I'm looking to get one. Don't think I can justify HD based ones like
the Rio or Ipod - why spent hundreds of pounds on that when I can get
100 blank cds for £30? Unless perhaps someone can talk me into it -
is there one with the size of the Ipod (roughly) but the cost of the
Rio?

The Sony d ne511 mp3/cd player looks ok. Does anyone know what the max
bitrate it can handle playing backin MP3s? On line it mentions up to
128 bps but i'm interested in 160 or 192. Sony's website is hopeless.

I recently bought a Riovolt CD/MP3/WMA after shopping around for a while for
one. Every model I looked at and have tried have been able to play at a
minimum 384kbs.

Even the "el-cheapo" ones that I tried could handle 384k, so I would be
really surprised if the Sony player could not.



"Fred Bloggs" wrote in message
om...
I'm looking to get one. Don't think I can justify HD based ones like
the Rio or Ipod - why spent hundreds of pounds on that when I can get
100 blank cds for £30? Unless perhaps someone can talk me into it -
is there one with the size of the Ipod (roughly) but the cost of the
Rio?

The Sony d ne511 mp3/cd player looks ok. Does anyone know what the max
bitrate it can handle playing backin MP3s? On line it mentions up to
128 bps but i'm interested in 160 or 192. Sony's website is hopeless.

Shrivel a écrit :

I recently bought a Riovolt CD/MP3/WMA after shopping around for a while for
one. Every model I looked at and have tried have been able to play at a
minimum 384kbs.

Even the "el-cheapo" ones that I tried could handle 384k, so I would be
really surprised if the Sony player could not.



I would be surprised too because it's the same software so...
Nota : std MP3 max. is usually 320 kb/s.
Anyway I'll have a look.
Lionel

Fred Bloggs a écrit :

I'm looking to get one. Don't think I can justify HD based ones like
the Rio or Ipod - why spent hundreds of pounds on that when I can get
100 blank cds for £30? Unless perhaps someone can talk me into it -
is there one with the size of the Ipod (roughly) but the cost of the
Rio?

The Sony d ne511 mp3/cd player looks ok. Does anyone know what the max
bitrate it can handle playing backin MP3s? On line it mentions up to
128 bps but i'm interested in 160 or 192. Sony's website is hopeless.

Ok it seems that only the Sony proprietary ATRAC format has a limited
bitrate.

--
Lionel Chapuis

"Fred Bloggs" wrote in message
om...

I'm looking to get one. Don't think I can justify HD based ones like
the Rio or Ipod - why spent hundreds of pounds on that when I can get
100 blank cds for £30? Unless perhaps someone can talk me into it -
is there one with the size of the Ipod (roughly) but the cost of the
Rio?

You didn't mention Creative's Nomad Jukebox line. The Nomad Jukebox Zen is
about the size and shape of an iPod, but gives more storage for a lot less
bucks. Sound quality is at least competitive.

The European iPods get knocked because their headphone jacks have very
limited output levels. I don't know how they compare to European CD players.

The Sony d ne511 mp3/cd player looks ok. Does anyone know what the max
bitrate it can handle playing backin MP3s?

These MP3-capable portable CD players have been around for a while and keep
proliferating. I picked up an circa 2001 Audiovox CE149MP at a local
appliance chain store for the princely sum of $28 - an attractive choice for
possible destruction on my very recent backpacking/camping trip in
Michigan's Porcupine Mountains.

I burned 4 CDs of songs hurriedly picked from my MP3 collection - about 160
songs per CD. Nothing failed to play in the woods, despite a random
selection of MP3 formats. Remember, this is a two-year-old design. I would
expect newer designs to be at least as flexible.

The physical size of CDs sets the MP3 CD player's size at relatively large -
about the same as a Nomad Jukebox 3. Hard drive players hold a lot more
music without changing media. The battery life of the MP3 player was
excellent as the CDs don't have to spin so fast in order to play. I think
I've seen 20 hours out of a pair of electronics-grade AA cells with
intermittent use.

Unlike my Nomad 3, the MP3 CD player can't record in the field but if you
aren't a recordist, this hardly matters.

The MP3/CD player is far cheaper and lighter than any hard-drive based
player I've seen and has far better battery life for the size and weight.
The charm of the hard drive player is the size of the music library you can
load without changing media. However, given that you can load over 6 hours
of music on a single MP3-CD, this is highly manageable in most situations.

On line it mentions up to
128 bps but i'm interested in 160 or 192. Sony's website is hopeless.

I had some 192Kbps songs in my collection, along with some VBR. Everything
plays with both players.

If you want the best possible sound quality out of a portable player, scrap
the headphones/earbuds that come with it and get some higher quality ear
buds. I use Sony MDR-EX70s and Shure E2s. Neither are uncolored but both are
clean enough and have decent clarity. I've heard Etymotic E4s and E6s and
they deliver good value for higher prices. Next shopping trip...

The EX70's have a hotter high end and made some questionable MP3s sound
crappy. They exposed many MP3 artifacts. Not really a happy combination.
They work far better with .wav files and regular audio CDs.

The E2s are smoother but have less bass and treble. They did a pretty good
job of making my random selection of MP3s at least acceptable to listen to.

My MP3/CD player has no equalization so I have to match the inherent sound
of the earphones to meet my preferences. In contrast, the Nomad has a 5-band
graphic equalizer, so I am able to get the sound quality I prefer with
either set of earphones.

Of course, in more controlled environments quality full headphones such as
Sony MDR7506s or Sennheiser HD-580s are preferred, again delivering good
sound quality value at a higher price.

"Lionel" lionel{dot}chapuis{at}free{dot}fr wrote in message
...
Shrivel a écrit :

I recently bought a Riovolt CD/MP3/WMA after shopping around for a while
for
one. Every model I looked at and have tried have been able to play at a
minimum 384kbs.

Even the "el-cheapo" ones that I tried could handle 384k, so I would be
really surprised if the Sony player could not.



I would be surprised too because it's the same software so...
Nota : std MP3 max. is usually 320 kb/s.

You're right. I must've been thinking in base 2^7 again. ;-)





Anyway I'll have a look.
Lionel

Also, I have one MP3 file of a dance mix I downloaded from from newsgroup
that is 512k. My RioVolt plays it fine, even though it lists 320k as
maximum bitrate in the specs.

BTM

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message ...
"Fred Bloggs" wrote in message
om...

You didn't mention Creative's Nomad Jukebox line. The Nomad Jukebox Zen is
about the size and shape of an iPod, but gives more storage for a lot less
bucks. Sound quality is at least competitive.

I'll check out the Nomads.

The European iPods get knocked because their headphone jacks have very
limited output levels. I don't know how they compare to European CD players.

Mine's loud enough. Wasn't aware of any differences. Should've checked
out my friends very similar Sony Diskman when I was over in the states
(I have D-E220). They often have volume limiting features but they're
optional.

The Sony d ne511 mp3/cd player looks ok. Does anyone know what the max
bitrate it can handle playing backin MP3s?

These MP3-capable portable CD players have been around for a while and keep
proliferating. I picked up an circa 2001 Audiovox CE149MP at a local
appliance chain store for the princely sum of $28 - an attractive choice for
possible destruction on my very recent backpacking/camping trip in
Michigan's Porcupine Mountains.

$28? Wow!

If you want the best possible sound quality out of a portable player, scrap
the headphones/earbuds that come with it and get some higher quality ear
buds.

I never use the ones which come with the unit (with one exception, the
brand of which I've long since forgotten. Currently I'm using Sony
earphones I got for about £12.

It's looking like i'm just going to get a CD/MP3 player. Still only
see large/heavy/expensive HD options, or underpowered solid state ones
(64 megs? If i'm only going to have 1 albums worth of music I might as
well just play the CD given that I own all the music I have MP3's
of!).

Thanks.

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message ...
"Fred Bloggs" wrote in message
om
I'll check out the Nomads.

If you have an iPod and like it, seems like you're set.

Sorry, I have a CD diskman, not an iPod. I've played with one (an
iPod), but it's too expensive.

$28? Wow!

I bought it as a music toy to take camping, knowing that backpacking tends
to be very hard on gear of all kinds. We got rained on 3 nights, but my only
loss was an old shirt for which I had backup.

Never seen them anything like that cheap over here.

Right, 64 megs of MP3s are about 1 CD worth of music. The 128 meg units up
that to about 2 CDs worth, and they have the advantage of small size and
extreme ruggedness. My #2 son has a Nomad 2 with maybe 5 128 meg memory
cards. You can fit lots of smart media cards in very little space since they
are about the size of a thick commemorative stamp. But even at bottom
pricing of say $20 each, the costs build up.

I'd probably be into solid state if I could get 128meg cards for $20
for it (£13 or so). But I can't - not even close - not in the UK. And
although solid state solutions are small, I'd not want to put anything
else in the same pocket as one , in case I damaged it, so I might as
well stick a diskman in there! I'll get a solid state solution when a
gig or so (via 1 or more media cards) is available for £100 or so.