Share your favorite MP3 players!

Post by **Mozgus** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:33 pm

The best way I can sum up my feelings on iJunk is that it just seems clearly aimed at the casual market, and I'm just not part of that. I've played with Pods before, and they're stylish and flashy, but I instantly start wondering where the features are. There's not enough stuff on the screen. I do more than play, pause, and skip.

And then you realize that they cost 2x-3x more than their competitors. I just enjoy my money a little too much to part with such a large chunk of it.

Post by **racketboy** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:49 pm

Mozgus wrote:And then you realize that they cost 2x-3x more than their competitors.

Say wa?
Usually when Apple releases new refreshes/price decreases, they are very competitive. Only after many months or a year do competitors over significant value. And just about that time, Apple does another number on them.

While I haven't dealt with a ton of other players, I still think iPod interfaces are far superior. And to be honest I don't want use Explorer or something to load my music.
One thing worth mentioning, is that I actually prefer the no screen/small space of the shuffle. With the smaller quantities of music/podcasts, I know how to navigate to what I want with surprisingly little effort. And not having a screen allows for simpler control that I can do without looking while my shuffle is in my pocket. It's really like second nature for me now.

It works well for me, but won't for others.

Post by **racketboy** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:51 pm

RadarScope1 wrote:Yep. Steve Jobs pretty much already has my money. It's like he knows my debit card number by heart....

All I wanted was a flash-based full iPod. But the new models are basically an iPhone without the phone. I'm probably going to get one here pretty quick.

As for iTunes vs. WinAamp - it's funny but I always read about this debate in forums and blogs and both sides say the other program is too restrictive or doesn't have enough features. I think it's like like music itself: just comes down to personal preference and taste. I know a lot of people don't like iTunes because everything is DRM'ed. But I buy 98 percent of my music in a very durable and completely unrestricted format: compact disc. iTunes works fine for simply storing and organizing everything in my collection. And I'll admit I have technolust when it comes these new iPods/iPhones. I should resist, but I cannot.

Stuff in iTunes is only DRMd if you buy the DRM'd stuff from the store. I don't buy much from there. I buy used CDs and rip them at full quality if anything. My wife does find it useful for buying single tracks (esp accompaniment tracks) for her choir classes.

Post by **opethfan** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:59 pm

My ol 4G may have to be replaced by the classic...

Oh, and I hate iTunes. It installs 3 or 4 system processes when it's not even running, and it needs Quicktime (I use Quicktime Alternative), plus it's an unstable memory hog.

I use QMP. I'm different

Post by **Perseid** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 10:06 pm

racketboy wrote:I used winamp for MANY years (1998-2005) and loved it.
But with my growing collection, I couldn't pass up iTunes' database-query-like smart playlists and its slick interface.
Winamp sucked in that regard. Add the seamless podcast and iPod support, and iTunes is essential in my daily lifestyle.

It is sluggish in comparison to WinAmp, but on a relatively modern machine (I run a P4 2.4GHz, 1GB RAM - 5 year old machine) and it really doesn't bother me much in terms of performance. (On my older PII and PIII Thinkpads, iTunes is pretty darn slow.)

I would call WinAmp featureless much sooner than I would iTunes.
Perhaps I have missed some recent developments with WinAmp, but perhaps you haven't given iTunes enough of a chance.

All I know is this long-time WinAmp user is very happy with iTunes.

Did you ever play around wih WinAmp's Media Library? I don't know what all iTunes can do for you, but the Media Library is searchable, rateable and fairly quick even on a large collection.

Post by **lordofduct** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 10:43 pm

ummm, something that plays mp3's...

i know itunes is on this bastard cause that's what all my female friends know how to use... I want to bitch smack them everytime they rip a damn cd with it though... i don't like the .aac format

windows media player gets massive use as all my male friends go for the closest thing

I usually play my stuff remotely off the server though in linux... so yeah, what's the point of even describing it.

Post by **opethfan** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 11:12 pm

If the SPDIF on my sound card was supported by Linux, I'd use Rhythmbox (Yes I can spell rhythm, unlike 99% of people) or Amarok. But it isn't.

Post by **Mozgus** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 12:03 am

racketboy wrote:
Mozgus wrote:And then you realize that they cost 2x-3x more than their competitors.
Say wa?
Usually when Apple releases new refreshes/price decreases, they are very competitive. Only after many months or a year do competitors over significant value. And just about that time, Apple does another number on them.

While I haven't dealt with a ton of other players, I still think iPod interfaces are far superior. And to be honest I don't want use Explorer or something to load my music.
One thing worth mentioning, is that I actually prefer the no screen/small space of the shuffle. With the smaller quantities of music/podcasts, I know how to navigate to what I want with surprisingly little effort. And not having a screen allows for simpler control that I can do without looking while my shuffle is in my pocket. It's really like second nature for me now.

It works well for me, but won't for others.

Dude, I spent a long time researching the models NewEgg was selling, and those iPods cost so much more than the competition of similar spec models most of the time. You pay a premium to be part of the hip Apple crowd.

Post by **RadarScope1** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 12:46 am

Mozgus wrote:You pay a premium to be part of the hip Apple crowd.

Yes, you do. Just compare a Mac to a PC with similar specs. It's like twice the cost for OS X and some shiny plastic.

I will admit to being part of the 'casual' crowd when it comes to using DAPs and music software. I buy CDs. I rip. I put it on the iPod. I can tell the same kind of difference between some of the folks on this forum and myself: many of you are into modding and burning/backing up files, or tweaking emulators. I just get the console and plug it into my tv with composite cables.

@Perseid: Yeah, iTunes does all of that. Honestly, I love all the detail with which I can catalog songs in iTunes. You can categorize the hell out stuff so a menu would read Music > Jazz > Instrumental jazz > Bebop > Hard bop > Miles. And it's all searchable by just about any critera you can think of, and quick.

What I really think this comes down to most of the people in one camp simply haven't used the other software. Mozgus sounds like he's much more in-dept with file formats and what not so I can understand wanting the flexibility. One thing Apple does NOT offer, and that's flexibility.

One other fanTAStic thing I love about iTunes is the fact that something like 20k podcasts are available through it. I know, I know, you can just go to the individual sites or RSS it. But iTunes makes it simple to subscribe from a single source and streamlines it all.

Post by **Mozgus** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 5:40 am

Oh my god, I get the Miniplayer today and look what was just announced: http://en.meizu.com/userforum/forum_pos ... ID=12&PR=3

Son of a bitch, lol. Whats worse is the currency converter reads the 800 yuan 4GB model as roughly 106 US dollars. Its ganna be the same price as the one I bought.