[-Paolo-]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doug zdanivsky Paolo, The link to that guy in Toronto I gave you.. He wants $350 Cdn for E-4c's.. He's got a used pair I'm getting for $280, which isn't bad.. I'll be getting the 500kb shuffle, not the 1 g.. heck, 500 kb is more than I need, but oh well..

American Techpushers has the E4C's for $189 USD, which is roughly $240. I think theres a wait list though.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Where are they out of?

 

[-Paolo-]

Syracuse New York...

I sent you a PM.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Huh..

Just trying out Itunes (where have you been all my life?!? That's so neat...).

Looks like I'll definately have to use the MP3 format.. The wavs I have on my HD.. 5 songs is gonna take up 1/2 of the 512mb capacity..

Do you lose anything, quality-wise, turning them into MP3's?

 

[AlanY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doug zdanivsky Huh.. Just trying out Itunes (where have you been all my life?!? That's so neat...). Looks like I'll definately have to use the MP3 format.. The wavs I have on my HD.. 5 songs is gonna take up 1/2 of the 512mb capacity.. Do you lose anything, quality-wise, turning them into MP3's?

You lose some quality, obviously, by turning them into MP3s, but for portable listening the difference is fairly minor.

If you just have WAVs right now, I'd suggest turning them into AACs, not MP3s. AAC is a format like MP3, but it's more modern, and you get better sound quality for the same size file. AAC is actually the default setting in iTunes.

Also, I don't agree with the poster above who suggested that you shouldn't shake the iPod Shuffle. You can shake it all you like, and it won't skip or get damaged. Because it weighs so little, it would be almost impossible to damage it by shaking it, even vigorously (remember basic physics). Dropping it from a 10 story building would probably damage it, of course.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

How do I turn them into AAC's?

I have 2 folders I've put into Itunes, 1 for wavs, one for MP3's..

Is there a way I can just "select all", "covert to AAC", and have them show up in an AAC folder (which I would make)?

Or am I going to have to go through them one by one?

Edit: Figured it out, thanks..

God, I love the age we live in.. It's like I've been living in a cave..

 

[Acidice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJGeorgeT he can buy dirt cheap arbands on Ebay. That's what I did for my iPod. I only paid $5 for one. It is nice to place your ipod in an armband. Even though it is flash based, you don't want to shake it or subject it to unecessary physical strain because it will eventually fail. Same with cd players...just because it has a buffer that prevents the audio from skipping, it does not mean I am going to shake the sucker because eventually it will fail and completely die.

Actually. Flash based players have no moving parts. So shaking it around shouldn't do anything bad to the player. CD players have a lot of moving parts. Which is why if you shake them around they will eventually crap out. Did you already buy your shuffle? Its a nice player.. but the fact that it has no screen is kind of annoying. I guess it comes down to personal preference. Enjoy your new setup

 

[DJGeorgeT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acidice Actually. Flash based players have no moving parts. So shaking it around shouldn't do anything bad to the player. CD players have a lot of moving parts. Which is why if you shake them around they will eventually crap out. Did you already buy your shuffle? Its a nice player.. but the fact that it has no screen is kind of annoying. I guess it comes down to personal preference. Enjoy your new setup

moving parts or no moving parts, you don't want to subject your electronics to shaking, vibrations or shock.

 

[elnero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doug zdanivsky Ok, I have a line on a used set of E-4c's for $280 Cdn ($230 US), and a JMT Pimeta portable for $133 ($110 US).. Looking good?

No, E4c's can be had for cheaper than that new. I paid far less than that from Earphonesolutions, they price matched the lowest price I found and they're international shipping friendly as I like to say. Excellent customer service.

I'm not sure on the pricing of the Pimeta though.

 

[blessingx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doug zdanivsky How do I turn them into AAC's? I have 2 folders I've put into Itunes, 1 for wavs, one for MP3's.. Is there a way I can just "select all", "covert to AAC", and have them show up in an AAC folder (which I would make)? Or am I going to have to go through them one by one? Edit: Figured it out, thanks.. God, I love the age we live in.. It's like I've been living in a cave..

EDIT: Ooops, I didn't see you figured it out. Anyway....

There's a couple ways. One you can change your preferences to AAC and highlight the tracks you want to convert, click 'Advanced' on the toolbar and convert. Another is once you have a Shuffle and connect it to iTunes, there's an autofill feature that can downsample to 128 AAC. Coming from WAVs this is a decent step down in quality, but at 1/10th the size, it's really quite good. Espeically for gym, etc. use. You can use AAC or MP3 with the Shuffle. It really depends if you want to keeps thing simple (the iTunes AAC encoder is better than the iTunes MP3 encoder... but there are better MP3 encoders that approach AAC quality) or you want compatibility (MP3 is played on a far superior number of portable, DVD, car, etc. players). Just be aware going from MP3 to AAC doesn't increase quality (though depending it may get you smaller files). Generally don't do this as transcoding is usually frowned on (though this 'sin' is exaggerated around here). If you want to go AAC from your Wavs, try a couple tracks at 128 and 192 and see what you think (my fave is 224, but lower is probably better on the Shuffle).

 

[jrosenth]

If you're interested in an alternative to the Shuffle, look at the RIO products (Chiba, Forge), flashplayers that take external cards.

Bought a refurb chiba ($47) and a 1 gig SD card ($45 after rebate) for my wife - 1.25 gigs for under $100 with a radio and display and ability to add memory. Small, sturdy, cheap, flexible, feature-packed.

Also, if you are interested in anything besides canalphones (as an alternative for certain situations ), look at the Audio Technica Earbuds or the Koss phones (great bang for the buck).

 

[insomniac]

I'm somewhat of a portable gear junkie, but I will say this - I found the e4c driven straight out of a shuffle alarmingly satisfying.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

No, I haven't bought the shuffle, yet..

Right now I'm working on completing the transactions (ie, paying for them) on the other components (mini-to-mini, Pimeta, E-4c's)..

The shuffle I can get right here in town for $130 Cdn ($108 US).. I'm going to make sure that's within $20 of the best price, and if it is, just get it here and do without the having it shipped, having to take it somewhere else for warrenty stuff, etc..

Thanks for the tips, blessingx.. I'll definately be keeping it sipmle..

Now, forgive my ignorance, but:

Quote:

try a couple tracks at 128 and 192 and see what you think (my fave is 224, but lower is probably better on the Shuffle).

How do I accomplish this? To what purpose? This is within the Itunes interface?

Thanks!

 

[ZackT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doug zdanivsky Now, forgive my ignorance, but: How do I accomplish this? To what purpose? This is within the Itunes interface? Thanks!

Ok I'll step in here. Now tell me (and forgive me) if I'm telling anyone to suck eggs but here it is step by step.

1. Put a CD in your computer, if iTunes doesn't come up automatically open it.
2. If names don't get applied to all the tracks go to "get track names" on the drop down menu.
3. Go to "Preferences" then "Importing" and set your first bitrate - suggest Apple Lossless
4. Drag the CD icon into the library (or use the drop down) to convert files.
5. Go back to preferences and select a lower bitrate (suggest 320 AAC) then select one of your newly created lossless files and choose the option "convert to AAC" from drop down (or right click)
6. Repeat for other bitrates.

Clear as mud?

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Thanks, Zack!

What's the difference between AAC and Apple-lossless?

And why is bit-rate important? If higher is better, why is blessingx suggesting that 128 is best for the shuffle?