Docking stations for non-ipod mp3 players

southcoastsounds

I've got a deep resistance to buying anything "i", partly because I don't want to put iTunes on my PC, and I'm quite happy buying my very occasional downloads from Amazon.

BUT every docking station I ever see advertised only connects with an iPod.

I've got a Sony Digital Walkman which does everything I could possibly want it to do, but I've only been able to find two docking stations for it, neither of which are much good.

Does anyone know if any of the other mp3 player brands (Zen etc) have a range of docking stations? Or is the only way to get decent room-filling sounds from a digital player to go iPod?

Any other thoughts?

Thanks Tom

MarzipanFish

I finally gave in & got an ipod last year but my brother has a docking station for a creative zen. It's more travel speaker size though.

You can plug mp3 players into most hifis if you get a phono(red & white) to mini jack (headphone) cable but then of course you don't charging from it.

southcoastsounds

MarzipanFish wrote: »

You can plug mp3 players into most hifis if you get a phono(red & white) to mini jack (headphone) cable but then of course you don't charging from it.

My tame expert says the quality of sound by this means loses quite a bit. Good idea though.

Thanks, T

MarzipanFish

southcoastsounds wrote: »

My tame expert says the quality of sound by this means loses quite a bit. Good idea though.

Thanks, T

I've used one to use my mp3 player to soundcheck big club/gig venues and I can't really notice a loss to be honest. Definitely seen the odd DJ leave their mp3 player playing through one to 1500 people or so while they go to the loo too!
Technically there should be some loss but I don't think it's noticeable unless you're running the cables all over the place and picking up interference from other places.

Poundland/99p shop actually sell fairly decent ones with plenty of shielding so it might be worth trying if you've got a hifi you like already.

southcoastsounds

MarzipanFish wrote: »

. . . I can't really notice a loss to be honest.

Right, I'll give it a go then. Thanks for the information.

Tom

timmyboy_2

I too have a Sony Walkman, purely because the sound quality is far superior in my humble opinion.
You are correct that its bonkers as regards docking stations, have never seen a walkman one, Sony make them but only for Ipods, NOT for their own models(tis a crazy world we live in).
However I have a Hi-Fi and a car radio that both have usb connections. Usb connections have the advantage over the phono options (mentioned above) that charges the thing as you listen.
One of the methods lets you control the music from your player, not sure which one though(rushes off to try).
The other problem with the Walkman is that I think their software is rubbish, adding and deleting songs is a real pain, so I use I Tunes for this.
I Tunes does not however pick up the Walkman so transferring files means sorting them in I Tunes and then pasting them into the Sony media manager thing.
Does anyone know any decent software that can be used with a Walkman?

southcoastsounds

timmyboy

The Walkman is a great player and I download all my mp3s from Amazon then copy them across with the Media Manager thing which also copies the album art. I also record a lot music from Internet radio using the wonderful Total Recorder. (I only do this for non-copyright material of course!). You can record whole radio programmes this way and its a useful alternative to podcasts. I use Windows Explorer for copying non-album tracks like this.

I think sales of the Sony Digital Walkman were so poor that it wasn't worth them investing in accessories for it - which is a great shame as it offers several advantages over the iPod - not least you can keep your Windows PC free from iPlayer.

Thanks for your contribution

Tom

timmyboy_2

Total Recorder? never heard of it, where can you get this from?
As a matter of interest I was using my phono to phono lead last night in the car, its basically a one jack lead to one jack lead and costs a couple of quid.
The sound quality was excellent as I ploughed through my £1 Morrissey download from Amazon.
There is another lead mentioned above that I use for my hi-fi that splits so you have a left and right output(or is it input?).
There is a snag with the usb thing I mentioned earlier in that you dont have control via the player, it seems to play them in some random order but you can skip using the forward button on the car radio. Not ideal.
Do you use only mp3's? Found recently that a lot of my space was being taken up with aac type files, I have converted them all to mp3 and they use a lot less space(approx 45% less).
Means I can get more on the player.

southcoastsounds

timmyboy wrote: »

Total Recorder? never heard of it, where can you get this from?

Thanks for the additional information.

Total Recorder can be used to record an audio file in mp3 or any other format from any sounds coming out of your computer. You can work out for yourself the usefulness of this! I won't list the uses here for obvious reasons. I've used it for years and its does what it says on the tin

http://www.highcriteria.com/

Dalglish7

Why dont you just buy normal speakers and use an aux cable?

southcoastsounds

Dalglish7 wrote: »

Why dont you just buy normal speakers and use an aux cable?

Well, its going to need some sort of amplification to power the sort of speakers I'm looking for.