[mcgsxr]

Hello portable music fans!

I am pretty new to portable music, as I have a decent home setup that I love - however, now that I am going to the gym at work, I need to listen to music other than what is being pumped through their "system".

I am considering an Ipod Shuffle - I know, many here are not fans, but for me, I think it will do the trick, and the price is right - anything else compete with it for US$100? 0.5gb is fine, I am at a computer all day, and only work out for 1 hour, so that is more than enough music for me.

Now - phones. Thinking of Ety 6i, or Shure 3, or anyone think of some good, isolation phones new or used for around US$125 or so?

Thanks in advance,

mark

 

[Oga]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgsxr Hello portable music fans! I am pretty new to portable music, as I have a decent home setup that I love - however, now that I am going to the gym at work, I need to listen to music other than what is being pumped through their "system". I am considering an Ipod Shuffle - I know, many here are not fans, but for me, I think it will do the trick, and the price is right - anything else compete with it for US$100? 0.5gb is fine, I am at a computer all day, and only work out for 1 hour, so that is more than enough music for me. Now - phones. Thinking of Ety 6i, or Shure 3, or anyone think of some good, isolation phones new or used for around US$125 or so? Thanks in advance, mark

iAudio U2 + Ety Er6i. Simple as that.

 

[Pinny]

Yeah, I would also recommend the Iaudio U2 (or if you're scared of a lithium battery, then the iaudio 5). Newegg.com has it in 256mb for $109.

 

[ticomojo]

I just got a 1g Creative Muvo TX FM from Amazon... $140 after rebate they had going last week. Awsome deal I may say. I also got a pink Creative Muvo N200 for the gf. Both are good portable players - perfect for the gym -include FM radio, voice recording, EQ, etc.

Look them up - the prices recently went down in the past couple of months due to competition form apple I suppose. The N200 has a line in for straight to mp3 encoding if that's something you'd use. I got the TX FM myself because of the integrated usb plug taht allows it to plug straight into the usb port on your comp (like a flash drive or the shuffle - i think?).

I may point out though that at leaast the TX FM I purchased does exhibit some minor background noise (like a hum) with the backlight on - could be kind of annoying I suppose. Since I primarily use it for the noisy gym it doesn't bother me. Good luck.

 

[ZimbuTheMonkey]

I ordered my Shure E3s for 115 at www.earplugstore.com. They also have the Etymotics at insanely low prices.

Their email support team is excellent. They replied within an hour of my emails.

I'm not too sure about the Etymotics, but the Shures come highly recommended. But I assume all of these mid-end phones are excellent, people are always gonna find something to nitpick about. From what I read, the Etymotics are more true to the original sound, and that the Shures add warmth to the music. I prefer the latter, I don't really care about how the music is SUPPOSED to sound as long as it sounds good to me.

 

[Echopac]

MCGSXR,
I have the shuffle for the gym, and it works great for that application and applications like the gym, I have teamed it up with my ER4-P's and it has very good sound reproduction in my opinion, easy to load, easy to use and very light wight. I have the 512 which gives you about 8 hours of sound, plenty for the day.
If we didn't have so many options, we'd only have so many choices.

 

[ZackT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZimbuTheMonkey I ordered my Shure E3s for 115 at www.earplugstore.com. They also have the Etymotics at insanely low prices. Their email support team is excellent. They replied within an hour of my emails. I'm not too sure about the Etymotics, but the Shures come highly recommended. But I assume all of these mid-end phones are excellent, people are always gonna find something to nitpick about. From what I read, the Etymotics are more true to the original sound, and that the Shures add warmth to the music. I prefer the latter, I don't really care about how the music is SUPPOSED to sound as long as it sounds good to me.

I'd second the Sure E3 for gym going. I've used Ety's and the sound wasn't good for a gym environment (IMO). I think Ety's are best for quiet listening. The Sure is more comfortable and goes behind the ear for keeping cords away (heavy duty cord too). The Etys seem just a bit too delicate for workouts.

ZT

 

[Enigmatic]

I wasn't a big fan of the shuffle until the other night when I actually used one, I was using some random panasonic earbuds my friend had laying around in his house and the sound quality was much more than expected.

 

[ZackT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enigmatic I wasn't a big fan of the shuffle until the other night when I actually used one, I was using some random panasonic earbuds my friend had laying around in his house and the sound quality was much more than expected.

Yeah, and according to this thread the scientific side holds up too...

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=112445


ZT

 

[IpaqMan]

For gym use, I would recommend looking at the Iaudio 5 and the Creative Muvo N200. The N200s are going at lower prices nowadays. They are slightly bigger than the Shuffles and they have a screen, FM radio, line-in encoding, and voice recorder. The N200 comes with a belt clip case that fits very securely in its included armband.

 

[Cyclone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZackT Yeah, and according to this thread the scientific side holds up too... http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=112445 ZT

i was quite surprised that thread when i first saw it, that guy should do a test on the muvo tx fm as they use the same audio chip.... a sigmatel if memory serves me right.

 

[gradeo]

Bargain options:

iRiver 180 - $40 (Cnet)- 128 MB. It's worth a shot if you only need 2 hours of music. Unfortunately, I like being able to hear when I run or workout.

iRiver 190 - $60 (I think) - 256 MB. See above, only 4 hours instead of 2.

Rio Cali - $60 (overstock)- 128 MB, upgradeable to as big of a SD stick as you want to use. Spend an extra $10, and get a warranty with this one, as some go forever, and some have issues. I just ordered one with the thinking that I can throw a 1 Gig SD card in it ($75), and upgrade to a 2 gig card in a year or two.

 

[Lewis_Levin]

1G player costs 179.

Uses 1 aaa battery, which lasts something like 40 hrs. Use rechargeables and you've got a combo that is much better than the devices with proprietary lithium batteries.

 

[Enigmatic]

I've ordered a 512mb shuffle for when I'm doing active things like skateboarding or jogging, and I'll use my regular ipod for school and in the car. I think it is perfect if your mainly doing active things with it, since you don't need to be looking at a screen.

 

[sparks]

I recently purchased the Samsung MT6Z for my wife to use in the gym. The "Z" is 1 gig, or you can get a 256k or 512K version. The reviews have been great, and I think it sounds fabulous. It even drives my Etymotic ER4S's pretty well. Has a great built in FM tuner, EQ, voice record microphone, and even has a line in, as well as direct record to MP3 from the FM tuner. Plays OGG and many other Codecs. It's very tiny and lightweight, and plays forever on one AA battery. My wife is very happy with it. In comparison to my Rio Karma, I think it sounds great. I purchased mine from Best Buy, mainly because they had it in stock and I needed it for her birthday, but I also liked the fact that I could return it in 30 days if she didn't like it.

It's fairly easy to use, and my wife is very non-techy. She got the hang of it after using it a couple of times.