Need a portable source for Road trips

Ern Dog

I'm looking for an MP3 player so I won't have to take all my cd's in the car with me when I take a road trip, so I'll mostly just use it in the car, not in the house. Sound quality is the top priority. The second priority is something with lots of memory 60GB or more, so I can fit a decent about of uncompressed music on there. I don't need wi-fi or phone- just music. I do have a Macbook Pro. I'd like to spend $100 and used it ok.

The obvious choice seems to be an ipod, (I'm not sure which model to get) or if there are other portable sources that sound better.

tonyb

I would say IPOD, given there are other portable devices like a Zune, sound quality isn't going to be that different between them with MP3's as your source material. Does your car stereo have hookups for portable devices ? If so, why not just use the Mac ?

transmaster

does you car radio have a powered USB port. The Pioneer I have does and the radio will support up to a 120 gig hard drive. They have nice portable 2.5" HD's either disc type of flash. That would be the way. otherwise an iPod Touch. My iPod Touch 4g is the 64gig model the Pioneer integrates with it and I operate the Touch through the Pioneer's remote control on my steering wheel. The Mac would work but it is rather awkward without a stand to clip it into.

BlueFox

iPod Classic has a 160GB hard drive. Store the songs as Apple Lossless so that you have CD quality files, not MP3. Later you can get an iPod dock that supports the digital out, and use it in the home system. Of course you will need a good DAC if your CD player does not accept digital in.

PrazVT

I just use an iPod 160GB and convert my flac files to apple lossless. Only caveat here is that I have dbpoweramp downsample to 48khz if the original files are 96khz as that is an iPod limitation. I've used a USB hard disk before too. Not as smooth but it works.

EndersShadow

BlueFox wrote: »

iPod Classic has a 160GB hard drive. Store the songs as Apple Lossless so that you have CD quality files, not MP3. Later you can get an iPod dock that supports the digital out, and use it in the home system. Of course you will need a good DAC if your CD player does not accept digital in.

PrazVT wrote: »

I just use an iPod 160GB and convert my flac files to apple lossless. Only caveat here is that I have dbpoweramp downsample to 48khz if the original files are 96khz as that is an iPod limitation. I've used a USB hard disk before too. Not as smooth but it works.

What they said is probably the best way for your situation. While I DO own a Zune and iPhone, the iPhone currently has my music on it due to the fact it works via USB with my headunit and has the most accessories out there for it...

janmike

I use my iPod as well for road trips.

maximillian

Perhaps look at an Android based player as well. I say this because I am SOOOOOO sick of iTunes. It constantly is being a PIA to me. Last night it decided to delete all my music of my iPod Touch after trying to sync 3 new albums. I now have NO music with me. All 3500 songs have been removed. I should have checked after I did a sync, but the operation was straight forward I didn't think it would have done what it did. My music isn't totally gone since I still have it on my NAS; just no tunes at work for today.

I like the hardware, but the software competes with SAP and Lotus Notes (client) for the title of worst written code ever.

Ern Dog

I don't want to use the mac for this because taking it on the road with me could create potential problems that I don't want to deal with (theft, too distracting).

My Pioneer does not have a USB input, but it does have an aux input. I've connected an RCA to mini cable to this input, so I would use that for the new player.

Sounds like most people recommend the ipod. Research revealed that the 4th, 5th and 5.5 generation ipod has a wolfsen dac and has the best sound quality of all the ipods. Plus I can get those models modded if desired by Redwine, called an imod. http://redwineaudio.com/imod Anybody try this?

I also agree that it would be better to use the lossless formats vs MP3.

Gadabout

If sound quality is your top priority, you might want to check out Cowon. Now, the Cowon models won't be able to meet your $100 price requirement and other models will have more memory.

I have the 32gb J3 model with a 32gb Micro SD card. Holds about 1800 of my FLAC songs at a time. It has outstanding sound quality and it is what travels on the road with me when driving or flying. I also have a Sandisk MP3 player I carry with me for Audible files. (The cowon will also play Audibles, but I just have music on it).

Just a little research will also provide you with what others think about the Cowon brand. I guess it really depends on how firm the $100 price limitation is and if 1800 FLAC songs loaded is enough for a road trip vs having 4800 songs on a 160Gb player.

Scott

BlueFox

Ern Dog wrote: »

Sounds like most people recommend the ipod. Research revealed that the 4th, 5th and 5.5 generation ipod has a wolfsen dac and has the best sound quality of all the ipods. Plus I can get those models modded if desired by Redwine, called an imod. http://redwineaudio.com/imod Anybody try this?

Don't waste your money on the warranty voiding mod. There is a much better way to get digital out of the iPod. Use the Wadia 171 iTransport dock. I have been using this since it first came out in the 170 version, and now the 171. It is amazing how good this sounds with my Bryston BDA1 DAC.

http://www.musicdirect.com/p-10774-wadia-itransport-171-ipod-dock.aspx

rooftop59

He's supposed to use that dock in the car??? Looks pretty bulky to me.

the cowon looks interesting, never heard of it. But I don't see anything on the website about provisions for improved audio quality other than file compatibility?

BlueFox

rooftop59 wrote: »

He's supposed to use that dock in the car??? Looks pretty bulky to me.

Of course not. It's for home use. I did not know that car players accepted raw digital input from a hard drive. Hopefully, the car player's DAC is better than the iPod's DAC.

Gadabout

the cowon looks interesting, never heard of it. But I don't see anything on the website about provisions for improved audio quality other than file compatibility?

I guess I shouldn't have used the term sound quality. It's more about the ability to make it sound better. Mainly with the EQ settings. Since most portable players aren't used in an ideal listening environment, the EQ settings (which can be fine tuned) will help your music sound better than you might expect.

For the purist, this might be a sacrilegious statement. However, on the road the EQ lets you compensate for all the extraneous noise that might be part of your environment. If your also going to use this with some kind of phones, then perhaps a little bass boost with your IEM's will help.

There was little dissension over at head-fi that the J3 and hifi man were top portable players. I choose the cowon for it's file compatibility, AMOLED screen, raves of the EQ functions and smaller size.

Scott

PrazVT

Ern Dog wrote: »

I'm looking for an MP3 player so I won't have to take all my cd's in the car with me when I take a road trip, so I'll mostly just use it in the car, not in the house. Sound quality is the top priority. The second priority is something with lots of memory 60GB or more, so I can fit a decent about of uncompressed music on there. I don't need wi-fi or phone- just music. I do have a Macbook Pro. I'd like to spend $100 and used it ok.

The obvious choice seems to be an ipod, (I'm not sure which model to get) or if there are other portable sources that sound better.

Does your car have native built in iPod support? If so, that's the simplest route to go with. If you're using a tape adapter or analog input, then something like one of those HiFi Man players (or Cowon or something equivalent) would be good. They seem to have better than iPod DACs.

Perhaps look at an Android based player as well. I say this because I am SOOOOOO sick of iTunes. It constantly is being a PIA to me. Last night it decided to delete all my music of my iPod Touch after trying to sync 3 new albums. I now have NO music with me. All 3500 songs have been removed. I should have checked after I did a sync, but the operation was straight forward I didn't think it would have done what it did. My music isn't totally gone since I still have it on my NAS; just no tunes at work for today.

I like the hardware, but the software competes with SAP and Lotus Notes (client) for the title of worst written code ever.

I'm not a fan of iTunes either, and I only use it to transfer file to the iPod. I set it to manage music manually and I don't let it manage my music library (which is mostly FLAC anyway...).

Ern Dog

PrazVT wrote: »

Does your car have native built in iPod support?

No, it doesn't. I'd be using an aux input with an rca to mini cable.

I'll do some research on the Cowon player.

Gadabout

I forgot to mention that I got a good deal at amazon on the Cowon. I had to join Audible for a year and they gave me $100 off the player. So I pay Audible $15/ month for a year. You can work the numbers either as a discount on the player or a discount on the membership, but since I listen to so many audio books a year, it was a good deal for me.

Looks like they aren't running that deal anymore

Not sure if you hblue toothooth on the car. but the Cowon supports v2.0

Scott