I have yet to go diskless in my music collection and I am ready to go digital. When I buy music I want to own it for life, so I have been reluctant to buy into the proprietary iPod.
What alternatives are there to the iPod? I’m picky about quality so I want the highest sampling rate possible in my digital music.
Which format is best and which players will play it?
Which formats are not proprietary and will allow me to transfer my collection to new formats and devices as they arrive in the future?
I refuse to buy a collection of music that is tied to a particular playback vendor. If I decide that vendor is ripping me off I want to be able to take my collection to a different playback vendor.
Help! Need suggestions.
The formats are all pretty much the same--it just depends on the sample rate you record your songs at.
MP3 is actually a closed format, and does/can require fees to use. OGG is a completely free and open format that does not require any fees to use, and is not owned by any for-profit company.
I personally use an iRiver (running the RockBox firmware) as it can play the OGG format as well as the MP3 format. I purchased it used a few years ago, so you'd have to perform some research for today's players.
My business is involved in the importing/distribution of very high end audio reproduction equipment. Hi-Rez downloads that approach "Master Studio tape" quality is the future...IF you have a high quality DAC capable of decoding 24/192 information.
As someone who has always preferred vinyl LP (still have a huge LP collection) because of it's higher natural musicality vs. digital, once you hear the quality of these Hi-Rez downloads, it's quite mind blowing.
That said, I'm searching for my last high-end Turntable/Arm/Cartridge combo.
I’ve had a 30 gb ZEN mp3 player for many years. Works fine, the ripper is fast and the software works on my PC.
http://us.store.creative.com/category/25657833161/1/ZEN.htm
Literally thousands without the proprietary nonsense that is Apple iPod. My current one I use is also my Phone and quality of music is limited to only what your CD ripping program can do.
I use the Motorola Em330 Phone it has several features I required (Phone, Camera, Video Recorder and FM Radio as well as MP3 player) it eliminates several pieces of electronic gear I used to drag along wherever I went.
of Course the most important of all features is that it flips open like a star trek communicator ;-0
Several nice features are included such as memory card swaping that allows you to load music without complicated external programs. Just either hook your phone up via usb or use your mem card to hook to your computer and drag and drop. No syncing goofiness needed.
Further you can make your own ring tones using songs or whatever you desire.
And that is just ONE alternative to iPod. My wife and daughter have replaced their Ipods with Phone/MP3 players as well both have different phones and both are glad to be rid of iTunes syncing!
But there are many more choices that are just MP3 players. It just depends on what you want! The nice bit about a phone/Mp3 player is that when you are listening to music the phone can be set to overide the music and go directly to a call without having to shut down the music (it pauses) or take of headphones or pickup another device.
Amazon MP3 is DRM free with very reasonable licensing.
Because the MP3s are DRM-free, you can play them on any MP3 device or even burn your own CD.