Recommendation wanted: MP3 player

[Skybird]

I am looking for an MP3 player. Any models you would recommend?

Criterions for me are:

- 8 GB
- good sound quality, I also want to be able to influence it (equalizer)
- good to handle, good search function (8GB=120+ hours of music...), readable display
- good battery endurance (10 hours minimum)
- easily available in Germany (Amazon, Saturn, or whereever)
- solid construction, not too easy to break(device hull, wires, sun, sealed against moisture, low temperature)
- does not break down after just one or two years
- solid access via USB to PC, transfering music from CD to PC and plaser should not raise any problems. Exclusive source of music to be transferred, will be CDs. I know how to turn them into MP3 tracks, if there is no software included. Easier solution is welcomed.

Desirable, but not indispensable:
- radio
- SD card slot to change or increase memory

What is not needed:
- a video player, there will be no videos watched with this, so the display should deliver good text and information, but not pictures
- telephone, internet, etc - it should not be a smartphone
- games, any other gimmicks and extras

The devicece will serve as a library for jazz, some classic, pop&rock.

I know nothing about MP3 players and find it difficult to limit the choices to a smaller number of candidates. Google did not help me much, only told me how many models there are - discouraging many.

[TLAM Strike]

I use a Emerson MP3 player its only a 2 GB but its very well built, got it over two years ago and have not had any major problems with it. It only cost me $15 so it was quite a deal.

[HunterICX]

good sound quality, I also want to be able to influence it (equalizer)

The quality of the sound mostly depends on the MP3 file itself (kbps - khz) and the earplugs, The MP3's themselfs come sometimes with cheap ones so watch the package carefully to see how the ear plugs are like.

Comfort & quality earplugs are a must. :yep:

HunterICX

[DarkFish]

The quality of the sound mostly depends on the MP3 file itself (kbps - khz) and the earplugsTrue, but a low quality mp3 player will never sound as good as a high quality one;)

I'm a Sony fan myself, Sony's always got a good price/quality ratio.
Personally, I've got a Sony NWZ-A826. I've got it for about 1.5 years now, and never had any problems with it, even though I'm using it really extensively.
Sound and Display are both pretty good, the menu works pretty intuitively, good battery.
(I've got the 4GB version, there is an 8GB version though)

Transferring music from your PC to the mp3 player should not be a problem with any player. Most PC music players (Windows Media Player, Winamp etc.) have got synchronizing options.


Don't go for anything from Apple - high prizes and mediocre quality.

[Task Force]

well if you just wait alittle while, im sure one of the spammers trying to sell us something could help you.:har:

well, hope you get a good one sky...

[Skybird]

Stumbled over a SanDisk Sansa Fuze, which maybewill make the race.

[DarkFish]

I've had a SanDisk once, but after about 6 months its earplug connections had somehow turned loose, so that I hadn't got any more sound.

Probably nothing but bad luck, but still...

[AngusJS]

I recently got an 8 GB Sandisk Sansa Clip Plus to replace my good old 1 GB Creative Zen that gave up the ghost.

Besides the built-in 8 GB (more like 7.35 GB), the Sansa has a micro SDHC slot, which means you can use a 16 GB card to expand your storage space to around 24 GB. However, the player will treat its internal memory and the card as two different locations which have to be accessed separately, though that's not been a big issue for me.

It has a radio, which you can record from.

You can set it to MSC, so adding music (or any files) is easy.

I think 10 hours of playback is possible, though it depends on the battery you get. I think mine gets about 8?

It has an equalizer and various modes, but the default has been fine for me. People say the player has great sound for its size, but I have nothing to compare it to, and I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway.

I've had it for a few months, so I can't say how long it'll last.


Downsides:

Fast forwarding and rewinding can take some time, and I frequently end up accidentally skipping to the next or previous track which is really annoying, especially when I'm listening to a 30 minute lecture. :damn:

The display only shows three lines at a time, so finding music can take awhile.

The battery icon doesn't correspond to the actual level of charge when charging the player.

The player can't play music when it's hooked up to a computer. I don't know if this is also the case with battery packs. A workaround is to plug in the USB chord in such a way that the data contacts don't connect.

However, I've been too lazy to update the firmware, so maybe some of these issues have been rectified.

Overall, it's been a good player that does the job at a good price. And when the 32 gig cards come down in cost, it'll be an even better deal.

[Seth8530]

The creative labs Zen has all of those features you ask for including a radio. The sound quality is amazing and it comes in touchscreen and non touchscreen flavours.

Older non touchscreen
http://support.creative.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?catID=213&CatName=MP3+Players&subCatID=214&subCatName=ZEN&prodID=17810&prodName=ZEN+X-Fi&bTopTwenty=1&VARSET=prodfaq:PRODFAQ_17810,VARSET=CategoryID:213

Touch Screen
http://support.creative.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?catID=213&CatName=MP3+Players&subCatID=231&subCatName=MIDI+Keyboards&prodID=18965&prodName=ZEN+X-Fi2&bTopTwenty=1&VARSET=prodfaq:PRODFAQ_18965,VARSET=CategoryID:213

[XabbaRus]

I have a Creative Zen which is a bout 4 years old now.

Music plays fine, has a radio and voice record function, The battery is easily replaceable unlike that named after a fruit unit.

So I'd say Creative, can't go wrong.

Mine is only 6GB and when you start to fill it up startup is a little slow but that is probably the same with any of them.

Also though it is HD based it is tough, it has been dropped, chucked around in a jacket and it has never broken down.

Also iRiver is another one that gets good reviews and rivals Apple in the looks department.

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

Stay away from iPod unless you want to be really sad...:D

[DarkFish]

Actually pretty much every mp3 player should be decent nowadays, and will have most (if not all) of the features you want. As I said, I'd personally go for Sony, but other brands should be good as well.
It all depends on how high you want the sound quality, and how many of your preferred functions you deem absolutely necessary. An expensive player will generally have better sound and more functions than a cheap one, but you pay for it.

One thing I'd definitely recommend is a relatively large screen. My 1st mp3 player had a just large enough screen to display 3 lines (like the one AngusJS mentions), it was a real PITA when searching for a particular band/album/song. My current Sony displays 8 or 9 bands/songs and up to 16 albums when searching. Makes life a lot easier:).

I'd also not go for a really cheap one (like less than €100,00), those tend to have less functions, less good sound quality and often have confusing menus for choosing the song you want to listen to.

[Skybird]

I've just ordered a Sansa Fuze, 8GB, for 74 euros (originally 120 Euros).

The Sony players received many customer comments of being good in sound like the SanDisk, but more complicated in handling.

The creative Zen was too big, I also do not need such a big display. No video intended here.

Emersons I did not find in stores or being listed in onlineshops in Germany.

My reasons for the Sansa Fuze:
- said to have very good sound
- display is bigger than just three lines
- No other player on German Amazon received so many perfect customer ratings, mentioning both handling and sound quality
- price
- more data formats listed as compatible than for the other players
- size (slightly smaller than a credit card)

I plan to use 192 kb samples, which should put me on the safe side of MP3 quality.

I am ready to maybe replace the earplugs, but I do not want to invest too much money into them (not more than ~35 euros). I read recommendations for the Sennheiser CX 400-II, the Ultimate Ears MetroFi 170, and Koss KEB 24. - Any thoughts?

[Seth8530]

Sounds like a nice choice. Im a creative fan and believer now so i would of went with creative labs but aye m8 ur investment. Enjoy your new Mp3 Player ( :

[Skybird]

Two questions for the sound professionals.

I am a bit confused on how to collect music best. I read in a forum that the device I have chosen, via firmware can be updated to run .ogg-files, too. I also read different recommendations for how much compression should be used in order to have a good sound quality. First I read 128Kbit/s would be enough, then it was rtecommended to go to 198 Kbit/s, and more.

I believe I understood that ogg-files are at least as good in quality than MP3. Since I use Audiograbber to rip the CDs I want, and that thing is quickest and easiest when allowed to produce ogg-files. I would like to stay with that format. Speaks anything against that?

I have decided to use 256 Kbit/s, to be on the safe side of things. Is that too much - or should I even use 320, if I have sufficient memory?

[XabbaRus]

Well are you burning CDs and converting to MP3?

I just have almost all my albums on my HD at default bit rate.

Sounds fine to me.

[DarkFish]

You could also use Windows Media Player for ripping CD's. Easy as hell, and can produce mp3 files.

For mp3s, I generally use either 128 or 192 kbps.
What is good enough depends on both you and the music you listen to. If you're an absolute listener you'll need a higher bitrate. If you've got "normal" ears you can do with a lower one. If you listen to slow, calm music, a lower bitrate will do. If the music you listen to is fast and dynamic you need a higher one.

There's no way of really knowing what will be enough for you, besides testing. I'd recommend to start at 128kbps and move up from there (testing can be done at your PC):up:

[Skybird]

Well are you burning CDs and converting to MP3?


Burning CDs happens rarely here. I did some experiments this night, though.

First, i learned from reading some more info that kbit/s in MP3 and OGG Vorbis do not compare, the OGG files reach a higher sound quality with lower sampling rates, so when you use lets say 256 for MP3, you do not need a setting for OGG that matches that value, but you can use a much lower sampling rate to acchieve the same quality result, usually they recommend settings between 5 and 7 on the OGG slider for reaching a transparency that can no longer be differentiated by most listeners from life CD. I have adopted to a setting of 6, which is around 200 kbit/s, when I tested with samples in the range of settings between 3 and 8. In MP3, I can realise the difference from 128 to 196. Going even higher to 256 is where it looses me. I tested that with burnt tracks from CD in my HiFi, via headphone (a good headphone, I mean).

And if 8Gb is not enough to save my wanted CD collection, which will be a mixture of Jazz, Classic, Pop and some moderate Rock, I almost missed the option to put another micro SD card in and have more CDs as well. so memory should not become a problem at all.

I also decided to invest into a slightly more expensive inear set than I originally planned. I found a reasonable deal for the Philips SH9850, which got very good reviews especially for it's sound characteristics. With 65 euros it is in the middle segment of prices. Spending up to 250 euros for such things was not within my financial reach. :D

I'm really enjoying the perspective of spending some hours in the green or by the river in the coming days and hopefully: weeks, - in past weeks I have repeatedly thought when being there and reading a book that it would be nice now to have this or that CD available.

Just the organisation of tracks and readying them for synchronisation via demanded Media Player 10/11 drove me crazy a bit. That software simply does not arrange the tracks the way I want it, copies them in doublettes although they are correctly tagged, and so on. The audiograbber arranges the grabbed tracks in in album-related folders which do not seem to get recognised by WMP. And WinAmp -I'm a burnt child, two or three years ago I tried it, and it ended with a seriously damaged installation and my firewall running amok - I reinstalled short time later. Maybe I picked a monday download, but the memory is still haunting me.

[NeonSamurai]

I have the Sandisk Sansa clip + (4gb) myself. Its a pretty good player, and nice and small too.

Personally I use the inbuilt playlist function for playing my music. I found it easier to work with then sorting by album, or artist, etc. Folder also works too though I did have some trouble when I had lots of sub folders 3 deep or more. The advantage with playlists is that you can add any track from any folder, and you don't need to make sure all your music is properly labeled (which is slow and annoying to do).

[Skybird]

I have the Sandisk Sansa clip + (4gb) myself. Its a pretty good player, and nice and small too.

Personally I use the inbuilt playlist function for playing my music. I found it easier to work with then sorting by album, or artist, etc. Folder also works too though I did have some trouble when I had lots of sub folders 3 deep or more. The advantage with playlists is that you can add any track from any folder, and you don't need to make sure all your music is properly labeled (which is slow and annoying to do).
I read that transferring music to the player, or deleting songs on the players, takes MUCH more time if you just move content via drag-and-drop - instead of using the synchronisation feature of the WMP...!? i would love to just drag and drop the music organised in folders per artist and sub-folders per album and skip any player software on the PC alltogether, but I believed I understood that this has huge disadvantages, time-wise?!

[Skybird]

Got it, and I am stunned - sound quality is far beyond what I expected. Easy handling, firmware up-to-date, fast data transfer, very good equalizer, .ogg and folders gets handled without problems. Wonderful! Much better than what I expected. If tuning the equalizer to the earplugs correctly (tried the default, a new one, and an old one I had), then I cannot tel the difference to a CD running in my HiFi and using headphones there.

I hope this device has some reasonable longevity. and right for the uncertainty of this, I would not spend more money on a player, than I did spend on this. But why should one invest more, if for that price you already get such superb sound...?

:yeah:

[Zachstar]

I have a Sansa and I love it! Because it just works and the contrast is very good and it feels light but secure.

Glad you had a good experience as well.