Topic: Reccomend an mp3 player

[Javit]

With the new Zune out, the iPod and such others, I'm wondering what's the best for me.  I'll have a combination between FLACs and mp3's, and it appears now that the Zune will not play FLAC.  I love the iPod for it's size, but I don't want iTunes.  What's the best route to go with something 30gb or higher, lossless playback support, and a nice tiny size?

[Brian Skalinder]

iAudio M5 or X5.  Only comes in 20 GB size, though.  That's plenty for my portable listening needs.  You could always upgrade the HD to a larger capacity drive.

[dmonterisi]

why don't you want Itunes?  i know there are workarounds to avoid Itunes, but i have no problem using it.

[Javit]

why don't you want Itunes?  i know there are workarounds to avoid Itunes, but i have no problem using it.

I just dont like the way it works really.  Plus iPod = No lossless playback.

[dmonterisi]

why don't you want Itunes?  i know there are workarounds to avoid Itunes, but i have no problem using it.

I just dont like the way it works really.  Plus iPod = No lossless playback.

what part of how it works?  i'm genuinely curious.

you can do apple lossless if you want.  i used to, now i just use high variable bit rate mp3's and can put about 4 times as much music on there, with very little decrease in sound quality.  but then again, the sound quality is not that big of a deal since i listen to the ipod when walking to work and i use a crappy cassette adapter in the car.

[Ed.]

ipod will play flac if you install rockbox on it.  its a simple install.  if you do install rockbox on it, your computer will act as if its just another hard drive and you can drag/drop music files into the window.

or, you can get anapod explorer (think notmad explorer for the ipod) which is what i use and is great.  i've never used itunes since i've owned an ipod.

[scb]

I love the iPod for it's size, but I don't want iTunes. 

you don't like itunes as a music player?  you can use whatever player you want.

you'll just need itunes to move stuff to the ipod.  you can still play songs in whatever player you want...

and you can use apple lossless, though i don't see the point of playing lossless music through a 1/8 inch headphone jack.  lossy works for me on a portable player

[nickgregory]

you'll just need itunes to move stuff to the ipod.  you can still play songs in whatever player you want...

and I dont even use it for that.  I use XPlay for getting stuff on and off of my IPOD...

[Javit]

I just downloaded iTunes and am messing around with it.  Seriously, wtf.  It's the most unorganized program ever, I freaking hate it.  I ordered an iPod, so I'm gonna have to do something.  I like the folder I have my music in, alphabetical order - album year order (by artist) and the songs all come up again, IN ORDER in my folders and I play from there.  Give me SOMETHING to avoid iTunes and the stupid freaking conversion.

[Ed.]

i'd get something like tag&rename - it'll keep all your filenames, folder, etc the way you have them and update all the id3 tags on your mp3s...you can also add artwork to each mp3.  Then I use anapod explorer.  It pops up the window just like a normal window, you then select all the songs/albums/folders you want to transfer and drag and drop them in the anapod explorer window.  Everything will transfer, anything that is a duplicate gets thrown out, and at the end you have the option of creating playlists on the ipod for each individual album.

[Javit]

What exactly is tag and rename?

[scb]

I like the folder I have my music in, alphabetical order - album year order (by artist) and the songs all come up again, IN ORDER in my folders and I play from there. 

huh?

[Ed.]

What exactly is tag and rename?

http://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm

its just an mp3/flac tagger, but its handy to have, cuz you can tag all your music and embed artwork to all the files.

[db]

I just downloaded iTunes and am messing around with it.  Seriously, wtf.  It's the most unorganized program ever, I freaking hate it.  I ordered an iPod, so I'm gonna have to do something.  I like the folder I have my music in, alphabetical order - album year order (by artist) and the songs all come up again, IN ORDER in my folders and I play from there.  Give me SOMETHING to avoid iTunes and the stupid freaking conversion.

dunno. for a pos proprietary program itunes is pretty tight. you can label whatever you want to get any file/group of files to show up in any order you want. you can delete data tags like composer, artist, date, etc. via "get info" ctrl + i / apple key + i on a group of files.  also, how do you aviod conversion? even if you want wav files on the ipod you still have to rip 'em. if the files are on your hd, just import them. si? o no?

[MBecker]

"Seriously, wtf.  It's the most unorganized program ever, I freaking hate it"

sounds like the typical  newbie to iTunes.  Click on the image that looks like an eyeball in the lower right hand side of the iTunes application.  Your music will then be classified by "Genre", "Artist", and "Album".  I've found 95% of the people who don't like iTunes haven't found this basic feature.  Personally I like iTunes better than any other application I've used such as Winamp, anapod explorer, musicmatch box, etc.  And to reiterate what scott said, I think its pointless to use lossless files for any portable music player 99% of the time.  I use shure e4's (retail for $300 got them for a little over $200) and given the listening environment, 256 aac files work fine for me and it allows me to keep a lot more music/shows on my iPod.  U