mp3 player vs Net MD

[blade2]

ok im in a bit of a dilemna, my lovely 1yr old Sony personal tape player has conked out on me, i could use my other rather bulky walkman but its...bulky!

so im not sure whether i should get an mp3 player (looking at 128Mb) which are great for their size or i could get one of them Sony Net MD - not sure about the Net MD because i have read problems about copyright problems with the mp3's - the NetMD would also allow me to record from CD aswell

so can someone help me? i know that you can use 3rd party programmes for the NetMD to avoid the copyright malarky but im not sure whether this is a long and tiresome procedure?

any advice would be greatly appreciated! im the UK btw

 

[chizow]

NetMD as you mentioned has "copyright" issues. Also has the annoying issue of memory sticks. Not a problem if you own all Sony stuff, but other players offer more flexibility. My Techno Yepp takes Smartmedia, and other players use more standard media types as well.

Chiz

 

[Woodchuck2000]

Net MD doesn't use memory sticks - it converts from MP3 to ATRAC then writes to a standard minidisc.

The software is very clunky but it's far better than MP3 if you want to have lots of music available on the go - Minidiscs are a lot cheaper than memory cards as far as Price/time goes.

The copyright issues are minorly annoying, but you really won't notice them unless you're making copies of stuff for friends. and even then there are easy ways round.

 

[gsiener]

Get an iPod. Apple is selling 5GB refurbs for $200. The ipod is the best mp3 player out there, and by far better than netmd. I had md for a while, it's not as simple as it seems. The ipod is a great choice, and at that price you'd be silly not to consider it.

PS You can convert a mac ipod to a pc one if that's holding you back.

 

[Tired of the Bull]

MP3 Player

 

[WobbleWobble]

If you use RealOne to transfer music to your NetMD recorder, then you won't have the hassle of all that Checkin/Checkout stuff that OpenMG (the software that comes with the Sony MDs) have. Using RealOne will not be a long and tiresome procedure, and in fact, I find the software a hell lot more nicer than OpenMG.

Like Woodchuck said, Minidiscs are good for having lots of music on the go.

 

[PlantATree]

Another vote for MiniDisc. You can't beat it for the price. If price is no object then my vote would be an iPod.

 

[dethman]

MD is awesome. but at the price point for a good MD player (MZ-N1, $300-350), i'd rather go with an IPod at this point. i've always been an MD proponent but i'd have to go with Apple (gasp!) for ease of use.

 

[Katana]

Originally posted by: gsiener
Get an iPod. Apple is selling 5GB refurbs for $200. The ipod is the best mp3 player out there, and by far better than netmd. I had md for a while, it's not as simple as it seems. The ipod is a great choice, and at that price you'd be silly not to consider it.

PS You can convert a mac ipod to a pc one if that's holding you back.

I have to disagree with you there, the Ipod is very cool but not nearly the best mp3 player. The most important feature for me is on-the-fly playlists and the Ipod doesn't have this feature. If I'm going to have 15GB of mp3s on one portable player I'm going to want to be able to create playlists on-the-fly, this is how I always listen to my mp3s on my PC and it is a shame that Apple didn't include it. It also sucks that the battery isn't replaceable as the battery will eventually die and the only way to replace it is to send it to Apple and pay them to fix it. The Zen also has this problem, though I hear that after the warranty is up there is no way to replace the battery in the Zen so you are SOL.

 

[Adrian Tung]

Originally posted by: Katana

Originally posted by: gsiener
Get an iPod. Apple is selling 5GB refurbs for $200. The ipod is the best mp3 player out there, and by far better than netmd. I had md for a while, it's not as simple as it seems. The ipod is a great choice, and at that price you'd be silly not to consider it.

PS You can convert a mac ipod to a pc one if that's holding you back.

I have to disagree with you there, the Ipod is very cool but not nearly the best mp3 player. The most important feature for me is on-the-fly playlists and the Ipod doesn't have this feature. If I'm going to have 15GB of mp3s on one portable player I'm going to want to be able to create playlists on-the-fly, this is how I always listen to my mp3s on my PC and it is a shame that Apple didn't include it. It also sucks that the battery isn't replaceable as the battery will eventually die and the only way to replace it is to send it to Apple and pay them to fix it. The Zen also has this problem, though I hear that after the warranty is up there is no way to replace the battery in the Zen so you are SOL.

Are you suggesting the Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 then? Just a hunch, because that's the player that I have, and it has everything that you just mentioned - on-the-fly playlists and replaceable batteries.

Anyway, MD is also a good option to go with. I also have the MZ-N1, I like its size and weight, although I have to agree that the software is horrible. However, I rarely use the software anyway - I almost always make real-time digital recordings from my CD player and only use the software to title my tracks.


atwl

 

[Katana]

Yes, the JB3 has all the features I want but is a little too big for me. The E.digital Odyssey 1000 looked like it would have everything I wanted and is very small but it still hasn't been released and I'm starting to doubt that they ever will release it. I've also looked at the Mambo X P350 which has all the features and is very cheap ~$220 for 20GB, but only one place sells it and I'm not sold on the quality of it.

 

[Bluga]

Originally posted by: chizow
NetMD as you mentioned has "copyright" issues. Also has the annoying issue of memory sticks. Not a problem if you own all Sony stuff, but other players offer more flexibility. My Techno Yepp takes Smartmedia, and other players use more standard media types as well.

Chiz

LOL, how can you comment if you never used MD before, MD doesn't use memory stick.

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: Katana
Yes, the JB3 has all the features I want but is a little too big for me. The E.digital Odyssey 1000 looked like it would have everything I wanted and is very small but it still hasn't been released and I'm starting to doubt that they ever will release it. I've also looked at the Mambo X P350 which has all the features and is very cheap ~$220 for 20GB, but only one place sells it and I'm not sold on the quality of it.

The Odyssey 1000 was featured in the Parade magazine section of my local paper a few weeks ago. I think you're right to doubt the release though. I think e digital over did it with the feature list. As cool as it sounds, having speech recognition in such a device will be nothing but a support nightmare.

 

[FishTankX]

As an owner of a non NetMD unit, I'd believe they are worthit even if you don't take into account NetMD. You can record over all of your old tapes, LP's etc.. and if your soundcard has a digital lineout you can manually transfer songs to the MD. (TOS/optical only, though). My favorite feature of the MD is the price of the media. near 2 1/2 hours of ~160KBps quality music on a 2$ disc. Or a whole CD of CD quality music on a 2$ disc. Or a mix of the two. Take your pick!

An MD player has never ever been as flexible as the MD for recording. And it will most likely be a while, before they will be.


If recording is completly irrelevant to you, i'd reccomend a CD based MP3 player. The size may be unatractive but the benefits are huge. Cheap CD-R's for all of your MP3 goodness, and very cheap to boot. (~60$)

Flash based MP3 players are only good if you only listen to about 10 songs at a time. (Like me.) I think the ones with 64K voice recording are very nice, but they're capacity is a little bit small.

 

[FishTankX]

By the way, there are good alternatives to the NetMD's software. The first of which is Simple burner. See all of the alternatives on Minidisc T

 

[thorin]

I recently purchased a Sony MZN505S NetMD. An simply put it rules.

1) Yes OpenMG forces you to use crappy check-in/check-out features .... BUT NO ONE DOES ..... the vast majority of NetMD users have figured out that Simple Burner combine with Nero virtual drive are a GOD send. There are also other alternatives like RealOne (which I haven't checked yet since I've only had the unit for 2 wks and only had one disc until a few days ago).

2) It's HARD to make the thing skip, I can run down the street with it do jumping jacks etc and it doesn't skip.

3) It's AMAZINGLY small and light.

4) With the use of a SoundFeeder I can use it in my car with ease and it hides away in my little console compartment because it's also freakin small (I bought the SF100).

5) USB transfer is fast (even using USB 1.1) the software (both Simple Burner and OpenMG) process multiple files at once.

6) The discs are completely re-writable.

7) The units CAN be found cheapily (I got mine for a sweet $206 CDN). (FutureShop currently has the MZN505S on sale for $229 CDN (249-20) plus their throwing in 5 JVC discs ($26 CDN).

8) IMHO LP2 (~150mins) sounds just fine since it's ~160Kbps. However LP4 (~300mins) you definately notice some drop out at the top and bottom and some artifacts. Now I haven't tested LP2 on anything better then my car stereo (so far) so maybe on a higher end system I'd notice. I'll test it tonight on my RCA Home Theatre system and then on my computer's Klipsch 4.1s and let you know how LP2 sounds on them. I'm sure it'll sound fine since I don't really notice any difference between CD and 128Kbps MP3s, and with LP2 we're talking ~160Kbps.

Thorin

 

[Woodchuck2000]

I regularly steal my dad's NetMD to get my MP3s onto minidisc. It's a fantastic little device although I'm highly unimpressed with LP2. There are too many artifacts in the sound if you try and record anything complex. That said, 74 Minutes per disc is fine as far as I'm concerned, given the price.

 

[FishTankX]

A warning to you all.

OMG, and all the other programs are incapable of encoding in native SP format. This means that if you transfer SP tracks they will be first encoded into LP2 then upsampled, (You know how pointless it is. Trying to get a 128KBPS MP3 to sound better by bumping it up to 256? Yeah.. right..)

If you want full SP quality you must record optically, bottom line.

 

[Superman9534]

if you want small cheap and cool consider a "mini" CD Mp3 player. They are Mp3 players that record on 3 1/2 inch Mini CDR/Ws that hold 185MB each. I know compaq and HP make one, i think a few other dealers do too and they are less then 100 bucks if I can recall. Im thinking of getting one.

and the iPod rules! i wish i had one!

 

[Woodchuck2000]

A warning to you all.

OMG, and all the other programs are incapable of encoding in native SP format. This means that if you transfer SP tracks they will be first encoded into LP2 then upsampled, (You know how pointless it is. Trying to get a 128KBPS MP3 to sound better by bumping it up to 256? Yeah.. right..)

If you want full SP quality you must record optically, bottom line.

That implies that there's no difference using SP and LP2 with OMG since SP is simply upsampled...?
But SP sounds considerably better than LP2...? Or am I just going deaf?

 

[FishTankX]

From what I know, yes, it's essentially LP2. Check out www.minidisct.com for more info.

 

[thorin]

Originally posted by: Woodchuck2000

A warning to you all.

OMG, and all the other programs are incapable of encoding in native SP format. This means that if you transfer SP tracks they will be first encoded into LP2 then upsampled, (You know how pointless it is. Trying to get a 128KBPS MP3 to sound better by bumping it up to 256? Yeah.. right..)

If you want full SP quality you must record optically, bottom line.

That implies that there's no difference using SP and LP2 with OMG since SP is simply upsampled...?
But SP sounds considerably better than LP2...? Or am I just going deaf?

That's true for OMG since when you 'import' tracks or files they're converted to LP2 however if you can use RealOne or another program to go straight from CD to MD (like SimpleBurner .... unfortunately it only allows LP mode burning) then that wouldn't apply. I'll do a little digging and see what I can find.

Thorin

 

[Mavrick007]

Does the Ipod skip while running? It's basically a small hard drive right (considering it has capacity of 5, 10, and 20gigs)?

Thorin, you like the Sony NetMD then huh?

 

[thorin]

Ya I'm VERY happy with it. And I just found this great software:

M3U2SB that automates the use of Simple Burner with MP3s (from http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/paolose/).

Thorin

 

[thorin]

blade2 Any decision yet?

Thorin