[ricobico]

I am looking to replace and ooollllld Ipod mini and I wouldn't mind switching from ipod to some other brand. My main Ipod gripes are that I can't stand the Itunes interface because of how it changes track names from what they are in PC folder and then it's hard to have the books play in order without manually setting up each track - which can be very time consuming. I also have problems with my Ipod skipping tracks, although that could be because it is so old.

I almost never listen to music through my Ipod, so I am looking for something solely for audio books. 4gb should be plenty.

PS - I have tried other interface programs, aside from Itunes, but I had many problems. it has been a few years since I tried anything other than Itunes so any suggestions for the "best" for audiobooks would be appreciated.

thanks!

 

[Kicksonrt66]

First question, where do you get the audiobooks? Is DRM an issue?

If space is tight, I like converting them to speex, a speech specific codec, which gets the storage required down as low as 5 MB/hour (10 sound a lot better, but still way smaller than mp3 or WMA)

As far as I know, to play it on a portable it requires Rockbox firmware.

 

[Xena]

Books only? Something small with a minimal screen would be great. Like a Sansa Clip.

 

[ricobico]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kicksonrt66 /img/forum/go_quote.gif First question, where do you get the audiobooks? Is DRM an issue? If space is tight, I like converting them to speex, a speech specific codec, which gets the storage required down as low as 5 MB/hour (10 sound a lot better, but still way smaller than mp3 or WMA) As far as I know, to play it on a portable it requires Rockbox firmware.

Thanks for your response.
DRM is not an issue. I get some of my books in newsgroups - pre ripped and DRM stripped - and the balance I get from the library and rip myself via Itunes. I am not worried about space, so I don't want to mess with another audio format. I am trying to simplify things, which is where Itunes hurts me. 4gb is more than enough. 2 would even work, but I want a screen - something like the Ipod shuffle would be out, for example.

 

[ricobico]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xena /img/forum/go_quote.gif Books only? Something small with a minimal screen would be great. Like a Sansa Clip.

That's great. They seem reasonably priced as well. Any suggestions for a good interface alternative to Itunes? Or is one even necessary? (edited after reading a little about this device)

 

[ricobico]

Newegg has the 2gb clip for $45 and the 4gb Sansa E200 for the same price. Any reason not to go with the 4gb?

 

[Xena]

On Windows you can just drag-and-drop your MP3 audiobook files (or other supported formats) to the device: it mounts as a removable disk when plugged in. Or WMP will sync with it (other freeware may too). Don't know about itunes.

Advantage to the Clip is more format types supported. I have the older C250 sansa (a bit less features than the E200) and it's what I use for audiobooks and OTR (old time radio) shows. I think either would work very well for you. Clip has the advantage of having a very FLAT output ... other than the storage size, it's actually a dam good music player.

 

[Earwax]

I use a Sansa E260 running rockbox for audio books. Rockbox gives you folder and filename based navigation so you don't have to worry about updating ID3 tags. FIles will play in file name order. It also has bookmarking feature but I only use the automatic bookmark that's generated when you turn off the player. When it's turned on again it resumes right from that spot.

The clip is a fine music player but it uses ID3 tags for play order and navigation, you may have to go through your files and re-tag them before it will work they way you want.

 

[ricobico]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Earwax /img/forum/go_quote.gif I use a Sansa E260 running rockbox for audio books. Rockbox gives you folder and filename based navigation so you don't have to worry about updating ID3 tags. FIles will play in file name order. It also has bookmarking feature but I only use the automatic bookmark that's generated when you turn off the player. When it's turned on again it resumes right from that spot. The clip is a fine music player but it uses ID3 tags for play order and navigation, you may have to go through your files and re-tag them before it will work they way you want.

thanks to everyone for your help.

Earwax: does rockbox work with the clip? All I want the files to do is play them in order I see in windows explorer. When they are on my PC, they are named in order, by disk and chapter number. Is that not quite how it works? I have been in Itunes world for so long that I forgot how things work in the outside world.

 

[IpaqMan]

I have been listening to audiobooks for years on various players. There are a few player features that are useful in a book player.

1) Forward / rewind through track changes. Rockbox, Ipods and Creatives rewind to the beginning of tracks and stop. That is inconvenient when trying to review book passages that span tracks.

2) Automatic bookmarking when switching between books. or powering off.

3) Controls that are not prone to accidentally losing your audio track position.

4) Display

5) Sleep timer - let's you listen to books at night.

The Sansa Clip provides all of the above features. There is a folder set up for audiobooks on the Clip. The Clip treats tracks in this folder in a special manner. Track positions are automatically memorized so that you can switch books. When you switch back to a previously heard track, you are prompted to resume or go to the beginning. The fast forward and rewind controls will not skip tracks as in music mode. The FF/RW controls only scan forward and backward. This makes it very difficult to accidentally lose your place in a book track. The Clip also has sleep timer, display, drag and drop, and standard mini-usb port. It also supports Audible.com books.

My gripes with the Clip for audiobook listening include:

1) It does not remember what track within a book/album you were listening to.

2) Only has a 15 hour battery life.

3) Nine second boot up time.

For situations where I can only listen in short spurts, I use an Ipod or Sony player because of the instant on feature.

 

[Earwax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricobico /img/forum/go_quote.gif Earwax: does rockbox work with the clip? All I want the files to do is play them in order I see in windows explorer. When they are on my PC, they are named in order, by disk and chapter number. Is that not quite how it works? I have been in Itunes world for so long that I forgot how things work in the outside world.

Someone's working on Rockbox for the clips but it's far from being ready for general use.

The clip navigates using the ID3 tags rather than the filename. FIles you download may or may not have correct ID3 tags. It's actaully not hard to fix up the ID3 tags yourself using MP3Tag but it's one extra step.

 

[DJGeorgeT]

sansa clip is awesome. Best player I have ever purchased...and the fuze too.

 

[ricobico]

Just bought a Black 4gb Fuze at Office Max for $69.99 on an "unadvertised special" plus I had a $15 coupon card and so I got it for $55. Yay! Thanks for your help everyone.

 

[DJGeorgeT]

Have fun with the fuze!

 

[Spad]

I'm not sure, but I wonder if you ever quite got the hang of the iTunes/iPod thing with audiobooks, ricobico. iPods have the ability to play them at approximately 25 percent faster speed with no distortion. It does this by reducing the time between words so there is no change in the pitch of the reader's voice. It's great listening to a 20-hour book in about 15. And in almost every case I find that I actually prefer the sound of the faster playback. I'm not sure if other DAPs do this, but if not, this feature alone would cause me to have a Nano for audiobooks if nothing else.

Converting your downloaded books from MP3 to the iPod's audiobook format (which allows the speed increase) requires a single click in preferences. The best iPod for audiobooks (and I've tried and still own almost all models) is the new Nano 4G. Compared to the touch 2G, the Nano is noticeably better for this use, although I prefer the touch for music playback and its myriad other features.

I'm even more addicted to audiobooks than to music and, I expect like you, have a huge collection of them. BTW, have you heard Alex Kershaw's new book Escape From The Deep? It's about the sinking of the USS Tang during the latter days of WWII. A word of warning: you will lose sleep!