iPod experiences

[K-Bee]

Due to a change in my job situation (thankfully :lol: ) I'm gonna have to involve myself in some fairly long train rides in order to get to work.
I was thinking about buying myself an Ipod (most possibly the 40gb one) - some musical enjoyment will much needed to pass the time driving though the samey flat danish countryside :lol:

Now the question is....Is the ipod the best solution. I've heard many rumours of battery problems, computers freezing up when pluggin in the ipod and a few others.

Any experiences dm members may have (good or bad) with either the Ipod or similar players (like Creative or phillips) would be higly appreciated.
I really wanna be sure of what to get before taking the plunge

(I'm running in a sempron 3.0 ghz/512 MB Ram/XP Home computer)
thanks in advance. :)

[Noman]

All HDD based mp3 players do have a higher failure rate than the flash based once. HD crashes are common among all brands. If you want the best in sound an functionality for music have a look at Rio Karma (Amazon-US/Amazon-UK). They have gone down in price and you can check pricerunner se or uk for best prices. It is the true winner when it comes to sound quality and software. (Only 20 gig but the fastest transfer rate of them all. computer to player. 20 gigs in a couple of minutes)

If size doesent matter the Iriver H340 (Amazon-US / Amazon-UK) is a very good player with some nice features. Otherwise have a look at archos gmini series (the 200 is small).If you don't like the suggestions so far then look at the latest iPod (Amazon-US / Amazon-UK). The creative models are a little bulky and dull but have good sound.

You probably want the player to be able to work with a 60-80 ohm Hifi headphone. The amp in ipod is not on par with Rio and Iriver. It's even with archos and creative.

[Bernie]

Any hard drive based music player device that works with a computer can freeze up, have software conflicts... That just goes with the territory regardless of brand. You can minimize those issues by running a computer that is updated to the latest software...

I purchased a 4th generation 40Gb Apple iPod last summer and couldn't be any happier with its all around performance, sound and ease of use. It was also a breeze to integrate it into the car as all the accessories are readily available.

Do keep in mind a few things:
1) Continuos DJ mixes composed of more than i track will not play back gapless. This is my main pet peeve. The only way to remedy this and it is not an elegant solution is to join the tracks when you first import. This creates one large track.
2) The new iPods have battery run times of 12-15 hours. I've never had a chance to use it for more than a few hours at a time, but the general consensus is that you will get pretty much the advertised times.
3) Make sure to only use a Firewire cable and not USB or else you'll be there all day waiting for your music to transfer. I've transferred 40Gbs of music from a Mac to the iPod using Firewire and it comes out to about 1-3 seconds for each song to transfer using high bit rate files like AAC-MP3s would be even faster. You can also use the iPod to backup your computer files if you like.
4) Replace the stock headphones! This pretty much goes for any portable music player, but I HATE the little earbuds that came with my iPod. I replaced them with Shure E3c (Amazon-US / Amazon-UK) in-the-ear earphones and the difference is dramatic and well worth the added cost. Using the Apple Lossless encoding format the bass is tight and nuetral and not exaggerated while the mids and highs are more open and detailed.
5) If you get any iPod you MUST buy a case immediately as it is super easy to scratch.
6) Just this past Wednesday Apple lowered the prices of its iPods by a large amount so do check them out. Amazon-UK
7) Almost forgot this one... Buy your iPod from the US if you can as those for the EU market have a dumb volume limiter imposed by the French government even for those sold elsewhere in Europe.

[K-Bee]

Thanks for your very informative and insightful views on this subject.
You've both raised several issues I never would have thought about myself since I'm quite new to this...the one about replacing the headphones is a no-brainer though :lol: I'll have a closer look at those Shure ones you mentioned Bernie.

One thing that makes me wanna go for the Ipod is definetely the ability to use it as a portable harddrive. That's a very handy feature.
One question though Bernie....could you please explain what you mean by a "volume limiter"? Is it to prevent people from cranking up the volume too high and hurt their ears in the process? It makes sense in a way I suppose, but I like to choose volume levels for myself

I'll also have a look at those Iriviver and Rio Karma players you recommend Noman - must be some test results somewhere on the net.

[Bernie]

Originally Posted by K-Bee

One question though Bernie....could you please explain what you mean by a "volume limiter"? Is it to prevent people from cranking up the volume too high and hurt their ears in the process? It makes sense in a way I suppose, but I like to choose volume levels for myself

That's exactly what it does. There may be ways of getting around it. Search Google if this is a concern or simply buy from an American dealer like Amazon. Good luck!

[BrunoRepublic]

Originally Posted by K-Bee

Is it to prevent people from cranking up the volume too high and hurt their ears in the process? It makes sense in a way I suppose, but I like to choose volume levels for myself

Apparently, it's required by law in France. I first heard about this when I read instructions on how to hack Sony's MiniDisc players to get around it.

[Noman]

This page has links to 23 reviews of the Karma http://www.prisjakt.nu/produkt.php?recs=13894&pid=13894
And this to 6 reviews of the Iriver http://www.prisjakt.nu/produkt.php?recs=15274&pid=15274
And 18 for the Ipod http://www.prisjakt.nu/produkt.php?recs=12932&pid=12932

The Rio Karma plays gapless mp3, ogg vorbis and Flac (It also plays wma but not gapless) That meens you can split mixes in separate tracks and still listen to it without gaps.
If you don't like earbuds I recommend the Sennheiser PMX60, Neckband on ear headphones

[K-Bee]

Excellent Noman
This should make my choices a bit easier (or not :lol: )
Thanks.

[K-Bee]

So...I've been an Ipod owner for 2 months now and couldn't be happier. I'm yet to replace the headphones though but all will come in due time
Thanks again guys! :D

[Bernie]

Originally Posted by K-Bee

So...I've been an Ipod owner for 2 months now and couldn't be happier. I'm yet to replace the headphones though but all will come in due time
Thanks again guys! :D

Excellent! Once you change the headphones you'll be loving the experience even more. Have you used it in the car yet?

[K-Bee]

Originally Posted by Bernie

[Excellent! Once you change the headphones you'll be loving the experience even more. Have you used it in the car yet?

Afraid not Bernie. You kinda need a car for that! :lol:
Over here you have to pay for three cars but only get one!
That's why most Copenhagen citizens ride bicycles :lol:

I'm higly impressed in how the random shuffle option manages to adapt to my music mood without me even doing anyhting :lol: