portable audio....

hi,
i was just wondering what people would recommend for portable audio use
currently i use an old mini disk player however it's not that great, eats batteries and i just can;t be bothered recording new stuff any more. so i was thinking of getting a snazzy new device....
as i disagree with apple's licensing philosophy an i-pod is a no-no. which basicly leaves me with 2 choices.
1) get a little solid state 512mb device and transcode what i want to listen to, to mp3 from my flac rips.

2) get a rio karma whihc can play flacs natively.

option 2 is expensive but the no-brainer if i get paid on time. however i don;t really need 5000 hours of music just enough to listen to whilst running / walking for an hour or so so option 1 becomes more attractive. so the question is are there any solid state devices out there that are head and shoulders above the pack or should i just spend the least?

part 2 is - what headphones would you use - i prefer over the head to in ear but not big bulky dj stylee ones.

cheers


julian

 

get a mobile phone with a player built in, they come with 32mg cards which is roughly an hour at an OK compression rate

 

http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/

It's not an iPod

 

my current phone has a radio built in but to be honest it's a right old faff to use and the quality is dreadful. i don;t want to get another phone just to play music on so a dedicated player is the way to go methinks.
cheers


julian

 

i saw the shuffle but again it's an apple and i'd rather not add to the coffers of a company i don;t think are playing fair in the way they license the music they sell. there are a few cheapies on e-pay which look to be ok but i've never heard of the makes before.
cheers

julian

 

Julian.

How about HiMD? 1GB storage on a disc, and with Net MD you can simply connect them to your PC via USB.

Some have built in radio tuners too.

They're able to hold various file types (not just audio).

A very quick look shows a 1GB disc is available for £5!

Players seem to be available from as little as £100!

 

i'm not a big fan of closed formats like aac drrm and atrac which lock you into a particular way of doing things. net/hi-md has got some advantage over hdd players but it feels like a last desperate attempt by sony to hold on to a proprietory format. a bit like super betamax that appeared just before the vhs flood obliterated it.
cheers


julian

 

I recently acquired an iRiver N10, which is just the last word in funky style IMO - it sounds pretty damn good with 192kbps WMA files through the Sennheisers, and pretty fair through its own headphones too. Doubles as a USB memory stick if necessary, which will probably be more useful for me, and allegedly runs for 25hr off a single charge from being USB connected for an hour (very classy-looking and low power consumption OLED screen).

 

pete,
that looks interesting. many thanks.
cheers


julian

 

iiiiinteresting.... features women in camo bikinis so may not be work safe depending on how much of an arse your boss is.

http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/kalashnikov/Ak-mp3.asp

cheers


julian

 

Julian - what's your issue with Apple? If you just use an iPod to store MP3, WAV or Apple Lossless files ripped from CDs you really don't enter into any DRM issues at all. It's really the portable audio product of choice allthough there is always the iRiver.

As for headphones, unless you want to spend a load of cash the Sony EX71s at around £35 a pop are the best there is.

Michael.

 

the point is i'm using the spending power of my wallet to make a point. i.e. that i don;t agree with the way that apple has implemented it's drm policy and most especially the fact that they can change it at will without notice.
also the way that they obfuscate the files in the directories means that i can;t just plug it into another pc and copy files too / from easily - i need to either do searches or download that widget.

having read a bit more about these things tonight i've come to the conclusion that a hard drive based solution would be a bad idea as i'll be out and about with it. the ishuffle is out - no screen d'oh, the iriver n10 is nice looking and i like the neck strap idea for less wires etc. but christ is it expensive. there are a couple of others slightly cheaper but with 512mb rather than the 256 an affordable n10 has which look ok but they are all from obscure makes which makes me nervous. they are... the monolith II (70??), cowon iaudio 4, the xen emp-400 and one of the muvos. the muvo is closest to the n10 and the monolith and xen look fantastic but may have wires all over the place. at present the 256mb n10 is the front runner but at 130quid it's going to have to wait a while.
cheers


julian

 

well, finally made the decision and went for a Monolith 7010 i also ordered a bunch of accessories (headphones,car adaptor and arm carry case) and next day delivery for about the same price as the iriver. it's not quite as small but it's reputed to sound very good, has won a bunch of awards and user reviews very well except for a few niggles. it's also hewn from solid aluminium and has survived a bunch of destruction tests (being run over, thrown at a wall, shot, etc.) so hopefully i won;t be able to break it.
cheers


julian

 

Mine's on order. Perfect for me, but I'm an Apple whore

 

at the bottom of the shuffle link...

2. Do not eat ipod shuffle.

wtf is that about?
cheers


julian

 

Well, it's about the size of a packet of gum...

Mistakes can happen...