portable MP3 players

[rick57]

This year's Christmas list includes a portable MP3 player for a 12 yo. We're not going to an iPod ($A480), but probably midrange $.

I have a first shortlist, which mostly focuses on features. It's:
- Creative MuVo
- iRiver IFP-700 series
- Beatsounds EVR-500


What should I look out for or avoid?
eg While it's mostly for MP3s, are most radios too prone to 'hash', like they tend to be in walkmans, unless the signal is very strong?

* Is there/ what is the forum for them??

Thanks

[dangus]

If you're getting a flash memory player, I'd look for one that is expandable with some standard type memory. Last week I saw a no-name player with a pathetic 32M internal, but it was only $55 Canadian, and expandable. So, for another $90 or so it could be pumped up to 544M, which is a very reasonable amount of storage.

[AGGEMAM]

You could also choose to DIY your MP3 player

http://www.myplace.nu/mp3/

is the only place I know of on the top of my head but I'm sure you could find more sites with creative googling.

[Yacob_UK]

I picked up a non upgradable 1/2Gb flash stick player (USB 1 though) for £64 delivered from Ebuyer.com

I highly recommend it if you're on a tight budget.

It doesn't support folders but 512Mb for UK£64 is excellent value

[AGGEMAM]

Since this is a DIY page let's get it straight that there is no such thing as non-upgradable!

Just open the MP3 player and upgrade it the internal memory card to one of the same kind but with a higher memory.

[Yacob_UK]

What I meant was it is fixed flash memory rather than removable (card) type as suggested up there^^.

[rick57]

Thanks guys
Santa will keep looking around (esp. eBay)

[thomas997]

wow those seem expensive players for a 12 year old..


For now I would get a cheap USB flash stick player as already suggested..

Very easy to use, appears as a hard drive, then you just drag and drop songs on, make folders, etc.

[Bill Fitzpatrick]

You're going to subject young, tender, impressionable ears to MP3 garbage sound quality? He or she will think that's what music is supposed to sound like. Later, when he or she becomes a recording engineer, we'll all be in trouble.

[Yacob_UK]

Without meaning to sound contrary I don't really understand this argument.

If you use a good encoder, and a high bitrate how does a MP3 based personal audio system differ from say a Minidisc system, or if you follow the argument to the nth degree a CD based system?

Analogue tape fits here also, when I was a child I had a cassette player, and some of my tapes degraded massively through overplaying, tape degridation over time and fundimentally the quality recording media used. I still played them because I loved the content. In actual fact the ear is fantasic at reducing the perceived effect of 'bad' audio, making it very forgiving.

Has this impared my ability to hear?

I can clearly hear artifacts on a bad MP3 (low bitrate, poor encoder), some maybe able to hear the mp3 artifacts on a good quality mp3 (I can sometimes hear 'something' but the conveniance of the system, and my brains ability mask allows me to ignore/forgive this). Some with golden ears can even hear the quantising on 16bit CD recordings...

Surely the point here is that
1) the MP3 system is a convenient method of transporting and consuming audio
2) MP3 players are not going to be produced using 'Audio-phile' quality componants, ergo the sound quality will always be less than a custom build room tuned amp / speaker combo
3) The headphones that these unit are shipped with are not of fantastic quality so reproduction of any audio (MP3, wav, CD etc) isn't going to be amazing. Ok, you could use your own $1000 headphones, but that defeats the point of have a cheap general consumer orientated product.

Even if you consider the type of music that a 12 year old (or most 'young' people for that matter) consume, its all massively dynamically compresssed to suit radio playback. Most of the commercial streams the audience listens too is uber compressed (radio, digital TV, terrestrial TV) all have very strong digital roots and therefore sound quailty is affected during the signal chain at some point due to compression (and associated errors).

I agree that the sound signal should be kept as pure as possible, but surely at the same time there has to be a associated analysis of audio quality vs functionality and cost?