[PatrickHill]

Hello,

I'm brand new to this forum, though I have been using a Creative Zen 16gb __af_placement_id--[AFF-PLACEMENT-ID].html]MP3 player heavily (for audio books) since 2008, and have been delighted with it. I have a couple of question I'm sure one you will be able to help me with:

1) Who is the most knowledgeable (or VERY knowledgeable) regular forum participant on the subject of Creative in general, the Zen product line in particular?

2) Where would I find that (those) person(s) in the forums (since I recognize that person(s) may also be an active participant in forums other than the Creative ones)?

3) The reason I'm searching strongly for info is that I have to get an __af_placement_id--[AFF-PLACEMENT-ID].html]MP3 player w/blue tooth, which my Zen doesn't have (I'm having to get hearing aids, soon, but they'll have integrated blue tooth, so I won't have to take then out when I want to listen to an audio book).

4) I'm looking for a new player (would love for it to be Creative, because I've been so happy with the one I have) that is as usable and reliable for audio book listening as the Creative Zen. I really like my 16gb capacity but it looks like Creative doesn't have anything larger than 8gb these days.  BTW, my definition of usable and reliable for audio books STARTS with having several strong, reliable bookmarks. 

Thanks in advance for your help, or your referral to someone who can help.

Thanks in advance,
Patrick Hill

 

[davidcotton]

I dislike them for many reasons but an ipod touch 16 gig (possibly 32 if you could get one cheap enough of the apple refurb store) would be ideal for audiobooks and comes with bluetooth.  It does mean dealing with itunes.  Creative seem to have gone quiet lately.

 

[PatrickHill]

DavidCotton,
I've got an instinctive aversion to all things "i" or have apples on them, but I guess I'm willing to learn.  First, does the ipod touch have bookmarks?  Second, when you say "must deal with itunes" does that mean I can't just copy MP3s onto the machine and listen to them?  Third, does it also have bluetooth?
Thanks,
Patrick Hill
 

 

[Dumbleroar]

I regularly play audiobooks on my iphone. If you've downloaded an audiobook it will remember where you've stopped and will restart it again from that point. 

 

[davidcotton]

Quote:

DavidCotton,
I've got an instinctive aversion to all things "i" or have apples on them, but I guess I'm willing to learn.  First, does the ipod touch have bookmarks?  Second, when you say "must deal with itunes" does that mean I can't just copy MP3s onto the machine and listen to them?  Third, does it also have bluetooth?
Thanks,
Patrick Hill
 

Yes the ipod has the best bookmark system I can remember trying (and indeed have a classic just for audiobooks as I have over 120 gigs worth alone, never mind music!).  You will have to use itunes to get them onto the player but you can tick "manage music manually" so you can just drag across the ones you want.  It does have bluetooth and is one of the reasons I mentioned it.

What I find best is to have the audiobooks in one file using a program on the mac called "audiobook builder".  This takes all the tracks (1-20) as an example and then spits it out into your chosen destination with how you named it as one single file (13 hour limit, then it breaks it into two or more parts). Then in itunes you can rename it if you want to.
 
One thing to note is that itunes uses the m4b for audiobooks other wise the audiobooks will be in with the music as mp3's.   This shouldn't be too much of a problem unless you are using poorly tagged files or want to shuffle songs occasionally!
 
This is probably familiar stuff but here's a quick youtube video showing the interface :-
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzrk4bt5K8U
 
To balance it out zen have this

ZEN Style M300

 
out atm for £72.00 on amazon for a 16 gig which seems reasonable.  You'll have to do a bit of digging to see if it does what you want though
 
Good luck!

 

[nv88]

There is also an excellent audiobook app for Android named Listen Audiobook. Just copy a folder with mp3 files for each audiobook to a folder on your device.  (I believe it supports other formats too.)  You can have as many bookmarks as you want for each audiobook you have on your player.  You only see the bookmarks for the book you currently have open.  There is also a History feature which automatically saves the points you stop or change position in the book.  You can hide the navigation controls with a swipe so you don't touch a button by accident.  Even if you manage to accidentally jump to a random point in the book and didn't have a recent bookmark, history would show the positions you were before you jumped.  The interface is very clean and well thought out. I honesty don't usually gush about many apps.  I'm impressed by the simple and smart design. It costs .99 in the Play Store.

 

[PatrickHill]

NV88:
Thanks for the info.  So, to use that $0.88 ap (which sounds really good), I'd need to buy an android device?  If I'm going to buy a device w/android or apple on it, I'd surely buy an android device.  Do they have android MP3 players?  Ones on which I could load that ap?  Or do I have to buy a phone that I'd use for this purpose (I already carry around 2 phones, neither of which is apple or android)?  I really hoped for something small, like my Zen MP3 player.
 
I do like your description of the ap.  It's just that I presently have a blackberry and a Windows Mobile 6 (HTC Tilt 2) phones.
Patrick
 

 

[nv88]

Yes, you would need an Android device; phone, tablet... to run the app.  There are several good music player apps and other audiobook specific apps for Android too.  A couple of popular music player apps are PowerAmp (probably the most popular) and Neutron (many say sounds best).  There are free audiobook players too like Mortplayer. There are also free apps for Audible (part of Amazon) and Overdrive (audiobooks downloaded from public libraries), for playing books that contain their DRM.  Listen Audiobook Player will only play files without copy protection (mp3, m4a, m4b, wma and ogg if your device supports them).
 
I use Power Amp when I play music and Listen Audiobook Player when I listen to audiobooks.  So, when I open the audiobook player my current book is there right where I left it.  I think Listen is currently .99.
 
With Android the sound quality is going to depend on your device probably more than the app.  The Android device I am using is one of the Samsung Galaxy Players.  It's basically an Android phone without the phone.  It can run all the apps, just not make cell calls.  It's cheaper than most phones. but about the same size.
 
If you want small you could use a Sansa Clip or zip. (mp3 player not Android)  The clip I have does not have "bookmarking" per say. I can't create bookmarks on the fly.  It will however remember the last position in each book (each book's files are in a separate folder).  So I can listen to a book, then stop.  Play some music files.  When I navigate back to the audiobook folder there is an option to resume that will continue at the last position in the book (remembers which file and position).  The clip functionality is crude compared to an audiobook app, but it is small. You must put the folders with your books in the "Audiobook" folder on the clip for it to remember the position in each book.

 

[davidcotton]

The clip/zip does not have bluetooth though...

 

[PatrickHill]

NV88,
Thanks for the info.  When you talked about having to put folders with my books in the “Audiobook” folder on the clip, that sounds like what I’ve been doing for years with my Creative ZEN.  All my audiobooks I get from the library and rip to MP3s.  I then use MP3tag to fix the metadata (since many prerecorded audiobooks have “unruly” metadata) and load all the tracks, each CD worth in a folder just for itself and the whole book with all the CD folders in that “book” folder.  Have to do that to make it play right.  Is that the sort of thing you’re talking about?
 
I don’t have ANY confidence in claims to remember place in the track when the device is turned off.  I have many unpleasant experiences with crashes losing the bookmark location, whereas my ZEN true bookmarks always come back.
Regards, Patrick

 

[nv88]

The bookmarking feature on the clip is based on the files for each audiobook being in a separate folder, not all your different books lumped into one folder.  It sounds like my procedure is very similar to yours.  I download the mp3(s) from the library split into smaller files, fix tags with mp3tag and copy the folder containing the files for the book and place in the audiobook folder.  I do this exactly the same on the clip as I do for my wife's Zen Vision M except I put the book folders under Music. I have not tried using subfolders for each CD of an audiobook.  I'm not sure if the clip would understand the subfolders or not.
 
I have used the clip for audiobooks for a few years.  I can't ever remember losing a resume point.  It doesn't just remember your position if you stop or turn off the player.  It remembers the lastest position if you stop, go play some music, listen to the radio turn the player off... then come back to the audiobook.  I definitely understand your concern on reliability of bookmarks.  I'm not sure I would want the clip as my primary audiobook player.  I use it while working in the yard.
 
davidcotton is very correct no bluetooth on the clip/zip.
 
Maybe there would be an app for one of the phones you already have?  They probably have bluetooth too.

 

[castleofargh]

some players pretend to have bluetooth but it will work only for a very few restricted functions. (like stop when your phone rings or little gadgets like that)
for versatile bluetooth i guess android would be the safest pick.

 

[PatrickHill]

NV88,
Thanks for the info.  Yes, both of my phones have bluetooth (I've never become comfortable with the OS or directory structure of the BlackBerry, though), and I'm beginning to try to find an audiobook player for my Windows Mobile 6 HTC Tilt 2.  That may be a cost free solution for me, since it does have bluetooth.  I'd still rather buy a dedicated MP3 player w/bookmarks and bluetooth, but I don't have options jumping out at me!  Creative has quit putting bookmarks on their devices, about the same time as they started putting bluetoothon them!  Go figure.
Patrick
 

 

[nv88]

Best of luck.  I hope you find a good solution.