great. I'm not concerned about large capacity because I dump several Podcasts and whatever music suits my mood on them. I regularly dump stuff into what I call my "burn folder", and put fresh stuff on the MP3 player at will. I'm not worried about losing the music because it is all backed up on another computer as well as a 1Tb hard drive. The good thing about the little MuVo & Shuffles is that they are so light weight, that if you drop them, they dangle from the headphones long enough for me to catch them. The bigger iPods will hit the ground and then the obvious reason some people don't like them occurs. They are portable hard drives and the impact damages the disc. The Shuffle and MuVo are pure memory chip, so no moving drive to crash. The MuVo also has a built in mic and FM radio. You can use it as a digital recorder in a pinch.

As far as headphones go, leftover airline headphones or $5 ear buds are fine for on the go. I have a good set of vintage Koss full size headphones with a mini jack adapter to use around the house, for private listening. They are better than most of the Skull Candy stuff that seems to have flooded the market, here in NJ.

You can load your CD's on to your computer and convert them, using Audacity, to MP3, to downsize the files. Use a bitrate of 128k or higher. Yes, it takes a while, but if you want to do it at no $ cost, use sweat equity. Old vinyl can be recorded and converted too. Garage Band can also be used.


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## Zenas (Feb 2, 2012)

You're really hamstringing yourself by ruling out iPods. They cost more, but they are worth the extra price. I have a first generation iPod nano that's still running strong. It's six years old this year. I just bought a regular iPod to hold movies and television shows. I think it has more storage capacity on it than on my computer. I can also put photos on it if I so wish. 

Apple products are more expensive. That's a fact. However, they have always struck me as being extremely high quality and well made. My Apple laptop still works, I just never use it because of compatability issues with work. It's six years old this year too. I don't recall any other computer hardware lasting that long for me. 

I wouldn't necessarily assume that buying cheap and generic is "wise stewardship." A $250 iPod that lasts 7 years breaks down to roughly $36/year in cost. If you buy a generic player that breaks down every three years at $150, you'll actually be spending more at $64/year to cover the costs of replacement for the shoddier hardware. 

The iPod also has other functions that you're paying for, such as holding books, music, movies, television shows, and pictures. iPods typically hold 160GB of data, which roughly equates out to 40k songs, according to them. Because they are namebrand, they also have a wide variety of accessories for them, including protective acessories which can help extend their life. iPod's also have their own music software specifically designed to facilitate easy, legal download and storage on both your computer and your iPod.


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## RobertPGH1981 (Feb 2, 2012)

Zenas said:


> You're really hamstringing yourself by ruling out iPods. They cost more, but they are worth the extra price. I have a first generation iPod nano that's still running strong. It's six years old this year. I just bought a regular iPod to hold movies and television shows. I think it has more storage capacity on it than on my computer. I can also put photos on it if I so wish.
> 
> Apple products are more expensive. That's a fact. However, they have always struck me as being extremely high quality and well made. My Apple laptop still works, I just never use it because of compatability issues with work. It's six years old this year too. I don't recall any other computer hardware lasting that long for me.
> 
> ...



I would disagree. The reason is while I like iPods, and they nicely built, I do not like how much they cost. iPods can be lost easily and you have to pay $1 per song. At that rate it can add up quickly. I was spending around $50 on music in a month alone (I used it a lot during workouts). Now Rhapsody is where its at because you can lease an unlmited number of songs for $9.99 a month. 

I used to download music illegally and I say this because I know many Christians that do this. Basically if you are downloading songs from Limewire, Napster and other Peer-to-Peer networks you are stealing. To avoid this I lease songs for $9.99 a month and if Rhapsody doesn't have it for one reason or another (very rare), I download it for $1. 

So here is the cost breakdown for me:

iPod (Good for 6 years)= $150 - $350
Monthly Cost = $20 - $75 a month
yearly estimate: $632 per year
Calculation: $600 ( in Songs per year) + $32 cost for iPod (($200 / 72months or 6 years) x 12) = $632 
Half the music would be 332 per year. Still 150 more than the Sansa Fuse. 

Sansa Fuse (Good for 3) = $55-$85 + SanDisk Card +$25 for 16GB or $8 for 8GB
Monthly Cost = $9.99 per month (Rhapsody Membership)
Yearly Cost = $191.66
CALCULATION: $120 (Rhapsody Membership) + $10 (Random Purchases) = $130 (for songs) + 36.66 ($85 for 8GB Fuse + $25 16GB MicroDisk / 36 Months x 12 

Huge cost difference even if you would cut the songs in half for the iPod. I listen to the music frequently and I like variety and if I don't have the ability to lease songs I am spending a lot of money a month on music alone.


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## Zenas (Feb 2, 2012)

You buy music far, far more often than I do. I typically download only a few songs a year. I've accrued a very, very modest library in my time on iTunes and simply listen to the same songs. 

I was going to resort to using Pandora through my phone for my music needs. I bought a radio with Bluetooth capability, partially for Pandora use, but also for wireless, handsfree phone use. The week after I bought it, my wireless carrier told me that they had isolated what they termed "regular" and "streaming" data usage-streaming being use of YouTube, Pandora, Spotify, etc., and planned to impose extra charges if you wanted to stream more then 30 minutes of data a month. 

I plan on leaving them at the end of my term. Quite frankly, that's ridiculious. I already pay a ton of money for unlimited data usage which just became very, very limited. It's no longer cheaper to do business with them like it used to be. 

Since that happened, I reverted to trusty old iTunes with the iPod.

One thing I do agree with is that if you aren't paying for your downloads, you are stealing. When a music company sells you a CD, the information on there is licensed to you for your use only. Providing it to others is exceeding the permission you've been given and stealing from their profits. I don't care how much money they make compared to what is lost-it's stealing; a violation of the law and taking the intellectual property of another person. iTunes facilitates cheap, easy, legal downloading of songs. $0.99 will buy you the license to whatever song you want. If you're downloading music illegally, stop it, delete it, and get your music legally.


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## Chellemonkey (Feb 2, 2012)

I usually just use my phone now but when I looked like 4 to 5 years back I got a meizu miniplayer (Chinese company, had to buy online) and it was similar to the latest ipod but remarkable cheaper. 

And by the way you can usually find products that are the same sort of quality/features as an apple products much cheaper if you are willing to do the research.


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## RobertPGH1981 (Feb 2, 2012)

Zenas said:


> The week after I bought it, my wireless carrier told me that they had isolated what they termed "regular" and "streaming" data usage-streaming being use of YouTube, Pandora, Spotify, etc., and planned to impose extra charges if you wanted to stream more then 30 minutes of data a month.



That is crazy since you had "unlimted" usage. What carrier did you have?


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## Eoghan (Feb 3, 2012)

Eoghan said:


> Edward said:
> 
> 
> > Kindle will hold a lot of MP3s.
> ...




She's not too happy but I like the built in speakers in the Kindle. There is no menu as such and I think the earphone socket is mono only. It will do in a pinch!


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## Eoghan (Feb 4, 2012)

*New Sony NWZ-E463*

My new mp3 player just arrived. It beats the ipod on price (1/4 the price) and beats the ipod on battery life (~40% more). It has less capacity (4Gb compared with 160Gb) but I am storing my music on the laptop not my mp3 player so that makes sense.

The sound quality is excellent. I am unsure whether it is the player, headphones or combination of both but I am hearing subtleties in Larry Normans tracks that I could not hear on the old mp3 player. There are a lot of features I have still to explore. I had hoped to put sermons in my podcast folder but these seem to require a bit more than simply drag and drop.

The player also has an FM RADIO, VOICE RECORDER, .wmv VIDEO PLAYER and will show PICTURES in a slide show.


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