Recommendations for mp3 player?

[Sue]

We are looking for an mp3 player to play tracks at gigs instead of carting round a CD player and compilation CDs (still in the twentieth century or before, we are)

Don't particularly use itunes etc, most of the tracks would probably come from existing CDs, memory sticks etc..

Reviews I've seen mainly seem to be for ipods and other Apple products.

Can anybody point me in the direction of something decent other than Apple? Needs to be quite big capacity preferably.

The only five star reviewed one I can see on Amazon (yes, I know, and they don't even give Nectar points any more) is ?170 :(

Which as just about every device I possess is breaking down at the moment, I'd rather not spend :))

[right-clicking]

How about a tablet computer? I have a Blackberry Playbook with 64gb storage Supports all of these file formats.

AAC, AMR, AWB, FLAC, M4A, MKA, MP3, OGG, WAV, WMA So you can choose your favored type I use Flac as it is not compressed and delivers Great sound quality

[Sue]

Hadn't thought of that option! Thanks.

I want a tablet anyway .....

Most of my music files are stored as FLAC on my main music system for the same reason you give, but I can't play FLAC files on my car player, so I wouldn't want to store a load of FLAC files on a portable player.

[Jeremy]

Avoid Android. I've just about had enough of flaky Android devices and dodgy OS upgrades.

I really would go for a simple, dedicated audio player if at all possible.

[right-clicking]

You could always use your phone (presumably Smart?) That would do the job, also most platforms (windows, blackberry, android, apple) support lose-less playback, (with the right app) If your car has player has Bluetooth or an audio line in all the better,

This can play lossless (flac) files and Mp3

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-SANDISK-SANSA-CLIP-PLUS-SDMX18R-8GB-MP3-PLAYER-BLACK-RETAIL-/221144353168?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_PortableAudio_MP3Players&hash=item337d3b0990

http://www.sandisk.co.uk/products/music-video-players/clip-plus-mp3-player/

R/C

[Sue]

Thanks right-clicking, I don't think my phone is up to it but I suppose I could try. Not sure I'd be able to easily access tracks I needed, as I would have to keep them on a data card.

But then I've never used my phone for music storage, so maybe I'm wrong.

My car player definitely does not play FLAC files.

Jeremy, you're probably right that it's preferable to get a dedicated audio player.

[right-clicking]

Sue by connecting an audio device either wired or bluetooth to your car stereo you are simply using it's amp and speakers!! The Device plays whatever you use and streams the signal to the car stereo

[Sue]

Hmmm, OK, clearly I don't understand modern technology ..... not that I actually thought that I did .....

The car stereo won't play FLAC files from a USB stick, and the instruction book gives a list of file types it supports, which doesn't include FLAC.

My head hurts now :)

[Blah Blah]

Check the spec on your phone Sue. If it's a smartphone and you can get an 8gb or 16gb media card in there, that is going to hold a lot of mp3s for you. The other thing you could do is use your laptop, and use some DJ software like virtualDJ on there. It has an automix feature too so you can just list the tracks you want to play and it will mix them for you. I think virtualDJ lite is free as well. You can then store all your tracks on an external drive if you don't want to clog up the hard drive.

[Sue]

Yes, thanks, it's a good idea, we've both DJed from a laptop in the past and have all the necessary software installed on both our laptops, but laptops are even more of a pain to carry around than a CD player.

And if I had to carry round an external hard drive as well, that would increase the pain even more :

Plus I wrecked Nygel's laptop by spilling a full glass of wine on it when I was DJing, which was one of the more traumatic experiences of my life (packed bar, evening before Christmas Eve, big flash and bang, no music). I woke up in horror for weeks afterwards :))

But we're not so much wanting something now to DJ from (can't do that easily from a CD player anyway!) as to be able to play prepared playlists before and after gigs and at the interval.

My phone has a data card which I presently use just for photos, but even if I put music on there I'm not sure it would be sufficiently sophisticated to be able to make playlists etc.. It's a good phone but at the cheap end (Motorola Moto G 4G I think) and I can't get any more apps on there as the storage has run out. I've already had to delete some. I don't think I can put apps onto the data card.

ETA: Sorry, realise the above sounds rather negative, I'm truly grateful for the suggestions!

[rodneybewes]

I'd second right-clicking's suggestion of the sansa clip. Will do what you want and cheaply.

[Jeremy]

Amazon sell cheap SanDisk MP3 players with micro SD slot... I'd probably look at something long those lines.

Sorry - just realised this has already been suggested!

[Sue]

Yes, thanks, going to have a look at those.

[Sue]

rodneybewes Wrote:

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> I'd second right-clicking's suggestion of the

> sansa clip. Will do what you want and cheaply.

I had a look at that and if memory serves it was aimed at people exercising and jogging etc ??

[Jeremy]

Probably just because it's small... and you did want something small...

[rodneybewes]

Sue Wrote:

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> rodneybewes Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > I'd second right-clicking's suggestion of the

> > sansa clip. Will do what you want and cheaply.

>

>

> I had a look at that and if memory serves it was

> aimed at people exercising and jogging etc ??

You can use it for jogging but it plays lots of different filetypes and you can have playlists, you can put a sd card into it to beef up the memory if needed, and all you have to do is plug it into a sound system through a jack and it will play straight through it. Super cheap as well. Great little device.

There's one here currently going for ?11.50. Stick a cheap sd card on and off you go. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SanDisk-Sansa-Clip-SDMX18R-Black-4-GB-Digital-Media-Player-/181651745492?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_PortableAudio_MP3Players&hash=item2a4b49aad4

[Sue]

Blimey, ?11.50 is ridiculously cheap!! Must be a fake surely??!

[Jeremy]

Erm... it's ebay... it's an auction. ?11.50 is currently the highest bid.

[Sue]

Jeremy Wrote:

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> Erm... it's ebay... it's an auction. ?11.50 is

> currently the highest bid.

:)) :)) :))

Oh sorry, I hadn't clicked on the link, and I buy quite a lot of stuff at a set "buy it now" price on eBay, had forgotten those heady days when I made bids and won an auction :))

Hadn't realised it must be second hand.