Argh! Which MP3 Player?

wolfman

I'm currently looking for an mp3 (actually Ogg) player that can play small video files (this isn't essential though) that I can watch on the tube/train. Of everything on the market though I can't find a single player that meets this spec to a reasonable standard. The way I see things now are:

iPod - I'd need to install Rockbox to play Ogg files, which reduces battery life to around 8 hours (is quite low). Scratches easily, and is hard drive based. On the plus side, it plays video well (30fps), is small and looks cool although if possible I'd rather not jump on the Apple bandwagon.

iPod Nano - same as the iPod minus video playback capabilities.

Samsung YP Z5 - Doesn't allow dragging n dropping of Ogg files, it has to be done via WMP. No video playback. Apart from that it's fine, great battery life.

Sandisk Sansa e2xx - Nearly perfect, although it can't play Ogg files(!!!), and video playback is only 15fps.

Anyone got any other suggestions or comments? I've not actually seen video playback at 15fps, is it watchable? At the moment it's between the iPod 30gb or the Sandisk Sansa e270.

Aiadi

Get a Hard case for the iPod and not a single scratch (had mine for 6 mo. now). Jump on the bandwagen and also put all your important files there with Trucrypt. Easy to transfer DVDs into MP4 using Videora and attachable to your TV to play movies and your photos. For the music format then as you said, either Rockbox or do like I started doing ripping my CDs using EAC and encoding them into MP3s using the best MP3 encoder on the planet (LAME). the quality of the music I have to say is astonishing. BTW the iPod has the best quality sound if you play the same music than the iRiver or Creative. Make sure though you get a good pair of cans. Probably the best £299 I have spent.

wolfman

Yeah, I'm definitely considering the iPod.

I would consider a case, although do find it annoying that I have to. It's just further expense and bulk. Rockbox is cool, in fact the Samsung and Sandisk I mentioned don't have ports. The iPods battery life down to 8 hours is a bit of a bummer though.

Does Videora take long? I'll most likely want to watch my Family Guy episodes (30mins each).

With regards to encoding, I did use Mp3 (Lame 3.97b with EAC, infact 90% of my collection is mp3) but do find Ogg Vorbis (and AAC) to be superior so have switched looking towards a newer format. Also Ogg is open source, so no patents, royalties etc... to be paid which I feel is a good reason to support it.

Oh, and TrueCrypt, great app. Got that and all my portable apps on my Shuffle.

wonderfullife_2

Hi
See you not mentioned Iriver in your list
How about this one, if you can find it, they are the older players of Iriver, but in my opinion the best and still highly sought after.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000UJFU6/202-0288973-7383829?_encoding=UTF8&coliid=&colid=
1. Just drag and drop, no software required
2. Ogg Vorbis as standard format.
3. Sound quality unbeatable
4. Direct Recording, no pc required
5. Excellent build and quality, no scratches, dropped it, bashed it.
6. Excellent support from Iriver
7. Backlit remote control.
Lots of excellent features, and supported by Rockbox, with video playback I believe, but not sure about that.
I've had mine for almost 2yrs, Iriver H140, still going strong, although battery life waning a bit, I use to get 16hrs now about 8-10hrs.
Of course not as pretty as the Ipod, but you can't have everything

Just a thought

skippy64

I've had the iPod Video (30GB) since January and I love it. A definite recommendation to jump on the Apple Bandwagon. I use handbrake for dvd conversions to play on the iPod which I think is a Mac only app but i'm sure there is the pc equivalent.:j

Aiadi

wolfman wrote:

Yeah, I'm definitely considering the iPod.

I would consider a case, although do find it annoying that I have to. It's just further expense and bulk. Rockbox is cool, in fact the Samsung and Sandisk I mentioned don't have ports. The iPods battery life down to 8 hours is a bit of a bummer though.

Does Videora take long? I'll most likely want to watch my Family Guy episodes (30mins each).

With regards to encoding, I did use Mp3 (Lame 3.97b with EAC, infact 90% of my collection is mp3) but do find Ogg Vorbis (and AAC) to be superior so have switched looking towards a newer format. Also Ogg is open source, so no patents, royalties etc... to be paid which I feel is a good reason to support it.

Oh, and TrueCrypt, great app. Got that and all my portable apps on my Shuffle.

True that metal cases add a bit of bulk but it is really not that much and they are available pretty cheap on eBay. Videora takes about 30 mins on my PC to encode a whole 90 mins DVD (you would obviously need to rip it first). For MP3s, I use LAME v3.90.3 which is not the latest version, but the one recommended, because it is specifically coded to take advantage of the --alt-presets .. which yield the best audio fidelity per unit bit used, and has been tested most extensively. Don't forget that MP3 is still the most flexible format (I am thinking also when connecting it to my XBOX360 to get the music onto the home cinema system). Don't get me wrong OV is probably the best lossey format but its use is still pretty much limited and the difference in quality is really not at all noticable unless you encode MP3 at lower (or constant) bitrates. The option of having up to 60GB iPod is also another major bonus if you hve plenty of files.

Bob63

I won a 60GB video iPod earlier this week. I probably would never have bought one, but now I have it I really wish I'd bought one much much sooner. It is a superb piece of kit.

Mike

niceguyrichy

well first up , if watching vids is important to you, buy a handheld comp, not an mp3 player

and if sound quality and price is important to you, buy a Rio Karma

they cost nothing for 20G mp3 player's, they sound amazin, and they support ogg vorbis.

Omertron

wolfman wrote:

I've not actually seen video playback at 15fps, is it watchable?

Depends on what you are used to... I re-encode TV shows to play on my iPAQ 5550 at 320x240 15fps. It's perfectly watchable on a 4" screen, don't know how watchable video would be on the iPOD 2" or similar screen.

wolfman

Aiadi wrote:

For MP3s, I use LAME v3.90.3 which is not the latest version, but the one recommended, because it is specifically coded to take advantage of the --alt-presets .. which yield the best audio fidelity per unit bit used, and has been tested most extensively.

Try v3.97b. v3.96 is the latest official release, but check any audiophile site and they'll recommend v3.97b as standard with one of the -V 1/2/3 settings. It usually comes out top on any ABX tests.

Aiadi wrote:

Don't forget that MP3 is still the most flexible format (I am thinking also when connecting it to my XBOX360 to get the music onto the home cinema system). Don't get me wrong OV is probably the best lossey format but its use is still pretty much limited and the difference in quality is really not at all noticable unless you encode MP3 at lower (or constant) bitrates.

Yeah, mp3's flexibility is a big bonus. I've run a few blind ABX tests though and do find AAC and OV to be noticeably better, especially on classical music or soundtrack scores (which make up quite a bit of my collection). Hence switching a few months back. I always encode at a bit rate of around 200kbps. Anything lower I don't find as good, and anything higher and I just take a lossless version instead.

niceguyrichy wrote:

well first up , if watching vids is important to you, buy a handheld comp, not an mp3 player

and if sound quality and price is important to you, buy a Rio Karma

they cost nothing for 20G mp3 player's, they sound amazin, and they support ogg vorbis.

Yeah I've looked at the Karma before. Very much a favourite with a lot of people. Just find it a little dated though, and I'd ideally like something smaller. Video playback isn't hugely important, I'll mostly be listening to music. It'd just be nice to have the capability of playing the odd Simpsons episode when going to work.

Omertron wrote:

Depends on what you are used to... I re-encode TV shows to play on my iPAQ 5550 at 320x240 15fps. It's perfectly watchable on a 4" screen, don't know how watchable video would be on the iPOD 2" or similar screen.

Ah good to hear. I'd mostly be watching cartoon Simpson/Family Guy/Futurama stuff where visuals aren't hugely important.

I think the iPod 30gb suits me most at the moment. Anyone know if Apple have any new models coming out soon? The current range have been out for a while now, would hate to buy one, then have something new come out in two weeks time.

I am thinking of giving up on the video playback though, in which case it'd be between the Samsung YP Z5 and the Sandisk Sansa e270.

Aiadi

wolfman wrote:

Try v3.97b. v3.96 is the latest official release, but check any audiophile site and they'll recommend v3.97b as standard with one of the -V 1/2/3 settings. It usually comes out top on any ABX tests.

Wolfman, could you please let me know the best string that I need to put in the ADDITIONAL COMMAND LINE OPTIONS box in exact audio copy to achieve the best encoding at around 200 kbps. I am currently using the following:
-V 1 --vbr-new --id3v1-only --ta "%a" --tt "%t" --tg "%m" --tl "%g" --ty "%y" --tn "%n" %s %d

(note that I'm using -V 1). In your opinion is this a reasonable option and what's your preference? Thanks in advance for your advice.