Best MP3 Player on the market right now?

[Jiganti]

The iPod is so popular because it's simple, easy to use, and stylish. It's always a safe bet, but if you're really looking for higher sound quality (trust me, it's not just the earphones/headphones you're using, the 128-bit iTunes music is just poor quality at best) then look into a couple of Sony's new MP3 players, I've heard that for the most part the music is of a higher quality. I believe Sony has an online music store called "Connect" or something like that.

[Blarg]

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You say that like the interface isn't one of the features. That's what Apple does better than anyone, and if the iPhone succeeds it's the interface that will be the difference there too.

FM radio, voice recording, all the things that manufacturers use to fill out their feature lists, each are significant to only a minority of users. But the interface affects every user.

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Exactly. I couldn't care less about FM radio or voice recording (I mean seriously?). All I want is a player to play my music and videos from. The Ipod does just that.


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I'm in the RU srs? camp when it comes to video on these little things. The FM radio I like. The voice recording I don't care about much now, but back in the day when I used to write fiction, I would have really loved it.

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I can use it in my car (which is also the reason it is never low on battery) without too much hassle so I don't crash trying to navigate the menus.


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Can do that with other players too. It's nice.

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Finally, I haven't done any research on it so take this with a grain of salt, but I believe the inferior sound quality is a result of the headphones, not the player. When I connect it to my stereo, car stereo or sennheiser headphones the sound is great.

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A bit of both. Go to headfi.org and you'll see some good reviews and some strongish opinions on the sound quality of different players. The earphones being not so good is pretty standard no matter what brand you buy.

[Blarg]

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I agree that it is a status symbol device, and that it's relatively overpriced. But when I went looking for MP3 players, I found the Ipod to be the most easy to use (especially because I have a Mac and itunes

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This is pretty unfair. Of course a program you already use and know is easier for you. Not to say that what you say has to be objectively wrong either, just that it's extremely hard to approach things with fresh eyes when you already are well settled in with a program and have thrown some money at it previously. (Not many people like to admit they've made a less than good choice or spent money less wisely than they could have, unless they're truly pissed at a product.)

[Arito]

I don't want to be nitpicky because I sort of agree with what you are saying, but just to be clear. The car comment was meant to illustrate that the ease of navigation can be pretty important if you're driving. And in the last quote you omitted the for me part, which indicates I realize I am biased because I am already familiar with Apple and Itunes.

So I can definitely understand it if some one says brand X is the best player. The point I was trying to make is that some are making it out to appear as if an Ipod-buyer is some sort of easily influenced sheep. When for me, even though it was priced more than its competitors, it was an easy decision mainly because of its ease of us (navigation, itunes etc) and because I don't care about some of the extra features.

[Burdzthewurd]

Is there any consensus on which exact brand/model is the most durable (at least anything that's lasted 3+ years?) Also, which ones are considered best in terms of battery life?

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

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Is there any consensus on which exact brand/model is the most durable (at least anything that's lasted 3+ years?) Also, which ones are considered best in terms of battery life?

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In three years, you won't want the MP3 player you buy now any more anyway.

[pergesu]

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Is there any consensus on which exact brand/model is the most durable (at least anything that's lasted 3+ years?) Also, which ones are considered best in terms of battery life?

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I bought a 15 gig iPod in the summer of 2003. I still use it on a daily basis. About three months after I got it, it spent 5 minutes in the washing machine. My dad did my laundry for the first time in my entire life and didn't check the pockets. I got it out of there pretty quickly and let it sit for two days so it would dry up. When I finally turned it on, the screen was a bit jacked but it still worked. In about a week the screen was back to normal again.

So I'm not sure why people are saying these things are fragile. I've had mine for four years, it's been dropped a ton, I leave it overnight in the car when it's freezing in the winter and boiling in the summer, and it works just fine. Maybe the most recent ones suck I guess.

[Blarg]

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Is there any consensus on which exact brand/model is the most durable (at least anything that's lasted 3+ years?) Also, which ones are considered best in terms of battery life?

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In three years, you won't want the MP3 player you buy now any more anyway.

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I always hear this, but I don't agree. I tend to keep my stuff forever, take extremely good care of it, and still enjoy it. Durability and longevity are things I really enjoy in products, because I don't intend to buy things just to have the newest or best if what I've got is already fine.

I think I'll be quite fine with the 8 gig flash player with 2 gig swappable cards for years, as I can hold over a thousand songs on it, which is more than enough for me for casual walking around. When I want another player, it will probably be for a different kind of use, like putting every last bit of music and audio on it at once. I'll probably go for a hard-drive player for that. They're at 80 gigs now, but in a couple years who knows, they may be at 120 or more. That will be great for one purpose, and my more durable flash player will probably still be the portable I walk around with much more. Again, because when I buy things I want them to last, and HD players are much more vulnerable to crapping out early.

Some people upgrade a lot. Me, I can drive the same car, watch the same t.v., use the same computer, etc., for years and be fine with it.

[Blarg]

Just something interesting from headfi.org forums:

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Keep in mind....and I'm generalizing....but I think most would agree;

Going from stock earbuds to $100 IEM will be 100% improvement.

Going from $100 to 200 IEM's can be another 50-75% improvement.

But going from $200 to $400 may only be 10-25% improvement.

Law of diminishing returns and I'd say if you are on a limited budget $200 range IEM's are the best bang for the buck.

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[Patrick del Poker Grande]

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Just something interesting from headfi.org forums:

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Keep in mind....and I'm generalizing....but I think most would agree;

Going from stock earbuds to $100 IEM will be 100% improvement.

Going from $100 to 200 IEM's can be another 50-75% improvement.

But going from $200 to $400 may only be 10-25% improvement.

Law of diminishing returns and I'd say if you are on a limited budget $200 range IEM's are the best bang for the buck.

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This is spot on. Even a well-chosen $30-$50 pair of IEMs is a world of difference over the stock crap that comes with MP3 players. If you're spending $400 on the top of the line MP3 player, put out $100-$200 more for earphones that can at least play the music well for you.

Now, there's another side of the argument for sure. The other side is basically that you can't shine a turd. You are listening to MP3s (unless you pick up something that plays FLAC or other lossless format).