MP3 players?
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I don't have the ears needed to need lossless. LAME does the trick for me.
EAC to LAME VBR @ 192 is my preferred rip.
MP3 format sounds perfect to my ears coming from my ipod to bose triport headphones and sounds great in my explorer...
I like my ipod but that rio karma i think the 20gig looks cool. One gripe i've always had with the ipod is its not rugged in the surface. The mini's have like a rough kinda paint so you don't really need a case for them whereas the ipods back gets scratched up and greasy and the front gets scratched up too. Maybe i should stop being a puss and bite the bullet and let it get scratched to hell to show character then get a new ipod in a year or so.
I like my ipod but that rio karma i think the 20gig looks cool. One gripe i've always had with the ipod is its not rugged in the surface. The mini's have like a rough kinda paint so you don't really need a case for them whereas the ipods back gets scratched up and greasy and the front gets scratched up too. Maybe i should stop being a puss and bite the bullet and let it get scratched to hell to show character then get a new ipod in a year or so.
I thought that too untill i listened to one of my friends for a while on a bus. if you travel alot, then you can listen to it all the time and never get tired of the music that you have because you have so much to choose from (imagine driving across the country with only 5 CD's to listen to...get old after a while wouldn't it?). Or the simple fact that it's easier to carry around one small mp3 player than your whole CD collection.genpowell71 said:
I have a Dell DJ 15 (not one of the newest ones). I decided on this one because for $200 i got 15 GB and a 20 hour battery life...compared to 10 less gigs, less than half the battery life, and $50 more for the ipod mini. Sure, the ipods are great, but for much less you could get something that works pretty much the same. I'd recommend the Dell DJ's to anyone. I've had mine for a few months and works really well without any problems so far.
i'm glad you're happy with your dell, but the fairer comparison would be between the dell dj and the ipod (non-mini), with the dell offering more battery life but equivalent capacity and size, roughly, for $100 less. the mini is physically much smaller, and that's what you pay a premium for.InsaneP2Rider said:
even a blind person could use one.JMAC said:
LOL its the Narlus/Syadasti 1-2 Ipod punch in the groin! OUCH!
I just sold my Rio Nitrus 1.5GB player after a year of crappy experiences with it. I had to re-install the firmware about 4 times in that year because it would just freeze up and not respond to any buttons, etc. I finally read in a forum that a swift smack in the back would correct that. I tried it and, oila... it worked! I eBay'd that sucker as fast as I could.
The bottom line about the Rio is that their music software is nothing short of pathetic. It's about as cutting-edge as Windows 98.
That said, the iPod wins my vote hands-down because iTunes is by far the best music management system and player on the market. Apple makes awesome software and cool products. Everyone else just tries to copy their cool factor, but they always fall short. The Creative Zen Micro looks pretty cool though... that would be my next bet after an iPod Mini.
The bottom line about the Rio is that their music software is nothing short of pathetic. It's about as cutting-edge as Windows 98.
That said, the iPod wins my vote hands-down because iTunes is by far the best music management system and player on the market. Apple makes awesome software and cool products. Everyone else just tries to copy their cool factor, but they always fall short. The Creative Zen Micro looks pretty cool though... that would be my next bet after an iPod Mini.
i've never used iTunes. what is so blindingly great about it?
i will agree that Rio Music Manager is a bit clunky but serviceable. however, the Forge i've got is just drag and drop; windows explorer recognizes both internal memory and secure digital card in the expansion slot as separate drives. drag 'n' drop. nothing could be simpler.
i have heard some horror stories about the Karma and Forge units, but both of mine have been flawless from the get go.
btw, JMAC - my comment wasn't meant to denigrate blind people. it was HUMOR, my friend (get it - shuffle's lack of screen + "interface it's so easy to use" = blind person using the unit to great effect.
i will agree that Rio Music Manager is a bit clunky but serviceable. however, the Forge i've got is just drag and drop; windows explorer recognizes both internal memory and secure digital card in the expansion slot as separate drives. drag 'n' drop. nothing could be simpler.
i have heard some horror stories about the Karma and Forge units, but both of mine have been flawless from the get go.
btw, JMAC - my comment wasn't meant to denigrate blind people. it was HUMOR, my friend (get it - shuffle's lack of screen + "interface it's so easy to use" = blind person using the unit to great effect.
you should try itunes. i used to do the arrange-music-into-folders-obsessively thing with my mp3s, but letting itunes organize them (it does the folders thing too if you tell it to, based on id3 tags, but unless you look at the folder structure you'd never know) is the way to go. then searching for a particular song is very fast, as is limiting your view by genre, artist, album etc. slick, non-clunky, and worlds better than managing files in a directory (how will you search by tags? all you have is the starting letters of the filename) or doing your own folder structure.
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download
well all my mp3s are complete releases, so each has its own folder. searching for a song isn't that big a deal; my brain can handle that, and i'll wager that i've got at least 10x the mp3s that anyone else on this site has. i'll give it a try on a secondary computer (so that it doesn't attempt a hostile takeover) and see what it's all about.
i got a 40 gig i pod for xmass and it kicks ass i have over 8 thousand songs and its still got 3.62 gigs left. i dropped it though this weekend right on the port onto a table corner and it wont hook up to my comuter anymore. bummer but they are fixing it for free by giving me a new one
Toshi said:
Just bought one of these. Mine, a no-namer, died a slow and retarded death. Now it's just a jump drive.lanman said:
10X? Guestimation is roughly 200 GBs? I can top that. But some of mine are older ones I pulled from mIRC. Those guys were doing 128kb/s for the longest time. I think they're up to 192 now as normal rips. Anyway, I've got something close to 34K tracks.narlus said:
Whoa...I just read this entire thread, as I am thinking about getting an Ipod OR SIMILAR DEVICE (before narlus freaks out 
) and my head is spinning. How do you get your songs off your cd's onto your device (whatever it may be 
)? My PC at home is about 5 years old, and operates on Windows 2000. I probably won't be getting a new one anytime soon since I don't use my computer at home that much. What would you gurus recommend? I want to get my cd's onto it, and songs I've dl'd from napster and itunes...what in tarnation do I get/do? And since my computer at home considered ancient, will it take forever to get the songs from my cd's onto it or the mp3 playa?
) and my head is spinning. How do you get your songs off your cd's onto your device (whatever it may be )? My PC at home is about 5 years old, and operates on Windows 2000. I probably won't be getting a new one anytime soon since I don't use my computer at home that much. What would you gurus recommend? I want to get my cd's onto it, and songs I've dl'd from napster and itunes...what in tarnation do I get/do? And since my computer at home considered ancient, will it take forever to get the songs from my cd's onto it or the mp3 playa?
the songs you've downloaded from itunes can be burnt to a cd and reripped if you end up getting a non-ipod device. i'm not sure if you can do that with the songs from napster.
if you do end up with an ipod, you'll want all your music in itunes. ripping cds in itunes is easy: put it in, click Import in the upper right, wait a few minutes, voila.
if you do end up with an ipod, you'll want all your music in itunes. ripping cds in itunes is easy: put it in, click Import in the upper right, wait a few minutes, voila.
You might want to pick up a USB 2.0 card for your ancient PC so the upload won't take forever. For ripping CD, I just tried CDeX per Morryj and it's really simple and pretty fast (http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/).dh girlie said:Whoa...I just read this entire thread, as I am thinking about getting an Ipod OR SIMILAR DEVICE (before narlus freaks out
Hardware, I personally like the flash devices 'cause nothing moves. I just ordered a 512mb for $80 after rebate w/ a FM tuner (amazon.com). The micro drive and laptop drive devices might not take drops too well, and I'm a clumsy bastard sometimes
Plus, moving parts = more demand on the battery(s).
I ski, bike, and workout w/ one. This is why I don't want any moving parts. Plus, I can make several compiles and load per activity (skiing=more angry, biking=a bit mellower, workouts=anything under the sun, but prefer reggae). 34K tracks afford you some selectionsthe Inbred said:
Well, I use mine for both my commute to and from work, which by subway is 45 minutes each way, and riding is roughly an hour and 15 minutes...I have an iRiver, that I totally love, cause I can dump it in my bag, and use my in-line remote, that has an LCD display so I can see all the trackinfo without looking at the actual unit.the Inbred said:
My wife has an ipod, I have an iRiver...mp3 player wars in the household.
i would get the glasses. i don't use my ipod all that often, and now that it's finally broken (headphone jack) i don't really miss it. it was most useful when i was walking to class and between classes every day as an undergrad. now my schedule is such that i bike in in the morning, and back in the night without having to move more than one floor up or down during the day.the Inbred said:
Pau11y said:You might want to pick up a USB 2.0 card for your ancient PC so the upload won't take forever. For ripping CD, I just tried CDeX per Morryj and it's really simple and pretty fast (http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/).
Hardware, I personally like the flash devices 'cause nothing moves. I just ordered a 512mb for $80 after rebate w/ a FM tuner (amazon.com). The micro drive and laptop drive devices might not take drops too well, and I'm a clumsy bastard sometimes
And where is tech support located for these devices and this other stuff you speak of?
I am not technical so you might as well have been speaking swahili up there.
That's the thing... I don't really use mine all that often--just for workouts. When I'm out and about, I prefer the sounds of nature or people. But, when I'm in San Francisco or New York, I could understand how some people just prefer to tune out society while on the subway or walking down Broadway.the Inbred said:
I like talking to people and enjoying the natural sounds of nature too much to block them out with music 24x7.
Wow...you must not hate people like the majority of us!powderboy said:
I'm like Dr. Doolittle... the animals speak to me.dh girlie said:Wow...you must not hate people like the majority of us!
Really? I'd love to know what my cat thinks...powderboy said:I'm like Dr. Doolittle... the animals speak to me.
i probably overestimated, but not by much. i've got 250GB now on my drive, plus about another 200 or so cds left to rip. on top of that is my, uh, "borrowed from a friend" music, of which i've got about 350 cdrs of mp3s...and that doesn't count the lps and singles which i will encode once i get 180 weeks of uninterrupted free time.Pau11y said:
yeah, that's the thing. i'd like one NOW so that i have something to listen to between classes, but i graduate in a year. i don't really see me using it that much after i graduate. glasses tend to last me 3 or 4 years. my MD player is fine for walking around and such, i just wish MDs had a higher capacity, and i could record more quickly.Toshi said:
or maybe i could just sell some stuff and get both.
i use my flash-based player at the gym (2-3 times per week, 1.5-2 hr per visit). i also use it for short plane trips.the Inbred said:
i use my Karma for my car and office, and for long trips, or to take on vacation w/ me.
if i lived in a city, i'd use it (probably the Forge) for walking around or on the subway.
Tech support is on this forum. There are plenty of us to help you w/ stuff like this. A USB 2.0 card is like $25.00 on the hi side. Get a phillips head screw driver, unplug your PC and open up your tower. It's really self explanatory once you do that w/ the card in hand. Install, then put everything back together. When the machine boots up and sees new device, load the CD in the drive and point to the directory that says "Drivers" and done. USB 2.0 will move the music in 1/4 the time vs USB 1.1dh girlie said:And where is tech support located for these devices and this other stuff you speak of?
I am not technical so you might as well have been speaking swahili up there.
aye, i installed a 5 port USB 2.0 controller and it was a piece of cake. cheap too. i think i got it for $12 or so.
so if you buy a song from iTunes, what format is it in? it's not mp3, eh? transcoding (from one lossy format to another, ie - WMA -> mp3) is not a good idea.Toshi said:
i've got the iTunes downloaded but haven't installed it yet.
iTMS songs are in AAC format, with apple's FairPlay DRM system on it. FairPlay lets you play the songs on 3 computers at any given time (deactivate one to play on a 4th etc.) and burn any given playlist 10 times? if you burn and then re-rip there is no DRM, of course, and if you change a playlist even slightly then you can burn 10 more times, repeat and rinse ad inf.narlus said: