GMG Classical Music Forum

I currently have an 8 gig 2G ipod touch, which has served my purposes nicely.  But now I've finished ripping my cd collection (but I'm still retagging) and my core collection, my absolute favorites are 20 gigs.  And I want room for expansion.  Now I can also listen to everything on my laptop, but an mp3 player is more portable.  I can just keep what I have and keep swapping music, but there is a certain cool factor of having all of the music I like on one player that I carry around everywhere.

But I would need a high capacity player to fill those needs. What should I get?  Or should I simply be happy with what I have?  What do you think? :)

Much though I do like my Sansa Fuze, I need more capacity, too.  At some point I'll probably go for the iPod classic.  Since that is speculative, I am recusing myself from the vote : )

Karl, I think that your player has a microsd card slot, and I think 8 gig card is $10, 16 gig is < $30.  If you're happy with the ui, features and battery life that is.

You're right, I might opt for the bigger card.  And perhaps if I [re-]rip more intelligently, I may well be able to fit all that I wish onto [8 + 16] gig.  And yes, I am perfectly happy with performance and logistics of the Fuze.

If my Sansa e280 8 gig were to die today, I would replace it with this:

(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa159/Gurn_Blanston/41wJ8R0A3XL.jpg)

the 16 gig Fuze+.

The e280 has served me very well indeed, and the Fuze does all that and more, including support for FLAC now, so I won't have to convert my archives to MP3 to play them. And the micro-card support (which I also have on the e280) is very handy for either extended travel or for having a library of pictures, for example. The 2 gig micro SD from my Olympus camera pops right into the e280 and allows easier viewing compared to looking at the back of the camera!  No doubt, that would be the one for me!

8)

Quote from: DavidW on November 10, 2010, 05:55:18 AM
I can just keep what I have and keep swapping music, but there is a certain cool factor of having all of the music I like on one player that I carry around everywhere.

But I would need a high capacity player to fill those needs. What should I get?  Or should I simply be happy with what I have?  What do you think? :)

Beethoven's symphonies, piano sonatas, and string quartets. Mozart's complete cycle of symphonies and the Haydn quartets. WTC, GV, B minor mass and SMP. All ripped to ALAC. Virtually everything of importance written by Mahler @ 320 kbps, with some duplication in lossless. And a whole truck load of other music, much of it lossless. And I still have 73 GB left in my 120 GB iPod Classic. Now you decide. 0:)

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on November 10, 2010, 06:07:37 AM
If my Sansa e280 8 gig were to die today, I would replace it with this:

(http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa159/Gurn_Blanston/41wJ8R0A3XL.jpg)

the 16 gig Fuze+.

The e280 has served me very well indeed, and the Fuze does all that and more, including support for FLAC now, so I won't have to convert my archives to MP3 to play them. And the micro-card support (which I also have on the e280) is very handy for either extended travel or for having a library of pictures, for example. The 2 gig micro SD from my Olympus camera pops right into the e280 and allows easier viewing compared to looking at the back of the camera!  No doubt, that would be the one for me!

8)

Aye, this plus a 16-gig card is apt to suit me just fine.

Well, I've been living w/ an iPod Touch (2nd G - 32 GB) for about 6 months; although I've put 40+ albums on the device (classical & non-classical - have to please Harpo on the road!), there is still 24 GB left!  This was given to me by my son (his work place gave him a new phone), so can't complain about the price!  ;D

Love the Wi-Fi to sync some of the apps I added w/ my laptop (bought some desktop programs for that purpose - just much easier to enter data from a keyboard) - this replaced an old Palm device, so was a big step up for me - thus, likely will not upgrade for a while -  :)

Quote from: Opus106 on November 10, 2010, 06:11:03 AM
Beethoven's symphonies, piano sonatas, and string quartets. Mozart's complete cycle of symphonies and the Haydn quartets. WTC, GV, B minor mass and SMP. All ripped to ALAC. Virtually everything of importance written by Mahler @ 320 kbps, with some duplication in lossless. And a whole truck load of other music, much of it lossless. And I still have 73 GB left in my 120 GB iPod Classic. Now you decide. 0:)

Easy decision, I'm afraid, Navneeth. Despite the positives you cite, the bottom line is that it's an Apple. The first thing I tick off on my selection list is; Is it proprietary?. If the answer is Yes, then it goes in the rubbish bin. Thus all the Apples and the MS Zune are out of the running right at the gate. It isn't the product, it's the company behind it. :)

8)

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on November 10, 2010, 06:45:51 AM
Easy decision, I'm afraid, Navneeth. Despite the positives you cite, the bottom line is that it's an Apple. The first thing I tick off on my selection list is; Is it proprietary?. If the answer is Yes, then it goes in the rubbish bin. Thus all the Apples and the MS Zune are out of the running right at the gate. It isn't the product, it's the company behind it. :)

8)

I didn;t vote for this reason. That is the first thing I check too.

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on November 10, 2010, 06:45:51 AM
Easy decision, I'm afraid, Navneeth. Despite the positives you cite, the bottom line is that it's an Apple. The first thing I tick off on my selection list is; Is it proprietary?. If the answer is Yes, then it goes in the rubbish bin. Thus all the Apples and the MS Zune are out of the running right at the gate. It isn't the product, it's the company behind it. :)

8)

Well, two members of the Apple party are certainly in the running. ;) It may not be an issue as far as David is concerned, because I think he uses Linux (in a dual-boot or virtual environment) and there are plenty of media players (including the ones that are shipped along with the distro -- so no need to go in search of a buggy app that only five people use) which let you load and manage portable media players, even if it's from Apple. :)

     
     gaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgapless
     gaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgapless
     gaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgapless
     gaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgapless
     gaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgapless
     gaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgaplessgapless

     Other than that, the only thing I can think of is gapless.

     

Quote from: DavidW on November 10, 2010, 05:55:18 AM
I currently have an 8 gig 2G ipod touch, which has served my purposes nicely.  But now I've finished ripping my cd collection (but I'm still retagging) and my core collection, my absolute favorites are 20 gigs.  And I want room for expansion.  Now I can also listen to everything on my laptop, but an mp3 player is more portable.  I can just keep what I have and keep swapping music, but there is a certain cool factor of having all of the music I like on one player that I carry around everywhere.

But I would need a high capacity player to fill those needs. What should I get?  Or should I simply be happy with what I have?  What do you think? :)

     Get a bigger Touch, the biggest one you can afford. I might go that route instead of a new Nano.

     Gapless solutions (from Wikipedia, updated frequently):

    Rockbox for various digital audio players.
    Cowon S9 supports gapless playback without software dependency since 2.31b firmware
    Microsoft Zune supports gapless playback with Zune 2.5 or later firmware, though some bugs remain and occasionally small pops or skips can be heard.[4]
    Rio Karma and TrekStor Vibez: Gapless hardware players with no software dependency
    Apple iPod classic supports gapless playback of MP3s and AACs from the fifth generation onward[5]
    Apple iPod nano second generation and later[5]
    Apple iPod Touch[5]
    Apple iPhone[5]
    Apple iTunes 7.0 and later versions support as default gapless playback on Macintosh and Windows without having to combine tracks during encoding (a limitation of previous releases). Some users in unusual situations have complained that the one-time analysis is a system-intensive process that can stall or crash computers.
    Windows Media Player: Has supported gapless ripping and playback of WMA since Windows Media 9. Available on all current Windows machines.
    OtsAV software supports gapless playback, including intelligent fade-mixing and beat-mixing. It is designed for DJs, radio and TV stations, and AV enthusiasts.
    Winamp supports gapless playback for MP3 and AAC files (since version 5.3).
    XmPlay supports gapless playback for all format files
    foobar2000
    Media Center
    Aqualung
    MiniDisc
    ATRAC3 NW Series Sony Walkmans
    Music Player Daemon for Linux and other platforms.
    Music On Console
    Olive Media Products Opus and Melody players
    Archos Gmini XS202S
    Sony PlayStation Portable Support Gapless with MP3 and ATRAC file formats (Tested on 5.00 M33-3 firmware)
    Rhythmbox
    Banshee
    Raumfeld multi-room audio system supports gapless playback since firmware version 1.2
    All players in the Logitech/Slim Devices Squeezebox range support gapless playback for all gapless formats (lame MP3, FLAC, Vorbis, etc). Crossfading is also optionally available.
    DeadBeef

Quote from: ukrneal on November 10, 2010, 06:48:58 AM
I didn;t vote for this reason. That is the first thing I check too.

Sandisk doesn't have any proprietary features, works very well, and doesn't cost an arm and/or a leg. That one I pictured above is only $110 USD. My e280 from 2-3 years ago was $150, and it had about half of the features and capacity of this one. :)

8)

Gapless is a total non-issue for me, Ernie. I don't even know (or care) whether my player supports it. :)

8)

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on November 10, 2010, 06:57:58 AM
Sandisk doesn't have any proprietary features, works very well, and doesn't cost an arm and/or a leg. That one I pictured above is only $110 USD. My e280 from 2-3 years ago was $150, and it had about half of the features and capacity of this one. :)

8)

     What proprietary feature do you find objectionable? Is it ALAC?

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on November 10, 2010, 06:59:33 AM
Gapless is a total non-issue for me, Ernie. I don't even know (or care) whether my player supports it. :)

8)

     You have a gapless player. Lossless files (and properly made mp3s) will be gapless.

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on November 10, 2010, 06:59:33 AM
Gapless is a total non-issue for me, Ernie. I don't even know (or care) whether my player supports it. :)

8)

But...but, what if the last movement of Op. 125 -- the Op. 125 -- is split into two tracks?

:D

Quote from: Opus106 on November 10, 2010, 07:02:19 AM
But...but, what if the last movement of Op. 125 -- the Op. 125 -- is split into two tracks?

:D

When I rip (using dBpoweramp), I always rip it as 1 track. Also do that with 3rd-4th movement of the 5th. But even stuff ripped by others plays back without a discernible gap on my Sandisk. I guess it just doesn't bother me... :-\

8)

Quote from: drogulus on November 10, 2010, 07:02:10 AM
     What proprietary feature do you find objectionable? Is it ALAC?

Up till gen. 5.5, Rockbox can load FLAC on the iPod. Of course, it is a do-it-at-your-own-risk hackware.

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on November 10, 2010, 07:06:40 AM
When I rip (using dBpoweramp), I always rip it as 1 track.

I didn't know it could do that!

Quote from: Opus106 on November 10, 2010, 07:08:43 AM
I didn't know it could do that!

Yes, you can rip a whole disk or any selections from it. Look at the top icon toolbar and there is one that is a big numeral 1 and means "Rip as 1". Click it and it shows the entire disk, you just select what you want and say OK. :)

8)

I have an Ipod classic 160Gb. I love the capacity but dealing with Apple's software philosophy is a pain. I was able to ditch Itunes with a third party application (currently using Floola), which has been a great help, but it still bugs me that i have to write tags for all my music (i generally use my folder structure). Its also very annoying that the unit can't read flacs (which is what i use), and you can't even install alternative firmwares like rockbox because apple has made the unit uncrackable. Really wish there was an alternative out there but even with 160gb it still feels small for me and i could never get used to a lesser capacity.

Quote from: drogulus on November 10, 2010, 07:02:10 AM
     What proprietary feature do you find objectionable? Is it ALAC?

     You have a gapless player. Lossless files (and properly made mp3s) will be gapless.

On what machine, Ernie?  On Apples, it is having to use iTunes to manage the whole thing, plus their own proprietary format instead of "Free Lossless Audio Codec". True, you can rig and convert etc. but shouldn't have to. I guess the Apple mindset just missed me.

And Zune is Microsoft, with all that entails (like Windows Media Player ::) ). And firmware screwups! :o

8)

Quote from: Opus106 on November 10, 2010, 07:06:53 AM
Up till gen. 5.5, Rockbox can load FLAC on the iPod. Of course, it is a do-it-at-your-own-risk hackware.

Well you can transcode flac to alac.  I have dbpoweramp and it can batch transcode my entire collection if I so desire. :)

Quote from: Josquin des Prez on November 10, 2010, 07:13:33 AM
I have an Ipod classic 160Gb. I love the capacity but dealing with Apple's software philosophy is a pain. I was able to ditch Itunes with a third party application (currently using Floola), which has been a great help, but it still bugs me that i have to write tags for all my music (i generally use my folder structure). Its also very annoying that the unit can't read flacs (which is what i use), and you can't even install alternative firmwares like rockbox because apple has made the unit uncrackable. Really wish there an alternative out there but even with 160gb it still feels small for me and i could never get used to a lesser capacity.

Testify, little brother, testify! :)

8)

Do yourself a favour and keep the 8gb one. In fact, get a 4gb one.

Why? To fight against the tyranny of choice.

Force yourself to adopt good listening habits, by having a small selection of works, half of which are new to you every time you update the playlist. I used to have a 20gb player and I put all my favourites on, plus a lot of new music and what did I do - took FOREVER to choose and in despair just put something familiar on.

Be damned, tyranny of choice!  8)

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on November 10, 2010, 07:11:31 AM
Yes, you can rip a whole disk or any selections from it. Look at the top icon toolbar and there is one that is a big numeral 1 and means "Rip as 1". Click it and it shows the entire disk, you just select what you want and say OK. :)

8)

I don't see a Rip as One icon. Do you use registered/purchased version?

Quote from: DavidW on November 10, 2010, 07:16:30 AM
Well you can transcode flac to alac.  I have dbpoweramp and it can batch transcode my entire collection if I so desire. :)

dbP and iTunes are the only reasons that I have allowed Windows to exist in the hard-drive. (I need to have ALAC for some reason!) I installed XP in Virtualbox a couple of months ago... so I don't have to do that whole re-booting thing again, thankfully. As far as ripping is concerned, I found iTunes to be terrible. Too many tracks with skips and screeches.

Quote from: Benji on November 10, 2010, 07:26:57 AM
Be damned, tyranny of choice!  8)

In a way, that's correct; it can spoil you. :D

I very recently went with virtual ware too Navneeth, but I went the other way. I run Ubuntu 10.10 in vmware.  Dual booting is a pain in the ass! :D

Quote from: DavidW on November 10, 2010, 07:36:25 AM
I very recently went with virtual ware too Navneeth, but I went the other way. I run Ubuntu 10.10 in vmware.  Dual booting is a pain in the ass! :D

I must admit that I have entertained the thought of multi-booting Linux distros, but I digress.

Quote from: Opus106 on November 10, 2010, 07:33:16 AM
I don't see a Rip as One icon. Do you use registered/purchased version?

Well yes, I do. But I didn't think it was a purchased option... :-\

8)

     In iTunes, go to Advanced > Join CD Tracks. You can highlight contiguous tracks while ripping the rest individually, or highlight all of them for one track. I do this when I want to, but I don't have to do it. The tracks will play correctly regardless, just like a CD.

I have a Zune

while they are mechanically unreliable, the $15/mo unlimited downloads are great - For example recently grabbed the Gewandhaus Complete Beethoven SQs and the recent Ensemble Expose collection of Ferneyhough chamber music

    iPods won't play Ferneyhough. You don't need a deluxe model, even the Shuffle has it. (http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/Smileys/classic/smiley.gif)

Is there an mp3 player with more space than an iPod classic (more than 160 GB)?

Quote from: Greg on November 10, 2010, 12:40:05 PM
Is there an mp3 player with more space than an iPod classic (more than 160 GB)?

Yes, the Archos 5 internet tablet is available in 500 GB. :o

The Archos 5 looks awesome but its going to take a lot of time before it becomes stable enough for me to consider it. One of the advantages of the Ipod classic is that it's been out for so long that it is near perfection. The Achors is a glitchy mess with faulty and unstable software that's going to take a while to achieve the same level of polish. 

I am very happy with my 160GB iPod classic and have all my CM stored on it at 320kbps - no problems with SQ as far as I can tell :).
I have almost filled my iPod to capacity now so even 160GB isnt seeming that big - I would still recommend my device though!.
P.S: iPod classics have awesome battery power and mine runs for @16-24h even at 320kbps. With 128kbps you can Batterylife of +30h before recharge is needed, another possible selling point :).

The iPod Classic is, in my opinion, the best mp3 player on the market. I own 4 of them, 2 Touch, and 5 Nanos. They're all so easy to use and they sound great, but only if you transfer at a good bitrate (I transfer my CDs using 192 kbps).

I would like to use my Sony Walkman mp3 player as it sounds damn good, but I HATE Sony's software for this player. Sony's software programs aren't user friendly at all whereas iTunes a 4 yr old could use. THINK SIMPLE SONY!!!!  :D

Keep what you have and save the money. All of us scientists would be well advised to gird ourselves financially for the upcoming Republicorp/Teabagger assault on science. Remember, gravity is just a theory.

I don't have the J3, but I'm generally a fan of anything COWON does. My 16GB iAudio 7, while it's not the latest generation, has no problem playing FLAC, a battery life of over 50 hours (unless I'm recording something - that REALLY sucks life out of it fast), and a good equalizer to make up for the various odd things that headphones tend to do with sound.

I have to say my experience with choice is similar to Benji's, though. My older ZEN Stone had only 1GB of memory. Usually about 60-80% of the stuff that I upload to my player is music I've never heard before, and the 16GB really stumps me when I have to choose what to listen to first. Still, with the long battery life, it would make little sense to have small capacity... So I'm not really complaining. It just takes so much longer to "use up" ;) the music I have on it.

Okay here we go:

Ipod Touch: I only use the various streaming music apps and I've had too many streaming errors.  So I don't use the apps on the touch enough to warrant paying the touch premium.

Zune HD: too much drm, and it is at the same price point as the touch without having as many features, like apps.

Sansa clip+: slowly clicking through 1 album at a time = kills the deal.

Sansa fuze+: only thing I've found wrong with it is some whining about the touch interface

Cowon J3: cowon's battery life and sq are awesome, their features not impressive, their ui is atrocious.  I'm basing this on an old D2, but I don't see that anything has changed.

Ipod classic: this is very tempting only problem is that it is hd based, which in my mind means not as durable

so...

I've ordered a Sansa fuze+ if the touch control is too much of a hassle to use then I will return it and get an ipod classic. :)

Quote from: DavidW on November 11, 2010, 02:44:53 PM
I've ordered a Sansa fuze+ if the touch control is too much of a hassle to use then I will return it and get an ipod classic. :)

Should have got the 4gb nano ;)

TYRANNY, TYRANNY I TELLS YA!

Oh the oppressive tyranny of choice and possessions. ;D  I should abandon my worldly goods and run naked through the woods!! ;D :D

Quote from: DavidW on November 11, 2010, 02:49:13 PM
Oh the oppressive tyranny of choice and possessions. ;D  I should abandon my worldly goods and run naked through the woods!! ;D :D

      Which one? (http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/Smileys/classic/cheesy.gif)

Quote from: DavidW on November 11, 2010, 02:49:13 PM
Oh the oppressive tyranny of choice and possessions. ;D  I should abandon my worldly goods and run naked through the woods!! ;D :D

That's the spirit!  8)

"I'm gonna beat my buh-reast like a ape-man, I don't wanna comb-a my hair . . . ."

Well the fuze+ really does have issues.  That touch pad is both too sensitive and not sensitive enough.  It basically never does what it should.  If you load it up with music you'll never get what you want because you can tap through one entry at a time or fly so fast through the selection that you can't stop it, because there are several seconds of delay from processing a new touch command.  They really messed up the UI.  Plus and this is the real deal killer, most of my albums won't display their cover art.

List of things that do show the cover art: windows media player, itunes, mp3tag, ipod touch, my old cowon d2 (yeah that's right a three year old mp3 player doesn't struggle with this)... but this player doesn't.  And I couldn't figure it out.  So I have to return it and try a different player.

I also assumed that the reviews whining about the touch pad just never used a touch interface before, but it's not that.  The difference between my ipod touch and the fuze+ is that the former just works (can scroll as fast or as slow as you want, can stop on a dime and has a search function plus quick jump to a letter) and the latter doesn't at all.  If anyone else is thinking about getting a new sansa, get the fuze (no plus) with the scroll wheel instead.

I know that sandisk was trying to make a touch wannabe, but they really should just stick with what works.

And I didn't even mention the part where you have to scroll left to go right on the menu.  C'mon sandisk you're better than this!!

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on November 10, 2010, 06:07:37 AM
If my Sansa e280 8 gig were to die today, I would replace it with this:



The e280 has served me very well indeed, and the Fuze does all that and more, including support for FLAC now, so I won't have to convert my archives to MP3 to play them. And the micro-card support (which I also have on the e280) is very handy for either extended travel or for having a library of pictures, for example. The 2 gig micro SD from my Olympus camera pops right into the e280 and allows easier viewing compared to looking at the back of the camera!  No doubt, that would be the one for me!

8)

I also have an e280 and love it. The problem is that I have now used up all of the 8Gb and need a bigger player (like the original creator of this thread). That said it does have an expansion slot for a micro SD card. How big a card could I put in this? The original instructions said 2Gb but that was when that was the biggest SD you could get. So, could I put a 16gb card in the slot? It would certainly solve my problems (and save me some money).

Well this morning I mailed out to amazon the fuze+.  This afternoon I bought the ipod classic-- and WOW!  I'm impressed.  It has better ui than the touch for music.  I'm talking of course about having a composer sort in the menu. :)  The scroll wheel is fast and easy to use, and the sound is full, impressive bass with great amp (at least for earphones).  Also music transfer was really fast.  Several times faster than the player I returned. :)

Anyway since all I want to do is listen to music, I couldn't ask for better.  And since it is hd based, I'll use my little old sansa clip for my walks, and the ipod for everything else.

Quote from: Holden on November 13, 2010, 12:29:17 PM
I also have an e280 and love it. The problem is that I have now used up all of the 8Gb and need a bigger player (like the original creator of this thread). That said it does have an expansion slot for a micro SD card. How big a card could I put in this? The original instructions said 2Gb but that was when that was the biggest SD you could get. So, could I put a 16gb card in the slot? It would certainly solve my problems (and save me some money).

Not sure, Holden but have been curious myself. As it happens, I only have a 2 gig card, and without a compelling need I'm not likely to replace it.

Back when updating of computers was an annual event, if an OS and BIOS said 640 megs max memory, it was not because you couldn't put more in, but because that was all that the machine could physically address. Anything more was wasted. Not sure if that's the case here or not. :-\

8)

I think that only if you rockbox it can you use the higher storage card.  Else only the 2 gig card.

Oh boy with that plastic dock sleeve that classic is a perfect fit for my ipod speakers! :)

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on November 10, 2010, 07:06:40 AM
When I rip (using dBpoweramp), I always rip it as 1 track. Also do that with 3rd-4th movement of the 5th. But even stuff ripped by others plays back without a discernible gap on my Sandisk. I guess it just doesn't bother me... :-\

8)

Don't forget the Pastorale and Schumann's 4th. Some record companies still forget to make sure that these works should be one track only. Annoying.

Quote from: RJR on January 29, 2011, 08:14:57 AM
Don't forget the Pastorale and Schumann's 4th. Some record companies still forget to make sure that these works should be one track only. Annoying.

Yes, it IS annoying. For listening purposes, it is as annoying as those 34 track version of the Diabelli Variations! WTF! IMO, 3 tracks is plenty, and even just 1 is adequate. >:(

8)

----------------
Now playing:
Smithson String Quartet - K 387 Quartet #14 in G for Strings 1st mvmt - Allegro vivace assai

Does anybody know whether mp3 players nowadays all require specialist bloatware such as iTunes for the iPod just to load music? My old Walkman allows you to treat it as a flash drive and drag and drop using explorer, with no "helpful" software being forced onto you.

Professional reviews aren't proving uniformly helpful, because I don't know whether this has become so ubiquitous that it's being left unsaid.

If it's not affected by the problem, I am leaning towards the Zune, given that it's DRM nonsense has been cracked.

Quote from: Lethe Dmitriyevich Shostakovich on February 22, 2011, 07:49:27 AM
Does anybody know whether mp3 players nowadays all require specialist bloatware such as iTunes for the iPod just to load music? My old Walkman allows you to treat it as a flash drive and drag and drop using explorer, with no "helpful" software being forced onto you.

Professional reviews aren't proving uniformly helpful, because I don't know whether this has become so ubiquitous that it's being left unsaid.

If it's not affected by the problem, I am leaning towards the Zune, given that it's DRM nonsense has been cracked.

Not my Sansa player . . . I load just with the aid of Media Monkey right from my PC.

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on February 22, 2011, 07:59:40 AM
Not my Sansa player

Yep. I've loaded some songs into a Sansa (maybe a couple of years old), using the drag 'n' drop-in-Explorer method. Indeed, that was the prescribed method.

Purchased another mp3 player. My old Sony can retire.

Bluetooth so I can play through stereo. Ideal solution now I want to go full digital purchasing albums on Bandcamp (or else Itunes).

A bit of a guess buy, based on just one review, but it's cheap.

The brand is Elprico.

(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61M7kqPS8VL._AC_SL1500_.jpg)

https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0C75G45J5?psc=1&smid=A2R18JK90QTW4&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp (https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0C75G45J5?psc=1&smid=A2R18JK90QTW4&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp)

Quote from: ultralinear on January 08, 2024, 07:33:09 AMInteresting.  I've been thinking of pensioning off my Sony - it would cost about £25 to replace the battery even if that works out OK, and it would be good to have a backup device anyway.  The Polish language issue (whatever that is) should not be too much of a problem.

Funny that the 128Gb model is cheaper than the 64Gb in Netherlands - here it is more than twice the price (£91 vs £41), so I'd probably get the smaller one (I have only a 64Gb card in the Sony, it's fine for my needs.)

Please do report back on how you find it.

Will report.

Some mp3player have even Wifi and one can use Google Play.

Have a look at this site. Very advanced mp3 players available but they cost around E 300.
https://www.techradar.com/news/best-mp3-players-techradars-guide-to-the-best-portable-music-players (https://www.techradar.com/news/best-mp3-players-techradars-guide-to-the-best-portable-music-players)

Quote from: Henk on January 08, 2024, 07:21:21 AMPurchased another mp3 player. My old Sony can retire.

Bluetooth so I can play through stereo. Ideal solution now I want to go full digital purchasing albums on Bandcamp (or else Itunes).

A bit of a guess buy, based on just one review, but it's cheap.

The brand is Elprico.

(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61M7kqPS8VL._AC_SL1500_.jpg)

https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0C75G45J5?psc=1&smid=A2R18JK90QTW4&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp (https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0C75G45J5?psc=1&smid=A2R18JK90QTW4&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp)

Looks nice. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there's a Dutch Amazon site ....

My FiiO still works fine, I don't know if they still make digital audio players anymore.

Quote from: Henk on January 08, 2024, 07:21:21 AMPurchased another mp3 player. My old Sony can retire.

Bluetooth so I can play through stereo. Ideal solution now I want to go full digital purchasing albums on Bandcamp (or else Itunes).

A bit of a guess buy, based on just one review, but it's cheap.

The brand is Elprico.

(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61M7kqPS8VL._AC_SL1500_.jpg)

https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0C75G45J5?psc=1&smid=A2R18JK90QTW4&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp (https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0C75G45J5?psc=1&smid=A2R18JK90QTW4&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp)

Looks nice, but... no FLAC supported? How come?

Quote from: Florestan on January 08, 2024, 09:03:16 AMLooks nice, but... no FLAC supported? How come?

Flac is supported as mentioned in the specs.

Quote from: Henk on January 08, 2024, 09:18:37 AMFlac is supported as mentioned in the specs.

Ah, yes, now I see it! The specs are a mess, though. First, they say

Ondersteunde standaarden    MP3, APE, WAV

which led me to my question.

Further below they say

ONDERSTEUNINGSFORMAAT: Draagbare MP3-speler ondersteunt MP3 APE FLAC WMA WAV AAC en andere mainstream lossless en ongecomprimeerde formaten muziekprogramma's tot 24bit.

and this is more like it should be.

Looks like a cool little thing. Enjoy it without problems for many years to come!

Quote from: Florestan on January 08, 2024, 09:36:23 AMAh, yes, now I see it! The specs are a mess, though. First, they say

Ondersteunde standaarden    MP3, APE, WAV

which led me to my question.

Further below they say

ONDERSTEUNINGSFORMAAT: Draagbare MP3-speler ondersteunt MP3 APE FLAC WMA WAV AAC en andere mainstream lossless en ongecomprimeerde formaten muziekprogramma's tot 24bit.

and this is more like it should be.

Looks like a cool little thing. Enjoy it without problems for many years to come!

I plan to just rip my cds if I want to listen to one.

The thing is that I'm bad at ordering my collection. This player should offer a perfect, neat solution.

I had not seen the ape format in a million years!

     My entire lossless music collection amounts to 326GB.  I can listen through my PC/FiiO DAC and DT770Pros, or If I want to chill on the couch I can go Chinoppo/Sony MX3s via BlueTooth, a lesser choice SQ-wise but still decent. I don't really have a need for portability any more.

Quote from: DavidW on November 13, 2010, 01:34:21 PMWell this morning I mailed out to amazon the fuze+.  This afternoon I bought the ipod classic-- and WOW!  I'm impressed.  It has better ui than the touch for music.  I'm talking of course about having a composer sort in the menu. :)  The scroll wheel is fast and easy to use, and the sound is full, impressive bass with great amp (at least for earphones).  Also music transfer was really fast.  Several times faster than the player I returned. :)

Anyway since all I want to do is listen to music, I couldn't ask for better.  And since it is hd based, I'll use my little old sansa clip for my walks, and the ipod for everything else.

btw I'm pretty sure I returned that Ipod classic.  I think I ended up just sucking it up.  I wouldn't have a shot at having my whole collection in one place until I bought a smart phone with a micro-sd card slot.

Quote from: DavidW on January 08, 2024, 11:14:07 AMI had not seen the ape format in a million years!

That is a blast from the past, these days when I think of ape it's stock cultists that have gambled away their money on GME, BBBYQ, and AMC.

The amazing thing is that Monkey's Audio is still being updated with an update as recently as a couple of days ago! Maybe it's a hobby for the developer(s)?

Quote from: ultralinear on January 08, 2024, 07:33:09 AMInteresting.  I've been thinking of pensioning off my Sony - it would cost about £25 to replace the battery even if that works out OK, and it would be good to have a backup device anyway.  The Polish language issue (whatever that is) should not be too much of a problem.

Funny that the 128Gb model is cheaper than the 64Gb in Netherlands - here it is more than twice the price (£91 vs £41), so I'd probably get the smaller one (I have only a 64Gb card in the Sony, it's fine for my needs.)

Please do report back on how you find it.

Some time passed and I've found my solution.

The device didn't work properly. I couldn't write files to it, so it was useless.

I purchased a different mp3player, brand 'Majority'. It's nice, it allows me to store a lot more music, having installed a 128 Gb SD-card.

But I use it in the same manner as my previous mp3player: listening to music in bed before sleep.

I now manage my cd-collection better, making a habit of putting back the cd I listened to instead of piling then up creating disorder.

So my orginal plan failed. I don't plan to purchase a lot more cds, maybe occasionaly and rarely. I just gonna explore my cds more, therd still so many to play more times.

I purchase flacs from Bandcamp. With the Majority I can play them through my audio system by bluetooth. I can do that occasionely or use Spotify.

Quote from: ultralinear on January 27, 2024, 12:59:46 PMThanks for the update, it's very useful.  I've been wondering how you were getting on.

Disappointing about the Elprico. :(  A lot of people find all kinds of problems with cheaper players, you're always taking a chance when you buy one.  Glad to hear you've found a solution that works for you. :)

I didn't like the touch screen of the Elprico, because it's hard to navigate with such a small screen and small buttons. I think Elprico did their best to create a good product though. The device I got was also a bit different than the one shown at Amazon.

Time has moved on since I last posted in this thread and so have DAPs. I now have the Astell & Kern Jr and it does everything that I need it to and it also has blue tooth output if I want to use BT headphones. It supports the following formats (WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE(Normal, High, Fast), AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF) but I'm happy to stick with 320 kbps MP3.

Compared to many of today's models it's quite basic but the important thing is that it sounds really good. I use it mainly for travel and as I'm going into hospital in three weeks for a double knee replacement I'll take it there. What I really like about it is that as I've digitised all my CDs into audio files and put them into folders I can simply drag and drop folders into the player.

Quote from: Holden on January 28, 2024, 12:19:16 PMI use it mainly for travel and as I'm going into hospital in three weeks for a double knee replacement I'll take it there.

I'm in horrible agony, but at least I can listen to my favorite music in pristine audiophile quality! ;)

Good luck.  I hope it goes well. :)

Quote from: DavidW on January 28, 2024, 01:23:28 PMI'm in horrible agony, but at least I can listen to my favorite music in pristine audiophile quality! ;)

Good luck.  I hope it goes well. :)

Thanks David for the nice thoughts. Hopefully the pain won't be too bad and as you said, I've got great music to listen to mask it.

Quote from: Holden on January 28, 2024, 12:19:16 PMand as I'm going into hospital in three weeks for a double knee replacement

Best wishes!

Quote from: Holden on January 28, 2024, 12:19:16 PMTime has moved on since I last posted in this thread and so have DAPs. I now have the Astell & Kern Jr and it does everything that I need it to and it also has blue tooth output if I want to use BT headphones. It supports the following formats (WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE(Normal, High, Fast), AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF) but I'm happy to stick with 320 kbps MP3.

Compared to many of today's models it's quite basic but the important thing is that it sounds really good. I use it mainly for travel and as I'm going into hospital in three weeks for a double knee replacement I'll take it there. What I really like about it is that as I've digitised all my CDs into audio files and put them into folders I can simply drag and drop folders into the player.

Good luck Holden.  I hope that all goes well!

PD

This thread prodded me to act on the low-volume wish to get a new gizmo (both my old Sansa Fuze and a Philips device having long gone phut. Two devices I ordered through Amazon proved worthless. Only when I saw the necessity of returning Bum Device N^o. 2 did I get the idea of looking at pcworld.com An Innioasis player landed today, and I'm waiting to see how the folders I've loaded look. All looks in order.

Quote from: Karl Henning on January 30, 2024, 05:08:29 PMThis thread prodded me to act on the low-volume wish to get a new gizmo (both my old Sansa Fuze and a Philips device having long gone phut. Two devices I ordered through Amazon proved worthless. Only when I saw the necessity of returning Bum Device N^o. 2 did I get the idea of looking at pcworld.com An Innioasis player landed today, and I'm waiting to see how the folders I've loaded look. All looks in order.

Well, and Bluetooth connection is successful. This device appears to function satisfactorily. 

Quote from: Holden on January 28, 2024, 12:19:16 PMTime has moved on since I last posted in this thread and so have DAPs. I now have the Astell & Kern Jr and it does everything that I need it to and it also has blue tooth output if I want to use BT headphones. It supports the following formats (WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE(Normal, High, Fast), AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF) but I'm happy to stick with 320 kbps MP3.

Compared to many of today's models it's quite basic but the important thing is that it sounds really good. I use it mainly for travel and as I'm going into hospital in three weeks for a double knee replacement I'll take it there. What I really like about it is that as I've digitised all my CDs into audio files and put them into folders I can simply drag and drop folders into the player.

I just looked and found I bought my AK Jr in April 2017. I'm still happy with it, purged it of non-classical music recently and am loading it up again as I listen so I can curate my personal canon, and will replace the 64 Mb micro SD card with a 256 Gb when it's full (as they'll be cheaper then). Minor niggles are just that it thinks Z comes before A and doesn't display foreign characters. I am now tagging my files "Album" = Work, conductor (or principal performer or ensemble) and date of recording e.g. "Concerto For Orchestra (Boulez, 1972)", "Artist" = Composer, "Genre" = Date composed.

Quote from: ultralinear on January 31, 2024, 03:50:05 AMI've been thinking of following @Holden and @steve ridgway in getting an AK Jr to replace my ageing and fading Sony, however from reading reviews I get the impression that it doesn't support Wifi connectivity e.g. for streaming music from my NAS library.  Is this right?  It's a feature I'd want at that kind of price - at present I can use an old Android phone for the purpose, and I note that the device Karl's just bought claims to have this functionality (though it also seems to draw some of the same kind of negative user feedback that pretty much all cheaper players attract.)  Any advice would be appreciated. :)

You are right, it doesn't have WiFi. The version I've got is actually called the Super Junior and is named after a Korean Kpop band. It was half the price of the straight Jr but is essentially exactly the same player. I bought a cover for it so I don't see the bands signature all over the case. It's an absolute bargain for the price if you don't need WiFi as it sounds superb and drives most of my cans well.

https://www.amazon.com.au/Astell-Kern-Super-Junior-AK/dp/B07176GS7Y

what kind of player did you end up buying?

I recently replaced my broken AK Jr with an Astell & Kern SR35. I just copied files to a 256 Gb micro SD card on a MacBook and the player scanned it and catalogued them with no problems.

(https://astellnkern.co.uk/cdn/shop/files/SR35_08.jpg)

I've been looking around for something to play my flax on, I haven't even been able to discover yet if such a thing even exists.

I need a portable music player, I have 2 or 3 separate work areas and I don't want to set up equipment for all of them, I want one player I can move with me when I go.

I don't care for headphones, Bluetooth speakers are fine although even hard wired speakers are ok since we are talking fairly small spaces anyway.

Here's the hard part: I want this device to play either USB thumb drives, or my 4TB SSD, or micro SD cards. No cd player, no radio, no casettes, none of that crap. And it needs a display to read tags.

I want it to function just like a boom box from 1988!

So simple, why can't I find one? Anyone seen anything like that? 

 8)

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on July 01, 2024, 08:38:54 AMI've been looking around for something to play my flax on, I haven't even been able to discover yet if such a thing even exists.

I need a portable music player, I have 2 or 3 separate work areas and I don't want to set up equipment for all of them, I want one player I can move with me when I go.

I don't care for headphones, Bluetooth speakers are fine although even hard wired speakers are ok since we are talking fairly small spaces anyway.

Here's the hard part: I want this device to play either USB thumb drives, or my 4TB SSD, or micro SD cards. No cd player, no radio, no casettes, none of that crap. And it needs a display to read tags.

I want it to function just like a boom box from 1988!

So simple, why can't I find one? Anyone seen anything like that? 

 8)

I love my FiiO but they don't make affordable daps anymore.  It is the high end at the same level as the A&Ks people are talking about.

The world has moved on.  I bought a FiiO bluetooth receiver to use with my phone and travel and it is surprisingly VERY GOOD.  I could listen on even my demanding headphones and the sound quality was excellent. 

You could just use it with your pc, and connect your favorite headphones to them and put it in your pocket and walk around the house.  I recommend that solution because it sounds better than bluetooth headphones, and you don't have to spend a lot of money on new headphones if you already have one that you like.

The one I have is no longer made, but here are two that I found from FiiO:

$70 https://www.amazon.com/FiiO-BTR3K-Bluetooth-Headphone-Unbalanced/dp/B085XT3V3X (https://www.amazon.com/FiiO-BTR3K-Bluetooth-Headphone-Unbalanced/dp/B085XT3V3X)
$110 https://www.amazon.com/FiiO-BTR15-Headphone-Resolution-Smartphones/dp/B0CM3NVGYL (https://www.amazon.com/FiiO-BTR15-Headphone-Resolution-Smartphones/dp/B0CM3NVGYL)

     Even though I couldn't install the control panel for my Fiio KA3 dongle DAC/amp I managed to get it to work with Foobar2000 and the sound is excellent for DSD and flac. I wish it wasn't so hard to work with the Fiio software for this device. If I decide to buy something it will probably be the aforementioned A&K. With a 500GB card I can get all of my music on it.

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on July 01, 2024, 08:38:54 AMI've been looking around for something to play my flax on, I haven't even been able to discover yet if such a thing even exists.

I need a portable music player, I have 2 or 3 separate work areas and I don't want to set up equipment for all of them, I want one player I can move with me when I go.

I don't care for headphones, Bluetooth speakers are fine although even hard wired speakers are ok since we are talking fairly small spaces anyway.

Here's the hard part: I want this device to play either USB thumb drives, or my 4TB SSD, or micro SD cards. No cd player, no radio, no casettes, none of that crap. And it needs a display to read tags.

I want it to function just like a boom box from 1988!

So simple, why can't I find one? Anyone seen anything like that? 

 8)

     The article covers a number of options which from your description should work for you. You want Bluetooth and analog outs to connect to different devices easily. It doesn't sound like you want an external USB DAC.

     
Portable Player (DAP) Recommendations - Headfonia Reviews (https://www.headfonia.com/best-portable-player-dap/)

Quote from: steve ridgway on July 01, 2024, 05:56:14 AMI recently replaced my broken AK Jr with an Astell & Kern SR35. I just copied files to a 256 Gb micro SD card on a MacBook and the player scanned it and catalogued them with no problems.

(https://astellnkern.co.uk/cdn/shop/files/SR35_08.jpg)

I've still got my A&K Jr. It's an amazing piece of kit for the price I paid and sounds extremely good.

Quote from: Holden on July 01, 2024, 03:40:30 PMI've still got my A&K Jr. It's an amazing piece of kit for the price I paid and sounds extremely good.

I'd have bought the same again if they'd still been available.

Quote from: drogulus on July 01, 2024, 10:23:46 AMThe article covers a number of options which from your description should work for you. You want Bluetooth and analog outs to connect to different devices easily. It doesn't sound like you want an external USB DAC.

     
Portable Player (DAP) Recommendations - Headfonia Reviews (https://www.headfonia.com/best-portable-player-dap/)

That's pretty accurate. I can't go with the description DavidW provided because my desktop computer is shared, I rarely use it now but my wife does. Retirement brought a different lifestyle with it. But also, my remote workshops are not in the house, they're in outbuildings. So I'm pretty well needing portable.

I have a FiiO the X5 3rd Gen, and it works great for SQ, but I hate the Android controls and such. At this point I'm just hoping that someone has run across something that I haven't found yet. Maybe I'll end up with a Brennan B3, at least it would stand alone as a player.  :-\

 8)

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on July 02, 2024, 09:34:07 AMThat's pretty accurate. I can't go with the description DavidW provided because my desktop computer is shared, I rarely use it now but my wife does. Retirement brought a different lifestyle with it. But also, my remote workshops are not in the house, they're in outbuildings. So I'm pretty well needing portable.

I have a FiiO the X5 3rd Gen, and it works great for SQ, but I hate the Android controls and such. At this point I'm just hoping that someone has run across something that I haven't found yet. Maybe I'll end up with a Brennan B3, at least it would stand alone as a player.  :-\

 8)

Ha!  You should have bought the FiiO X3 when you had the chance.  I have it, no Android.  Just scrollwheel, Ipod Classic kind of design.  Easy, peasy.  Sometimes cheaper is better.

Okay here you go, entry level Sony walkman has expandable storage and a simple interface:

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-KKBsRxVOiCh/p_158NWA306B/Sony-NW-A306-Walkman.html

Quote from: DavidW on July 02, 2024, 01:24:44 PMOkay here you go, entry level Sony walkman has expandable storage and a simple interface:

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-KKBsRxVOiCh/p_158NWA306B/Sony-NW-A306-Walkman.html (https://www.crutchfield.com/S-KKBsRxVOiCh/p_158NWA306B/Sony-NW-A306-Walkman.html)

    Dang! That looks all right.

(https://images.crutchfieldonline.com/ImageHandler/trim/750/457/products/2023/4/158/g158NWA306B-o_other1.jpg)

    It goes up to DSD256, which is like outer space and pointless but at least you can play the files.

Shanling MO Pro (https://en.shanling.com/article-IntroM0Pro.html)

I was actually looking at this one I found in Ernie's link. I had a Sansa Clip and loved it. This promises to be that and more. That SONY does look interesting though.

 :blank:

     I'm liking the Hiby RS2. It's a pure ass file player with no WiFi and no Bluetooth.

(https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0018/6649/8115/t/11/assets/11-1659586796387.jpg?v=1659586802)

Quote from: Gurn Blanston on July 02, 2024, 04:30:40 PMShanling MO Pro (https://en.shanling.com/article-IntroM0Pro.html)

I was actually looking at this one I found in Ernie's link. I had a Sansa Clip and loved it. This promises to be that and more. That SONY does look interesting though.

 :blank:

I'm surprised how powerful that amp is.  I think it should be able to drive all but the most power hungry headphones.

So I dug up the ASR review, it is pretty good even with Sennheiser 650s.  And the poll results seem to echo a favorable view.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/shanling-m0-pro-dap-review.49351/ (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/shanling-m0-pro-dap-review.49351/)

Quote from: DavidW on July 03, 2024, 06:55:36 AMI'm surprised how powerful that amp is.  I think it should be able to drive all but the most power hungry headphones.

So I dug up the ASR review, it is pretty good even with Sennheiser 650s.  And the poll results seem to echo a favorable view.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/shanling-m0-pro-dap-review.49351/ (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/shanling-m0-pro-dap-review.49351/)

And to top it off, if you can beat that price...!!  :o

 :blank: