mp3 players

[scottopic]

What <$250 mp3 player should I get? Quality + sound quality + interface + open use of music (share between computer and player) and format/DRM agnostic needed
ambien makes typing FUN!

i[Pod? Which gen?
zune?
some creative zen?
tampax 50 gig?

Comments

[adrienmundi]

I love my Creative Zen: 16 GB, flash memory, SD card slot, and it's tiny.

[scottopic.livejournal.com]

Wow, awesome - all the specs look better than I was even hoping for.
Can you use the SD cards to load items into the main memory?
Some reviews spoke of a separation, but I didn't read enough to tell if that meant just that they were filed separately or if you couldn't move them across that line.

Pretty, too!

[valiskeogh.livejournal.com]

yup, i bought a creative zen nano several years ago and i've loved it. smaller version, just 1 gig, but still room for a few days worth of songs, and at the time was 99.00, far less than the gay ipod :) (the price is way down now)

[scottopic.livejournal.com]

You're gay.

[valiskeogh.livejournal.com]

AM NOT!!!!!

[orangecone.livejournal.com]

First, NONE of them are going to be DRM agnostic. Which ever one you choose is going to be able to play one type of DRM or another, but not all.

I've had two types of mp3 players in the past. One was from several years ago. I can't even remmeber the name of it, but it was big and even more clunky than the 1st gen iPod. The UI was awful. My next mp3 player was a 1st gen iPod nano -- not the new fat-boy nanos which I would highly consider if I were looking in that capactity range. I loved it. When I got my current job which requires me to travel, I went and purchased 5th gen iPod. I love the thing. It won't play Windows Media files, but I'm perfectly okay with that. I like the UI. It's simple and usable. I don't know any of the others' UIs other than that first player I had which was awful. A paper menu from that hole in the wall restaurant where it had had food and beverage spilled on it multiple times would be better. The iPod is what I'm used to and will recommend it until the cows come home, but I do think it has its disadvantages. Price. Non-user changable battery. You have to send it off to have the battery replaced when it dies.... and it WILL die.

I wouldn't touch the Zune. Last I heard, it wouldn't even play the MS DRM encoded files -- I have forgotten all of the details there and they may have fixed this. The sharing between two Zunes (wirelessly) is heavily restricted by DRM -- EVEN if the file is free to distribute file (see Creative Commons)!!!

Many won't play AAC files -- this may be changing. AAC is NOT Apple specific as many believe; it is Mpeg4 standard. Granted no portable player other than the iPod will play AAC-DRM locked files from iTunes, which is why I like the mp3s from Amazon music store or AAC files from iTunes Plus if I'm in a pinch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding

I really wish oink were still around. I really miss being able to download FLAC (lossless) and converting to whatever format I wanted and if I really liked what I heard, I went out and bought. YAY for Trent releasing Ghosts I-IV in a variety of formats (including FLAC!! double YAY!).

But I've gone on a tangent of media rather than players.

Despite the negative things I have heard regarding each player (mostly the Zune and the Zen), each one has their proponents. Another factor in this is what are you looking to do with it? E.g. My 2gb nano was awesome for what I wanted it to do before I did all this travelling. I could keep most of my. podcasts up to date and a good chunk of music to keep my occupied. When I started travelling and don't want to take my laptop, but want to keep a larger chunk of music and video, something larger and more capable became a must. Go to a couple of stores and play with them.

[orangecone.livejournal.com]

Sound quality on the orig player was okay. I don't remember much because it's been so long. The iPod is good. As with any player, I would recommend not using the headphones which come with them. Get a decent set.

[scottopic.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I don't know what I was typing when I mentioned DRM-agnostic.
I just wanted ease of use for different common formats - I've bought maybe 6 songs out of my thousands from iTunes, so that's the only real proprietary files I have - the rest are burned from CDs into mp3. I have some philosophical desire to see Ogg compatibility, since I'm involved with some orgs that strongly promote it, but you'd probably understand more of the technical aspects than me.
That aside, since my new job gives me a MacBook Pro, the advantage on that aspect is obvious :)

The tangent is appreciated! The More You Know!

[orangecone.livejournal.com]

Ogg would be nice... maybe? I know of so little which actually uses it, nor do I know how well it stands up to mp3 vs mp4 (aac) vs wma vs any other audio file delivery method using compression.

More often than not, I rip my CDs to AAC if my only intent is to put them on my ipod. If I am being more archival about it, I use FLAC, but it can't be played on any portable media player... that i know of.

[valiskeogh.livejournal.com]

dood... why fiddle with all that?
just get some damned mp3's!!

[orangecone.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I follow your question... fiddle with what?

[valiskeogh.livejournal.com]

all dat drm crap

[orangecone.livejournal.com]

I don't like DRM any more than you do. I avoid it if at all possible.

[arimathea.livejournal.com]

Nano and if you go to the Apple Store take me with you and I can use my discount.

[rhino777.livejournal.com]

my ipod helps me get to sleep when i'm on ambien

[ravenousfaerie.livejournal.com]

I'll second the Creative Zen - i love mine. :) Although i have the 80gig one. :P It's easy to get music on there. You don't even have to DL their software to get music on there either. In fact IF you are a Windows user the best program to use with it is Media Player 11. It does all the work for you with lighting speed. Sharing is easy too - you can just do a drag and drop.

The only con for my model so far is that i haven't figured out the ZenCasts. I had used their program provided for ZenCasts updated and all- but it still crashes on me.

[morbid-o.livejournal.com]

The Creative products are nice, and I like the Zune for features/price.

I'd hit up the reviews at Newegg to see if there's anything new in your price range, though.

[darlingnancy.livejournal.com]

find jesus instead heathen.