Best MP3 players? [Archive] - Kiwi Biker forums

blackdog

8th March 2010, 16:14

value for money, i got a dick smith 8mb plays video too, sweet looking and they always have good service if anything goes wrong

http://www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/4b9479ef00f59f6c2741c0a87f3b0758/Product/View/A5147

i had a philips b4 that was CRAP

Smifffy

8th March 2010, 16:19

I have an Ipod - I would never buy another 1.

blackdog

8th March 2010, 16:26

I have an Ipod - I would never buy another 1.

yea, i never got one coz they won't play my mp3s. bugger converting everything you want to listen to, to another format

EJK

8th March 2010, 16:28

Never EVER buy a Samsung Q1. I'm regretting it every day. The touch pad is absolute horrid and wicked. Might aswell control an iPod with my toe.

<img src="http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/news_pr-samsung-q1-mp3-01a_full.png" />

avgas

8th March 2010, 16:33

6 one half a dozen for the other.
Depends on how long your going to ride. And if you use the shuffle function.
I have a cheap $40 from Dick smith that works good. But has a crap shuffle e.g. 1,25,32,6,29,50,11,1,50,24,27,32.......
But I have the zune which is great if your watching movies etc, also has huge storage. But I had to import it.
I don't buy apple as I hate apple software. I hate all apple software.
But their hardware has always been lovely - even my IIe had nice hardware.

avgas

8th March 2010, 16:34

Never EVER buy a Samsung Q1. I'm regretting it every day. The touch pad is absolute horrid and wicked. Might aswell control an iPod with my toe.
That's a shame. The K3, T10 etc are all lovely and have nice touch-pads.

EJK

8th March 2010, 16:41

That's a shame. The K3, T10 etc are all lovely and have nice touch-pads.

Also the Q1's got a real crap shuffle function. However the previous Samsung YP-Z5 I had was preety good for me. By Good I mean it had a great not too sensitive touch pad plus button volume and track control so that I could change music and volume while it's still in the pocket. Useful when riding a motorbike. I loved it's shuffle function too. It's not a random play but a "shuffle list" style so that I can go back to the song I'd listen to without going back all the way to the top music menu/artist/song etc...

Back to bike related topic: Avoid touch-pads if you are planning to listen on a ride. Cause sooner or later you'll need to change the volume/ track when that crap song starts to play!!!!
My $0.02.

MaxB

8th March 2010, 16:51

yea, i never got one coz they won't play my mp3s. bugger converting everything you want to listen to, to another format

FWIW I have a shuffle for the car and a Classic. Don't think I have a single AAC song on either, they are all MP3. If you don't use iTunes (which seems geared to deliver you to their online shop) then its all OK.

slydesigns

8th March 2010, 17:28

Ipod suffle, the old little one. 1Gb is plenty of songs for a ride, its tiny, its solid, it lasts for hours and is easy to charge, it has a control set you can feel through gloves inside a jacket pocket to change songs/volume on the move AND its dirt cheap second hand.
Add a set of Skull Candy Smoking Buds in-ear bullet headphones with the slide volume control on the lead and you have the perfect setup of sound, hearing protection (the in ear Smoking Buds do an outstanding job of isolating road/helmet noise) and volume control while riding.

Second hand the shuffle can go as low as $20, the headphones are about $45-$65 from most music/CD stores

ckai

9th March 2010, 12:32

yea, i never got one coz they won't play my mp3s. bugger converting everything you want to listen to, to another format

This is interesting since I used to only ever have mp3's on both my nano's. Then I wanted more space and converted them all. The sound on the previous generation ipods are pretty average. Never really paid too much attention to it until I uploaded songs to my Sony Ericsson phone. The ear phones I used I the ipod sounded average and I was gonna chuck them (reasonably pricey ones), on the phone...holy shit, awesome sound. Real comfy under the lid too.

But I just use the 4gb card on the phone for purely riding music. The nano stays in the car or gets used when working in the shed. It's so much better just using the phone. No need to carry another player with me on rides. And I can hear when a call comes through or message (not that I answer :))

Totally depends on price and sound quality though. Sony is hard to beat for sound quality, but for price, there's crap loads of those no-namers that are pretty cheap. Can't imagine them having much power to have a decent sound though. Then again, I've never listened to any.

george formby

9th March 2010, 12:52

Creative!! Had one for 4 years now, never missed a beat. Battery is still good. Good software, plays pretty much any format, easy to use & the new ones have amazing sound through the stereo. Good back up service to. They also do a wi fi one now.

2wheeldrifter

9th March 2010, 13:33

Have a look here.... http://reviews.cnet.com/best-mp3-players/ they have little video clip reveiws.

Then check out the list on the left, for cheapest,smallest etc etc...

SPman

9th March 2010, 14:07

I've got a Creative Zen Stone plus - small, rugged, easy to use - only 2G but, so what, holds enough for a day or so, and has a voice recorder and radio as well. But, on the bike???? If riding is so boring you need to listen to music....why bother!

......reminds me of my snowboarding days up Taranaki........climb up 1000 ft past the Policeman, sit down to experience the view before heading down the long way and half the crew light up a joint????? why bother.

IdunBrokdItAgin

9th March 2010, 14:09

I posted a short review of the phillips go gear a fair while back:

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/103545-Review-Phillips-go-gear?p=1129311133#post1129311133

Still fully recommend it as you can cahnge music/ stations without taking it out of your pocket.

The model I had has now been replaced by one with a full color screen and larger memory.

Phreak

9th March 2010, 23:00

I recently bought a GPS with built in MP3 and video player, for $240, then upgraded the SD card memory to 8GB for about another $40. Seriously the best little mod I have bought for the bike! Made a custom mount on the H-frame, now I have maps and music on the go for the long trips. I love getting lost on roads I'm unfamiliar with, just following the GPS directions!

If you just want music though, check out the range at Dick Smith (www.dse.co.nz) - they stock heaps and most of it is pretty solid gear.

hmmmnz

9th March 2010, 23:37

i have a crative micro vision n , its pretty damn good for movies and music ect just drag and drop, and you can plug it straight into the tele to watch the movies, shuffle is pretty good on it, but you cant use the scroll pad with gloves on,
so that lives in the van, i just use my crappy $50 phone with a 4Gig sd card in it, which is surprisingly good :D

Lurch

11th March 2010, 15:00

Radar

11th March 2010, 19:47

I've got one of these Sony jobbies and it's been an excellent little player. Robust, light, easy to use, 18 hours of battery life and quick to recharge.

A bargain at $79

http://www.sony.co.nz/product/nwz-b142f

A month ago I bought the 4 Gb version of that Sony for $99 at Noel Lemmings and it is terrific.

Tried a DSE cheapie, then a Laser (without a screen) cheapie, and a Samsung touch model (no buttons, touch was nuts as it usually did not work). The sound quality on all was cr*p and the menu and screen was worse (but a good prices). I returned all of them and finally got the Sony - I must say that I do not like Sony generally since their gear is pricey and the company sucks doing cr*p like addind root kit trojan things on your computer.

But the Sony is worth the extra $$. By far the best sound, the best screen/menu, and long battery life with very quick recharge time.

Lurch

11th March 2010, 21:14

A month ago I bought the 4 Gb version of that Sony for $99 at Noel Lemmings and it is terrific.

This man speaketh the truth.

boz

21st April 2010, 20:54

thanks everyone who posted reply's, all very good reading. In the end I found this Sony 4GB (NWZ-B142) for $67 (rr. $119 )on TM ,new , an unwanted prize and a pair of skull candy smokin'buds for $17. Sony ,awesome and the earphones great sound and love the volume control on the cord. Only thing was that I have mutant ears with cartillge at the bottom of ear so the arm on buds didn't sit flat on my ear. So when helmet is put on they painfully crushed into my head and pop out. Had to turn them upside down to fit properly!!! worked fine after that. Cheers everyone.

Waihou Thumper

19th January 2015, 12:45

HenryDorsetCase

19th January 2015, 13:07

am a pillion rider and wonder if anyone could advise what would be the best mp3 player to get? (sorry,can't seem to find any recent threads on this subject) ....cheers

errrrr, your phone?

Waihou Thumper

19th January 2015, 13:10

errrrr, your phone?

Most definitely now.....
Especially since Ipod is no longer made and the prices for the Nano and Touch etc ? Just music players....basically, so get a phone too. :)

f2dz

19th January 2015, 15:42

errrrr, your phone?

This.

My phone's getting a bit long in the tooth (Galaxy S3) but I use the Spotify app to download and listen to any music I want. Handy Spotify created playlists also make it easy to listen to the latest pop/rock/hiphop/etc without having to download songs manually and create your own playlists.

I used to use a 120GB iPod Classic before this but I'd never go back to using that now. Can't beat the selection that Spotify currently has.

Only downside I suppose is that it drains your battery, but your average smartphone's battery probably lasts as long as a regular MP3 player anyway.

Waihou Thumper

19th January 2015, 16:03

This.

My phone's getting a bit long in the tooth (Galaxy S3) but I use the Spotify app to download and listen to any music I want. Handy Spotify created playlists also make it easy to listen to the latest pop/rock/hiphop/etc without having to download songs manually and create your own playlists.

I used to use a 120GB iPod Classic before this but I'd never go back to using that now. Can't beat the selection that Spotify currently has.

Only downside I suppose is that it drains your battery, but your average smartphone's battery probably lasts as long as a regular MP3 player anyway.

Turn off the phone function when riding, then just listen to the music. Should last a lot longer?

Akzle

19th January 2015, 16:05

Astell&Kern 240.
fullstop. that's the best.

i like lossless shit (and i've already done one of these threads)

for something to throw in the pocket, i've found philips go gears to be suitable and cheap enough too.

i've killed the headphone jacks on more phones than most people have had dead hookers.

pritch

20th January 2015, 08:34

I was told by the local Apple dealer that it was possible to replace an iPod battery. That was before they started to glue batteries in as I understand happens in some cases now.

pritch

20th January 2015, 09:05

Astell&Kern 240.
fullstop. that's the best.

I love it. Only US$2.500 - but it does come with a leather case.:whistle:

I had read that the McIntosh car stereo was quite highly regarded so when I was buying a new turntable in 2013 i thought I'd see if McIntosh made one.
Yes. They do and only $20,000. This caused me to check the price of their amp, a relative bargain at only $15,000. If you want to play vinyl though, and I do, you need a pre-amp; a snip at $15,000. Thats fifty grand and you still haven't got any speakers.

If they are bringing the stuff in somebody must be buying it.

Then again, an electrician was telling me that a lot of the high end gear he sees will never perform because the wife wants a table where one speaker should be and a china cabinet where the other speaker should be. None of which stops the owner from spending mega bucks on cables that incorporate fairy dust and the pubic hair of a virgin, presumably so he can tell people how much his stereo cost, 'cause it'll never sound anything like it should.

Tazz

20th January 2015, 10:19

My 120Gb Ipod Classic no longer does what it is supposed to do!
The battery only lasts a couple of hours now instead of the old 'whole days riding and more' length.
Decided to retire it to the garage amp permanently on charge and buy myself a new mp3 player....

Jatz mentioned 'use a phone' and I thought why not?
My work phone can't be used, so I am in the hunt for a Samsung Y, little thing that will take a 64Gb Micro card....
You get the best of both worlds then.
Off the beaten track turn the phone to aircraft mode and have hours of music to listen to.

Sounds perfect! :)

Good shit! And you scorned me for wireless headphones :bleh:, you'll be moving onto them next too haha.

Never had a Samsung but check the reviews on average battery life on whatever you get first. Some 'smart' phones are lucky to last a bloody day.
I got one that was waterproof out of the box but you can get 'life' cases for most brands which do the same thing. A good investment for one being used on a bike .

Mines also has a decent GPS which comes in handy (still not as good as a stand alone GPS unit though, phone is much slower when out of network range by comparison).

The Radiodrive app is the tits too.

EJK

20th January 2015, 11:21

Turn off the phone function when riding, then just listen to the music. Should last a lot longer?

I turn my phone either on Airplane Mode or turn off the Data Network when riding. That saves battery life by quite a margin.

Akzle

20th January 2015, 21:01

I love it. Only US$2.500 - but it does come with a leather case.:whistle:
etc etc, blah blah.

if i had the money, i would.

http://geekologie.com/2008/02/6-million-home-theater-makes-m.php

The pertinent points: equal length cables, anechoic, acoustically perfect walls, floor suspended from piles in to fucking bed rock. Half a dozen 4k projectors...
Isolated 13kva (sixteen hunnit amps yo!) power transformers
frequency response beyo
nd human hearing. 1hz (fuken, ONE)-120khz

Is he jesus?
Maybe.
Will your old jethro tull lp sound any less shit...no (even on the multi laser turntable)

HenryDorsetCase

30th January 2015, 10:44

if i had the money, i would.

http://geekologie.com/2008/02/6-million-home-theater-makes-m.php

The pertinent points: equal length cables, anechoic, acoustically perfect walls, floor suspended from piles in to fucking bed rock. Half a dozen 4k projectors...
Isolated 13kva (sixteen hunnit amps yo!) power transformers
frequency response beyo
nd human hearing. 1hz (fuken, ONE)-120khz

Is he jesus?
Maybe.
Will your old jethro tull lp sound any less shit...no (even on the multi laser turntable)

the new 180g pressing might sound pretty good though, ja?

Akzle

30th January 2015, 13:48

the new 180g pressing might sound pretty good though, ja?

no. something to do with his voice sounding like debbie deepthroat and the instruments being played by drunk four year olds.

avgas

30th January 2015, 15:32

Turn off the phone function when riding, then just listen to the music. Should last a lot longer?

Its funny you mention that. I had a busted smartphone here and as an experiment I put it in flight mode and forgot about it.
28 days later it was still going :shit: (this of course means that this phone is more efficient than a woman)308473

Waihou Thumper

31st January 2015, 10:07

28 days later it was still going :shit: (this of course means that this phone is more efficient than a woman)

BUT, I know which one I would rather play with....even if sometimes it repeats the whining songs...:)

vifferman

31st January 2015, 18:49

I've got a Sony Walkman which was good, but it hasn't been used for a very long time, not since I fitted the Sena SMH10 to my Shoei. I wear Howard Leight earplugs (coz they're not very effective, so block out the road/wind noise, but not the music), and stream music from my Nokia N8 to my helmet via bluetooth. It's so good that I now use it on every trip. Also languishing in the drawer is a brand-new, never used Sena SM10, which I bought to stream music from the Walkman or other device, or connect a walkie-talkie, radio, or whatever. Kinda redundant, since the cellphone's music player works fine.
Anyone want to buy it?