MP3 Player and Headphone Suggestions

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Mansize_tissue

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After using my Sony Ericsson K750i with its 64MB memory card as an MP3 player for the past year, I think it's time for an upgrade. Since I'm already familiar with iTunes, which is what I use as a media player on my laptop, it would make sense to get an iPod, but being fairly new to this I don't know what things out there are better.

My ideal MP3 player would be around 8GB+ (since I have 11GB of music currently, and I don't need it all on there at once, 8GB should be fine), support MP3 and AAC files (since I often encode using the latter when importing a CD using iTunes) and be fairly small. I have no use for a portable video player, so video-playback is certainly not a requirement.

However, If absolutely necessary I can allow some leeway with the above requirements. I suppose it doesn't have to support AAC files; it would just mean I'd have to re-rip my existing CDs to MP3 files instead. Also, I might be able to cope with less storage space--say... 6GB--but this will not be ideal as I'll have to keep changing what tracks I have stored on it.

Basically, I'd like suggestions of what you guys think are descent 8GB+ music players which support AAC files first, and then those that fit my more-lenient requirements if necessary. I don't really want to spend more than £200 on this, if you want some idea of what budget I have.

On a related note, I'm going to want some descent headphones for this. Currently I'm using a pair of DT 770 Pros (I'm a bit of a bass-head, if this helps at all) with my home setup, but I'd rather have some ear-bud or in-ear style headphones, which I know absolutely nothing about in terms of what's good and what's not. So any suggestions here would also be very helpful- again, my budget for these is around £60. Of course, I'd like to spend a lot less if it means only sacrificing minimal audio quality. I'd like them to be very comfortable, and work nicely with a portable music player, whatever I decide to get, without an amplifier.

Thank you in advance.

EDIT: I just had a look around, and it seems only iPods and Sony's NWA808 fit my "ideal" requirements, or are there more?
 
I'd suggest one of the new 8gb nanos @ £129.00.

As for earphones, the Mylar Crossroads X3 have been getting rave reviews lately. They are available for $57USD from Singapore: http://www.jaben.net/shopping.html

I'd actually recommend getting the bundle on top with the Audio Technica ATH-CK5 for $67USD...you practically get the Audio Technicas for free :D
 
Thank you for the suggestions, m3ta1head. I think I probably will go for one of the 3G Nanos; their price is certainly attractive, even in the UK! Is Jaben the only place I can get those 'phones from? Also, what are the other main contenders, under £70, I should consider on the earphone front?
 
Mansize_tissue said:
Thank you for the suggestions, m3ta1head. I think I probably will go for one of the 3G Nanos; their price is certainly attractive, even in the UK! Is Jaben the only place I can get those 'phones from? Also, what are the other main contenders, under £70, I should consider on the earphone front?
Click to expand...

Yep, as far as I know Jaben is the only place that you can get the X3s from. Well worth it though-their customer service is fantastic to boot.

Other contenders..UE Super.fi 3, Etymotic ER-6i, Jays d-jays, Vmoda Vibes?
 
I think I'm just going to get an iPod, it'll make everything easier since I already use iTunes. Now, I just have to decide which iPod to get. I have 11GB of music, so it'd be nice if I get an iPod which could store a little bit more. However, this would mean getting one of the larger iPods, whether it's an iPod Video or Classic. Or I could get one of the 8GB iPod Nanos, but I won't be able to store my whole collection on there at once, especially if it grows. If I were to get the Nano, would I be better off getting a 2G or 3G one? Alternatively, if I decide to spend a bit more on a larger iPod, should I get the 80GB Classic or 30GB Video (both are plenty big enough), and which generation.

And then I need to decide on some headphones. Currently I'm considering the CX300s, since these are easier to get hold of than the MylarOnes, but I don't really know what else is out there that I should be considering. I have about £60 to spend here, but I'm prepared to spend a little extra if it means a lot of improvement.

m3ta1head, what do you think are the best earphones I can get with this budget?
 
Mansize_tissue said:
m3ta1head, what do you think are the best earphones I can get with this budget?
Click to expand...

Honestly, the Mylars. CX300 are great-very sweet sounding, but they are not even in the same league as the Mylars.

My next highest recommendation would be the Ety ER-6i.

As for the iPod dilemma...that really depends on how much you want to spend. I'd stick with the newer generations, as they will hold their value much longer than the older ones.
 
There's very little difference between the iPod Classic and the previous iPod (the 5.5G - you may see the Classic being referred to as the 6G). The former has better overall battery life, should be more resistant to scratches on the front, and has a GUI that's a bit more refined (though not particularly any 'smoother', or as smooth as the iPod Touch/iPhone). I'd suggest you get whatever physically looks better to you. Whether you like the black or white plastic face or the anodized aluminum face. Both easily fit your criteria. You said that video isn't really a factor, but you'd be surprised how useful a pocket-sized player can be. I use mine to watch movies while in bed, and it's actually something that works pretty well. You might want to ponder on it a bit more before you make a final decision.

Do keep in mind the different media the players use. The type of usage dictates the ideal type of media, be that solid state or hard disk. From what I've seen, the hard disk-based iPods are tremendously robust, but if you're going to be jogging, mountain biking or destruction derby-ing (you never know), I'd lean toward the nano. If battery life isn't a big factor here, it might make sense to get the 2G nano, which should currently be abundant and cheap on the used market. Just make sure what you're getting when you buy used, of course.

I honestly don't know much about other players that might fit your criteria for less money, but if you're deep into iTunes, it seems like getting an iPod is the right move.

Can't really help you in the earphone/canalphone department. I know about as much about 'em as I do pantyhose.
 
I'm not really going to be doing anything that should put me off getting a HDD-based iPod, so either would be fine with respect to the different media they use. Video playback really doesn't interest me at all. Most of the time I'm either going to be on a bus or in class when I'm using it, neither of which make watching videos convenient. Battery life also isn't a big factor; I mean, I'm only going to be using it for a few hours--probably less than 4 per day--so all of them fit my criteria here. I'm a bit concerned about scratches, though. Which one, out of the 2G Nano, 3G Nano, 5.5G 30GB Video, 6G 80GB Classic and 8GB Creative Zen (hell, 'might as well include it) will be most susceptible to scratches? Speaking of the Creative Zen, I'm now reconsidering it as an alternative to getting an iPod. I mean, thinking about it, it offers pretty much everything the iPod does--which matters to me, anyway--and more. The 8GB version is £140, it plays AAC files, it's very small and has a memory card slot making the storage space expandable.

I have a few questions, though:
- What sort of memory card does the Creative Zen take, and how much would a 4GB one, or 8GB if they exist, set me back? Nevermind, I found this. But now I have another question, what do the different classes of SD card determine?
- Does anybody have any comparison photographs of the Creative Zen and an iPod (doesn't matter which iPod, I'd just like to know how it compares)?
- If I'm to buy a 30GB iPod Video, such as this one, can I assume it's the 5.5G?
- When are the new iPods and Creative Zen going to be released in the UK?
- Out of the iPods, does colour determine susceptibility to scratches and other marks? I didn't know if the silver Nano, for example, didn't show up marks as much as the Black one.

By the way, here are the prices of the media players I'm considering:
£110 iPod Nano (2G, Black) 8GB
£125 iPod Nano (3G, Black) 8GB
£140 iPod Video (5.5G I presume, White)
£150 iPod Video (5.5G I presume, Black) 30GB
£160 iPod Classic (6G, Black) 80GB
£130 Creative Zen 8GB

Out of the larger iPods, as long as they can store more than 20GB of music their HDD size is really irrelevant, so the increased storage space in the Classic over the video doesn't have any weight in my decision.

Ok, I think that's everything for now. Thank you everyone--or two, rather--I really appreciate your help.
 
Ok, so it seems I can get the Creative Zen 8GB for £130 on eBay, the same price as a new iPod Nano. Do you guys think I'd be better off with the former? Or I could just get one of the larger iPods or the Sony A808. Argh.. I can't decide!
 
your se phone takes memory stick duo pro, right? I have my se w810i with a 2GB stick and I use it as my mp3 player on the go. Why don't you just spend some money on getting a couple of GB of stick for your phone and save 80-100 pounds?
 
BlueMak said:
your se phone takes memory stick duo pro, right? I have my se w810i with a 2GB stick and I use it as my mp3 player on the go. Why don't you just spend some money on getting a couple of GB of stick for your phone and save 80-100 pounds?
Click to expand...

I suppose that's an option, but the quality isn't all that great. Plus the earphones are useless, and they use a stupid proprietary connector, so I can't get use descent headphones with it unless I buy a pair of Sony headphones first, which allow other headphones to be plugged into them. I think I'd rather have a standalone solution to my problem, since an iPod or Zen is much better suited to the task.
 
You didn't get pair of headphones (at least for the connector) with the phone for free?


Anyways, I think you are right and I was wrong.

I am currently having some problems with the connection with my SE and if I have to get another phone, that would mean I would either have to buy another SE phone that supports the same memory, or a stand alone phone and a seperate mp3 player.
So, just ignore my last post.


From my experience, go for the player that has a combination of great battery life and capacity. I wouldn't get an Ipod, but if you already use itunes then perhaps it is not such a bad idea.
 
BlueMak said:
You didn't get pair of headphones (at least for the connector) with the phone for free?


Anyways, I think you are right and I was wrong.

I am currently having some problems with the connection with my SE and if I have to get another phone, that would mean I would either have to buy another SE phone that supports the same memory, or a stand alone phone and a seperate mp3 player.
So, just ignore my last post.


From my experience, go for the player that has a combination of great battery life and capacity. I wouldn't get an Ipod, but if you already use itunes then perhaps it is not such a bad idea.
Click to expand...

I believe the model after mine came with canal-like earphones which detached allowing you to connect a different pair to the cable; sadly, mine doesn't. My phone really is on its last legs. The left channel keeps cutting out so I have to jiggle the connector until both channels are working.

I saw the new iPod Nano for the first time today (I think it was only released today in the UK anyway) and, my god, it's tiny! I really want one, because since I already use iTunes it should be pretty easy to transfer music to it. Also, I don't know how a different media player would handle the tags for all the tracks I've set up from within iTunes, so I'm reluctant to buy something other than an iPod. Although, I'm still going to wait until the Creative Zen is released, because I'll probably end up getting that instead.

I'm still considering getting one of the larger iPods, though. I just don't know if it'll be too big, since I've never actually handled one before. When I get some time, I'll have to find the dimensions and make a cardboard-cutout for myself to try out and see if it's too big or not. If I find it's not too big, I might end up getting one of the older 5.5G models for £140 over the newer 6G models which are £160, or do you think it'd be worth spending a little more for the latter?

Thanks again for all of your help.
 
Right, so it's definitely either the Creative Zen or iPod Nano. I have one more question, though. Will I need to install any software if I get the Zen?

EDIT: One more thing. Since I've sorted out the album, track and artist names from within iTunes, is it likely to cause problems if the tracks are put on the Zen? I just don't know if all the names will appear correctly, that's all, because I have quite a few compilation albums which, in iTunes, I've changed the artist name from each individual track to the record producer for that particular album. For example, I might have a few albums with 20+ tracks on each, with each track having a different artist name. In iTunes, I've renamed the artist name for each track in an album to the record label for that album. I can assume, if I get an iPod, the tracks will appear the same as they do in iTunes and have the record label listed as the artist for compilation CDs instead of each individual artist which will make it far easier when finding a song. But can I assume the same for the Creative Zen?
 
More questions: How much of an improvement will I hear if I get the MylarOne XBs over the standard earphones that come with the iPod or Zen? It the improvement is very little, do you think it's worth stepping up to some Super.Fi 5 EBs or something similar?
 
First of all, are your songs from iTunes that you use so much, even MP3s? There is a good chance they are not.

If they are not then you need to get a player that supports iTunes or else you will be forced to encode the songs back to mp3 and lose more quality that way.

I don't like iTunes, so take that into consideration when I say that iTunes suck.


Between Zen (which I guess you mean the Zen Stone Plus, right?) and the Nano, I would get the Zen cause of me not liking the ipods, but if your songs are in Apple's format, then you might be better with the ipod. I am not sure if the Zen supports iTunes. You better check it.

Regarding the tags in the songs. It depends. But IIRC somethign that I read recently (and don't know if it is indeed accurate), iTunes stores song information in a different way than the usua mp3 tags. Don't know if that is with them not using mp3s or what. So, there is a good change if they are not normal mp3 tags that they won't appear properly on another player, you have to check this out.


Regarding the headphones question. Do you remember the last time you read the mp3 player review (any player) that said how impressed and blown away they were with the quality with the "free" headphones that came with their player? How they thing it was really good that the company selling the player included such a superb headphones? No? Neither do I. 99% of the time the included headphones are either crap or like crap. I am not saying the MylarOne XBs are better, since I don't have them or know anything about them, but if they cost anything more than $40, there is a good chance they are better.
 
Thank you for your reply, BlueMak. I have a mixture of MP3 and M4A music files, so I really either need a Creative Zen or an iPod, since I know both support them. By Creative Zen, I mean the... Creative Zen; it's fairly new (should be released at the end of the month in the UK).

When I right-click on one of my M4A song files, select Properties then Summary, there is no information there. Does this mean there'll be no information for that song in the Creative Zen. If this is the case then I'll have to get an iPod, but I want to know if, since the Zen supports AAC files, it'll display information about them (i.e. song name, artist name, etc. like how they appear in iTunes) even if there isn't any information in the tags.
 
mansize - u asked about different classes of SD cards - I think they determine writing and reading speeds, the higher the better :)

As for 8GB players Creative ZEN seems like the best deal. It's drag and drop as far as I know - does not require any software to be installed unlike iPods with iTunes.
So if you want to go to friends and audition some of their music on your player ;)
you just plug it in and drag files into the audio folder on the ZEN, this is a massive improvement over the iPod. I am talking practicalities here...
But if you purchased songs from iTunes they are AAC - copy protected type - so you won't be able to play them back on anything but ipod. In this case you have to buy an iPod or you give up on iTunes songs you bought.
 
There are nine different Zen players for the UK market.
http://uk.europe.creative.com/products/welcome.asp?category=213&
which one is it?


I can't help you with the M4A files, I am sorry. I don't know enough on them. I use mp3s, ogg and the occasional FLAC.
(and wav of course)

My guess is that you will be ok, but that i just a guess, not even an educated guess.
You could always email creative and ask them. (good luck with that lol)
 
Yeah, Uncle Jim is correct, it's just the "Creative Zen". I might try contacting Creative--this should be fun!--and see if they know, which is unlikely.
 
m3ta1head said:
Yep, as far as I know Jaben is the only place that you can get the X3s from. Well worth it though-their customer service is fantastic to boot.

Other contenders..UE Super.fi 3, Etymotic ER-6i, Jays d-jays, Vmoda Vibes?
Click to expand...
I've got the ER-6is and while I like them they are definitely not suited for a 'bass head' such as the OP. The bass is fairly clean, but it lacks warmth and presence.
 
Uncle Jim said:
mansize - u asked about different classes of SD cards - I think they determine writing and reading speeds, the higher the better :)

As for 8GB players Creative ZEN seems like the best deal. It's drag and drop as far as I know - does not require any software to be installed unlike iPods with iTunes.
So if you want to go to friends and audition some of their music on your player ;)
you just plug it in and drag files into the audio folder on the ZEN, this is a massive improvement over the iPod. I am talking practicalities here...
But if you purchased songs from iTunes they are AAC - copy protected type - so you won't be able to play them back on anything but ipod. In this case you have to buy an iPod or you give up on iTunes songs you bought.
Click to expand...

Oh man, I totally missed this post. Thank you, Uncle Jim. I guess I won't really worry about the SD card classes, and just get what ever's cheapest.

Heh, I emailed Creative about the Zen and how it'll handle AAC files which have no tag information in their properties and I had a reply saying that it doesn't even support AAC files. :confused:

Anyway, I've replied quoting their website where it says about AAC support for this player, and hopefully I won't get a complete moron email me back this time. :rolleyes:

Cheers, Kaldskryke. 'Guess I can rule the ER-6is out then.
 
So, I had a reply from Creative this morning:

With regards to your issue, we apologize for the misinformation given
pertaining to .M4A files not being supported on Zen Player. Please take
note that since there are no ID3 tags available for the .M4A files using
Windows Explorer, the tags will definitely not appear in Zen player. You
will need to edit the properties of each tracks inorder for Zen to
display those information.
Click to expand...

Well dun't that just suck? The Creative Zen barely even supports the format if it can't display any information about .M4A files. I guess I should probably reconsider my options, then; although, more like option--singular--since it seems only the iPod can manage to play such songs and display tag information.
 
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