[Markthogan]

Hi Guys

I'd really appreciate your Help and advice, as I am completely confused about which MP3 Player to buy!

I have narrowed my search down to:

Iriver IHP-140
I Pod 40GB
Zen xtra 60GB

Firstly let me tell you about my requirements

I want to transfer my CD collection approx 400 CD to MP3 (moving House!)

I want to connect my MP3 To my Stereo System ( not really bothered about portability)

I own mostly Premixed albums therfore want to order songs by Album and then Track number ( if I do it by track title it messes up the mix!)

I own an IBM Thinkpad ( Laptop) with a Pentium III processor with a USB 1 Connect

in order of Importance for me is

Ease of transferring CDs to MP3

Sound Quality when connecting to stereo ( I river has a digital out - but does it make any difference to analogue? - Can I coonect a Zen /IPod to stereo via headphone Jack?

Track ordeing I belive you can do this direct on the zen extra

Ensuring I have enough space ion the player f i buy more CDs

Ease of Downloading songs from internet

So whats the best MP3 player?


Thank you for your help and assistance

I really have no idea which MP3 to buy!

Thanks Again

Mark

 

[oldblueviffer]

Quote:

I really have no idea which MP3 to buy!

...and it would seem that no one here does ...

ian

 

[scamper]

"I own mostly Premixed albums therfore want to order songs by Album and then Track number ( if I do it by track title it messes up the mix!)"

If this is really the case, then you will need to purchase the Rio Karma. Mixed cds without gapless is horrible.

 

[Yasmin_Khan]

this might narrow your search by 50%

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=85633

 

[recephasan]

IMO if the only reason you're ditching your CDs is moving (hard to carry, organize etc.) and not money, as in selling them, then I'd recommend against it.

Kinda off topic but I know a bunch of people who did when the first mp3 craze came about and they all regretted it. Granted, algorithms today are better than yesteryear but they'll even be better tomorrow, and who knows when there'll be a lossless codec that compresses to 16kbits (science fiction as of today but hey, so were Star Trek communicators).

I'd say get a couple of 200+ CD storage cases and keep your CDs. Believe me, you would not want to rebuild your entire music collection when you hit the jackpot or your deceased uncle has put you down in his will and you can afford a $5K setup (didn't happen to me, in case you're wondering

)

Any player you buy today will be an outdated paperweight in 5-8 years but your CD collection will be there.

Just my 2 cents.
Sorry I don't have an answer to your question.

 

[Gandhi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by recephasan Any player you buy today will be an outdated paperweight in 5-8 years but your CD collection will be there. Just my 2 cents. Sorry I don't have an answer to your question.

You can make the same argument for CDs being replaced with something better

 

[karmypolitics]

that's true. encoding to mp3, and then selling the cds is a bad move since a new improved codec could come out at any time. but if you encode to a lossless codec, then goto mp3, you're set

 

[crypt@]

Aren't we all (deciding on which MP3 player, that is)

You can line out with the ipod dock (4G - w/ click wheel, I think) or grab a Sik Din/Imp cable.

Like what recephasan said, unless you are going lossless, don't ditch you originals

I too am trying to find a line out capable player and hopefully go lossless (i.e. at least 40GB). Since portability isn't a real concern, have you checked out Rio Karma? Line out on dock and FLAC, though only 20GB.

BTW, jury is still out on iRiver's line out. I hear iPod is pretty close and so is Karma. Since Jukebox 3, the Nomad seems to have lost the line out

 

[Max Minimum]

I have a slightly bigger collection of cd's than that (nearing 500) and I can get it on my 60g Xtra, no problem. The sound from the headphone jack paired with ATH-CM7's is really good, too. I have not yet gotten a y connector to hook it up to my stereo, though I'll try that soon. One note, though. I did try this with an Archos Jukebox Studio 20 and it had a sort of disconcerting double-amped sound, even though it has an out marked as "line out". Well, actually it has some creative use of capitalization and actually says "Line OUT"

. Anyway, it sounded pretty much the same as using the headphone output, so this could be an issue with the Xtra, too, though someone else told me that setting the volume to 22, I think, would solve the problem.

Ah heck. You know, I don't really need to sleep. I'll give it a try right now since I just remembered I have an old y plug somewhere. More very soon...

 

[Max Minimum]

Okay, good news!

After listening to a couple of songs from XTC's Wasp Star album, I can say the sound you get with this method and the eq turned off is a good solution. It's not as good as what you'd get from a top notch cd player (ahem, kindly hinting that you shouldn't throw out those cd's), but I'd bet most people would never know the difference. The sound is very clean and no double amping nonsense! One thing to note, not that it's a real drawback, is that you'll have to turn your stereo up a little bit with this setup.

 

[recephasan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gandhi You can make the same argument for CDs being replaced with something better

Yes, of course. But in this case, he's already paid for his collection.

 

[Markthogan]

Thanks Guys

Alot to consider and digest, i'll let you know what I decide!

Marc