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lite_sleepr
Jun 3, 2003

by Radio Games Forum
I remember working at Montgomery Ward my junior year of high school and telling old people that the VCR was a dying technology. Is this the same for stand alone MP3 players these days? Is there any reason to have one?

I ask because I don't want another iPhone, and Apple stopped the iPod nano, which I liked. My lovely windows phone, while sort of functional, holds maybe 12gb of songs, but it's not enough. Should I quit being a Luddite and stop trying to get a SanDisk to organize my music like iTunes could?

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Jose Oquendo
Jun 20, 2004

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie
They still make the Nano.

TLG James
Jun 5, 2000

Questing ain't easy
I've used a San Disk clip zip for years without any issues. I have a 32 gig microsd in there and it fits most of my music that I want to listen to while on the go, or at the gym/running. If it breaks, i'm only out like 20 bucks and the sd card is still good.

I loaded rockbox on it. There are some playlist tools out there, but I just drag and drop and shuffle the entire thing.

cage-free egghead
Mar 8, 2004

TLG James posted:

I've used a San Disk clip zip for years without any issues. I have a 32 gig microsd in there and it fits most of my music that I want to listen to while on the go, or at the gym/running. If it breaks, i'm only out like 20 bucks and the sd card is still good.

I loaded rockbox on it. There are some playlist tools out there, but I just drag and drop and shuffle the entire thing.

In this same boat. I go through phones too much to manage music on there, so I just leave my Clip plugged into my car all the time. It's especially nice if you're someone to just shuffle your library anyways because it's only two button pushes to get music to start playing so you don't even have to look at the thing.

Olympic Mathlete
Feb 25, 2011

:h:

Clip is life.

ExcessBLarg!
Sep 1, 2001
VCRs "died" (except you can still buy them and all) because the media became obsolete.

This is unlike MP3s, which I can/do purchase from Amazon and other stores regularly. Personally I find it more convenient to play them on a smartphone that I already carry around, but if for some reason I didn't want to, they would work just fine on a standalone player. So the media is hardly obsolete.

b0nes
Sep 11, 2001
I have an original iPod mini somewhere in my garage, the battery is dead. They might offer me a new iPod Touch if I bring it to Apple thats what happened to my brother. He had an iPod classic 80GB and they let him upgrade to a 160GB for $100.

SkyEnzo
Mar 8, 2015

No time for the old in-out, love, I've just come to read the meter.
I loved my ipod before I bought a smart phone. Now its retired in a box somewhere. I used the gently caress out of it back in the day but now theres no need to turn it on.

TLG James
Jun 5, 2000

Questing ain't easy

88h88 posted:

Clip is life.

I wish they would come out with an e-ink version. Jesus gently caress that would be amazing. You can't read the clip zip for poo poo in the sun, and it would probably help with battery life.

testtubebaby
Apr 7, 2008

Where we're going,
we won't need eyes to see.


ExcessBLarg! posted:

So the media is hardly obsolete.

Owning media is obsolete.

Sorry, grandpa :corsair:

UnfortunateSexFart
May 18, 2008

𒃻 𒌓𒁉𒋫 𒆷𒁀𒅅𒆷
𒆠𒂖 𒌉 𒌫 𒁮𒈠𒈾𒅗 𒂉 𒉡𒌒𒂉𒊑


I jumped on the mp3 player bandwagon pre-ipod when a device that held 8 songs cost $500 (Samsung Yepp - I remember at the time being skeptical of this scrub tier Korean company making handheld devices).

But the moment my first phone could hold songs I was done with them. Nokia e62, a blatant Blackberry rip off, was the first circa 2006.

Whirlwind Jones
Apr 13, 2013

by Lowtax

Reverse Centaur posted:

I jumped on the mp3 player bandwagon pre-ipod when a device that held 8 songs cost $500 (Samsung Yepp - I remember at the time being skeptical of this scrub tier Korean company making handheld devices).

But the moment my first phone could hold songs I was done with them. Nokia e62, a blatant Blackberry rip off, was the first circa 2006.
I got this thing for Christmas 2001 I think. I used to plug it in and listen to it in bed while I slept and it got ridiculously hot and the front navigation button fell off.

adorai
Nov 2, 2002

10/27/04 Never forget
Grimey Drawer
I lost my mp3 collection years ago and never looked back. I subscribe to XM and Pandora one. I have like 1GB of music to put on my nano for jogging.

Zig-Zag
Aug 29, 2007

Why don't we just start shooting tar heroin instead?
I'm actually shopping for one right now. I tend to use it in my car and it's to annoying to have my phone hooked up. Especially when I get a call or text and it interrupts the song. I also find Spotify is lacking some albums I really enjoy (tool). I miss the glory days of mp3 for sure but they aren't obsolete, just niche.

mango sentinel
Jan 5, 2001

by sebmojo
I've finally weaned myself off my 80gb iPod by getting a huge flash card in my phone, but I still take my iPod over my phone when I exercise and would probably rather replace it with a mini because I'd rather have than on my person than either a small player or my phone.

I think standalone MP3 players will stick around in a few niche places. At least until fitness bands get bluetooth MP3 playback and/or smart watches get their poo poo together.

fattredd
Mar 4, 2015

Woops

mango sentinel posted:

smart watches get their poo poo together.

Smart watches playing music over bluetooth. Now that's something I would buy. Particularly if there was no need for an in between phone.

Jose Oquendo
Jun 20, 2004

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie

fattredd posted:

Smart watches playing music over bluetooth. Now that's something I would buy. Particularly if there was no need for an in between phone.

Apple Watch does this, albeit with a 2GB limit on music storage.

Three Olives
Apr 10, 2005

What if Hitler invented the BMW i3 Subcompact Electric car?

Jose Oquendo posted:

Apple Watch does this, albeit with a 2GB limit on music storage.

The Android Wear watches do this as well.

indoflaven
Dec 10, 2009
My iPod touch's battery life will last for 24 hours playing, probably more. 16gb is plenty, and easily holds 24 hours worth of audio. By the time I listen to 24 hours it's time to change the files on it anyway.

omg chael crash
Jul 8, 2012

Macys paid for this. Noodle Boy and Bonby are bad at video games and even worse friends.


God drat I miss my awful jailbrokem iRiver. High school was so great

Whirlwind Jones
Apr 13, 2013

by Lowtax

omg chael crash posted:

God drat I miss my awful jailbrokem iRiver. High school was so great
I was too scared to RockBox my Archos. :ohdear:

EugeneJ
Feb 5, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
If I want to hear a song, 99% of the time I can find it on YouTube with my smart phone.

Nohearum
Nov 2, 2013

88h88 posted:

Clip is life.

You don't have issues with the headphone jack un-soldering itself every 6 months? I swear mine breaks like clockwork and I have to re-solder it or I'm stuck with sound in one ear.

orinth
Apr 15, 2003

NFC WEST IS THE BEST
I think there is still a market for them, although I think it's geared towards lossless players.

I ended up in the market for one about a year ago. My old job (5 years ago), I could bring an external hard drive and listen to music all day at my desk. My current job, I'm unable to plug in any outside media. That left my iphone which at the time was a 16gb iphone 5. That really doesn't leave a lot of space for music after the OS, apps, pictures, etc. Not an issue now as I have a 64gb iphone 6. Streaming music quality can be meh (depending on the service) and it uses up my data.

So I got a Fiio X3.

http://www.fiio.net/en/products/1

I didn't like the UI at first, but it has gotten dramatically better with the 3.0 firmware. Not a giant fan of the button layout, but I've grown use to it. Audio quality is great. Fiio has a few other players as well, the X1 and X5.

The other one I was looking at was the ibasso dx50.

http://www.ibasso.com/products-detail.php?id=250

Vince MechMahon
Jan 1, 2008



I've been considering getting a stand alone iPod touch for when I'm at work, as the app I use for work is poorly programmed and takes over the sound on the device when it's open, meaning nothing can be played in the background. Which is annoying as gently caress, and they don't seem to be fixing it, which is doubly annoying.

BeastOfExmoor
Aug 19, 2003

I will be gone, but not forever.
I carried around a 160GB iPod Classic for years before finally selling it (for over $200, holy poo poo) and replaced it with a cheap, but highly functional, prepaid Android phone with a bad ESN off ebay and a 128GB microSD card. For under $150 have a device that can play music, but also can be used on Wi-Fi to watch movies, etc. I use an app called iSyncr so all my info from iTunes (ratings, playlists) syncs up well.

Olympic Mathlete
Feb 25, 2011

:h:

Nohearum posted:

You don't have issues with the headphone jack un-soldering itself every 6 months? I swear mine breaks like clockwork and I have to re-solder it or I'm stuck with sound in one ear.

My first one did that but it was within the 12 month warranty (also how the gently caress does the US get away with only 30 days? That's bullshit) so I got a replacement sent to me which has been fine for well over a year now.

Dommer416
Aug 4, 2013

Hello little children your uncle is here.
Honestly I would choose my walkman MP3 over my LG LS970 any bloody day of the year. The sound is better, the battery lasts longer, and I don't have to worry about the MP3 player bricking itself because the entire OS is done in 3 C scripts and a poo poo ton of XML files.

I would also rather see y VCR tapes over bluray but that's just me :P

evobatman
Jul 30, 2006

it means nothing, but says everything!
Pillbug
I still use my Zune HD 16GB for long flights. It was an amazing device, with no market or 1st or 3rd party support. It saddens me that every time I recharge the non-replaceable battery it gets a little closer to final death.

SweetMercifulCrap!
Jan 28, 2012
Lipstick Apathy
I still use an iPod Classic as my primary source of music in my car. Of course, when I get a new car it will probably have a USB port and render that obsolete as well.

EugeneJ
Feb 5, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
Are there any standalone MP3 players worth getting that have both AM and FM radio?

DroneRiff
May 11, 2009

I love my SanDisk Clip, though I do sometimes wish there was an Android version of the Touch - something you could run apps on*, but that's still actually made for listening to music, not just a tacked on extra feature.


*I hear this music streaming thing is popular with the kids, but drat it my phone is not a good music player!

evobatman
Jul 30, 2006

it means nothing, but says everything!
Pillbug
http://www.cnet.com/products/samsung-galaxy-player-4-2/

Stuff like that exists.

Sony just recently announced a $2000 android walkman, together with their audiophile grade memory card.

TLG James
Jun 5, 2000

Questing ain't easy
Why not just buy one of those cheap 20-30 dollar android phones with a micro sd slot?

mango sentinel
Jan 5, 2001

by sebmojo

TLG James posted:

Why not just buy one of those cheap 20-30 dollar android phones with a micro sd slot?

lovely DACs.

Mortley
Jan 18, 2005

aux tep unt rep uni ovi
I'm interested in stand-alone mp3 players that don't have wifi at all, because I have no self-control but am likely to spend lots of time in coffee shops writing. It seems like reviewers are generally unhappy with everything at the iPod shuffle price point and below, which is to say, everything. Any recommendations?

edit: vv thanks

Mortley fucked around with this message at 22:10 on Jul 15, 2015

Chelb
Oct 24, 2010

I'm gonna show SA-kun my shitposting!

Mortley posted:

I'm interested in stand-alone mp3 players that don't have wifi at all, because I have no self-control but am likely to spend lots of time in coffee shops writing. It seems like reviewers are generally unhappy with everything at the iPod shuffle price point and below, which is to say, everything. Any recommendations?

Just get a Clip+ or a Clip Zip (I personally prefer the Clip+). Also think of switching the firmware to Rockbox.

VideoGames
Aug 18, 2003
as someone who still buys mp3 players because I like to walk a lot, I am in love with my Cowon X9. it has 32gb of memory and space for a microsd. (mine is a 64GB card). it is touchscreen but more importantly has outside buttons.

It also is the best sounding mp3 player I've ever used thanks to their Jeteffect technology and the absolute best thing is the battery life. A single charge lasts me a continuous 90 something hours.

Olympic Mathlete
Feb 25, 2011

:h:

VideoGames posted:

as someone who still buys mp3 players because I like to walk a lot, I am in love with my Cowon X9. it has 32gb of memory and space for a microsd. (mine is a 64GB card). it is touchscreen but more importantly has outside buttons.

It also is the best sounding mp3 player I've ever used thanks to their Jeteffect technology and the absolute best thing is the battery life. A single charge lasts me a continuous 90 something hours.

I've heard good things about Cowon, never gotten around to treating myself though. That battery life if pretty loving amazing though, wow.

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Nam Taf
Jun 25, 2005

I am Fat Man, hear me roar!



Rio supremacy. Still works.

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