i-Pod #**$%%

dHarry

Well-known member
iriver or iaudio?

so it seems that iriver & iaudio are neck in neck as the best mp3 players out there - anyone have a preference? I'd like:

  • no proprietary software restrictions
  • usb flash drive style drag & drop on my PC
  • line-in recording & playing of all formats including uncompressed wav
  • audiophile sound quality

too much to ask for?!
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
Yeah, like matt b I have a chunky old iriver H340, which I think I already wrote about somewhere upthread... I chose iriver because iaudio didn't exist at the time, and because it had a colour screen, audio in etc. and free upgrades.

I run this alternative operating system on it called Rockbox. This is available for recent iaudio and iriver players (as well as iPods and so on), so if you're happy to give this a shot don't fret about the features of the software, just the hardware, when choosing a player.

With Rockbox you can play and record uncompressed WAV, can play MP3, OGG, and FLAC among others. You can make on the fly playlists that you can save / edit / merge / reorder / etc. really easily; the thing works as a flash USB drive if you want to drag crap around; you can view pics; you can read text files; and you also get dinky little games (I'm addicted to sudoku at the mo).

You can also skin it if you're into that kind of mallarky. You could even make it look like iPod's OS, just with way more options... :rolleyes:

Man, you can even change playback speed if you're feeling oh so zany... I've been listening to all kinds of things at different speeds recently, pretty good times... make your own impromptu screwed versions of tracks. :D

Anyway, I think Rockbox is pretty ace. It's also a dual boot thing, so if you ever want to switch to the original player's OS you can do so just by holding down a button when you turn it on.
 

dHarry

Well-known member
Man, you can even change playback speed if you're feeling oh so zany... I've been listening to all kinds of things at different speeds recently, pretty good times... make your own impromptu screwed versions of tracks. :D

- sounds like you could almost DJ with two of them! Or just one, if Rockbox added a simultaneous dual cue/playback feature... I thought of this as a joke, but surely this is imminent if it hasn't happened already?

thanks for the info MattB & Micheal!
 
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dHarry

Well-known member
iAudio is getting a lot of good press, mainly for its sound quality as well as file support, usb drag'n'drop, line in recording etc., but here's an "audiophile" review suggesting its line out quality is actually worse than the ipod:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009Q4UBK/ref=pd_cp_e_title/002-8639046-9659202#RDAI6L3GJ0BIO


For using as a sound source plugged into an amp (vs. headphones/earbuds on the go), does anyone have any other opinions on this? Is the iriver better for pure sound quality?
 

matt b

Indexing all opinion
For using as a sound source plugged into an amp (vs. headphones/earbuds on the go), does anyone have any other opinions on this? Is the iriver better for pure sound quality?

i use mine in the living room, plugged into a ecler mixer and through harmen kardon speakers and in the kitchen through a cambridge amp/ wharfedale speakers.

can't tell the difference between (good quality) mp3 and vinyl in the living room, sounds fine in the kitchen
 
O

Omaar

Guest
Rockbox will run on ipods too, but last I checked it didn't support audio recording (either compressed or umcompressed ), though I think this feature is being developed. Ipod linux (which works on a dual boot system too) supports uncompressed audio recording , kind of ... Just in case anyone wants to rig up their ipod for audio recording without having to buy extra hardware.
 

Leo

Well-known member
shuffle songs

i have about 1,000 tracks from hundreds of artists on my iPod, yet when i use the shuffle songs option it seems to repeat the same dozen or so artists (not repeating the actual song, but the artist, that is). i've toyed around with the shuffle setting but don't really know how to best achieve shuffle that rotates thru all artists (ie, play one artist and then not repeat a song from them until the entire catalog of artists has been play once).

anyone familiar with how to make such a setting? if this has been addressed elsewhere, just let me know where.

thx.
 
Put this in Google and have a read:

ipod shuffle random illusion

not 100% what you were sking but interesting....
 

zhao

there are no accidents
left my pod on the fucking airplane... i try to think of it as a $450 (including nice headphones) gift to someone who really needs it... not to mention filled with amazing stuff but they'll probably just delete it. guess i'll have to buy a new one :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
left my pod on the fucking airplane... i try to think of it as a $450 (including nice headphones) gift to someone who really needs it... not to mention filled with amazing stuff but they'll probably just delete it. guess i'll have to buy a new one :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Yikes, that sucks! Sorry to hear that.
 

bruno

est malade
wow, i would never spend that amount on a portable music player. i would on a pair of headphones, though :confused:
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
wow, i would never spend that amount on a portable music player. i would on a pair of headphones, though :confused:

But would you take them with you on holiday, or would you leave them in your house under lock and key, and preferably armed guard?
 

bruno

est malade
i wouldn't use huge expensive headphones on the metro or walking through a shantytown but not because of the cost, it's just rude to everyone else (and it's not right to flaunt wealth).
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
i wouldn't use huge expensive headphones on the metro or walking through a shantytown but not because of the cost, it's just rude to everyone else (and it's not right to flaunt wealth).

The wealth-flaunting aside, I'd say it's far less rude to wear decent headphones than crappy ones (like the shitty little white buds you get with an iPod) as they actually project most of the sound into your ear, rather than into the ambient space where it annoys everyone in earshot.
 
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