I am in the market for a new one and was hoping to get a better idea of what people use, and why.
I have always had an iPod (traditionally nano), as I like syncing everything off my iTunes. However, of late, I am getting a little annoyed at the minimal gb capacity and I am not keen on purchasing a AUD $400+ iPod touch.
Would love to hear what fellow OzBargainers use!
Music
Any issues with using your phone as a player instead of carrying a separate device?
iPhones have ipods built-in with differing storage capacities and lots of android phones allow the use of removeable storage.
Just listening to music doesn't drain a lot of power so battery shouldn't be an issue either.
Ocarina. Annoys the hell out of everybody within earshot. :)
Just kidding. Mobile phone.
My iphone 6plus 128 Gb. Works really well as a music device and has the added advantage of lots of apps. You can get some cheap Android phone with a memory card.
My cheap Huawei Ascend Y550 phone, which plays flac files rather well.
Android phone + PowerAmp + Noise cancelling QC20 headset
the original nano. i can skip songs, adjust volume, fast fwd/rew without looking at a screen.
that scroll wheel was great, pity they dropped it.
iPod classic 80gb had it for years, I can't store that much music on my phone.
I have a ipod nano 7th gen from 4 years ago. Still use it on a regular basis. Sadly, there's too little space and I have to remove some of my favourite albums to make space for new songs every few months or so.
That is exactly whats happened to me. I find myself having to remove some of my favourites!
Its interesting to see how many people use their mobiles.
Old android phone(HTC Incredible S) with custom rom and all telephony functions disabled, using Jet Audio plus as music player, works great!
Without wanting to annoy….was interested in the answers to this post as I'm in the same boat but so far most answers are (a) old gear or (b) ignore/don't mention capacity when OP has stated that is a prime issue.
It may be that the situation reflects the problem I am having….there doesn't seem to be a viable, reasonably priced ($100-$170) dedicated player that covers full quality FLAC files as well as MP3.( NB I didn't want a phone). Must have a decent capacity…SD card is a must, no artificial onboard only capacity limit is tolerable to me as an Ozbargainer LOL.
To be fair to those who have commented, i suppose the use of a external memory card would give the user plenty of memory (guessing?).
Unfortunately, i am after something much smaller (for running etc) and don't like clogging my phone for music purposes. Just personal preference I suppose.
Like I just said to another post - its interesting to see how many people use their phones for music devices.
Your last problem is exactly my predicament. Ive been doing a little bit of research today, and it appears old school users like us might have a few options:
http://www.bestproducts.com/tech/gadgets/g1064/mp3-music-pla…
http://www.whathifi.com/best-buys/portable/best-portable-mus…
Damn, sorry admins.
My deleted note referred to the just placed purchase used (got impatient) of a FiiO X5 High Resolution Music Player at $199 US - less 3% Cash Rewards PLUS damnit, freight forwarder costs
ALSO including a caution to *** not *** buy at $168.99, on personal experience I think it is a dummy listing.
Also thanked Rocket6 for the post tho most items listed were scarily priced
Try to find a Fiio X1 or Sony A Walkman (old model).
I am looking at the Sony Walkman NWZ-A17. Seems perfect for me.
I personally use the Walkman ZX1 for my train journeys, quality products.
remember though sony's are generally limited storage like ipods, albeit at higher capacities. The fiio range starting at the M3 and X1, or the newer X1 II, take a micro sd card so can be expanded up to 128gb easily and some reports of them handling 256gb micro sd's as well.
I have modded and used/given to friends a couple ipod mini's to 64 and 128gb but my preference is my ipod classic still going strong after 7 years with decent battery life surprisingly. I have all the parts and to mod a dead hdd ipod classic too with oversize battery and at least 2x 128gb ($/gb value) sd cards with room for expansion down the track.
@Rocket6: that's good news then, i lost track of what sony was doing as some of previously they didn't have expandable memory so i had ruled it out for me.
have you tried the Sandisk Clip? i had one years back, before smartphones took over, and theyre still available. they were well reviewed, dirt cheap (~$50), and really small and durable, with a tiny screen and nice buttons, and had a microsd slot
that all still seems to be true, thought the price has gone up a little. $60 on ebay, from israel of all places http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SanDisk-Clip-Jam-Black-MP3-8GB-Di…
Last experience with these was approx 3 years back…bought 3, all failed in rapid succession. So said "never again".
A real pity as I have an older sansa player from lord knows how many years back, the control button has now completely failed but before that was still going like a champion. Real shame that Sansa seemingly has dropped the ball on quality control.
I have gone to Spotify on phone but if I was doing download and wanted small for running like OP then Clip is it
Takes 128gb card - not sure if you can sync directly from iTunes but you can from MediaMonkey
I am surprised that BeerBelly had issues as I have had mine for ages - still long battery life
Only thing that wears/breaks eventually is the spring-loaded clip on the back
It is so small/light you could easily wear on a lanyard or similar instead
There are custom OS for it too but it didn't do much - factory os worked for me
Phone. Though there were a few DAP that caught my eyes like Shanling one that I've seen on OzBargain as well as others (that others have already mentioned). I would've gotten one but I decided that using that money for better phone would be better.
The reason why you'd be having a problem with finding a cheap one is that the market started targeting higher end users. The MP3 player market demand from general public died down and unless your device offer something better a lot of people would choose just carrying a phone instead of carrying two devices.
The introduction of smartphones cannibalised the entry level Mp3 player market.
I remember a time when iPods were the rage and I absolutely loved my iPod Nano Gen2, it was super small and slick and had (for it's time) a good battery life. And being slightly masochistic, I enjoyed using the iTunes software (okay, I was in high school back then)
But after I purchased my first smartphone, which was the Nokia E71 which had expandable MicroSD storage, the iPod just became a thing of the past for me… it couldn't play video nor did it have expandable memory. I could also drag and drop music and play using a Bluetooth headset. iPod Nano's became redundant basically.
By around 2007-2008 the first iPod Touch came out, and that set the bar for high end PMP's and a lot of companies followed suit after (Microsoft tried the Zune but failed miserably)
And then Spotify and streaming music services came along, which meant smartphones became the most popular gateway of accessing streaming music.
Yeah, smartphones practically killed the MP3 player market, making every manufacturer to ditch the market completely or target higher end market (demands for them still exists and they have high price tag). Besides, smartphones are not that bad.
Talking about iPods, I do have fond memories of iPod Classic. That said, that thing had its own problems.
I was kinda looking forward to Pebble Core, it looked like a futuristic iPod Shuffle with streaming capability.
Sony Discman D121.
https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/sony/d-121.shtml
Eneloops were invented just for this.
Hey, hey do the dinosaur he he
Nokia n8 is my mp3 player, plus it has an fm transmitter.
Works really well.
I have an N97. I've dropped it a few times, so there's a few `wrinkles' on the screen and the blue-tack holding the glass and frame on doesn't also hold the chrome surround so that keeps dropping off, but the 32 GB storage and the FM transmitter more than make up for that.
It's greatest feature is the BP-4L 'hero' battery. I only get about three days use now it is fading a bit, but I can swap it out with the one from my old E63 which is also still powering along…
I was actually looking for an n97 not the mini though for the same reason.
You'll hate me - I found mine on a garage sale table last year. No box, manual or charger but I still agreed to pay $5 for it…
Bought myself a Fiio X3 2nd Gen for Christmas with a 128gb microSD from one of the eBay 20% off sales. I have had iPod shuffles, nanos and classics, and have been using iPhone before I bought the Fiio. Bought it because I wanted to play FLAC and lossless and better battery life during the day rather than using my phone. I think it comes down to preference though. I have no issues carrying two devices.
Hi mate,
How do you find the X3 2nd Gen? Worth the purchase?
I am having a look at the X1.
How do you go about putting your music on there? Is the process simple?
Hey mate,
I use it every morning in the gym and for a couple of hours collectively on the weekends. I've given it a full charge maybe 2-3 times in 4 weeks? I looked at the X1 as well, but I found the click wheel and the physical buttons on the X3 better. Again, probably personal preference.
Adding music is very simple. Drag and drop like it's a USB stick. You can either do it directly to the card, or plug the player into the computer with the card inserted. Once you disconnect, you will need to 'refresh' by selecting 'update media library' on the player.
If you're OCD like me you'll want to check all your ID3 tags are correct, and if you browse files by folder, it will be the exact file names you see on the computer.
Appreciate that, cheers.
Is it a pain to take to the gym? (the bulkiness of it, etc.)
Plan to use it for exactly the same purpose, as well as running.
That sounds great, thanks for the detail.
I've seen that it works with iTunes also, unless their website it a little misleading. Can you confirm?
I don't find it bulky, but you'd have to check it out for yourself. Haven't checked to see if it works with iTunes unfortunately.
Hope that helps.
The original X1 has physical buttons and clickwheel (realeased couple years back) which were replicated on the X3II upon release in 2015.
The newer X1II has the glass "touchwheel" and physical buttons (released mid/late last year)
@Rocket6:From what I learned when looking at buying one (was considering an X3II or X5 II) they won't connect with itunes to manage your library. But both models can be used as a external DAC with the right settings when plugged into your pc/mac.
Old query but answer posted from Fiio in one of the replies:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6074984?tstart=0
I'm old school so I carry a boom box on my right shoulder.
My Phillips boombox even has a turntable and detachable speakers. It needs a long power cord tho.
I replaced an iPod Video's 30GB HDD with 128GB of micro SD storage.
https://www.iflash.xyz/store/iflash-quad/
Perfect solution if you're looking for an apple device and don't mind buying used, but if you're on a budget it can get quite costly. Especially if you don't already have an ipod video/classic.
I got lucky and ended up paying roughly the same amount as a Fiio X1 ~$120 for the ipod and SD card adapter ($50 + $65). It's a good deal considering the fact that I still have 3 more SD card slots for expansion, and also since I enjoy the ipod's interface.
how about this TEAC Portable Bluetooth Speaker
http://www.poco.com.au/Cart/Product-Viewer/Portable-Bluetoot…
I carry the kidnapped artist on my back wnile they sing into my apple air pods..
I use an MP3 player that looks like a pink cat that I bought from Aliexpress for $1.
Thirty years ago I had a pink Sanyo Walkman because I reckoned there was a far lower chance of it getting nicked.
speaking of which I see guys buying 'pink earphones, mobile accessories' now because frankly, there's so much more stuff that's 'tailor-made' for girls!
I am having some renos done on my house and the plaster turned up: a big guy covered in tattoos and muscles everywhere. He asked if he could plug an extension cable in to power his mixer and produced a 20 metre bright pink cable.
I burst out laughing and he told me it was that colour for two reasons. One was so it could be seen easily and the second so no barsteward would steal it.
Yep. And Walkmans were not cheap 30 years ago.
I use my phone and a Spotify subscription.