This and That Computer Tips MP3 Players - Music on the Go February 18th 2004 With Apple setting record sales with their new iPod mini, we suspect many of you are looking for portable music devices. I've done quite a bit of research over the last month or so and am presenting you with the following findings. It's a lot of info, so you may want to print this one for a longer read. I tip my hat to Apple for the wonderful (but overpriced) iPod and iPod minis giving everyone the ability to easily take their whole music collection (and now books) with them, while allowing the artists to start making money again. Due to the spammers lurking on my mailing list (I'm working on it), please use my new email address or this form to contact me: http://www.itmcomputing.com/contact_computer.php . Do not reply to this email. Enjoy, Music Formats Explained There are many music formats out there these days. I'm only going to deal with 4 of them: MP3, AAC, WMA, and Ogg. Read a good article about music format wars: http://www.technewsworld.com/perl/story/32749.html MP3 This is the most popular music format of the day. The true name is MPEG-1 audio layer 3.  It's an MPEG standard used especially for digitally transmitting music over the Internet, sharing files with friends and putting music on to CDs and portable players (such as the iPod).  When converting from a normal CD track (basically uncompressed WAV file - usually around 60 mb each) to an MP3 (which is compressing the music - around 5 mb each). It does this by optimizing the compression according to the range of sound that people can actually hear.  A program called a "ripper" can be used to copy a selection from a music CD onto your hard disk and another program called an encoder can convert it to an MP3 file. As discussed in our last newsletter both iTunes (for the Mac) and Music Match (for Windows) are 2 of the most popular programs to do both "ripping" and "converting" of tracks. AAC The only company using this format is Apple with the iTunes store. As explained by Apple: AAC (for Advanced Audio Coding, a big part of the MPEG-4 specification) is the cutting-edge audio codec that?s perfect for the Internet. AAC encoding compresses much more efficiently than older formats like MP3 (which iTunes still supports, by the way), while delivering quality rivaling that of uncompressed CD audio. In fact, some expert listeners have judged AAC audio files compressed at 128 Kbps (stereo) to be virtually indistinguishable from the original uncompressed audio source. WMA Windows Media Audio (WMA), developed and run by Microsoft, is an alternative format that is like MP3. The "upside" is that you can fit double the amount of music as MP3, 128-bit recording. The "downside" is that it's heavily regulated by the music industry and it comes from Microsoft. Ogg Vorbis Along the lines of "software should be free" (ie: Linux), this music format is free to use, provides better compression and none of the restrictions of AAC, MP3 and WMA. To read more about it, go here: http://www.vorbis.com/faq.psp . Unfortunately, very few players support this mode of music compression (only iRiver & Rio players - plus Palm OS device using Aero player support this format). Downloading Music vs Buying CDs We covered the on-line music stores in-depth in last November's newsletter (http://www.itmcomputing.com/newsletter/2003-11-04.php). The next question is, "Should I buy songs on-line or should I buy CDs?" The answer: it depends. If you use one of the music stores like iTunes, Musicmatch or Napster, you'll find the current selection of the top selling music plus a great selection of pre-year 2003 music. These stores by no means have "every song ever recorded." This method is great if you mostly want to transfer music to your portable music devices (PMD) and play the downloaded tunes on a music player (or on your personal stereo with one of the cool new wireless network broadcasting devices). If you're looking for obscure imports, less popular music by popular artists or a deep collection of jazz and classical - you're best bet is to buy CDs on-line or at your local retailer. My current favorite place to shop for CDs is amazon.com - most are there for under $10. The great thing about buying a CD is there are no restrictions on how many copies of a song you can make (make one for you car, your office, your laptop) or how many times you can copy to your PMD. Unfortunately, this unrestricted ability to copy music you paid for may be changing as music producers are starting to monkey around with copy protection schemes on purchased CDs. ************************************************ New Feature of Our Website - Our Partners http://www.itmcomputing.com/partners.php We now feature products which we recommend for purchase. All products on this page are products we have thoroughly tested and most likely used on a daily basis. In your daily life, there are lots of choices out there when you are purchasing products. We make it simple by having just 1 product in each category. We have the following products:  - Entertainment Book - full of thousands of $$ of coupons for your American city - DVD rentals delivered to your door - Send newsletters like this one to hundreds of people - Access to your work computer from home and your home computer while on vacation - See when your emails have been read and when - Transfer addresses quite easily from a web page or email into Act/Outlook/Outlook Express or Quicken/Quickbooks. Lots of fun/productivity tools - all ITM approved. Check it out: http://www.itmcomputing.com/partners.php ************************************************ Portable Music Devices (PMD) Note: I will refer to the Original iPod as iPodO and the iPod Mini as iPodM throughout this article. I will use iPod to refer to both units. There are many ways to listen to music on portable devices, we will only be reviewing #4: 1. CD players which play both store bought CDs and custom made MP3/WMA CDs. 2. Flash Drive players - these are very small devices which store up to 1 G of songs and usually cost more/MB of storage. No moving parts. 3. Palm/Pocket PC device - use your Palm, Clie, iPaq, Axim - add a memory card or 2 and you've got an PMD without carrying another device. 4. Hard Drive players - these units are a bit bigger than flash drive players and contain a moving hard drive (although - mostly skip free). These will be the players we cover in this newsletter as I see these becoming the dominant players - especially with the wild popularity of the iPodO and iPodM. ************************************************ Get Portable Player Comparison Chart - in Excel and Acrobat formats I've done a summary of the most important points of the players mentioned in this article, but have not covered every single aspect of each player. For an in-depth comparison of all popular players on market (as of 2/2004), sign up for a trial version of the ITM Software Support Center. Here you will find the analysis in Acrobat format: www.itmcomputing.com/software - scroll down to "free trial" - fill out the form and send. You'll get a user name and pwd emailed to you within 48 hours. If you like the idea of an up-to-date software update service (getting great utilities that our customers cannot live without) - subscribe for 6 or 12 months - you'll get the aforementioned MP3 comparison in Acrobat and Excel with either of these membership options, so you can update the information and re-sort according the variable of most interest to you (I've sorted on price). For those of you with a subscription, you'll find both files in the download center under your normal log-in. ************************************************ What do you want? Before you delve into the details below, think about what you want in a music device. Do you want a device to play just your purchased CD music collection? Do you want a device to play your music collection and downloaded music? Should your PMD have functionality of a PDA (with date book and calendar)? Do you want FM radio? Do you want to transmit your music from your player to your car or home stereo wirelessly? Do you want to hook up your PMD with a cable to your network? Do you want to take your unit to the gym or run with it? How much do you want to pay ($200 - $499)? I can't make one specific recommendation - because my answer would depend on answering all the questions above. Work out answers to above questions, then peruse the listing below and get the comparison spreadsheet to make the most informed decision. How much storage do I need? Here is a conversion chart showing how many songs can fit on a Personal Music Device (PMD). With the exception of the iPod, all units discussed in this article can be in either MP3 or WMA. Key: 1st Number - Hard Drive Size; 2nd Number is MP3 or AAC (iPod); 3rd number is WMA For example, first one is 1.5 G hard drive; 375 songs of MP3 or AAC; 750 songs in WMA format (Windows Only) 1.5 G (375-750) 4 G (1,000-2,000) 15 G (2,500-5,000) 20 G (5,000-10,000) 40 G (10,000-20,000) 60 G (16,000-32,000) When purchasing songs, most will be in WMA format. When you "rip" songs (copying them from your CD to hard disk), you can choose either WMA, MP3 or Ogg formats. Products listed below are in my personal order of preference, based on cost, battery life and included features (without add'l cost). My criteria when buying a player would be: large hard drive, ability to listen to music for hours without recharge, replaceable battery. I've listed just a selection of the models offered by each of the major (and minor) manufacturers. If there was less then $25 difference between 2 models by the same manufacturer, I list the higher capacity product. Nomad: MuVoČ - 4 G ($199) Nomad: Jukebox Zen NX - 40G ($254), 60G ($416) - (PC only) http://www.nomadworld.com/ The MuVoČ is a very small unit (3.2 oz to iPodM's 3.6 oz), has almost double the iPodM's battery life (14 hours) and costs $50 less. This unit is currently out of stock. With the exception of not having a built-in FM radio, the Zen NX Extra is by far my top choice for people who have a ton of music and don't want to pay the hefty iPod "coolness" surcharge. Beats the iPod on all possible categories (except weight - 7.9 oz) - MP3, WMA, WAV formats, 14 hour replaceable battery,  50% cheaper. Tech support was incredibly helpful - answering the phone from US based call center. Neuros: MP3 Player -  20 GB - $199  - (PC only) http://www.neurosaudio.com One of the most sophisticated players, it has some super-cool features like recording off built-in radio, take 30 second digital footprint of song on radio - it will then ID song on next synch, voice recording, in-line recording from any audio source. Next version (due in April '04 - including free upgrade for past owners) will address will include USB 2.0 support; increase bandwidth of broadcasting to FM radio and WMA support. They are working on supporting paid downloaded music. This small US-based company, which focuses on the Windows market, makes a very high quality product. Borrowing from an Orson Well's wine ad, "They will release no MP3 player before its time." I've been very impressed with their support, which is US based and their support people don't follow a script. This is definitely the lowest price 20 GB unit ($200 less then iPodO and $50 less then iPodM), packing the most bang for the buck. iRiver - 1.5G ($196),20G ($334),40G ($440) (Mac and PC) http://www.iriveramerica.com Before I found the Neuros, this was my favorite PMD with radio. These models have voice recorder and built-in FM radio. Another cool feature - you can record directly into this unit via "Line in" (20G & 40G models only) - thus transferring your cassettes and albums to a portable player is a breeze. As of  2/17/04, iRiver just added support for paid, downloaded music. This will be implemented with a free, on-line software upgrade.  Great player for those with extensive CD collections ready to be converted to portable music. Battery life - 16 hours (why can't Apple figure this out), and it's smaller then iPodO. iPodO (Original) - 15 G ($299), 20 G ($399), 30 G ($499) - (Mac and PC) http://www.ipod.com (iPodO) iPodM (Mini) - 4 G ($249) (iPodM) http://www.apple.com/ipodmini/ Pluses: Super sleek and cool design, Loads of accessories (both plus and minus - as accessories cost quite a bit) - Examples of paid-for accessories: Monster Splitter (have 2 people listen to same iPod is cool), voice recorder, transmit music to car radios, download digital photos while on vacation, Mini (comes with USB adapter and in 5 colors). The iPod also can display your calendar and address book, serve as a text reader and alarm clock, help you pass the time with a suite of games, and so on. Minuses: Overpriced compared to similar PMDs, batteries die and need replacement (see below), pay $20 extra for USB support with iPodO , AAC format is non-standard and can't be transferred to other players, can't delete songs from the player - you have to go to computer to delete them, 8 hour battery life (lowest of all players, one client says this is more like 5-6 hours) - need add-on battery pack to extending the life of the battery using AA batteries-for only $60!, only supports Windows XP and Windows 2000 (no Windows '98, ME, NT). iPod Articles iPod Mini has 100,000 pre-orders (according to Apple) http://snipurl.com/4k7x Mossberg praises iPod Mini http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20040211.html Apple faces class action lawsuit over batteries http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28708-2004Feb10.html iPod's Battery Life - not so good http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5112066.html?tag=nefd_top iPod Replacement Battery http://www.ipodbattery.com/ RioAudio - Rio Nitrus 1.5 G ($152); Rio Karma 20 G ($269) - (PC only) http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/rioaudio/ Two high-quality units with cool black look to them and a sleekness factor. Rio Karma has ethernet port for hooking up to network and line out jack so you can play on your home stereo. Rio Nitrus, is incredibly small - only 2 oz. If you're thinking of purchasing Nitrus - I'd wait until March '04 - 4 G model is coming - not sure about price-point though. Indian tech support was helpful, but not overly talkative about product. Dell Digital Jukebox - 15 G ($199), 20 G ($249)  - (PC only) http://www.dell.com Good players with great battery life (16 hours). 20 G player is almost 50% less then iPod.  Need to use Dell software to transfer documents (which cannot be read on device, just stored). Great for low-frills, stability and long battery life. Rumor has it there will be a revamped product line next month (March '04) of these units. Archos - 20 G - $199 (Gmini 120) $299 (Gmini 220) - (Mac and PC) www.archos.com Gmini 220 (player/recorder - view photos - audio stereo recorder) Gmini 120 (player and recorder - photo wallet feature) Both units have lots of great features beyond being PMD  - voice recorder into MP3, icon-based display, play music through your stereo, unique Compact Flash reader built in ($40 plug-in allows you to read almost all photo formats), can delete files without computer. The Gmini 220 allows you to record from any audio source and view pictures from all supported cards. Samsung Player - Napster.com - 20 GB - $349  - (PC only) http://www.napster.com/ http://snipurl.com/4kk1 Many cool features like iRiver - FM radio, in-line recording. Built-in transmit music to radio (great for car). Can share music with others by downloading off your player on to another person's hard drive. Rough around edges when managing music. Works seamlessly with Napster (similar to iTunes/iPod marriage). For the best prices on all PMDs - type in http://itm.pricegrabber.com and search for item's price. Two things to remember 1) You can get a very easy to read spreadsheet as offered above as a companion piece to this article by going to: www.itmcomputing.com/software - scroll down to "free trial" - fill out the form and send. You'll get a user name and pwd emailed to you within 48 hours. 2) We're available by email or phone to give you a personalized consultation to pick the right unit for your needs. If you think someone else would enjoy this (or any other e-newsletter), feel free to forward this whole e-mail on so they can get their own copy. Share the wealth! Clyde Lerner, In The Moment Computing Phone: 408.732.8500 For comments/feedback/questions, go to: http://www.itmcomputing.com/contact_computer.php This newsletter is a free service of In The Moment Computing and is Copyright © 2004 Clyde Lerner. All worldwide rights reserved. If forwarded, please forward all of e-mail, not any portion therein.To see past issues of this newsletter, please visit the website: http://www.itmcomputing.com/newsletter.php and go to Archived Issues section. Please note: unless requested, questions will be answered in this newsletter in a 3-4 week time frame. If you need a faster response, there will be a small consultation fee of $15/e-mail response if so desired. You will receive a response within 48 hours. ************************ Hope you enjoyed the ride.... Clyde Lerner, In The Moment Computing Phone: 408.732.8500 E-mail comments/feedback to: http://www.itmcomputing.com/contact_computer.php This newsletter is a service of In The Moment Computing and is Copyright 2005 Clyde Lerner. All worldwide rights reserved. If forwarding, please forward all of e-mail, not any portion therein. To see past issues of This and That Computer Tips newsletter, please visit the web at: http://www.itmcomputing.com/newsletter.php and click on "Archives." Please note: Unless requested, questions pertaining to this newsletter will be answered in a 3-4 week time frame. If you need a faster response, there will be a small consultation fee of $15 per e-mail response. You will receive a reply within 48 hours. "Complete Computer Help (Networks, New Computer Installs, Software Training) for Individuals and Small Businesses" "Designing your Perfect Website, at an Affordable Cost, in a Timely Manner" Eliminate and Destroy unwanted email: http://spamarrest.com/affl?1337207 Send a greeting card through the Internet so recipient gets card in their postal mailbox: www.sendoutcards.com/7197 - let me walk you through how to send a card - it's easy. ©2004 In The Moment (ITM) Computing. All rights reserved.