[Ginge]

I wanted a small and compact player for the summer. I eventually want to get a HD player…but for now I just want a 1 gig flash player. After a lot of research I narrowed my choice down to two players. The iRiver ifp-899 and the Sony NW-E507. I went and bought the Sony mainly because of the size, battery life and because it looked so damn cool. The player itself looks and feels great. However, after using it for a week, I may have come to the conclusion that it may not be for me. I guess I didn’t do enough research as to what I needed.

I listen to a lot of radio shows and pod casts in mp3 format. These can run in lengths of over 3 hours at times. However, there are times when I want to take a break from that and switch to music for a little while. I can’t do that without losing my place in the file. If I switch to music, and then return to the radio show or podcast I was listening to…I have to start from the beginning, and then scan to where I left off. This is really annoying. I have read the same complaint from others, that most players do not offer a bookmarking feature. I know the iPod offers bookmarking, but that’s only for files in .aac… that doesn’t help me. I don’t want to convert every mp3 I download or have archived. It would also be helpful if I could set the speed of the fast forwarding…but I can’t.

Another big problem for me is that the player only accepts mp3s encoded from 32 to 320 kbps. Any file with 24kbps or below cannot be played. This is big for me, since a lot of my radio shows are encoded at 24kbps. Now is this a common thing? Is it common for most players to not play files below 32kbps? Are there players that do?

I really want to be able to keep this Sony. I love the ATRAC3Plus format for music, but honestly, I listen to radio shows just as often as music. I need a player that caters to both. If I knew there would be a firmware update that would enable bookmarking or the ability to play lower bitrate MP3s…I would easily stick with this.

So basically I am looking for a flash player (preferably 1 gig) that can bookmark mp3s (without converting to another format) and that plays mp3s with bitrates under 32kbps. I could probably just split the radio shows into 10 minute segments and do without bookmarking if need be, but I need the lower bit rates. Maybe there is a way to trick the NW-E507 into playing lower bit rates?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Doing this research is a lot of fun, but it sucks to have a player you really want to keep…but just doesn’t have the features you need.

 

[DJ Mauler]

none come to mind, but

jesus 24kbps... and i thought 128 was bad i thought 64 was the worst.

 

[Ginge]

It's just talk radio in mono format...the smaller size is easier to archive and actually sounds fine to my ears. I would never encode music that way.

 

[blessingx]

Welcome to Head-Fi Ginge.

I asked recently about bookmarks as I have a lot of audiobooks and some radio hijacks and was told the iAudios may have that feature (the 5 was used as an example). From the specs, it looks like some go as low as 8 kbps. See U2, G3 or 5.

http://eng.iaudio.com/

 

[Ginge]

Thanks for the link, I haven't heard of them before. From the looks of things, the flash player can handle low bitrates, but it doesn't say anything about bookmarking...unless it's called something else? I also noticed that the iriver ifp-899 supports 8-320kps, but alas...no bookmarking.

 

[blessingx]

iAudio is pretty respected on this forum. In fact the X5 has a lot of people excited. You may want to read thru my thread. It looks like they're bookmarkable...

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=124844

The 5 and G3 are mentioned there. This article confirms the U2 does (search for 'bookmark'. Looks like they all support bookmarks.

 

[Ginge]

Well, I have been researching this since I got home from work, and I have to say I impressed with iaudio. I am looking at the iAudio 5, since I want a flash player...some places list a 2gig version?? It should handle the low bitrates and although it doesn't mention bookmarks, everyone here says it does. Thanks for the heads up, I am going to look into it more.

 

[IpaqMan]

Listening to audiobooks is big for me, too. I chose the Iaudio 5 for its size and controls and great bookmarking. Other players like the Iriver, Samsung, and Muvo2 are very good, but they do not support bookmarking. The Iaudio 5 provides an excellent feature with support for up to 20 bookmarks set up like a playlist. You get to see the name of the tracks in the bookmark playlist. Rio provides bookmarks, too, but the Rio Nitrus only displays the bookmark numbers. That is not very helpful when you have ten or more bookmarks.

To use the bookmarking on the I5, you press the RECORD button to save your current place while playing. To return to a bookmark, you press in the bottom jogswitch for a couple of seconds and then press the MODE button and choose the bookmark list.

I have owned a Iaudio CW200 for a couple of years. I may even go for an X5 in the future if I get rid of my IHP-120.

 

[Ginge]

Thanks for the info...I am certainly going for an iAudio...mainly for the bookmarking feature. The only thing I will miss will be the ATRAC3Plus format for music. A couple of questions regarding the iAudio players:

Can you use musicmatch to organize and transfer files to the player? I noticed none of them come with software.

Also, what are the differences between the iaudio5 and the G3 aside from battery time?

 

[IpaqMan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginge Can you use musicmatch to organize and transfer files to the player? I noticed none of them come with software. Also, what are the differences between the iaudio5 and the G3 aside from battery time?

I can't answer the Musicmatch question because I use Total Commander to transfer my files in an ordinary way.

The I5 is lighter, has a larger screen with more info, has slightly better mic pickup, has multi-colored backlit screen, uses jogswitches instead of joystick, and comes with a keychain USB connector.

Jogswitches are better to use during jogging. The joystick is more intuitive to use with the menu system. I do not prefer joysticks because it is too easy to bump the track position when adjusting the volume. This is terrible when listening to a long audiobook track.

The I5 is light enough to clip to my shirtpocket. That makes the controls very accessible. BTW, I had to stick an alligator type of clip to the back of my I5 case in order to clip it to my pocket.

 

[Ginge]

Hmm...not sure which one to go with here. I am going to get one or the other...and I am leaning towards the I5 because of the size difference. It would be nice to have the longer battery time though, and I do like a joystick control, although it's not a necesity. For the life of me, I can't really see much of a difference between the two aside from their appearance. I hate to ask such a subjective question...but which one is better? Were they both released at the same time?

 

[chewmanji]

i use MediaMonkey with my iAudio M3L. not sure if the flash players have the same filestructure though...I would assume so, though.

 

[Ginge]

I'm going with the I5...ordering it tonight. The 2 gig version is only $40 more than what I paid for my 1 gig Sony. I am returning my Sony NW-E507 this weekend. Thanks to everyone for the information...I can't wait to try it out.

 

[blessingx]

Congrats. Let us know what you think.

 

[Ginge]

Thanks....will do.