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View Full Version : Hard drive MP3 players - what is worth looking at ?



steveinspain
05-11-2009, 06:57
Currently, I have an iRiver H140, which is many years old but still does what it should, and very well. Now after all my recent expenditure's, I am not about to buy anything else, but am curious as to what is out there that might compare ?
I only want to play music, be able to store a lot of music, and for it to sound fantastic. I don't want itunes, frills, video, tosh or anything else. If I get something new it will be used as a portable, and also into my Caiman.
So, what is there to put onto a list just in case I get asked as Christmas is coming....
At this stage, budget is not relevant (Ha, what a thing to be able to say !)

Themis
05-11-2009, 09:13
There's still Cowon (http://www.cowonglobal.com/) but they seem to discontinue their HD models.

Marktdac
05-11-2009, 10:34
Creative zen touch is a good one ,pic them up cheap off Ebay add a decent pair of headphones /earbuds and they sound well

Needs to be flased with the latest firmware though to work with the latest version of windows media player

DanJennings
05-11-2009, 12:12
I really like my Archos 605, but that has a fair few frills and other tosh as you put it, like picture viewer, web browser and video...
unfortunately it will soon be too small for my music collection.... has anyone heard of a device bigger than 160GB?

lovejoy
05-11-2009, 12:34
Well, you're in a bit of a unique position with your iRiver player as there isn't much (if anything) else on the market in a pocketable MP3 player sized device that will allow you to connect via digital connection straight into your Caiman. Everything else either offers only analogue out, or a digital out via some convoluted method - such as an iPod with a Wadia or Onkyo dock for instance which instantly adds between 150 and 300 pounds on top of any iPod purchase.

I'd say stick with your iRiver. If you need more capacity, you can actually replace the hard drive in the iRiver for something bigger.

steveinspain
05-11-2009, 14:07
Thats interesting Lovejoy - I didn't know it was replaceable...
That also implies it is serviceable if something goes wrong, which is a big fear.
Any idea who or where the hard drives can be got from ?

lovejoy
05-11-2009, 14:26
A good page here on the whole process of changing the hard drive:http://www.misticriver.net/wiki/index.php/H1xx_Hard_Drive_Replacement

The drives themselves are made by Toshiba which is the same as what my old iAudio player uses. I believe they can be had from ebuyer.com. Ebay seems to have a fair few too.

Jason P
06-11-2009, 19:07
I'd second keeping the iRiver. I've the same one and though it wasn't in the que for looks when they were handed out, it's a great quality machine. I desperately want an iPod Touch (sad, I know) but won't ditch the iRiver...

Jason

steveinspain
10-11-2009, 21:37
I am intending to ditch the iRiver but curious to know what is out there that is comparable, and it seems little is - progress, huh ?
The looks are not important to me - the fact that the paintowork has worn off is slightly relevant as I often forget what button does what - maybe I shoulf just look for another to keep as a spare.
So, how come a product gets updated but is actually worse than what it succeeds ?

Themis
10-11-2009, 21:47
I think that iRiver stopped making players, mainly because of Apple's HD models' competition... iPods are (almost) all what is really left with an HD out there.
On the other hand, I have 4 iPods and I don't use iTunes: I use MediaMonkey instead. ;)

steveinspain
10-11-2009, 22:10
Themis - please explain further - I thought ipods could only be used with itunes.
What is mediamonkey and how do you make ipods use it ?
Are they then seen on a pc just as an iRiver is, or any other external hard drive ?
If so, I am seriously interested !

Themis
10-11-2009, 22:59
MediaMonkey is the best (imho) software for managing tags and organizing big libraries. It can replace iTunes and it works with almost all MP3 players.
It uses an internal database to manage the library, which means that it does this very quickly. It can monitor a library within seconds (which means that it updates its database automatically), useful when you rip with another program - like dbPoweramp.

You can manage iPod synchronizing just like with iTunes, using intelligent (or simple) playlists.
You can get an evaluation copy here : http://www.mediamonkey.com/download/
It is not very expensive (at about 20$ I think)

steveinspain
11-11-2009, 06:52
Thanks Themis - I'll try it out !

Themis
11-11-2009, 07:17
Andre uses Mediamonkey as a streamer in his setup, I think. ;)

Rare Bird
11-11-2009, 11:23
Aye Media Monkey is great..Fast as lightning regarding track selection

Themis
11-11-2009, 11:31
Myself, I have the combo
dbPoweramp for ripping/transcoding, and
Mediamonkey for tags/library management/iPod sync
these two are real killer apps. ;)

DanJennings
11-11-2009, 14:44
I used to use media monkey, but have now switched to J-River Media Center
It does everything media monkey does, but is even more customisable, comes with Asio support by default, and is more efficient at syncing my Archos 605, it is also a video player, and has an excellent ripper.
Sort of all the good parts of Mediamonkey, itunes and winamp...