Should I try a new mp3 player?

[matt]

I had an Ipod Nano 8GB for a little over a year until the sound became distorted. I sent it back and was reimbursed 173 dollars from Squaretrade. I was thinking about trying a non-apple mp3 player of some kind. I am kind of tired of apple anyways. One thing that annoys me about Itunes is all the songs are mp4 DRM protected. That means you may have an ipod that can hold 10,000 songs like mine, but you won't get but maybe half of that if your songs are downloaded from Itunes. Plus you can't convert them to mp3 beacuse of the stupid DRM thing.

I had my eye on the Zen xfi-2 mp3 player. It has a touch screen supposed to have better quality sound and comes with some higher end earphones. The 8 gb runs for 129 dollars. I have only seen a couple others but this one looked like it just might fit the bill for me. Here is a link to it.

The only drawback is you don't get a program like Itunes, but you can find plenty of sites that sell music, alot of them for less than half of what Itunes charges. I plan on copying the music and video purchsed off of Itunes to CD then re-importing them to my computer as mp3. Then I should be good to go with a new player.

Is there anyone out here that uses a non apple mp3 player and do have recommendations?

 

[wimbouman]

I do.

Can recommend Zen. They are great.

But maybe the first thing to reconsider is: why not have the iPod (it is a great piece of equipment) and change to Foobar with the iPod plug in?

I found that a very nice, open, free and easy solution that outperforms iTunes in every aspect. That, and the ability to rip your CDs on the (high?) quality you want, will give you a better experice.

My 2cts
.

 

[valmara1971]

I have an ipod classic 80gb and shmbo has an iphone we both love the devices but hate itunes. Thanks for posting this I'll give foobar a go but when it comes to my ipod I follow the NRA's mantra!

 

[TimmyBoston]

I've got a Sandisk Sansa loaded with Rockbox. It was inexpensive (relatively) got a new one off Ebay for $55. It's 6 gig and takes microSD cards. So I've got 14 gigs altogether in it. (With Rockbox, it will basically take as gigs as they will put on microSDs, which is great). Knock on wood, this one has served me very well for the last year. And it's cheaper than an Ipod or Zune.

 

[SiBurning]

I just bought a HifiMan 801. At $650-700, it might be a little more than you're looking for. It's also brand new--the first units only shipped a couple weeks ago--so the long term quality is unknown, and there are still some kinks in the interface.
http://www.head-direct.com/product_detail.php?p=72

My previous rigs are based around the iRiver H120 or H140 because they had the optical digital output, and I always carried a separate DAC and amplifier because they sound better than an all-in-one unit. Kind of like having separates in a home stereo, rather than an all in one unit. Of course, you have to believe that a 4.4 lb, 4" thick rig is portable. This is the first one piece unit that has that kind of sound quality. In fact, it's better than any other portable I've ever heard. Well, except for that one home-brewed "portable" rig that required you carry around a car battery.

Okay, I may be just a bit hardcore about musical fidelity.

 

[Milton]

I second the Sandisk Sansa. Personally I have the Clip, while a friend of mine has the Fuze. Both have excellent sound quality.

I've beaten the living daylights out of my Clip to be honest. Dropped it, stepped on it, thrown it, and it still runs like a champ. BTW, they came out with the Clip+ a little bit back, its the same thing, they just moved the headphone jack to a better location and added a microSD slot.

The only drawback is that the UI is ugly. Meh.

 

[SilentTuba]

First, didn't iTunes switch to DRM free songs a few months ago??

Second, you CAN concert your protected songs to mp3 (not totally sure why you would, as AAC encoding is better). All the need to do is burn them to CD, and then rip them as MP3s. If you play with the settings, you can rip them in as high a quality as you want, including lossless.

I love iTunes, and my iPhone. I can't stand having to use AT&T for cell service, and miss Verizon terribly. But I won't go back without an iPhone.

 

[Ron Gallant]

Hate to say it. But don't change just to be different. Apple have the whole experience down. It's as much about iTunes as it is about the player. You can buy your music almost anywhere. Your not stuck buying it from apple. And yes, all(most) of their music and videos are now DRM free. You can also upgrade what your have to the DRM version if you choose. It's DRM free and higher quality.
If you burn them to CD format and re-rip them, it works but you lose quality regardless of the format you used.

Maybe upgrade to an iPod Touch. You get most of the applications of the iPhone without AT&T

 

[PedroNavaja]

+1 on the Sansa Clip+.

Small footprint, excellent sound, microSD, affordable.

 

[SilentTuba]

Hate to say it. But don't change just to be different. Apple have the whole experience down. It's as much about iTunes as it is about the player. You can buy your music almost anywhere. Your not stuck buying it from apple. And yes, all(most) of their music and videos are now DRM free. You can also upgrade what your have to the DRM version if you choose. It's DRM free and higher quality.
If you burn them to CD format and re-rip them, it works but you lose quality regardless of the format you used.

Maybe upgrade to an iPod Touch. You get most of the applications of the iPhone without AT&T

I know there's some quality loss when you re-rip, but given that it is being ripped for iPod/mp3 player use, that loss is going to be barely noticable, if at all. I am very picky about my music files.

I like the iPod Touch...it's a great product. It's definitely not an upgrade from the iPhone, at least not for me. The thing I like most about the iPhone is having the internet in my pocket 24/7...the iPod touch can't do that.

 

[Ron Gallant]

I know there's some quality loss when you re-rip, but given that it is being ripped for iPod/mp3 player use, that loss is going to be barely noticable, if at all. I am very picky about my music files.

I like the iPod Touch...it's a great product. It's definitely not an upgrade from the iPhone, at least not for me. The thing I like most about the iPhone is having the internet in my pocket 24/7...the iPod touch can't do that.

I wasn't talking to you.
It's an upgrade to a Nano.

I don't even own a Touch. I am however on my 3rd gen of iPhone. It's great for sure.

As for the sound difference, that really depends on your headphones and ears. With the base iPod type earphones, it is harder to tell. With my Sure ear buds, I try to stick with anything over 192 Kbps original rips. I can tell then.
Also, in my car, I can tell (big system). AAC Lossless is great if you have the room. It's the only format that does a good job preserving the bass. In good headphones, 192+ sounds pretty much the same.

 

[SRock]

I've tried various MP3 players over the years and ultimately I just keep coming back to Apple. Right now my wife has a Nano and I have a Nano (for running) and a Touch for everything else.

 

[SilentTuba]

I wasn't talking to you.
It's an upgrade to a Nano.

I don't even own a Touch. I am however on my 3rd gen of iPhone. It's great for sure.

As for the sound difference, that really depends on your headphones and ears. With the base iPod type earphones, it is harder to tell. With my Sure ear buds, I try to stick with anything over 192 Kbps original rips. I can tell then.
Also, in my car, I can tell (big system). AAC Lossless is great if you have the room. It's the only format that does a good job preserving the bass. In good headphones, 192+ sounds pretty much the same.

Well, you mentioned not having to deal with AT&T after I mentioned how much I loathe them....

Agreed, the touch is a huge step up from the Nano. It's where I'd be looking, were I in his position...or else an iPod classic, with a huge capacity. I have a lot of music, and the only thing I miss about the iPhone is not having it all with me all the time. It's happened a few times where I want to play something for a student as a demo, only to realize I didn't put it on my iPhone. Drag.

PS...I rip all my stuff at 192 AAC, for the reasons you noted above...but given the speakers I have (headphones, car), I could probably get away with lower quality, and not notice.

 

[matt]

+1 on the Sansa Clip+.

Small footprint, excellent sound, microSD, affordable.

I looked around and saw this player for $50. I think I will try either this or the fuse. Good price for an 8 gb player I must say.

 

[sol92258]

I have both a Sansa E280 and a Zune 80, love them both.
I have personally not been impressed with the Apple devices, they are fine devices obviously, but for me sound quality and UI were much easier and intuitive with the Sansa and Zune.

If I were to choose a favorite....Sansa. You're not locked into the proprietary software as with Apple and Microsoft. (I know MediaMonky, Foobar, etc. will work with Ipoos)

The thing that sold me on the Sandisk offering versus a Creative (originally my first choice) was the drag and drop capability with Sandisk's versus Creative's, again, requiring media software (at the time, may have changed by now).

I'd highly recommend the Sansa. I only got the Zune for the 80 GB capacity, but I do thoroughly enjoy it and could be completely happy with it.

Can't go wrong with either...unless you want accessories. In my opinion - everyone else's MMV - that's Apples only strong point anymore, is the plethora of accessories. I don't use any, so it's not a factor, I go for sound quality and ease of use, and lower cost.

But that's just me....

 

[matt]

I have both a Sansa E280 and a Zune 80, love them both.
I have personally not been impressed with the Apple devices, they are fine devices obviously, but for me sound quality and UI were much easier and intuitive with the Sansa and Zune.

If I were to choose a favorite....Sansa. You're not locked into the proprietary software as with Apple and Microsoft. (I know MediaMonky, Foobar, etc. will work with Ipoos)

The thing that sold me on the Sandisk offering versus a Creative (originally my first choice) was the drag and drop capability with Sandisk's versus Creative's, again, requiring media software (at the time, may have changed by now).

I'd highly recommend the Sansa. I only got the Zune for the 80 GB capacity, but I do thoroughly enjoy it and could be completely happy with it.

Can't go wrong with either...unless you want accessories. In my opinion - everyone else's MMV - that's Apples only strong point anymore, is the plethora of accessories. I don't use any, so it's not a factor, I go for sound quality and ease of use, and lower cost.

But that's just me....

The Sansa only supports mp3 and wma files? That could be a drawback, I don't want to spend days converting all of my Ipod media. Do you know?

I have quite a few m4a files and some Itunes protected files.

 

[Leche]

Another endorsement for the Sansa Fuze. A lot of features for a lot less money and a durable little machine.

 

[matt]

Actually most of the m4a files I have are files I burned from cd to Itunes. I presume I could go through the same process with those again and just use Windows Media burner and rip them to mp3 right? That would eliminate the need to spend the money I am saving by buying a Sansa on a coversion program. Then with the files I bought from I tunes I'll just bite the bullett and do the whole cd burning thing. Probably only take me a day to do it all. Plus I will have some cd's for the car or for my home stereo even.

So I think the winner is the Sansa Clip. Its got upgradeable memory, and most of the sites I am going to be purchasing music off of (I found a few that were less than 20 cents a song) are in mp3 format already.

one question though? If I burn my itunes tracks to cd can I use the Lossless encoder, the one with near cd sound? I would then want to be able to rip the cd back to mp3 files for my Sansa.
Thanks in advance for all of your help.

 

[toucanlamp]

I'm still rocking the 512 mb Creative MP3 player I was given for Christmas oh, maybe 7 years ago I think? At the time it was state of the art and cost probably $200.

I've dropped it so the LCD is cracked and looks all distorted.

Does the trick for me, I use it with one of those casette tape car kits for when I'm driving. I really just don't see the point of these massive 20 GB and so on MP3 players. With 512 mb you have around 100 songs, I just switch them up on the computer when I want something new.

I guess for some people they like to be able to put just every song they like onto it and basically have their entire music collection on a little tiny device.

I think these days Creative is making ones with all the same features and large memory as anyone else, and I've always found their products to be steller.

Everybody has an Ipod, if I bought something new I'd get something different. I also don't like with them how you need to use Itunes to add anything, I like the way with the Creative one where you can just copy and paste the MP3's into the folder and they're on it. If you want to organize the songs you can just create different folders and then pick between them. It also has a voice recorder and FM radio.

 

[Sodapopjones]

First off

I have a 32gb Touch, and a 80gb classic in my truck hooked to my Alpine...

They were free from work from the employee reward program, thing is I would trade them all for another Iaudio.

Cowon mp3 sound quality is leaps and bounds ahead of every major manufacture..

http://www.cowonglobal.com/