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Topic: Suggestions on Good portable mp3 player? (Read 5912 times) previous topic - next topic
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Suggestions on Good portable mp3 player?

Hello! I am new to this forum, so I don't know if I posted this in the correct place, but here it goes:

I am in the market for a new portable mp3 player. 
I listen to music using the Apple in Ear earphones.  I owned an old 4 th generation 20 gb iPod and listened to music in the Apple Lossless format.  Then I experienced a hard drive failure, so on to buy something else.

Now I tried several products, and experienced several problems.  I tried a black 30 gb ipod, and a Zen Creative VPlus.  I would prefer a solid state flash player, but an hdd player is ok too.
The problems with the 2 players so far was that I could hear background noise.  It is something like whitenoise.  On the new 30 gb Ipod it was fairly highpitched and annoying.  On the Zen V plus it was louder than the iPod, and just like whitenoise.  I did not apreciate the sound quality of the two players.
I think that the problem might be that the in ear headphones do not require much power for the output, this is why the players have to be high signal to noise ratio.  When I listen through the earphones  I have to crank the volume almost all the way down, and that is when I hear the background whitenoise.

The sound quality of the old 4th generation iPod was definately better then the new one and the Zen V Plus.  These two have unacceptable sound to me.

Now on my compaq v6000 laptop, when I plug in the earphones, I do not hear any whitenoise coming out of the soundcard.

My question is:  Can you guys suggest some portable mp3 and preferably lossless player for aroung 100 to 350 dollars that have a decent signal to noise ratio and have good sound output overall.  This is the most important criteria for me.  I just do not want to keep on truying new players just to be disappointed.

Any suggestions and comments to my problem would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Suggestions on Good portable mp3 player?

Reply #1 –
Well, besides me (and other people) agreeing that lossless audio is not good to carry around, the only player I can suggest is the 160GB iPod classic that goes for $350.  Again, I don't suggest carrying your lossless files around but the 160GB iPod classic is about the largest capacity portable player on the market for that price and it gets 40 hours of audio playback (of course, when using lossy music).  Some say that the audio quality has decreased but many other people say that Apple has slightly improved on the audio quality of the iPod with the iPod classic and that it drastically reduces the amount of white noise when compared to the 5G/5.5G iPods.

Then again, the iPod is only directly compatible with Apple lossless files.  It doesn't sound like that will be an issue for you though.  The iPod can play other lossless files when Rockbox is installed but it is not currently compatible with the iPod classic.

I have a gone from a 3G iPod (2003) to a 4G iPod (2004) to a 5G iPod (2005) to a 160GB iPod classic (2007) and I can say that I am satisfied with the iPod classic.  I can carry around my entire lossy music library along with all of my music video, movie, and photo content as well.  I suggest that you take your Apple in-ear earbuds to an Apple store and give them a listen.  Go on a day and at a time whenever the Apple stores won't be busy.  That way you can try to hear the white noise.  Stores like Best Buy will have the units out but they won't (or at least mine isn't) be pre-loaded with content so you can't really test them.

Suggestions on Good portable mp3 player?

Reply #2 –
How about mp3 players that just play mp3?  I could convert my collection to mp3 192kbps or higher and use something non iPod? 

Suggestions on Good portable mp3 player?

Reply #3 –
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/

Cruise through look at the different models...nothing interesting...well...
Zune 80, Tak -p4 audio library, Lossless=Choice

Suggestions on Good portable mp3 player?

Reply #4 –
I forgot to mention that the new Zunes will be coming out in November (at least I think it is November, it is definitely before this holiday season) with the maximum capacity being 80GB.  A 80GB Zune will carry the same price as a 80GB iPod classic.  Still, you can't beat the value of the 160GB iPod classic.

Suggestions on Good portable mp3 player?

Reply #5 –
I hate apple's guts, but i have to admit the 160 GB ipod is a sweet bargain (itunes on the other hand...). My laptop (dell e1505) has hissing problems due to the adaptor, but the ipod itself is dead quiet; there's absolutely no hiss even when you're listening to really quiet piano pieces. I think a 160 GB ipod would really suit you well.

Regarding lossless on your portable, i don't think it's such a good idea; you'd be very hard pressed to notice any difference. Besides, the codecs have really matured and i'm sure you can attain transparency at 128 (o 192 kbps). You could carry more music and get higher battery life this way.

I'd be glad to answer any questions regarding the 160 gb ipod classic.

Suggestions on Good portable mp3 player?

Reply #6 –
I guess I will follow the advice and go to an Apple store to try out the new iPod Classic.  Right now I am a student at UCLA, and I found a store that is 3 blocks away: "Apple Store Century City". 
If you guys had positive experiences with the iPod then the one that I tried must have been an exception and notr representative of the entire line of iPods. 
I wonder what the "standard Deviation" in the quality of their components is...

Suggestions on Good portable mp3 player?

Reply #8 –
I have the Kenwood HD30GB9.
It has the best SQ I have heard and I have heard most of them in my search for sublime SQ.

It is about $50 higher than your stated budget however.

Suggestions on Good portable mp3 player?

Reply #9 –
Quote from: 31415271828 on
I guess I will follow the advice and go to an Apple store to try out the new iPod Classic.  Right now I am a student at UCLA, and I found a store that is 3 blocks away: "Apple Store Century City". 
If you guys had positive experiences with the iPod then the one that I tried must have been an exception and notr representative of the entire line of iPods. 
I wonder what the "standard Deviation" in the quality of their components is...


The good news is if you ever have a problem with it, you can walk 3 blocks to the apple store and they will swap you a replacement on the spot.

BTW, I have an 80gb ipod classic and it's great (previously owned a ton of older ipods).  I like it the most of all of them, and it sounds great to me.  I have definitely read in a number of places that the white noise has been significantly reduced.  (ie. ilounge.com)  Definitely update the ipod to 1.0.2 using itunes.

Suggestions on Good portable mp3 player?

Reply #10 –
No, don't update the iPod classic as the new firmware is causing a disc spinning issue that causes the hard drives to spin constantly and it will drain the iPod's battery overnight.  Leave the iPod with whatever firmware you have until Apple resolves the issue.

Suggestions on Good portable mp3 player?

Reply #11 –
Quote from: Night Surfer on
I have the Kenwood HD30GB9.
It has the best SQ I have heard and I have heard most of them in my search for sublime SQ.

It is about $50 higher than your stated budget however.


I have the Kenwood HD30GB9 too, $50 is not that much! 
Get something you love! Priceless