What's the big deal about I-Pod?

[pk500]

Re: What's the big deal about I-Pod?

I only believe that iPods are overhyped in the sense that... why in the hell does somebody need 20,000 songs on their iPod? If they have some... .001 GB iPods for 2 bucks, I'll buy one. But seriously, I can't understand how in the hell somebody NOT ONLY has the want to listen to all of those songs, but that has the time and patience to put them all on.

My entire music collection now is digital. I used to have nearly 500 CDs; now I have about 15, with everything else on my MP3 player. I can plug in my Nomad Zen Xtra as a home stereo component, into my PC speakers, into my car stereo and use it with headphones. So basically I can take my entire music collection with me -- nearly 6,000 songs -- wherever I go.

That's why large-capacity MP3 players make sense for some people.

As for transferring the songs, I've done it piecemeal over time as I have ripped CDs and downloaded albums. But I could transfer all 6,000 songs from my MP3 player to my PC, or the other direction, in around two or three hours. That's not a lot of time.

I take it you're not a big music fan.

Take care,
PK

[malrak]

Re: What's the big deal about I-Pod?

My entire music collection now is digital. I used to have nearly 500 CDs; now I have about 15, with everything else on my MP3 player. I can plug in my Nomad Zen Xtra as a home stereo component, into my PC speakers, into my car stereo and use it with headphones. So basically I can take my entire music collection with me -- nearly 6,000 songs -- wherever I go.

That's almost exaclty my reasons for wanting one. I have an extrememly large mp3 collection and would like to be able to plug in a player and take them with me without having to burn everything to CD first.


Audio quality is the main priority for me though. Followed by ease of use. What should I look for when shopping to determine the audio quality? I guess I had always imagined that I would determine the quality when I rip them from CD to harddrive. Not true?

Thanks!

[mudtiger]

Re: What's the big deal about I-Pod?

That's almost exaclty my reasons for wanting one. I have an extrememly large mp3 collection and would like to be able to plug in a player and take them with me without having to burn everything to CD first.


Audio quality is the main priority for me though. Followed by ease of use. What should I look for when shopping to determine the audio quality? I guess I had always imagined that I would determine the quality when I rip them from CD to harddrive. Not true?

Thanks!

Yes, you determine the audio quality when ripping. Some mp3 players deliver a higher quality sound than others though.

I too have a nomad zen (firewire version about 3 or 4 years old now). I passed on an ipod back then for money reasons. I didn't want to spend an extra 100 bucks at least for less space and the hassles of jumping through hoops to get it to work with a pc (an issue back then). I don't regret it one bit, the nomad zen is a great little player.

[pk500]

Re: What's the big deal about I-Pod?

Audio quality is the main priority for me though. Followed by ease of use. What should I look for when shopping to determine the audio quality? I guess I had always imagined that I would determine the quality when I rip them from CD to harddrive. Not true?

Thanks!

The quality of the rip is just one of the three variables in MP3 audio quality. The others:

1. Headphone quality. You're going to get better sound from a quality aftermarket headphone or earbud than you are with the earbuds that come with an iPod, IRiver or Nomad Zen.

2. Audio chip. Not every MP3 player uses the same audio chip. Some are better than others.

You can't control the audio chip that's built into a certain player. But you can control the headphones you use. So I suggest bringing the same set of headphones to every store where you try out MP3 players and listen. That will give you an idea of which player has better sound quality because the headphone variable will be eliminated.

Good luck!

Take care,
PK

[fishepa]

Re: What's the big deal about I-Pod?

Good cans are the key to good sound. I have a pair of Senn HD497 for in home listening (b/c they are extrememly large and ugly), and a pair of Shure e3c's for public listening.

[Vince]

Re: What's the big deal about I-Pod?

I only believe that iPods are overhyped in the sense that... why in the hell does somebody need 20,000 songs on their iPod? If they have some... .001 GB iPods for 2 bucks, I'll buy one. But seriously, I can't understand how in the hell somebody NOT ONLY has the want to listen to all of those songs, but that has the time and patience to put them all on.

If you asked me to name as many songs as I could in 60 seconds, I bet you I could not name more than 10. Granted, I know many more, but that's just how short-minded I am with things like that to even come up with such a grandeur list.




But, iPods themselves are really something special. My little sister has one, and I think that it's great. I would only be willing to pay for one, however, if it was appropriate to the amount of songs I would listen to, like I said.

Who the hell said you have to put those songs all at the same time and immediately?

If the Ipod can last a good 4-5 years, it's not inconceavable that during that time period, you can gradually put songs and end up with 10-15,000. For HARDCORE music lovers, 20 K might not even be enough.

[jmood88]

Re: What's the big deal about I-Pod?

I only believe that iPods are overhyped in the sense that... why in the hell does somebody need 20,000 songs on their iPod? If they have some... .001 GB iPods for 2 bucks, I'll buy one. But seriously, I can't understand how in the hell somebody NOT ONLY has the want to listen to all of those songs, but that has the time and patience to put them all on.

If you asked me to name as many songs as I could in 60 seconds, I bet you I could not name more than 10. Granted, I know many more, but that's just how short-minded I am with things like that to even come up with such a grandeur list.




But, iPods themselves are really something special. My little sister has one, and I think that it's great. I would only be willing to pay for one, however, if it was appropriate to the amount of songs I would listen to, like I said.

Well you may not be able to name 10 songs but I can and I like having my entire collection within my reach. I don't understand why people would spend $200-$300 on something that only holds a few songs. That's a huge waste of money. If I'm going to be spending a few hundred dollars on an mp3 player I want the biggest one I can get. I have a lot of albums and songs and I want to be able to listen to each of them anytime I want.

[jmood88]

Re: What's the big deal about I-Pod?

Wow, the ability to hold an entire MB. Wow. That's awesome.

It's all about having your entire catalog at your disposal -- very convenient. It's not about wanting to listen to every single song on the player every time that I take it out of the house, hardly the case. But, say, I want to listen to a random album that I would never remember to bring with me somewhere, or some album that I've downloaded and never taken the time to burn. Guess what, it's right there in my pocket. That's a whole helluva lot easier than carrying around a CD player and a CD case with even like 12 CDs in it. Not only are you limited to those 12 albums, but you now have to deal with organizing and finding the albums you actually want to replace them with. Not a backbreaking task, but made a helluva lost easier when all you have to do is navigate a menu.

Which shows exactly why you have no place in a conversation like this one involving MP3 players. It's not something that is marketed towards you, and it's not something you would have any business owning. I'm not saying that to be rude, but it's obviously the case. It would be like me going into a HDTV thread and saying that no one would ever need a 54" widescreen HDTV because I am perfectly fine with my old 29" and don't watch that much TV in the first place. Just because it isn't appealing to you doesn't mean there isn't a market for the masses.

Great post.

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: What's the big deal about I-Pod?

Who the hell said you have to put those songs all at the same time and immediately?

If the Ipod can last a good 4-5 years, it's not inconceavable that during that time period, you can gradually put songs and end up with 10-15,000. For HARDCORE music lovers, 20 K might not even be enough.

I have close to 10K songs on my MP3 player. I have 30 gig's, and wouldn't imagine of buying something smaller. I love that any song I can think of that I own, I just dial it up. No digging through CD's, no that CD is in my car or house, no anything, I turn it on and play the song I want to hear. I would be lost without my MP3 player.

[hybrizzle]

Re: What's the big deal about I-Pod?

I have close to 10K songs on my MP3 player. I have 30 gig's, and wouldn't imagine of buying something smaller. I love that any song I can think of that I own, I just dial it up. No digging through CD's, no that CD is in my car or house, no anything, I turn it on and play the song I want to hear. I would be lost without my MP3 player.

exactly.

[sportsdude]

Re: What's the big deal about I-Pod?

Well you may not be able to name 10 songs but I can and I like having my entire collection within my reach. I don't understand why people would spend $200-$300 on something that only holds a few songs. That's a huge waste of money. If I'm going to be spending a few hundred dollars on an mp3 player I want the biggest one I can get. I have a lot of albums and songs and I want to be able to listen to each of them anytime I want.

Good point. I got a iPod mini at circuit city for $160, it was open box but they only used it as a display so it was like brand new. Anyway, it was the smallest mini they made at the time, not sure on the gigs, but it holds 1,000 songs. I really like it, but now it's gotten to the point where I have to take off songs that I might not listen to just so I can put new ones on it, which is very annoying. I would like to be able to have my whole collection on it, rather than just my newest 1,000 songs.

As far as iPod goes, I feel like they are a little overpriced compared to others out there, but I can't complain because I got mine $40 cheaper than I should've. The iRivers seem nice and they're more reasonably priced than an ipod.

[Misfit]

Re: What's the big deal about I-Pod?

I only believe that iPods are overhyped in the sense that... why in the hell does somebody need 20,000 songs on their iPod? If they have some... .001 GB iPods for 2 bucks, I'll buy one. But seriously, I can't understand how in the hell somebody NOT ONLY has the want to listen to all of those songs, but that has the time and patience to put them all on.

If you asked me to name as many songs as I could in 60 seconds, I bet you I could not name more than 10. Granted, I know many more, but that's just how short-minded I am with things like that to even come up with such a grandeur list.




But, iPods themselves are really something special. My little sister has one, and I think that it's great. I would only be willing to pay for one, however, if it was appropriate to the amount of songs I would listen to, like I said.

I'm a Disc Jokcey, so having nearly my entire CD library on my Ipod is beneficial to me because when I go to do my show I can just bring that along. That way I have access to a lot of the music in our library and my own collection so when I have to fill requests for older material I don't have to go searching through the library to find it, I just locate it on the computer and hit play.

[jmood88]

Re: What's the big deal about I-Pod?

Good point. I got a iPod mini at circuit city for $160, it was open box but they only used it as a display so it was like brand new. Anyway, it was the smallest mini they made at the time, not sure on the gigs, but it holds 1,000 songs. I really like it, but now it's gotten to the point where I have to take off songs that I might not listen to just so I can put new ones on it, which is very annoying. I would like to be able to have my whole collection on it, rather than just my newest 1,000 songs.

See that's exactly why I don't see why people buy those things(unless of course they don't have much music but they'll still probably get more songs than they expect and need a bigger one).

[Graphik]

Re: What's the big deal about I-Pod?

I'm a Disc Jokcey, so having nearly my entire CD library on my Ipod is beneficial to me because when I go to do my show I can just bring that along. That way I have access to a lot of the music in our library and my own collection so when I have to fill requests for older material I don't have to go searching through the library to find it, I just locate it on the computer and hit play.

I notice alot of DJs have moved on to this newer method. I've seen some have a playlist already set and they go and take a seat.

[jmood88]

Re: What's the big deal about I-Pod?

I notice alot of DJs have moved on to this newer method. I've seen some have a playlist already set and they go and take a seat.

That's really lazy of them. There are some dj's who do it like that but dj's I know all can't stand doing it digitally.