Any mp3 player users?

[Jody]

Does anyone use an mp3 player these days?

We're looking at getting one for what we think is good reasons but I get the distinct impression that most companies think they're almost finished because of the smartphone.

What's your view?

The companies are right. There is no real need.

 

[Electric_Andy]

The companies are right. There is no real need.

The only need I can see is where someone doesn't want or can't listen from a smart phone. Just goes to show, how cheap things can get when no-one really wants them anymore.

I was in HMV the other day killing time, and saw that most albums are still between £10 and £13. I can stream 90% of all recorded music ever, for £10/month... I do wonder why people still buy CDs

 

[Jody]

The only need I can see is where someone doesn't want or can't listen from a smart phone. Just goes to show, how cheap things can get when no-one really wants them anymore.

I was in HMV the other day killing time, and saw that most albums are still between £10 and £13. I can stream 90% of all recorded music ever, for £10/month... I do wonder why people still buy CDs

Now here's the crookes. I've gone the other way with this having been thinking about musical legacy.

You spend your lives streaming and thats it. You have play lists but they only exist while you pay that particular service provider. Ultimately you will forget about certain songs when the algorithm changes and some will never be listened to again. They just float by irrelevant of how much you actually like it.

Where as with a physical copy of the music, it's yours. My children can hear what I was listening to after i've gone. I've still got all my old rave tapes from the 90's, all my CD's, even the tapes recorded from the radio. It's all part of who I am

I wish their was a way to collate everything easily into one big library.

 

[tyred]

I have a Ministry of Sound one for many years and it still works. I just don't use it very often these days as I have stopped listening to music while walking.

As someone else mentioned, my phone has one big advantage really in that with a large display it is easier to find songs or albums and to create a playlist as it's a large screen and not a small LCD display.

I've actually started to buy CDs again oddly enough.

 

[Time Waster]

I've never had any issue finding music, I only put it on my old mp3 players if I would be happy listening to it. If not it's not on the player. Besides, even a small, scrolling screen can show the information. Iirc my shuffle used to have a voice that tells me what a track is when I press a button.

Apple iTunes is an ecosystem I really don't like. When loading my mp3s to my old shuffle it took ages so I loaded very little onto it.

 

[Jody]

Apple iTunes is an ecosystem I really don't like. When loading my mp3s to my old shuffle it took ages so I loaded very little onto it.

It also anonymises your whole library to trap you in their eco system.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Does anyone use an mp3 player these days?

We're looking at getting one for what we think is good reasons but I get the distinct impression that most companies think they're almost finished because of the smartphone.

What's your view?

I've got an old device I take camping with me, the phone has all my music on but it seems a waste of the battery (esp as I often have no signal!) so I use an MP3 player instead. It is an old device, and sometimes can take a few minutes to open a playlist, but once going it seems fine. I wish it had Bluetooth on it for earphones/connecting to the car but a modern one might come with that.

It's a good idea!

Look at the Sandisk Clips. They came in a number of variants, but I think any of the ones here will do you: https://www.westerndigital.com/en-gb/c/mp3-players

[I used a Sandisk for yeeeeeears before I got a Smartphone. Then my Sandisk broke, so I've tried using my android phone .... I'm nearly a year into the experiment, and I miss my Sandisk The only tangible advantage of the phone is that it removes one "hop" from the download process. EDIT: oh, and BBC Sounds - which mostly works very well, but doesn't do mp3 downloads. ]

I love my Sandisk Sansa E280, absolutely tiny compared to my phone

 

[Electric_Andy]

It also anonymises your whole library to trap you in their eco system.

Same with whatever I download on YT Music, you're not downloading the actual files, just codecs that let you play it whilst you're still subscribed. But I don't mind that. I have such a varied taste that if I listened to everything on CD I'd be buying 6 or 7 a week probably.

 

[bobinski]

I use a Hidiz AP80. I can and do stream music from my phone. However because its a work phone and i am constantly being emailed and messaged on it i find i dont actually listen to the muic i have on. Whereas if i chosee the Hidiz i foind i am more likley to stick the phone in my pocket and ignore any temptation to look at the screen.

 

[Jody]

Does anyone miss the depth and tone you can get when not using an dedicated MP3 player? The sound quality from my Ipods or previous players weren't a patch on a decent app

Neutron player or something similar gives you so much control over your sound, EQ curves (not just a standard 3 band low/mid/treble), also high/low pass filter adjustments tools to reduce or remove clipping etc.

 

[delb0y]

I transcribe a lot of music, so I need that MP3 on my laptop. I don't believe streaming services allow you to download. So I still buy CDs or downloads. Plus I bet most of the tracks I want are in that 10% that the streaming services think no-one wants.

 

[Time Waster]

Have you looked into modern mp3 players lately? There's a market for mp3 players targeted at hifi enthusiasts it seems. Have you ever thought £1600 for an mp3 player is worth it? Reading up on it I can see how it you've spent thousands of pounds on specialist hifi kit, special headphones and other home listening kit you would want top quality out and about too. There's so many new formats or codecs out there including lossless ones which ipods don't support, indeed phones don't support.

I'm not looking at that but it's out there if you want real quality.

 

[Bromptonaut]

Another vote for Sandisk.

 

[GuyBoden]

I like the Sandisk, but for good quality sounds I use my Edirol recorder, which will play 24bit hi res sound files.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

It also anonymises your whole library to trap you in their eco system.

The file names match the track name and the folders match the albums. Certainly iTunes on Windows does that.