gym vs walkman CD skip

[cmxl]

Just bought my first walkman-type cd/mp3 player, an iriver imp-50. Took it
to the gym and, due to skipping, couldn't hear any music while walking
moderately or pedaling. Is this normal to all cd/mp3 players? Wondering if I
have a defective player, or whether I have to buy a different model?

What's your experience been?

[Kalman Rubinson]

On Sun, 02 Nov 2003 17:11:05 GMT, "cmxl" >
wrote:

>Just bought my first walkman-type cd/mp3 player, an iriver imp-50. Took it
>to the gym and, due to skipping, couldn't hear any music while walking
>moderately or pedaling. Is this normal to all cd/mp3 players? Wondering if I
>have a defective player, or whether I have to buy a different model?

Is it skipping on MP3 or CD? If the former, it is defective or your
files are. If the latter, does the player have a buffer/reread
feature?

Kal

[cmxl]

Skip was on MP3. I have now gone into imp-50 functions, and have changed MP3
Buffer from its default 30 sec to 60 sec. I will try again and see if that's
better.

How would I determine if my MP3 files are defective? I used Lame cbr 192
through AudioGrabber.


"Kalman Rubinson" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 02 Nov 2003 17:11:05 GMT, "cmxl" >
> wrote:
>
> >Just bought my first walkman-type cd/mp3 player, an iriver imp-50. Took
it
> >to the gym and, due to skipping, couldn't hear any music while walking
> >moderately or pedaling. Is this normal to all cd/mp3 players? Wondering
if I
> >have a defective player, or whether I have to buy a different model?
>
> Is it skipping on MP3 or CD? If the former, it is defective or your
> files are. If the latter, does the player have a buffer/reread
> feature?
>
> Kal

[Kalman Rubinson]

On Sun, 02 Nov 2003 20:01:16 GMT, "cmxl" >
wrote:

>Skip was on MP3. I have now gone into imp-50 functions, and have changed MP3
>Buffer from its default 30 sec to 60 sec. I will try again and see if that's
>better.
>
>How would I determine if my MP3 files are defective? I used Lame cbr 192
>through AudioGrabber.

Are you saying that the MP3s are on the CD? If so, it's probably a
mechanical or buffer problem. I assumed that the MP3 fxn was not
stored on a mechanical drive. You might try an iPod or similar.

Kal


>
>
>"Kalman Rubinson" > wrote in message
...
>> On Sun, 02 Nov 2003 17:11:05 GMT, "cmxl" >
>> wrote:
>>
>> >Just bought my first walkman-type cd/mp3 player, an iriver imp-50. Took
>it
>> >to the gym and, due to skipping, couldn't hear any music while walking
>> >moderately or pedaling. Is this normal to all cd/mp3 players? Wondering
>if I
>> >have a defective player, or whether I have to buy a different model?
>>
>> Is it skipping on MP3 or CD? If the former, it is defective or your
>> files are. If the latter, does the player have a buffer/reread
>> feature?
>>
>> Kal
>

[Todd H.]

"cmxl" > writes:

> Just bought my first walkman-type cd/mp3 player, an iriver imp-50. Took it
> to the gym and, due to skipping, couldn't hear any music while walking
> moderately or pedaling. Is this normal to all cd/mp3 players? Wondering if I
> have a defective player, or whether I have to buy a different model?
>
> What's your experience been?

Anything with moving media like a CD or a hard disk and a gym is a
potential bad mix. The mechanical engineers just aren't as smart as
the electrical engineers and they haven't figured out how to eliminate
that physical jarring stuff. :-)

You'll be happier with an all electronic mp3 player that uses flash
memory for your application.

Best Regards,
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | Todd H
\ / | http://www.toddh.net/
X Promoting good netiquette | http://triplethreatband.com/
/ \ http://www.toddh.net/netiquette/ | "4 lines suffice."

[Arny Krueger]

"cmxl" > wrote in message


> Just bought my first walkman-type cd/mp3 player, an iriver imp-50.
> Took it to the gym and, due to skipping, couldn't hear any music
> while walking moderately or pedaling. Is this normal to all cd/mp3
> players? Wondering if I have a defective player, or whether I have to
> buy a different model?
>
> What's your experience been?

I have a Audiovox CD-MP3 player. It is quite shock sensitive in MP3 mode.
More so than in CD mode with the buffer on.

If you want a seriously shockproof MP3 player, try one of the flash memory
based players. I once tried to make one skip, and it wouldn't skip until I
rattled it hard enough to knock the battery out. However, most flash-based
players have only modest capacity for music - about 1/4 that of a CD -based
player. Media costs are also very high. I have a Nomad 2.

Hard-drive based players are also very resistant to skipping, have capacity
coming out of their ears, but are costly, have limited battery life and
weight. I have a Nomad Jukebox 3. IRiver's iHP120 looks very competitive.

[Orrie]

I had the same problem, and solved it by getting a Samsung Yepp YP 55, a
solid state 256 Mb unit ($179 at Best Buy). It's about the size and shape of
a Bic cigarette lighter, and very solidly constructed, unlike the comparable
iRiver models. I listen to books that I transfer from CDs to my computer as
MP3s, then onto the Samsung. It holds about 10 CDs worth of narration at 96
bits (perfectly fine for narration), but for music, you'd probably want to
record at 128. I couldn't use the very good bud-style earphones that come
with the Samsung, because they were a little too large and kept popping out
of my ears. I'm using my old fold-up Radio Shack earphones, and they don't
play very loud with this unit. Loud enough for my purposes, though. The
YP-55 includes a so-so FM, voice recorder and some equalizing settings. You
can also use it as a solid-state "drive" to transfer data from one computer
to another. It was my choice largely because of its apparently solid
construction and it has not given me any problems at all.

Orrie


"cmxl" > wrote in message
...
> Just bought my first walkman-type cd/mp3 player, an iriver imp-50. Took it
> to the gym and, due to skipping, couldn't hear any music while walking
> moderately or pedaling. Is this normal to all cd/mp3 players? Wondering if
I
> have a defective player, or whether I have to buy a different model?
>
> What's your experience been?
>
>

[cmxl]

I called iriver tech support, and they suggested hitting the mode button for
Shock Free Mode, and (duh) it appears to work!! I walked fast and ran around
the block and no skip. And yes, it was there in the manual, had I but
bothered to read it instead of just glance at it.

I've got a red face (and I'm embarrassed too :-) ) for having started this
thread!

Still have to give it the gym test, but it seems that the iRiver iMP-50 is
good to go and no problems with shock and skipping. No other complaints
about this unit.

[cmxl]

Update: thought the MP3-on-CD skipping problem during exercise was solved
but it happened again. So I went to a local store and bought a cd player
fanny-pack, and finally that seems to have solved the problem of being able
to exercise without skips. Looked at the flash card units, but I want more
capacity, also at the mini hard disk units, but we're back to moving parts
with that. Thanks to all who responded!

[cmxl]

One more update on the iRiver iMP-50 :

I had another problem: the cassette adapter (car kit so you can play your
cd/mp3's in a car equipped only with cassette player) that came with this
unit worked in my car but not my wife's car.

I emailed iRiver tech support about the problem, and they sent out a
replacement adapter that works fine in both cars.

Bottom line: I recommend this unit! Sounds great, does the job, and tech
support works, too!