Recommend our_man an MP3 Player

[ixnay]

I recommend something besides the iPod (my fiancee has one) unless you're a fan of a crappy interface on the player, poor support for transferring music (iTunes is crap so we use the Winamp plugin and the iPod never ejects properly from my home computer), or random deletion of all your songs (which has happened a couple times).

At this point the only thing I use her iPod mini for is a portable hard drive - load the music up on it at home, go to work, plug it into my work computer, and play the music through winamp.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Apple tries to control what you put on and off your MP3 player? I must have been really sneaky then for them to forget about me .

Without using hacks try to transfer your music off of the Ipod on to your desktop. Apple blocks that.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
There are 3rd party applications which will do the same things for you. But the iTunes store is, of course, only on iTunes.

Those 3rd party applications are considered hacks by Apple so Apple periodically changes its software to stop those hacks from working. This is what I'm talking about when I say Apple tries to control your music.

[Dinner]

There is the added problem that Apple doesn't support as many file formats as everyone else does. In short Apple makes an inferior product and tries to charge a premium for it.

[Agathon]

Oerdin, you are FOS. The only notable formats Apple doesn't support are WMA FLAC and OGG. But who uses those?

The vast number of cool iPod peripherals more than makes up for that.

Frankly, people who have continual trouble with iPods must be mental incompetents.

[Asher]

Lots of people use WMA. Especially those who care about sound fidelity.

[Dinner]

You do know that the majority of downloadable songs on the net are WMA files, right? That means you are excluding yourself from the majority of music simply because Apple wants to lock you in to their silly little file format. Sure, you can use utilities to convert files but they almost always cost you in sound quality.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Asher
Lots of people use WMA. Especially those who care about sound fidelity.

People who really care about sound fidelity do not use compressed audio formats. WMA sucks anyway, despite the number of shills that have been paid to tout its merits. But wait, I remember you saying that you couldn't tell the difference between WMA and CD.

I guess listening to Rob Thomas tends to destroy one's capacity for aural discrimination – that is unless listening to Rob Thomas wasn't evidence of a complete lack of discrimination to start with.

And I listened to a Nomad Zen not long ago. Superior sound quality my ass. It's a flash bang whizz toy. My cheap flashpod sounds better.

[Dinner]

Sure, WMAs suck and that's why it is the most used format. Right?

Face it Microsoft does deliver a good product that is almost universally usable and that is why it is virtually every where.

As for your claims about Apple's sound quality... Well, just about every single review ever written has disagreed with you. Then again most experts routinely disagree with just about everything you say.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Oerdin
You do know that the majority of downloadable songs on the net are WMA files, right? That means you are excluding yourself from the majority of music simply because Apple wants to lock you in to their silly little file format. Sure, you can use utilities to convert files but they almost always cost you in sound quality.

No. The majority are still in mp3 format. Most torrents are mp3 VBR or high bitrate mp3.

Other than that I find far more m4a files than I do WMA files when I look, but that may be just where I hang out.

Apple doesn't lock you into any format. ****ing hell, you should really think before you post such drivel. You can use all sorts of formats. I have AIFF, AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR and I can play OGGs on iTunes if I get a plug in.

But go on spreading BS if you must. You sound like Asher's punk *****.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Sure, WMAs suck and that's why it is the most used format. Right?

Face it Microsoft does deliver a good product that is almost universally usable and that is why it is virtually every where.

Except it isn't MP3 is still by far the most used format on filesharing networks.

WMA is like Internet Explorer - used by people because it's bundled with Windows and they don't know any better.

I'm sorry you feel the need to justify yourself since you got ripped with a poor iPod knockoff, but there's no need to invent things.

Evil Steve Jobs!!! Has Asher hacked your account?

[Dinner]

Thanks but I use a number of P2P utilities and WMA is the format. Sure, you can find all the other formats but on most networks you stand the best chance of finding a song in WMA format. That's especially true if you're looking for hard to find songs.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Agathon


People who really care about sound fidelity do not use compressed audio formats.

WMA-Lossless, then?

Or perhaps they prefer 24-bit/96 KHz 5.1-channel WMA?

WMA sucks anyway, despite the number of shills that have been paid to tout its merits. I guess listening to Rob Thomas tends to destroy one's capacity for aural discrimination – that is unless listening to Rob Thomas wasn't evidence of a complete lack of discrimination to start with.

And I listened to a Nomad Zen not long ago. Superior sound quality my ass. It's a flash bang whizz toy. My cheap flashpod sounds better.

Do you realize no one takes you seriously on matters like this?

You sound like a fanboy now more than ever.

"WMA sucks, the music you listen to sucks, your hearing sucks, and BY THE WAY the Zen's sound quality sucks too!! ph34r my mad filosofy debate skillz"

[Dinner]

I got ripped?!

Oh, Aggie sometimes you are in your own little world!

I got a better product which has better sound quality, supports more file formats, has a larger capacity, and costs less money! But in Aggie-land I got ripped. The bonus is I didn't support a company that tried to control what, how, and where I use my music and that makes me happy.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Those 3rd party applications are considered hacks by Apple so Apple periodically changes its software to stop those hacks from working. This is what I'm talking about when I say Apple tries to control your music.

I don't even remember the last time Apple issued a firmware update, which may require 3rd party software, like ephPod to change. Apple knows they exist and doesn't seem that concerned. I've been using the same 3rd party software for at least since the beginning of the year without having to update it in the slightest to use it with my iPod.

So, try again.