I was in the market for a new mp3 player for quite some time. My first ever mp3 player is the edigital mxp 100, it's a microdrive player (like the ipod mini), it's very solid and simple to use.
I initially bought it because at the time it was the best in price/storage ratio. Only $150 for 340 MB, and of course it will go as high as the microdrive you put into it. But it only supports USB 1.1, so the file transfer is pretty slow by todays standards.
What I did like about the player is its robust build quality, and the included software which allowed me to arrange everything according to the way I preffered. It's a mini explorer basically, it allowed me to make folders by genres and just drag and drop.
The audio quality of the player is excellent, a very good amplifier is being used in this device, the display is nice, blue lighted and everything can be controlled by a simple jog dial placed on the side.
Anyway, without expanding too much into it, I liked my firts player quite a bit. Edigital also included a nice leather case and had decent firmware upgrades. But 340 MB wasnt enough anymore...and microdrives are very expensive, so rather than upgrade to a bigger microdrive to increase storage, and pay about 500 bucks for 1 gig about a year ago (i believe 3.2 GBs can be found for $250 now), I decided to just get a new mp3 player. I mean $300 for 20GB is just much better economically than 3.2 GB for $250.
As far as I was concerned, there always were only two serious contenders. The iriver ihp 120 (now renamed, and recently discontinued for the 300 line) and the ipod.
The iriver blew away the then existing 3rd gen ipod, it wasn't even a competetion in my mind. The iriver is just the right kind of device for someone like me, its a bit bulkier which makes no difference to me. It doesnt do things automatically, which I just LOVE. It includes an FM tuner and a lovely LCD remote, and has FANTASTIC audio quality. It cost $330 for the 20 GB base model, now it costs $300 (but prices are being hiked since it was discontinued recently, those in the market, GET IT ASAP).
On the other hand, the 3rd gen ipod is slimmer, has better navigation, no remote (for the base model), no FM radio, and it was 15 GB for $300. Plus apples software just makes things happen automatically, which I despise. I like sticking to my ways, I dont want my player to take control.
So the 30 extra dollars for the iriver was going a long way, but I still didnt get it, as I still just couldnt decide between the two.
Then the 4rth gen ipod came out, and the storage of both players became the same, ipod became even slimmer, and I realized that I could get one at a cheaper price due to the student discount.
Things became a lot more even.
So finally I decided on the ipod. Due to the vast amount of songs I have, my priority lies in the navigation system, and the wheel allows me to do things swiftly and easily. Basically the interface of the ipod won me over.
That's it, no other reason at all!
However, having not done any other research on the ipod at all, I didnt realize what I was getting into.
You see, I have about 40 GBs of mp3s, and all of them are arranged by genres. For instance, "80's pop" includes kajagogo's "too shy" and Mr. Mister's "Broken Wings". Its not like I have those aforementioned bands' whole albums! And I dont like arranging by albums! I just wanna pick a genre and the artist and listen to singles depending on my mood!
I also have a lot of obscure stuff thats not available in freedb or any other databases, you wont exactly find Bangladeshi metal songs with id3 tags anywhere. Same goes for middle eastern pop and a lot of world music. Even when I ripped the mp3s from original cds, they didnt have the id3 tags. Only recently small international recording studios are starting to include tags for new releases.
Hell, some of my stuff dates back to 1996!!
Anyway, I installed itunes, realized it only arranges by id3 tags, and hesitantly transferred a lot of stuff into my ipod.
Suffice to say, many songs werent recognized at all. And I wasnt about to search for 100s of songs by length and rename them manually.
So, in came mp3TAG 4.1 (a god send) that allowed me to mass tag according to file names. For instance, If your files are arranged by "artist - song title", then it'll just read that information and tag your file.
So i retagged my 8000+ songs by "artist - songtitle" within each genre (genres being defined by me as 80's pop, new wave, power metal and so on...).
Then I finally transferred my entire library into itunes, picked my favorites and transferred them to my ipod.
And today while riding around, I finally easily tuned into and hummed to Alphaville's "big in japan" (fantastic song BTW).
So, in my humble beginner's guide to new ipod owners, I'll suggest getting the mp3 tagger if you like arranging by anything other than albums.
Now onto the hardware itself.
The interface of the device is very smooth and easy to navigate, the scroll wheel and click buttons are fantastic. I like mechanical buttons with a solid click, you get a touch feedback from whether they are working or not, as opposed to the counter intuitive "touch" buttons.
As far as audio goes, bass quality could be better but it suffices, specially with wrap around headphones. Ironically I think my old player has a superior amplifier.
However, the deive looks good, fits in my pocket, and I'm happy.
I feel good! much like the reviewers of famitsu magazine.
Extra stuff, since the device gets scratched even if you just look at it, get this,
The contour showcase for the 4G ipod,
It'll make your ipod a bit bulky (which I dont mind) but its shock proof and will protect it completely. If you are completely anal about the size, you would be better off with one those skins.
And of course, throw away the shitty ear buds and buy your headphone of choice.
Sidenote: what's up with the portable audio sellers anyway? They have this attitude of, "We don't welcome nor appreciate your business, however, since you bought out product, here you go, have a pair of SHITTY headphones. We sincerely hope you choke on them!"
I myself like street-styles, initially wore out a sony, and just bought a JVC, which is much more comfortable, but lets see how long it lasts.
final rating:
6.8/10 for automatic arrangement.
1.0/10 for making me retag my entire library.
9.2/10 for final arrangement.
overall,
8.5/10.0
I initially bought it because at the time it was the best in price/storage ratio. Only $150 for 340 MB, and of course it will go as high as the microdrive you put into it. But it only supports USB 1.1, so the file transfer is pretty slow by todays standards.
What I did like about the player is its robust build quality, and the included software which allowed me to arrange everything according to the way I preffered. It's a mini explorer basically, it allowed me to make folders by genres and just drag and drop.
The audio quality of the player is excellent, a very good amplifier is being used in this device, the display is nice, blue lighted and everything can be controlled by a simple jog dial placed on the side.
Anyway, without expanding too much into it, I liked my firts player quite a bit. Edigital also included a nice leather case and had decent firmware upgrades. But 340 MB wasnt enough anymore...and microdrives are very expensive, so rather than upgrade to a bigger microdrive to increase storage, and pay about 500 bucks for 1 gig about a year ago (i believe 3.2 GBs can be found for $250 now), I decided to just get a new mp3 player. I mean $300 for 20GB is just much better economically than 3.2 GB for $250.
As far as I was concerned, there always were only two serious contenders. The iriver ihp 120 (now renamed, and recently discontinued for the 300 line) and the ipod.
The iriver blew away the then existing 3rd gen ipod, it wasn't even a competetion in my mind. The iriver is just the right kind of device for someone like me, its a bit bulkier which makes no difference to me. It doesnt do things automatically, which I just LOVE. It includes an FM tuner and a lovely LCD remote, and has FANTASTIC audio quality. It cost $330 for the 20 GB base model, now it costs $300 (but prices are being hiked since it was discontinued recently, those in the market, GET IT ASAP).
On the other hand, the 3rd gen ipod is slimmer, has better navigation, no remote (for the base model), no FM radio, and it was 15 GB for $300. Plus apples software just makes things happen automatically, which I despise. I like sticking to my ways, I dont want my player to take control.
So the 30 extra dollars for the iriver was going a long way, but I still didnt get it, as I still just couldnt decide between the two.
Then the 4rth gen ipod came out, and the storage of both players became the same, ipod became even slimmer, and I realized that I could get one at a cheaper price due to the student discount.
Things became a lot more even.
So finally I decided on the ipod. Due to the vast amount of songs I have, my priority lies in the navigation system, and the wheel allows me to do things swiftly and easily. Basically the interface of the ipod won me over.
That's it, no other reason at all!
However, having not done any other research on the ipod at all, I didnt realize what I was getting into.
You see, I have about 40 GBs of mp3s, and all of them are arranged by genres. For instance, "80's pop" includes kajagogo's "too shy" and Mr. Mister's "Broken Wings". Its not like I have those aforementioned bands' whole albums! And I dont like arranging by albums! I just wanna pick a genre and the artist and listen to singles depending on my mood!
I also have a lot of obscure stuff thats not available in freedb or any other databases, you wont exactly find Bangladeshi metal songs with id3 tags anywhere. Same goes for middle eastern pop and a lot of world music. Even when I ripped the mp3s from original cds, they didnt have the id3 tags. Only recently small international recording studios are starting to include tags for new releases.
Hell, some of my stuff dates back to 1996!!
Anyway, I installed itunes, realized it only arranges by id3 tags, and hesitantly transferred a lot of stuff into my ipod.
Suffice to say, many songs werent recognized at all. And I wasnt about to search for 100s of songs by length and rename them manually.
So, in came mp3TAG 4.1 (a god send) that allowed me to mass tag according to file names. For instance, If your files are arranged by "artist - song title", then it'll just read that information and tag your file.
So i retagged my 8000+ songs by "artist - songtitle" within each genre (genres being defined by me as 80's pop, new wave, power metal and so on...).
Then I finally transferred my entire library into itunes, picked my favorites and transferred them to my ipod.
And today while riding around, I finally easily tuned into and hummed to Alphaville's "big in japan" (fantastic song BTW).
So, in my humble beginner's guide to new ipod owners, I'll suggest getting the mp3 tagger if you like arranging by anything other than albums.
Now onto the hardware itself.
The interface of the device is very smooth and easy to navigate, the scroll wheel and click buttons are fantastic. I like mechanical buttons with a solid click, you get a touch feedback from whether they are working or not, as opposed to the counter intuitive "touch" buttons.
As far as audio goes, bass quality could be better but it suffices, specially with wrap around headphones. Ironically I think my old player has a superior amplifier.
However, the deive looks good, fits in my pocket, and I'm happy.
I feel good! much like the reviewers of famitsu magazine.
Extra stuff, since the device gets scratched even if you just look at it, get this,
The contour showcase for the 4G ipod,
It'll make your ipod a bit bulky (which I dont mind) but its shock proof and will protect it completely. If you are completely anal about the size, you would be better off with one those skins.
And of course, throw away the shitty ear buds and buy your headphone of choice.
Sidenote: what's up with the portable audio sellers anyway? They have this attitude of, "We don't welcome nor appreciate your business, however, since you bought out product, here you go, have a pair of SHITTY headphones. We sincerely hope you choke on them!"
I myself like street-styles, initially wore out a sony, and just bought a JVC, which is much more comfortable, but lets see how long it lasts.
final rating:
6.8/10 for automatic arrangement.
1.0/10 for making me retag my entire library.
9.2/10 for final arrangement.
overall,
8.5/10.0
it's somewhat satisfying having your mp3's properly organised.