Mp3 Player With Functions And Decent Memory

[Gaccha]

My sturdy iRiver IHP-120 has finally kicked the bucket. I expected that after 7 years of technological development, it would be a piece of cake to not only get all its functions but improve on its 20GB memory.

I want:

on-the-go playlist

recording line- in

A-B repeat function

at least 25GB memory

file and ID3 tag control

playback speed

remote control

NO touchscreen (useless to control in the pocket)

These are pretty basic in my eyes, but it looks like that after iRiver and Cowon (with their MX5) the product has gone. There now seems to be two product types in the eyes of the technology firms:

a. big memory audio playing MP3s for hyper-consummerist teenagers with simple needs (no recording, no need to repeat intervals)

b. small dictaphone like devices with recording function (but with little memory space)

The nearest to the product I desire is the Creative Zen 16GB (the 32GB is not on sale in Thailand), as the supplier of Cowon in Thailand seems to have ceased to exist. The alternative Sony 16GB and the Samsung have limitations I dislike (one is touchscreen, and the Sony has no on-the-go playlist)

Any suggestions...? Have I exhausted all the limited possibilities...?

The iPhone and Zune seem so loaded with irritiating consumerist stuff I don't want to touch them, unless can assuage me of my concerns, but I don't think either have what I am looking for.

Thanks

[whooliggen]

I know you've said that you don't like the touchscreens (non-controllability in the pocket), but I have kinda got round that issue by going with the Cowon Q5W (bluetooth) and the bluetooth JBL 610 earphones (Midsize over-ear design).

The JBL's are primarily designed for the i-pod range (they come with a special attachment), but their bluetooth capability connects well with the Cowon (bluetooth functionality with the Cowon only permits headphone connectivity). On the right side earphone are 4 controls, that even though take a while to get to grips with, allow some control (stop, next, previous and play) over the tunes without having to dig around in your pocket/bag etc. Their functionality is increased further sill if using them with a i-pod family member.

I was also sceptical about the touchscreen thang, but as you can lock the Cowon during playback (so that the touchscreen is inactive when in your pocket) coupled with the bluetooth capability, its definitely worked out perfectly well for me. Plus the fact that it's got an 80gb drive and can play almost every file format out there (including FLAC which is revolutionising my music collection!), there is no turning back. Yeah it is larger than the I-pod's/Creatives and so on, but the video playback on the 5 inch screen is so sharp, that it's well worth the extra pocket space consumed. The wifi connectivity seems to improve with every firmware update and the latest update includes a remote desktop function. It is expensive, but I was lucky enough to get it on sale at a very good price in the UK, so it didn't work out too bad. I also knew that if it didn't blow up, it would serve me well for the foreseeable future as I can't see FLAC becoming quality redundant any time soon! Not sure how there can be much improvement on it anyway, but I'm far from being an audio geek, so I could be wrong. All I know is that after listening to FLAC files, anything I've got now that's below 320 kbps.mp3 is tuff to listen to when you know what it CAN sound like.,,

Just my two pennies worth..Good luck with your choice...

W.

[Gaccha]

I know you've said that you don't like the touchscreens (non-controllability in the pocket), but I have kinda got round that issue by going with the Cowon Q5W (bluetooth) and the bluetooth JBL 610 earphones (Midsize over-ear design).

The JBL's are primarily designed for the i-pod range (they come with a special attachment), but their bluetooth capability connects well with the Cowon (bluetooth functionality with the Cowon only permits headphone connectivity). On the right side earphone are 4 controls, that even though take a while to get to grips with, allow some control (stop, next, previous and play) over the tunes without having to dig around in your pocket/bag etc. Their functionality is increased further sill if using them with a i-pod family member.

W.

I like the idea of Blootooth headphones and I'll get a player with bluetooth capability. But as for the Cowon, they are not available in Thailand. Any other suggestions? (the postal options are poor as well)

[borovik]

My sturdy iRiver IHP-120 has finally kicked the bucket. I expected that after 7 years of technological development, it would be a piece of cake to not only get all its functions but improve on its 20GB memory.

I want:

on-the-go playlist

recording line- in

A-B repeat function

at least 25GB memory

file and ID3 tag control

playback speed

remote control

NO touchscreen (useless to control in the pocket)

These are pretty basic in my eyes, but it looks like that after iRiver and Cowon (with their MX5) the product has gone. There now seems to be two product types in the eyes of the technology firms:

a. big memory audio playing MP3s for hyper-consummerist teenagers with simple needs (no recording, no need to repeat intervals)

b. small dictaphone like devices with recording function (but with little memory space)

The nearest to the product I desire is the Creative Zen 16GB (the 32GB is not on sale in Thailand), as the supplier of Cowon in Thailand seems to have ceased to exist. The alternative Sony 16GB and the Samsung have limitations I dislike (one is touchscreen, and the Sony has no on-the-go playlist)

Any suggestions...? Have I exhausted all the limited possibilities...?

The iPhone and Zune seem so loaded with irritiating consumerist stuff I don't want to touch them, unless can assuage me of my concerns, but I don't think either have what I am looking for.

Thanks

Hello!I recommend you...Cowon A3.I bought one with 80G HDD on Amazon in US,using US friend's help and my own credit card.Its worth of troubles:

I had to pay mere 250US$(price in Asia - almost 100%more).Older models from Creative are best for your needs(with HDD instead of flash memory)

Go to the website: www.hardwarezone.com and open "Forum",you will find there corner devoted to PMPs with many long threads about the subject.

another one,compulsory visit! is: www.anythingbutipod.com

CowonA3 is big device,CowonD2 is tiny,with the best sound - and touch screen,

which is not very touchy.

Salutos

[dominique355]

I know you've said that you don't like the touchscreens (non-controllability in the pocket), but I have kinda got round that issue by going with the Cowon Q5W (bluetooth) and the bluetooth JBL 610 earphones (Midsize over-ear design).

The JBL's are primarily designed for the i-pod range (they come with a special attachment), but their bluetooth capability connects well with the Cowon (bluetooth functionality with the Cowon only permits headphone connectivity). On the right side earphone are 4 controls, that even though take a while to get to grips with, allow some control (stop, next, previous and play) over the tunes without having to dig around in your pocket/bag etc. Their functionality is increased further sill if using them with a i-pod family member.

I was also sceptical about the touchscreen thang, but as you can lock the Cowon during playback (so that the touchscreen is inactive when in your pocket) coupled with the bluetooth capability, its definitely worked out perfectly well for me. Plus the fact that it's got an 80gb drive and can play almost every file format out there (including FLAC which is revolutionising my music collection!), there is no turning back. Yeah it is larger than the I-pod's/Creatives and so on, but the video playback on the 5 inch screen is so sharp, that it's well worth the extra pocket space consumed. The wifi connectivity seems to improve with every firmware update and the latest update includes a remote desktop function. It is expensive, but I was lucky enough to get it on sale at a very good price in the UK, so it didn't work out too bad. I also knew that if it didn't blow up, it would serve me well for the foreseeable future as I can't see FLAC becoming quality redundant any time soon! Not sure how there can be much improvement on it anyway, but I'm far from being an audio geek, so I could be wrong. All I know is that after listening to FLAC files, anything I've got now that's below 320 kbps.mp3 is tuff to listen to when you know what it CAN sound like.,,

Just my two pennies worth..Good luck with your choice...

W.

Whooliggen, can you tell me where I can buy Cowon here in Thailand? I have been looking for them for quite some time, but no success. Indeed, the FLAC capability of Cowon seems very attractive.

Thanks.

[MKAsok]

I also knew that if it didn't blow up, it would serve me well for the foreseeable future as I can't see FLAC becoming quality redundant any time soon! Not sure how there can be much improvement on it anyway, but I'm far from being an audio geek, so I could be wrong. All I know is that after listening to FLAC files, anything I've got now that's below 320 kbps.mp3 is tuff to listen to when you know what it CAN sound like.,,

FLAC is a lossless format, so there can't be any improvement (assuming the source is a CD). If you want quality MP3, try encoding (or downloading, if that's what you're doing) in V0 (VBR). 320 CBR wastes a lot of disk space.

[whooliggen]

Whooliggen, can you tell me where I can buy Cowon here in Thailand? I have been looking for them for quite some time, but no success. Indeed, the FLAC capability of Cowon seems very attractive.

Thanks.

Imported it through the UK as I simply couldn't find it here. Sorry.

[whooliggen]

FLAC is a lossless format, so there can't be any improvement (assuming the source is a CD). If you want quality MP3, try encoding (or downloading, if that's what you're doing) in V0 (VBR). 320 CBR wastes a lot of disk space.

Thanks!

[borovik]

I know you've said that you don't like the touchscreens (non-controllability in the pocket), but I have kinda got round that issue by going with the Cowon Q5W (bluetooth) and the bluetooth JBL 610 earphones (Midsize over-ear design).

The JBL's are primarily designed for the i-pod range (they come with a special attachment), but their bluetooth capability connects well with the Cowon (bluetooth functionality with the Cowon only permits headphone connectivity). On the right side earphone are 4 controls, that even though take a while to get to grips with, allow some control (stop, next, previous and play) over the tunes without having to dig around in your pocket/bag etc. Their functionality is increased further sill if using them with a i-pod family member.

I was also sceptical about the touchscreen thang, but as you can lock the Cowon during playback (so that the touchscreen is inactive when in your pocket) coupled with the bluetooth capability, its definitely worked out perfectly well for me. Plus the fact that it's got an 80gb drive and can play almost every file format out there (including FLAC which is revolutionising my music collection!), there is no turning back. Yeah it is larger than the I-pod's/Creatives and so on, but the video playback on the 5 inch screen is so sharp, that it's well worth the extra pocket space consumed. The wifi connectivity seems to improve with every firmware update and the latest update includes a remote desktop function. It is expensive, but I was lucky enough to get it on sale at a very good price in the UK, so it didn't work out too bad. I also knew that if it didn't blow up, it would serve me well for the foreseeable future as I can't see FLAC becoming quality redundant any time soon! Not sure how there can be much improvement on it anyway, but I'm far from being an audio geek, so I could be wrong. All I know is that after listening to FLAC files, anything I've got now that's below 320 kbps.mp3 is tuff to listen to when you know what it CAN sound like.,,

Just my two pennies worth..Good luck with your choice...

W.

Whooliggen, can you tell me where I can buy Cowon here in Thailand? I have been looking for them for quite some time, but no success. Indeed, the FLAC capability of Cowon seems very attractive.

Thanks.

Amigo!If you value FLAC so much - buy yourself one of chinese players,they are much more cheaper then Cowon,you can buy them in Thailand,and they

can play FLAC plus many other formats.For instance:try" RAMOS970",you can find it in Panthip;something around 4000B for 4G.In China - 60US$./8G

They have microSD slot,beautiful display,they play RM,and - they display Thai characters!Another good choice is Meizu,but I am not sure,if you

find it in Panthip,another good choice is "ONDA",there are many other brands,all of them are even cheaper,but most are no good.

The best sound and good reputation - is "Meizu",sound is better,then Ipod.All chinese players have poor or very poor user interface mixed with bugs.

But - 50US$?....I had in my hands - Meizu,Ramos,Onda and I recommend them in this order.

Salutos!

[FlorC]

I've got the Cowon D2, 8 GB version for 165 Euro. (there is a 16 GB version too). Extendable with a least 16 GB SDHC.

Looked everywhere in Thailand. They don't know Cowon and no importer.

So bought it in Europe last november.

Touchscreen is not so bad and at least 35 hours of play time with MP3 and Ogg files.

The earphones not that great. I use my sony's.

I'm happy with it.

[Gaccha]

I've got the Cowon D2, 8 GB version for 165 Euro. (there is a 16 GB version too). Extendable with a least 16 GB SDHC.

Looked everywhere in Thailand. They don't know Cowon and no importer.

So bought it in Europe last november.

Touchscreen is not so bad and at least 35 hours of play time with MP3 and Ogg files.

The earphones not that great. I use my sony's.

I'm happy with it.

My thinking was right on the money. I wanted Cowon and everyone here is running with that. Shame the shop in Pantip that is supposed to sell them doesn't seem to exist. It is called Munkong Gadget and 'is' on the first and fourth floor.

Outside of Pantip, a shop called Muzic Craft and a shop called music2home sell a tiny selection but I can't work out where they are... anyone know...? One is listed as on Jarunsanitwong soi which according to google is multiple roads along the West bank of Chao Praya river. The other, music2home has a website and is currently selling an s9 Cowon.

http://www.music2home.com/search.aspx?keyw...owon&page=3

It is located at 52/64 Ramakamhang, Huamak, Bankgapi, Bangkok Thailand 10240, which seems to be near the Dynasty Hotel, but I can't nail it down.

Edited March 13, 2009 by Gaccha

[whooliggen]

I also knew that if it didn't blow up, it would serve me well for the foreseeable future as I can't see FLAC becoming quality redundant any time soon! Not sure how there can be much improvement on it anyway, but I'm far from being an audio geek, so I could be wrong. All I know is that after listening to FLAC files, anything I've got now that's below 320 kbps.mp3 is tuff to listen to when you know what it CAN sound like.,,

FLAC is a lossless format, so there can't be any improvement (assuming the source is a CD). If you want quality MP3, try encoding (or downloading, if that's what you're doing) in V0 (VBR). 320 CBR wastes a lot of disk space.

Encoding my collection, or kinda starting to. Everything I've read about VBR states that it retains the same quality as the 320 kbps files but just with a smaller filesize. Have I understood that correctly?

(I'm using - or will be when I've got everything mentally straight - Cool Edit Pro 2.1.)

Cheers.

[MKAsok]

Encoding my collection, or kinda starting to. Everything I've read about VBR states that it retains the same quality as the 320 kbps files but just with a smaller filesize. Have I understood that correctly?

(I'm using - or will be when I've got everything mentally straight - Cool Edit Pro 2.1.)

Yes, exactly right. If I were you, however, I wouldn't rip my CDs straight into a lossy format like MP3. Rip them into FLAC with a cue sheet and a log. This will leave you with a lossless 'master copy' and give you two major advantages: First, you (or anyone else) will be able to exactly reconstruct your original CD using the FLAC files and the cue sheet should such a need ever arise; second, you can then encode (using the FLAC master copy and something like Foobar 2000 or dbpoweramp to perform the convertion - make sure you have the latest stable version of LAME installed, currently 3.98.2 I think) very quickly to whatever LAME preset that happens to suit you at the time e.g. V0 if space isn't an issue, or V2 if space is more of an issue etc. etc. Remember: lossless to lossy encodes = good; lossy to lossy transcodes = BAD. With a FLAC master copy, you're not stuck with something you can't re-encode again to something else if you need to. I rip to FLAC only, then make a V0 for my i-pod, then delete the MP3 files from my computer (since I can always make them again in 2 minutes if I need to and they're on my i-pod anyway). I can't stress this next bit enough: only use EAC to rip your CDs. Forget about everything else. Make sure you set-up EAC and rip exactly as stated in these guides. It might seem like a lot of work now, but believe me, it will pay off. If you're serious about this kind of stuff, you're eventually going to (if you're not already) end up a member on trackers like What CD or Waffles, and these methods are essential there if you don't want to get booted out (and believe me you don't - What and/or Waffles will revolutionise your life when it comes to music). Anyway, hope this helps...

[whooliggen]

Encoding my collection, or kinda starting to. Everything I've read about VBR states that it retains the same quality as the 320 kbps files but just with a smaller filesize. Have I understood that correctly?

(I'm using - or will be when I've got everything mentally straight - Cool Edit Pro 2.1.)

Yes, exactly right. If I were you, however, I wouldn't rip my CDs straight into a lossy format like MP3. Rip them into FLAC with a cue sheet and a log. This will leave you with a lossless 'master copy' and give you two major advantages: First, you (or anyone else) will be able to exactly reconstruct your original CD using the FLAC files and the cue sheet should such a need ever arise; second, you can then encode (using the FLAC master copy and something like Foobar 2000 or dbpoweramp to perform the convertion - make sure you have the latest stable version of LAME installed, currently 3.98.2 I think) very quickly to whatever LAME preset that happens to suit you at the time e.g. V0 if space isn't an issue, or V2 if space is more of an issue etc. etc. Remember: lossless to lossy encodes = good; lossy to lossy transcodes = BAD. With a FLAC master copy, you're not stuck with something you can't re-encode again to something else if you need to. I rip to FLAC only, then make a V0 for my i-pod, then delete the MP3 files from my computer (since I can always make them again in 2 minutes if I need to and they're on my i-pod anyway). I can't stress this next bit enough: only use EAC to rip your CDs. Forget about everything else. Make sure you set-up EAC and rip exactly as stated in these guides. It might seem like a lot of work now, but believe me, it will pay off. If you're serious about this kind of stuff, you're eventually going to (if you're not already) end up a member on trackers like What CD or Waffles, and these methods are essential there if you don't want to get booted out (and believe me you don't - What and/or Waffles will revolutionise your life when it comes to music). Anyway, hope this helps...

Whoah! That's an answer! Thanks a million! It's come JUST at the right time too as I think I may otherwise have spent a great deal of wasted time doing it all wrong! The FLAC files were also eating up a lot of space on my Cowon (but now after your advice I'll keep those originals on my external HD and encode the copies to the player).

It's all totally new to me this, but with your help and info I'm definitely seeing the light, so thanx very much. Looks like I'm gonna need to find a few free afternoons!

[MKAsok]

Whoah! That's an answer! Thanks a million! It's come JUST at the right time too as I think I may otherwise have spent a great deal of wasted time doing it all wrong! The FLAC files were also eating up a lot of space on my Cowon (but now after your advice I'll keep those originals on my external HD and encode the copies to the player).

It's all totally new to me this, but with your help and info I'm definitely seeing the light, so thanx very much. Looks like I'm gonna need to find a few free afternoons!

No problem. Glad I could help. I know it's all a bit confusing at first, but once you get to grips with it, and you've got everything set up properly, you can do all this very quickly. It's good you've taken the time to find out how to do things the right way earlier rather than later. I spent years being an idiot and knowing next to nothing about formats, encoding, bitrates, tags etc and ended up with an ugly mess of music about 100GBs big, which I pretty much had to reconstruct from scratch. If you need any more help, just ask....