OT: Finally...A Worthwhile MP3 Player (really long)

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 7:44 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:
DivotMaker wrote:
I tried the Sennheisers. Good plugs. Nothing special, IMO. I found that they sounded very comparable to the Bose and I do not notice the issue with the "highs" that you do. I have used studio-quality headphones before, so I am very aware of what good "highs" sound like. I am keeping the Bose because the bass is superior and I am finding the fit of the plugs with the large fittings to be more to my liking. You could not go wrong with either set.
That's cool...I'm glad you gave the Senns a try. I find them to fit better...but of course that just depends on each person's ears so it's completely a personal thing. The bass is definitely better on the bose, but the fact I couldn't get them to sit in my ears right with any of the fittings, pretty much eliminated them as much as I wanted to keep them. The Senns are better than most as far as bass reproduction, so it's not like they are even remotely average or below average when compared to other in ear models...it's just that the bose produce so much more bass. As far as the highs go, maybe I got a bad set...I don't know. It's kinda moot at this point though seeing as how they don't fit me very well. I didn't mean to imply that you never tried good earphones...it was a maybe. Hope you didn't think I was just calling you out saying that you didn't know what you were talking about. Anyway...glad you gave the Senns a shot...I really like them...and at 70 bucks or less, they are a bargain if you ask me.

Ah, no harm, I knew what you were getting at. The Senns are an incredible product, but the price makes them even better. I am happy that the Bose work for me as I purchased them with a store credit at CompUSA which did not carry the Senns at the store I bought them at.

You also might want to play a bit with some of the new features in the latest iTunes. There are some audio enhancement features that I have never seen before. Under Edit>Preferences>Playback there is a feature called Sound Enhancer that I thought improved the overall qulaity of the songs on my ipod. I am getting ready to leave for a party, but have a look around iTunes sometime and it is amazing some of the things you discover that you can enable for your iPod.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 7:56 pm

Yeah, I've noticed some of the enhancements...but I rip a lot of my own music at high bit rates, so I don't want to mess too much with the rip. Just paranoid that I'm going to get a lot of extra crap embedded that I didn't really want there. I may give it a try on some backed up files though...worth a try.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:15 pm

My wife got me the 60 gig Toshiba Gigabeat portable media center player for Christmas. It's exactly what I expected with one enormous surprise: The sound quality is fantastic! It's significantly richer throughout the audible spectrum than my old Creative Zen Xtra and my wife's iPod.

I haven't messed with the wider range of media center options yet, b ut I couldn't be more thrilled with this right now, and I'd highly recommend it for anyone looking beyond the Zune - iPod axis.

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:22 pm

I actually snagged a 40GB Gigabeat from ebay, just arrived today for only $72. I'm transferring music to it as I type. So far I'm very impressed. I had a 1GB SanDisk Sansa with SD slot I had been using, but quickly found out it was not nearly enough room for me. So it and the FM transmitter for it will be heading off to ebay.

The Gigabeat has gotten some great reviews, especially if the 3.0 firmware is loaded. Mine came with it, although I had the firmware ready to go just in case. I agree that the sound is really good.

Evidently from what I've read the Zune is actually just the next generation of Gigabeat.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 12:20 am

Those with the Gigabeat, how does the video playback compare to the PSP's?

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:44 pm

My Gigabeat does not support video, only pictures; although I have seen where guys are creating a new operating system for it that will play video. No biggie for me as I just wanted more space for my music.

It does have a nice screen resolution, but being roughly have the size of the PSP screen I would have to say that the PSP would win that battle.

Then again, the PSP doesn't have 40GB to play with either.

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 9:51 pm

Ok, after waiting for the prices of the 30 GB Vision Ms to come down (they haven't, at least here in town) I got one off Ebay for cheaper then retail here. I acutally bid on it and didn't think I'd win. Saving about $50 off what i'd be giving Best Buy! if not more.

Anyway, I know with the old Creative Labs Zens, the recommendation was to get the Notmad Explorer software.

Can anyone who has a Vision M now if the software that comes with it is better, or should I be looking at getting Notmad too?????

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:17 pm

The Redchair software is always better than the crap the companies give you. I haven't seen the Vision software, but if I had to bet...I'd definitely go with the Notmad explorer.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:59 am

Gangrel:

I second DB's recommendation of the Redchair software.

But if all you're using the software for is to transfer files, then you might want to consider NomadSync, a free, open-source program that works like a charm:

http://nomadsync.sourceforge.net/

It handles all file transfers beautifully, even cleaner than Redchair. But there is one catch: I'm not sure if it works with the Vision series of Creative players.

Might be worth a look, though.

Take care,
PK

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:54 pm

Thanks guys. I'm patiently waiting for it to clear freakin' Paypal. Paypal took my money out a few days ago from my bank, but it's not "cleared" yet so the girl can't pick itup.

Then again, this may be normal, this is probably the first thing over $150 i've bought off Ebay and paypal.

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 6:39 pm

Alright, i finally got this bad boy today, and it's pretty sweet. As for software, i've found good ole Windows Media Player 11 to do the trick.

I have to edit some of the ID3 tags for some things I think, but that is to be expected.

Question: In order for me to be able to play this through my stereo, i only need the AV cable, correct? It's a normal stereo, Red/White connectors, etc.

Can I get away with a generic one, or should I get the actual "Creative" ones that can be had on Ebay for about $10?

TheHiddenTrack · Post by **TheHiddenTrack** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:00 am

Gangrel wrote: Question: In order for me to be able to play this through my stereo, i only need the AV cable, correct? It's a normal stereo, Red/White connectors, etc.

Can I get away with a generic one, or should I get the actual "Creative" ones that can be had on Ebay for about $10?

generic

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Wed May 30, 2007 3:47 pm

Holy crap. IMHO the bose in-ear buds kick the crap out of the shure E2c. I bought the E2c, as it was slightly cheaper. Bass response is crap unless I shove the damn things in my ear really far, OR I turn the bass up so high in the equalizer that's just mud.

Took the shure back, got the Bose... WHOA. Major difference. Extremely comfortable and very good bass response without poking a hole in my brain from being in my ear so deep. The highs are pretty reasonable as far as I can tell, not as good as the shure though... so I might do a bit of EQ on my player to bring the highs up.

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Wed May 30, 2007 4:39 pm

Could not agree more. Absolutely love my Bose TriPort in-ear buds.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed May 30, 2007 4:54 pm

LOL...if I could get the Bose to stay in my ears they'd be outstanding. As it is, they don't, so they suck to me. HAHA. I'm glad they fit in other peoples ears...apparently mine are misshapen or something. Oh well. I actually like the Sens better anyway, and they are 40 bucks cheaper. Win/win.

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Wed May 30, 2007 9:13 pm

I'll throw in another plug for IMuffs, the Bluetooth headphones that sound great to my ears. Some of the best money I've ever spent.

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Thu May 31, 2007 11:50 am

Never thought choosing headphones would be such a chore.

The bose sound great, fit great... but had NO isolation at all. So... now I'm at the Senn CX300. So far these are the ones I like best. They have good bass, not as good as bose, but good, and they provide isolation and comfort at the same time. Hopefully I won't hate these in a few hours

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu May 31, 2007 11:54 am

James_E wrote:The bose sound great, fit great... but had NO isolation at all. So... now I'm at the Senn CX300. So far these are the ones I like best. They have good bass, not as good as bose, but good, and they provide isolation and comfort at the same time. Hopefully I won't hate these in a few hours

Exactly. The Senns are legit.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Thu May 31, 2007 1:26 pm

When you talk about fit, one thing to consider is the housing part that doesn't go into the ear. You figure they will give you enough rubber plugs which will fit in the ear well enough.

I had a pair of Ultimate Ears, which had two drivers, but the housing was big and kind of heavy hanging outside the ears.

Sound was good but wasn't that comfortable.

I'm skeptical of the Bose sound in general. Maybe they do better with headphones and don't do any processing like they do with their speaker system products.

Anyone find good phones with shorter cables? Something you can wind up quick when not using them?

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:02 am

Just gonna throw this out there for anyone interested. Since getting the iPhone a few weeks back I don't really have a need for my Zune anymore. I have never had an issue with it and Its in superb shape so I am considering putting it up on Ebay. If anyone is interested just PM me. Its a black Zune with car kit/charger, dock, home av cable, remote. I have the original packaging also. No biggie if no one is interested. I'll just go the Ebay route then.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 9:00 am

Well, the gf got a me a 4GB Creative Zen for Christmas.

Very nice player. The screen isn't as big as the PSP's, but It's fine for video watching. It has a SD card slot so storage won't be an issue. I don't feel the need to carry all my mp3 collection with me anyways.

Now all I need is a nice protector.

vader29 · Post by **vader29** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 7:17 pm

I bought that same exact Creative player last year and it is a piece of junk in my opinion. It locks up halfway through transferring files to it and now the last few times I have turned it on it just boots to a blank screen and I have to do a hard reset on it to get it to work.

I still have a 256mb Creative mp3 player that works great but I wanted something with more storage and could be used for video also and thought this would be perfect seeing as how it was flash memory instead of a hard drive.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 8:03 pm

If you want one for Video, you owe it to yourself to get an Ipod Touch.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 12:55 am

I'm going to change my tune, a little more than a year after my last MP3 post. Haha.

Well guys...if you go back and read the VERY first post of this thread...you'll see that I had a lot of positive things to say about the iAudio line of players (Cowon being the maker). Well, I sold my iPhone (and went back to the beloved BlackBerry line of phones, this time the Bold which is ridiculously awesome), so I needed to get an MP3/Video player to use while traveling and at the gym.

http://www.cowonglobal.com/

Enter the Cowon S9 (sorry for the big pic, but it doesn't even do this thing justice):

Some nice specs...16gb flash (32 coming soon), 55 hours audio, 11 hours video, plays mp3, wma, ogg, flac, wav, ape and also avi, wmv9, xvid. It's significantly smaller than I thought it would with the 3.3 inch OLED screen. Yeah, you heard right, OLED. The screen is about 10 times better than the iPhone screen. Deep blacks, unlimited viewing angles and an awesome refresh rate. The screen is just awesome...it has to be seen to be believed.

And of course, the best part. Cowon's awesome audio quality. This thing is absolutely ridiculous. If you're looking for an Apple alternative...I HIGHLY recommend it. It doesn't have wifi or a browser built in...so that's a negative, but its got stereo bluetooth so it can be used with speakers or wireless headphones, so that balances it out a little bit. Plus the battery life destroys the Apple offerings.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 1:01 am

Looks nice DB. What's the price and how's the software? That's one of the problems with the Zen.

How are the stock ear buds or whatever they call it?