[doug zdanivsky]

In the next couple months I'm going to take the plunge and replace my tired cd-player and get an MP3 player..

I'm thinking Shures or Ety's for the 'phones (anyone have an opinion on which is the better line?), with a portable amp (what do you call those DIY Altoid ones?)..

But as for the player, what would best meet this criteria?

80% of the time will be used at the gym..

Don't need an obsene amount of storage.. Enough for an hour, hour and a half's worth of MP3's, or WAVS, or whatever the best type of file is best for music fidelity and transfer quality..

Best build quality for the money!

Ease of use important!

Must be able to take tracks off the unit's HD, but transfering songs from the MP3 player back to other sources (PC HD's, etc) not neccessary..

$350 US, tops..

Thanks for your help!

 

[c.you]

How about a shuffle. Also consider iAudio's U2 and iriver flash players. All are build quite sturdy.

 

[Sinbios]

The portable amp you described might be a cmoy or MINT. For the phones, I'd say Shure for its sturdier cord, since you're using it at the gym.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

A "shuffle"?

What's the difference between a CMOY and a MINT?

I've heard lots of talk of these KARMA's? Who makes them?

I'll go with the Shures, then, thanks.. That seems to be the consensus, here, for gym use..

 

[c.you]

Ahh yes, I forgot to mention get the shures. I got some e2c's and the cables are quite thick. Overall the earphone is quite robust. The etymotics rather have thin cables and wouldn't be ideal for work out sessions.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Where can I get Shures in Canada? Vancouver, BC, preferably..

Is there a big difference in quality btw the E-3's and E-4's?

 

[DJ Mauler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doug zdanivsky A "shuffle"?

Ipod Shuffle, its a flash player that has no screen and plays in shuffle hence the name.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Hmm.. Thanks!

Are Ipod's ok for the gym? Do they come with arm-band or waist "holsters"?

 

[c.you]

No, the shuffle doesn't come with an armband. Its ideal for workouts because its very light. As for the armband, you'll have to buy it as an accessory. Its $40cdn. Quite the rip-off IMO. For the shure e2c's, I ordered mine from discountearphones.com. The price on them right now is $65usd on discountearphones.com(not including tax or shipping charges) I recommend to look at buy.com and earphonesolutions.

 

[cire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doug zdanivsky What's the difference between a CMOY and a MINT? I've heard lots of talk of these KARMA's? Who makes them? I'll go with the Shures, then, thanks.. That seems to be the consensus, here, for gym use..

cmoys are cheaper and simpler, but MINTs sound a lot better and the construction "seems" easier if you buy the PCB for it. MINT also costs about 15$ more to make.

the karma is made by Rio. its been discontinued and has a shady reliability record.

i fourth the ipod shuffle. its a great little player and very competitivley priced at 100$ for 512mb and 150$ for 1gb.

 

[Amuse]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doug zdanivsky Where can I get Shures in Canada? Vancouver, BC, preferably.. Is there a big difference in quality btw the E-3's and E-4's?

Commercial Electronics on Burrard street. I remember last time I called them, they had Shures, but I dunno about their price..

 

[akwok]

http://www.marcopolo.ca

This guy is very nice; ordered the E4C's from him.

 

[AlanY]

If you're going to be using your player mostly in the gym, there's no need to get an external amp. In fact, I'd avoid it. Way too much bulk. Just choose an MP3 player with a good level of sound quality. (Some of the cheaper ones don't sound all that good, but many of the relatively inexpensive ones, like the iPod Shuffle, sound very good.) The iPod Shuffle is a good choice. You see a lot of them at the gym because it's as small as a stick of gum, doesn't skip, is cheaper than some of its competitors (though to be fair, most others have displays), and it sounds as good as or better than the larger iPods. An armband is convenient, but not really necessary. The iPod Shuffle comes with a lanyard so you can wear it around your neck. If you're using a treadmill, just tuck it in your pocket. It weighs next to nothing.

Be aware that the 1GB iPod Shuffle recently dropped in price in Canada by $20. Some Canadian stores (e.g. Future Shop) still haven't lowered their prices yet, so just be aware of that. London Drugs advertised the higher price in their last flyer but in-store they're selling them at the lower price.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Quote:

Its $40cdn. Quite the rip-off IMO.

!!!

No kidding!

Thanks, guys, for the links and addresses for Shures.. I sould check the "for sale" section of head-fi, too..

Looks like the shuffle is the way to go..

Is everybody of the same mind that an amp isn't neccesary?

I figure I could just put both the player and the amp in the hip holder I have for my cd-player, so bulk isn't an issue..

Quote:

this guy is very nice.. http://www.marcopolo.ca

What'd you pay, all said and done, Akwok?

As for skipping, how could an MP3 player skip? I never even considered that would be an issue..

 

[AlanY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doug zdanivsky As for skipping, how could an MP3 player skip? I never even considered that would be an issue..

MP3 players with larger capacities (5 GB and up) have internal hard drives. When a hard drive is shaken, the heads retract away from the platters in order to prevent damage. When this happens, you can get skipping. MP3 players have large memory buffers to try to prevent this, but it is not always possible, especially if you're jogging and start switching between songs. Different MP3 players are more prone to skipping than others. The iPod Minis use a different type of hard drive than the biggest iPods and many people find they can jog with them and not get skipping. Your mileage may vary. People who do a lot of running generally choose flash-based players. These don't have hard drives and never skip. The iPod Shuffle is one example of a flash-based player.