anyone have any inputs? Which is better/ easier to use?

dell monitor vs plasma tv's?

We use iPods because we purchase all of our music thru iTunes.

I have a Sansa mp3 player which I purchse my music through rhapsody I love it!

Never liked that the user can not replace the battey in an Ipod

I don't like the fact that with my IPOD I have to keep Itunes and all the files on my computer. I just filled the thing up then erased it all from my computer... No updates for me.

I have a non-iPod MP3 (Archos). It uses replaceable rechargeables. It came with a 20Gb drive, I replaced it with an 80Gb. Since it's not tied to iTunes, I just rip all my CDs, and every one else's CDs I can get, and just upload them. Not worried about losing them as it's easy to re-create it all, but I do keep a 500Gb drive on the side for backups. I like not being tied to a proprietary system.

I have a ceative zen mp3 player and we get our music from mp3rocket.com. They charge 39 or 49 for the whole year with unlimited downloads. mp3s are alittile easier to use.

I have a ceative zen mp3 player and we get our music from mp3rocket.com. They charge 39 or 49 for the whole year with unlimited downloads. mp3s are alittile easier to use.

I got one of those for a girlfriend. She loves it, takes it everywhere.

I have a non-iPod MP3 (Archos). It uses replaceable rechargeables. It came with a 20Gb drive, I replaced it with an 80Gb. Since it's not tied to iTunes, I just rip all my CDs, and every one else's CDs I can get, and just upload them. Not worried about losing them as it's easy to re-create it all, but I do keep a 500Gb drive on the side for backups. I like not being tied to a proprietary system.

You can add music from CDs to your ITunes library. I have a video IPod - Love it!

Never liked that the user can not replace the battey in an Ipod

I've done it! PITA but it can be done.

Unfortunatly a leaky soda bottle in my tote bag did my iPod in just after I changed the battery.

iPod uses genuine AAC audio, and that is is orders of magnitude better sounding than MP3 [we call it mPig3 here]. AAC at 128 kbs is psychoacoustically transparent to CD red-book standard source material to trained listeners in double blind testing.
mPig3 is not transparent even at 320 kbs due to its primitive nature. I cannot listen to mPig3 because the grunge is too irritating after about 2 minutes of "listening".
iPod and AAC rock the world!
Disclosure- I work closely with Orban Associates who are the leaders in broadcast AAC streaming technology, but we like AAC for what it is, not out of alliances.
Have a Five Bar Day
Bill Signal Bars R Us (http://www.signalbarsrus.com/)

iPod uses genuine AAC audio, and that is is orders of magnitude better sounding than MP3 [we call it mPig3 here].

Can't really tell the difference in my helmet speakers at 70 mph :shrug:

Can't really tell the difference in my helmet speakers at 70 mph :shrug:

:yeahthat:

iPod uses genuine AAC audio, and that is is orders of magnitude better sounding than MP3 [we call it mPig3 here]. AAC at 128 kbs is psychoacoustically transparent to CD red-book standard source material to trained listeners in double blind testing.
mPig3 is not transparent even at 320 kbs due to its primitive nature. I cannot listen to mPig3 because the grunge is too irritating after about 2 minutes of "listening".
iPod and AAC rock the world!
Disclosure- I work closely with Orban Associates who are the leaders in broadcast AAC streaming technology, but we like AAC for what it is, not out of alliances.
Have a Five Bar Day
Bill Signal Bars R Us (http://www.signalbarsrus.com/)

AAC format works on several other players besides iPod.

Personally, I don't like paying more for less capability, so I stay away from the iPod.

iPod uses genuine AAC audio, and that is is orders of magnitude better sounding than MP3 [we call it mPig3 here]. AAC at 128 kbs is psychoacoustically transparent to CD red-book standard source material to trained listeners in double blind testing.
mPig3 is not transparent even at 320 kbs due to its primitive nature. I cannot listen to mPig3 because the grunge is too irritating after about 2 minutes of "listening".
iPod and AAC rock the world!
Disclosure- I work closely with Orban Associates who are the leaders in broadcast AAC streaming technology, but we like AAC for what it is, not out of alliances.
Have a Five Bar Day
Bill Signal Bars R Us (http://www.signalbarsrus.com/)

You must have some damn good ears because I cant tell the difference between a 128kbs MP3 and a CD.

You must have some damn good ears because I cant tell the difference between a 128kbs MP3 and a CD.
:whistle:
The difference is more than obvious to me or to anyone else who is well trained in the art of audio engineering.
I can always tell and I am sure I could easily make money offering bar bets while listening blindfolded between mPig3, AAC, or analog source.
I hold a basic psychoacoustic patent [the engine behind the wireless ear monitors you see vocalists wearing on stage now]. All of the audio compression systems are based on psychoacoustic masking, with some working better than others. They all have a sonic signature. For those interested and to back up what I say; here is a link to my ear monitor patent which changed stage sound forever Psycho acoustic pseudo-stereo fold back system - US Patent 5355416 (http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5355416.html) Yes you hear pride; my invention has saved the hearing of countless musicians, and fundamentally changed the sound of live performance.
Have a Linear Five Bar Day
Bill Geeky Stuff at Signal Bars R Us (http://www.signalbarsrus.com/fungeekstuff.html)

iPod = love.
Its easy to use, you can buy a wall plug. It works directly from your comp and its not a hassle, AT ALL. You can just borrow CDs from friends and upload them to your iTunes library or buy songs from iTunes. And you can submit your own pod casts, which is great for music businesses. If you know a little bit more about music and are familiar with the program you can change the EQ and the volume limit on specific songs. You can put contacts, documents, pictures, videos(on some versions) , put artwork to the albums, and put lyrics on the songs. Oh and you have Alarm Clocks, Sleep, calenders, and games. lol. Its totally worth all of the money. Oh and the color availability is amazing. I have a blue 4 GB nano. and 4 Gb hold about 1,000 songs.

iPod = love.
Its easy to use, you can buy a wall plug. It works directly from your comp and its not a hassle, AT ALL. You can just borrow CDs from friends and upload them to your iTunes library or buy songs from iTunes. And you can submit your own pod casts, which is great for music businesses. If you know a little bit more about music and are familiar with the program you can change the EQ and the volume limit on specific songs. You can put contacts, documents, pictures, videos(on some versions) , put artwork to the albums, and put lyrics on the songs. Oh and you have Alarm Clocks, Sleep, calenders, and games. lol. Its totally worth all of the money. Oh and the color availability is amazing. I have a blue 4 GB nano. and 4 Gb hold about 1,000 songs.
Sounds like every other player on the market :shrug:

The difference is more than obvious to me or to anyone else who is well trained in the art of audio engineering.

Ok, that's good for you. Since most people (myself included) are not trained in the art of audio engineering at all, they probably can't tell the difference. :yay:

Ok, that's good for you. Since most people (myself included) are not trained in the art of audio engineering at all, they probably can't tell the difference. :yay:

I am somewhat of a musician and cant tell, but I can tune a guitar by ear.

:buddies:

PETEZAA
PETEZAA
PETEZAA
PETEZAA

Happy Petezaa to one and all! :yahoo: :cheers:

Ok, that's good for you. Since most people (myself included) are not trained in the art of audio engineering at all, they probably can't tell the difference. :yay:
The difference becomes evident to untrained listeners as they experience "listener fatigue". They simply become subtly irritated and listen for shorter time periods with a less enjoyable experience over time.
The job of the trained listening auditor [I was an an alpha listening auditor for the Orban AAC codec] is to identify these artifacts as audible in a short time. Untrained listeners can take months to be dissatisfied and they will never have known why they have "grown tired of that song".
I admire the ability of musicians to determine pitch [I can barely sing Karaoke]. Musicians learn using a different auditory training regime than what the audio engineer studies.
We learn to identify distortion and artifacts of the sound, not absolute pitch- and we even learn to ignore off key and off tempo issues in order to myopically focus on our work of critical listening in order to audit the material or system. Please do not confuse this critical professional listening task with the Hifi "smoke and mirrors" crowd of "this speaker wire sounds better". We use valid techniques such as double blind testing and statistical analyzes of results of many tests to obtain reproduceable results in a quantitative form that must withstand critical peer review before publication..
Most home audiophiles are untrained hobbyists dabbling in something more complex than they know, without a professional background or tools for generating reproducible scientific results.
Here is a typical auditing work page, done by my good friend Greg at Orban. This wonderful piece of work is unbiased and is an example of good true psychoacoustic science. ENCODED AUDIO COMPARISON SAMPLES (http://www.orban.com/audio/1010/codecs_1.html)
Have a Five Bar Day!
Bill Personal Embedded RTA. (http://www.signalbarsrus.com/tqlizer.html)

I used to buy iTunes songs, but then I figured out other places to download them for free :whistle: and I upload them to my iPod with no problem via iTunes. :shrug:

I have the 30 gigger, and I like it because I can carry pictures around on it to share as well as jam my tunes when I'm bike riding, at work, in the car, etc. :yay: