whats the best portable audio to listen to music with

[sgt bass08]

hi guys i just want some help on choosing a portable audio player that i can listen to music on .i dont really no much about portable audio players i normally just downlaod music of my pc and burn it on to disc. i now theres alot of things out there like ipods mp3and zunes.i just want something that i can download music on of my pc and but it on my portable audio player i want something with a big memory aswell because ill be downloading alot of music.my bugdet is something like £60 quid or $120 thank you.

[Mr Peabody]

From what I understand there isn't going to be a lot of difference in sound quality between mp3 players so just get one that has the features you need and will allow easy syncing. The sound improvement will come from better headphones and you could add a portable headphone amp.

I didn't want anything complicated so I just use a Creative Zen Stone which is basically a Ipod Shuffle replica. You can only get so much out of a mp3 anyway. My unit only has 1 gig and I'm sure too small for you. Creative and Sandisc (Not sure if I spelled that right) are going to be decent products and not as expensive as Apple.

The best sound will come from the largest file possible with Lossless being the ultimate. The more compression the worse the sound becomes.

[basite]

personally, I like these very much:

http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/

especially that U3 and that U5...

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[sgt bass08]

hi thanks for your input. ive looked at the Creative Zen stone and it looks a bit small and doesent support a coloured display.wich i should of mentioned before sorry . but ive seen something that i like the Creative Zen V Plus wich as a color display and as 4gb would you recommend it .thank you

[basite]

hi thanks for your input. ive looked at the Creative Zen stone and it looks a bit small and doesent support a coloured display.wich i should of mentioned before sorry . but ive seen something that i like the Creative Zen V Plus wich as a color display and as 4gb would you recommend it .thank you

looks good at first sight,
also look at the Zen vision: M

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[sgt bass08]

personally, I like these very much:

http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/

especially that U3 and that U5...

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

yer they look kool. i like the A3 but i wont something simple thanks for your input.

[sgt bass08]

looks good at first sight,
also look at the Zen vision: M

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

thanks for both of your inputs. the zen players look good and in my budget aswwell. so i probably be looking at them.thank you

[N. Abstentia]

I found the Microsoft Zunes to be my favorite mainly because they sound better than the others. Plus if you want to download a LOT of music, the Zune pass is the only way to go. Download all you can possibly download for a flat $15/month. Unreal!

[anamorphic96]

But you don't own the music. If you don't pay the fee you lose access to the music.

[bubbagump]

Check out the Insignia Pilot. It's Best Buy's house brand (don't laugh). I've owned a lot of mp3 players ranging from a Rio 500, Rio Karma, Rio Carbon, two iPods (2nd and 4th gen), iRiver 195tc, a Cowon D2 and a number of others. The Pilot beats them all on features, durability, and thoughtful engineering. In short, it's a ums device and uses a standard mini usb connector. This means painless use among pc's, macs, linux boxes and even things like car and home stereo's with usb connections. It's gapless, allows for on the go play lists, has hard bookmarking for podcasts and audio books. It's also Audible compatible at format 4. Sound quality is very good and certainly competitive with iPods in my experience. It has a high res, 2.5" display, video playback, blue tooth (!), an sd slot that integrates seamlessly with the internal memory (unlike the Creative Zen) and real world battery life of 18-20 hours. I've owned one for about five months now and haven't looked back. You can't go wrong with this one. I don't work for or profit from Best Buy. I don't even like Best Buy for a couple reasons but have to thank them for offering a mp3 player for the power users among us. My only gripe is a slightly less than stellar choice of materials. Nothing that detracts from the form, fit or function but while the form factor is almost perfect, it lacks a certain 'touch me' quality that the aforementioned brands have. Products from iRiver, Apple and Cowon have a look and feel that is more 'polished'. I eagerly look forward to Insignia's follow up to the Pilot to see how it evolves.

By the way, if you're struggling with all the choices out there, here's an interactive guide that let's you choose and compare up to four players side by side:

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/compare/

[audio_dude]

bubba...they don't have bestbuy in england...

but anyways, get the Creative Zen V

I really like it, small, sleek, and best of all it shares almost word for word it's menu system with the iPod (there was a big battle between creative and apple a few years back on who actually owned the right to it, creative won, but agreed to share)

the zune is an okay player, but it should not be priced premium in the same league as the ipod. if people are not going to spend the premium buying an iPod, why would they spend the money on a zune when they could get a sandisk that does all the same stuff and more (sandisk connect anyone?) for cheaper.

T3h dUmB

[N. Abstentia]

bubba...they don't have bestbuy in england...

the zune is an okay player, but it should not be priced premium in the same league as the ipod. if people are not going to spend the premium buying an iPod, why would they spend the money on a zune when they could get a sandisk that does all the same stuff and more (sandisk connect anyone?) for cheaper.

T3h dUmB

30gb Zune = $89
30gb iPod = $249
8gb Sansa = $139

You do the math and get back to me with which one costs less.

[noddin0ff]

30gb Zune = $89

Good god! They can't even give them away! ;-)

[audio_dude]

hahaha, but thats for the OLD MODEL.
the zune was a first gen player, nobody wants it, the old 30gig ipod can be found relatively cheap these days also.
man...nobody wants that crap. the new ones are as follows:
ipod classic, 80gig: 249.99
zune 80gig: 249.99
ipod nano 8gig: 199.99
zune 8gig: 199.99

4gig models are 150 too. model for model the prices are exactly the same. not the way to win market share when you can get something from sandisk or creative that's just as good as the zune for cheaper.

[audio_dude]

30gb Zune = $89
30gb iPod = $249
8gb Sansa = $139

You do the math and get back to me with which one costs less.

um yes, but the 80gig player is $249. So you can't really compare the two. The 80gig zune, as shown above, is also $249.


also, too bad you can't buy a zune for that price. the cheapest I can find is $159.99, and that's ON SALE. the reg price (ie, everywhere else that sells them) is $199.99
amazon zune on sale

[N. Abstentia]

um yes, but the 80gig player is $249. So you can't really compare the two. The 80gig zune, as shown above, is also $249.


also, too bad you can't buy a zune for that price. the cheapest I can find is $159.99, and that's ON SALE. the reg price (ie, everywhere else that sells them) is $199.99
amazon zune on sale

I wasn't comparing 80 gig players, I was comparing 30 gig players. Of course the 80 gig players cost more, that's the way it works.

Woot sells the 30 gig Zunes for $89. Trust me, we bought 15 of them. Can you say..SHARED ZUNE PASS! Try that with an iPod!

[audio_dude]

Woot sells the 30 gig Zunes for $89. Trust me, we bought 15 of them. Can you say..SHARED ZUNE PASS! Try that with an iPod!

no, Woot SOLD the 30gig zunes for $89 for one day. They do not sell it anymore. Trust me, I've checked (it was the first place I checked actually)

Now you can see why you can't use a one day sale price as a comparison.


Oh, and as for the zune pass? Why would I want to pay $15 a month for music I don't even own? P2P music is legal in Canada, (well, downloading, and I believe uploading too, we pay a tax on music media) So I can get crappy quality music for free, that I can KEEP.

If I really like them music, I buy the CD to support the artist and get the better quality.

I'm an audio enthusiast, my main music listening place is my stereo.

[N. Abstentia]

I'm an audio enthusiast, my main music listening place is my stereo.

You should get a Zune and you might use your portable more. You'd be surprised how much better it sounds than the iPods. If I had an iPod I wouldn't use it much either, so I agree with you there....a real stereo is the way to go!

[audio_dude]

want to sell me one of those $89 zunes?

I'm pretty broke right now. Need a damn job.

[N. Abstentia]

Too bad you can't sell back all that stuff you bought on iTunes!

[audio_dude]

All I bought on iTunes was about 5 songs...downloaded with an iTunes gift card I got for xmas last year. Never spent any of my own money there. I rip CD's to apple lossless if I want to load music.

So, I take it you're not selling me one of those zunes (I was actually being serious)

[N. Abstentia]

Nah, everybody that got a Zune threw away their iPods and they said they'll never give up the Zunes!

[audio_dude]

so you sold them all already? Oh well, I guess I'll troll ebay and get a nice 5th generation. (the iPod Classic BLOWS)