Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Greekfreak]

I've been a die-hard MD fan for about 5 years now, but as I've only now bought a computer, I have been toying with the idea of getting an MP3 player.

Pros; the MD storage is virtually delete-proof, can use double A batteries, and the units are built like tanks; at least the Sony models I've had.

Cons: the battery attachment conks out after enough time has passed, and rechargeable batteries don't last that long. Increased memory limits battery time.

I'm not crazy about the IPOD hype; but I'd like some recommendations.

I'm looking for durability, battery life, reasonable memory, and a reasonable price. Don't give a flying F about video capability, and never will. What should I be looking for, and how much should I be paying?

[ttompatz]

[Giant]

I got an iRiver, 1GB and it does what I want it to do. Its small and easy to use as well.

[rocklee]

You will be downgrading in sound quality should you go the mp3 route. Having said that, most mp3 players out there will serve your needs. My 2GB MCODY costed me 175,000 won, last me for days on end, decent sound quality, awesome connectivity (built-in USB with no software whatsoever) and tiny.

I really like the designs of the iRiver U10 (4gb) and S10 (2gb) where the actual screen is used to navigate. Have to see it to believe it.

[Giant]

I agree sound quality is less in mp3, but most people cant even notice the difference, especially if you dont have a decent set of headphones.

[bellum99]

I like iriver also. Easy to use, comfortable pendant style, and large size.

[jjurabong]

Don't give up your md player totally..

With an mp3 player, you have to know what you're looking for when you download.

With my md, I like to connect to a cd-quality internet radio station, and just record two or three hours of music. It's a great way to discover new music that you might love.

Yeah, I have an mp3 player, but I still love my md.

[munji]

[Greekfreak]

Tried to use the lousy software that Sony provided (Sonicstage 1.5), but the crappy thing about it is it can't upload mp3s from the net, only albums you happen to own on CD.

I first bought the MD-909 which didn't have usb capabilities. I too have a lot of stuff on MD (mostly from pre-legit Audiogalaxy) that can no longer be found online in any format. Downloads are funny that way. If there's such a software that can circumvent the Sonicstage software and let you upload to your pc, I'd like to hear about it.

[mnhnhyouh]

[wormholes101]

What do you guys think about .ogg? I have been doing a little encoding at only 80kbs with ogg and find very little discernable difference between that and MP3 V0. Or maybe my ears are just screwed.

[mnhnhyouh]

[jazblanc77]

The decision you have to make here is whether you want a devoted mp3 player that has a couple of addon functionalities (photo viewer, text viewer, etc, but is primarily meant to be a music player), or whether you want an all-in-one device like a PMP that will be heavy on the video side of things but has audio, text, and other addon capabilities.

For mp3 players, I highly recommend:

The Creative Vision Zen: M player with its 30 or 60 gb capacities (the 60 gb version isn't available in Korea but can be ordered through ebay retailers that ship internationaly. I actually own this device after having owned other mp3 players and PMPs and it is the best all-round device that I have owned. It should be noted that it can be used as a mass storage device (can be used like a harddrive), it uses tags to organise and show what you are playing (just like the iPod), and it doesn't use wome wack sync manager to re-encode your music on your player (something the iSuck does).

The iAudio X5 is also a very good product, but it has fallen into the new classification of being a "flacid" player due to the fact that it only has hdd capacities of 20 - 30 gigs. The iAudio line is made by the same people as the Cowon PMP players (a very good company). In all respects, iAudio players are very good.

DO NOT buy anything by iRiver. Their sync software sucks hugely, but that's nowhere as bad as the fact that the software on their actual devices suck even more. You will have troubles finding things in their hidden/buried menus and many iRiver players have sync problems (meaning getting music or video on and off of your player). What's the use having a player if you can't put content onto it?

If you must, go ahead and buy an iPod. Though, as far as I can see it, the only really competitive thing about iPods is the fact that they offer up to an 80 GB capacity for their video players. Be aware that you may have to buy a bunch of expensive proprietary addons to get the most out of it, you will be bound to the Quicktime player for synching it, it can't be used as a mass storage device (without being hacked - there isn't a hack yet for the video players), and the sync process re-encodes everything and scrambles filenames, etc. so that it is difficult to take them off of the player again. Let's not forget issues of DDR protection.

For PMP Players:

The Creative Zen Vision: W is my favourite affordable PMP out there. The Zen Vision: W has a 4.3" screen, a 30 - 60gb capacity, an external detachable battery (a very good thing to look for in a PMP), and has excellent codec capabilities in the video and music players.

Anything by ARCHOS has serious drool factor. Archos players are BY FAR my favourite, but they have to fall into second place because they are elite players and usually a little expensive for early adopters. The AV700 is the last generation player by Archos and might be a little cheaper now that the early adopters have tested it out properly. The Archos AV700 has 40 - 100gb capacities, the largest screen in the industry (7 inches), can record from anything that you can plug into it, can function as a USB Host or Slave (you can plug other devices into it), and has an external removable battery. The Archos 504 has an 80 - 160gb capacity, records just like the AV700, and has a WiFi version, but a smaller screen at 4.3 inches. The new AV500 is a scaled down version of the AV700 with a 4 inch screen, recording capabilities (even direct encoding for music), and 30 - 100gb capacities.

*I will die of jeolousy if anyone gets an Archos player because they are the best out there. If you want an Archos player, you will have to get one shipped from home or buy it on from international ebay listing since they are not yet available in Korea.

Third in line is the Cowon A2. It is a great player, even as good as the Creative players, but it loses points becuase it only offers up to a 30gb capacity for storage. This is just barely enough for most peoples' music collections, so it is definitely too small when you factor in that it is primarily a video player and each movie runs from 700 mb to 1.5 gb. That space is too small for a music library and a movie library to coexist harmoniously.

The Microsoft Zune is not, as yet available in Korea. It is actually not all that bad of a player (at least comparable to the COWON A2), but it has to fall way back in line again because it only offers a flacid 30gb storage capacity. Sorry MS, you missed the buck, again!

DO NOT buy from iRiver for the same reasons as for the MP3 players.

DO NOT buy from iStation (Digital Cube). They actually make pretty good players with an advanced text and video player. HOWEVER, the music player doesn't use tags to organise and display your music (this means you can't easily select music by genre, album, artist, etc.), and only runs a dynamic directory of your library (meaning that it only uses a directory tree), and doesn't support playlists. This is the same for all of it's players to date and this is a very bad thing.

The issue at hand is that iStation/Digital Cube gives terrible support. They release a player every second quarter which is still, in all reality, rushed into the market in a beta stage of development. They always promise to firmware the player to be more functional, but they never get around to it, especially if it is an export version of the device. This company cares more about getting players onto the market and making one-time sales than it does about keeping it's existing customer base via releasing and supporting the best possible devices. IStation players look robust, but if you buy one of their players, you will soon start to feel cheated by the fact that it wasn't what you thought it was and by the fact that it will never be firmwared into a device without glitches and functionality blackholes.

If you are looking for a video player, DO NOT buy an iPod Video. Ipod makes mp3 players, not PMPs. Without getting into semantics about other options that the player does or doesn't have, the fact remains that the screen is just too small to view anything comfortably.

[rocklee]

[Giant]

@mnhnhyouh

Dude, you need to relax and wake up a bit with MP3's. Let me explain it to you simply.

A MP3 file is like a .JPG file. Its a compressed format of a 'RAW' format, now as for audio, RAW could be a .WAV file or some other file. A JPG file is still good, but not as good as its original RAW format. So what I am saying is that an MP3 no matter what type of MP3 will never be as good as long its a compressed format of the original, all you can do is get close to the original, and I agree, some MP3 formats are better, but not as good as the original.

And I am not argueing with you, some people can notice the difference between a 192Kbit MP3 and original CD and some cant, very simple.

So please just relax, and dont be so aggressive in your opinions, this is my opinion, you have yours, its all good.

By the way, I have both, an MD and MP3, I love them both!!

Giant