[catscratch]

OK, here's the deal:

I'm leaving for 4 weeks and I'll be away from civilization. Completely. I need to take some music with me to keep me sane, and I need a system that I can get through Chinese and Indonesian customs, and more importantly, one that won't be confiscated on the way back through US customs. That means no amps or DACs or anything even remotely out of the ordinary, and everything I bring has to be basic enough for even a troll to recognize as personal listening equipment. I also will have pretty much no opportunity to charge up whatever gear I get, so it all has to be battery powered. It has to be durable for obvious reasons, able to deal with humidity well, and it all has to be small.

Headphone-wise, I'll use my ES2. What I need is a player that doesn't stink. I have a D-NE920 that's battery powered, but it's SQ is really bad. I have a Fisher PCD5400 whose SQ is pretty good, but there's too much gain in the built-in headamp for the ES2 to handle.

So, what's left? Minidisk? Are there any really good battery-powered MD players? Or maybe there is a good battery-powered mp3 player that I'm ignoring? If you know, please clue me in.

 

[phergus_25]

you might want to lookinto the creative nano players, small capasity, but good batery life and sounded pretty good with IEMs, to me atleast.
-greg

 

[catscratch]

No, that's not what I need

I need it to use standard, replaceable batteries - AA's, AAA's, and such. I can't have anything with an internal, rechargeable battery as it's only power source. Also, 1GB isn't enough... I need lossless.

This is going to be difficult

Edit: NM, so it does take AAA's... well, that's an option.

 

[TAF94]

Sony D-NE319 - analog amp - sounds superb - 1 "AA"

 

[phergus_25]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch No, that's not what I need I need it to use standard, replaceable batteries - AA's, AAA's, and such. I can't have anything with an internal, rechargeable battery as it's only power source. Also, 1GB isn't enough... I need lossless. This is going to be difficult Edit: NM, so it does take AAA's... well, that's an option.

smal storage, deff not for lossless.

 

[dannay337]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phergus_25 smal storage, deff not for lossless.

I don't think there ARE very many standard-size-battery-powered high-capacity (enough hyphens!) players out there.

The Zen Nano is fitting (I think it goes up to 1Gb) but I've heard it and the sound is a bit lackluster.

There is the iRiver T30 in 1Gb or 2Gb, which gets 50+ hours on a single battery and has good sound quality, but the 2Gb only JUST came out in Japan a couple weeks ago so you might have trouble finding the 2Gb size here. iRiver has other standard-battery-operated models too.

An excellent player, if you can find it, is the Cowon iAudio 5. Runs on AAAs, excellent sound quality, available in 2Gb sizes. I think they're getting a bit harder to find now (older players) but check eBay or the Head-Fi classifieds. Maybe if you begged hard. I think iAudio would have some other players you'd be interested in too.

One more suggestion.. Samsung YP-T5, YP-T6 series. I think they go up to 1Gb (maybe 2Gb for the T6... don't know for sure, and never seen it here), and they run off of AAs or AAAs. Good sound quality (just don't turn on the SRS WOW junk), good battery life...

MD is definitely an option, but you'll have to look harder to find one. Most of the new ones use rechargeable gumstick batteries, but a lot of them also come with clip-on AA/AAA battery packs so that is an option.

To me, it sounds like the iRiver T30 (with the 50-hour battery life) or the iAudio 5 would be pretty viable options for you. Both offer lossless support.

 

[nadavnaz]

You know, I dont thing there are any existing AA\C\D Battery powered Big capacity players..

I'de reccomend X5L for your job. Excellent battery life (32 hours i think? on 1 charge.. thats amazing) 20-30GB+FLAC support..

You can take the charger with you, and it works 32 hours so i dont see whats not right about this player for you

 

[dodap]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nadavnaz You can take the charger with you

No, he can't. And he said so.

 

[sidewinder]

I'm very happy with my Sony D465 (vintage though). With 4 AA batteries it plays music for about 30 hours. Price/value is awesome! Or buy some expensive new PCDP/MP3 which IMO are not worth it in terms of price/value.

 

[nadavnaz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dodap No, he can't. And he said so.

Oh sorry, i need to read messages 'till the end

 

[catscratch]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I don't think 1 or 2 gigs will cover it; I just don't have the time between now and when I'm leaving to re-rip everything to mp3 in order to get it to fit. I'll probably have to stick with the D-NE920, lackluster sound and all. But, for my next vacation from reality (as a future marine biologist, there will be plenty of those) I'll be sure to look into everything that's been suggested. I'm surprised that there is no market for things like this... I would have thought that the ability to run off standard batteries would be a plus in a portable device if you are a frequent traveller, but I guess not.

 

[sgrossklass]

You could still get a better PCDP. I'd recommend to also carry along a radio with most importantly good MW and SW (FM where available) reception. I'd look at these groups of receivers (to be obtained new or used):

1. Thrifty, decently performing analogs
Sony ICF-7600A and ICF-7601 (not quite as sensitive and overload proof and a bit hissy, but 22m and 60m coverage and yet more thrifty on batteries). Similar but quite small: ICF-4900 and its variants. Smallest: ICF-SW20/22, smallest dual conversion receivers in the world (but apparently rather hissy, too).
Current similar rigs include Tecsun R-9700DX and Degen DE1107, but both of them seem to have their quirks, with none reaching the good dial accuracy on the old Sony models (usually +/- 10 kHz or better). This dual conversion concept usually exhibits unexciting strong signal handling, but far off civilization that probably won't matter much and high sensitivity will be more important. (Apparently the '7601 can be improved sensitivity wise with an antenna tuning circuit alignment. MW is pretty good as-is.) Don't forget a 1/8" mono to stereo adapter for cans, and be aware that connecting an external antenna will require inductive coupling to not throw off the tuning. (Something plugged into the headphone out usually serves as antenna as well, along with a power supply cable.)
Known current consumption: ICF-7600A (4x AA) ~35 mA, ICF-7601 (4x AA) 20+x mA (x depending on output volume, so perhaps 25 to 35 mA overall).

2. Somewhat smaller, digital, not too battery hungry
ICF-SW40, ICF-SW35, and if you can put up with their operation (dog slow, chuffy tuning), ICF-SW30 and 33. More comfortable, but reportedly also more battery hungry: Sangean ATS-606A. The Degen DE1102 isn't bad either, if a bit quirky. Both of these also have external antenna jacks.
These all use 3 AAs.

3. Digital, full-blown dual conversion sets with SSB and all, moderate battery hunger
Eton E5 (should swallow a fairly big wire antenna in more remote areas, my 1st choice overall), Sony ICF-SW7600G/GR with AN-LP1 or similar antenna (e.g. DE31A), Degen DE1103 / Kaito KA1103 (see E5 note, main PCB is mostly identical but operation much less nice). The '7600G(R) isn't too hot on the whip when used with batteries, but an external antenna like those mentioned should nicely compensate for this. If you can't hear it with a 7600G/AN-LP1 combo (or E5/AN-LP1 combo or such), it most likely isn't there. Now the audio on the 7600G(R), that's another matter... not a DXer's delight, too muffled.
A classic that still isn't bad: Grundig YB400(PE) / G4000A. The Panasonic RF-B65 also performs quite well but owners tend to cling to theirs.
Known current consumption: ICF-SW7600G (4x AA) AM ~65 mA (FM ~40 mA), E5 (4x AA) ~75 mA. YB400 about the same as 7600G but with 6 AAs!

 

[episiarch]

Would an iPod with a battery-powered charger do the trick?

I have one of those chargers on order and may be able to provide some additional info on it after it arrives.

 

[biph911]

When away from a power source I use the Belkin adapter (post above) for my iPod that accepts 4 AAs. I throw 8 lithiums in my bag and I'm good for several days. In addition to investigating these different players, I would check out the power accessories available for some of the more popular players with internal batteries.

Good luck.

edit: the local walmart carried the belkin power adapter

 

[catscratch]

Yes, an external battery pack for an mp3 player would definitely do the trick. Alas, I have no ipods in my personal stable, only an X5, Kenwood HD20GA7, and iRiver iHP-120

Is there a battery pack for the X5? That would be pretty neat. I don't trust the iHP-120 to be stable enough over 4 weeks of away-from-computerdom, since it's HD has crashed on me multiple times losing all of my data.