Posted on 08/13/2005 9:16:39 PM PDT by GB
In case the pictures above are not visible:
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_9937.html
That's a nice portable setup. I have a couple of CD/MP3 players, a Phillips and a Rio Volt, and I still like the idea of CDs. But from my experience with the little Nex player I mentioned ... which is tiny, 3.1 inches by 2.5 inches by .9 inches ... it's nice to be able to put a whole lot of music on a tiny little thing and stick it in your pocket. I'm using only a 128 MB flash card in mine right now and you can get like 50 songs on that. Very convenient.
I have to admit I have no clue about mp3, so I can't make a informed response. I did check out a link that had files...some were excellent, but some of the shows , I had much better recordings, from the master audience source tapes. It will take time to accumulate a really comprehensive database, but ,yeah, its excellent that such an endeavor is underway...as it should be, : )
You can use AAC and MP3 simultaneously. This means you can encode your music in MP3 using another software suite, and then import the music into your Music Library.
For the longest time I had mixed MP3's and AAC on my iPod. I finally converted it all to AAC, and that was as easy as selecting all my music and telling iTunes to do the conversion.
iPod Shuffle - Supported Audio Formats
MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store, M4A, M4B, M4P), Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4) and WAV
iPod, iPod Mini, iPod Photo, iPod U2 - Supported Audio Formats
AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV, AIFF
Have you heard of SACDs and Audio DVDs?
Yes, I have...it SOUNDS like you and I are on the same NOTE...from what I have heard, these mp3 little toys just don't have the quality...I'm sure there are some machines that do. But I haven't heard them,you know what? I still prefer the sound of a record album played on my turntable,{Dual,with Moving Coil cartridge stylus} to cds! The digital age is awesome, but somethings are still better in analog.For live,bootleg recording, you can't beat the DAT recorders...I'm not impressed with the"compressed" high volume music files, I'm old school, GIVE ME QUALITY OR GIVE ME DEATH!...s-dog
ELP Laser Turntable: No Contact, No Wear!! Laser stylus reads record grooves using light, not a needle No groove contact, no record wear Pure analog playback Easy to use Accurate and musical Starting list price: $15,000 US The all-analog ELP Laser Turntable plays records by using nothing more than a laser beam of light. The result is lightning fast transients, life-like harmonics, and a musical honesty that cannot be achieved with a diamond stylus. Play your favorite vinyl or old 78 RPM records as many times as you like, because you will never again worry about record wear. Perfect for record collectors, archivists, or vinyl enthusiasts.
MP3 probably approaches true CD quality at 240 to 320 kbps encoding, but then, owing to the large file sizes at this level of encoding, you're better off with audio CDs.
No, the laser pickup player IS analog.
Ther's more information here:
http://www.elpj.com/about/how.html
iPod + Apple Lossless. Problem solved.
GB...I'm transfering Dead tape now...Long Beach 8-28-81...holy cow. soundboard 3rd gen A+...my mind is melting... : ) on cd, not mp3..give me a shout..s-dog
I don't have experience with the IPOD
I do have with Samsung's approx 1" X 1" X ~2" 1 GIG MP3 device.
And
The Sony MINIDISC player which stores with the condensed formats approximately 12-14 HOURS of music on one mini disc.
I like both the above. Certainly the Samsung is most compact. I haven't seen it recently at Best Buy--only the 512MB versions. But it's very handy and good quality sound.
Have had trouble with various software and music sites getting my play lists together and downloaded as I want. So haven't been using the Samsung until I get that act better together.
I think along with the player, it's critical to have very COMFORTABLE and good quality earphones. I prefer the IN-EAR variety and may have to get ear molds made for mine. I forget the brands I'm using but it's an expensive one and I like it. I think Koss has a tolerable one, too.
FWIW
OOOOH, I want one of those!
People are working on it, though. I mentioned the compression codec called Ogg Vorbis which a lot of folks are excited about, supposedly you can get the fidelity of 192, 224, 256 bit rate MP3s at much lower bit rates (i.e., smaller files) with Ogg. The problem is, only a few machines support it right now because it takes more battery power to run it, and a selling point with a lot of folks who buy digital audio players is how long the battery will hold a charge.
Also, I've heard some rumblings through the grapevine, take it for what it's worth, that on official release CDs, the record companies are (a.) already compressing the files a lot more than they used to and (b.) are planning at some point down the road to outright go to MP3s.
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