MP3 misery

[bazzie]

An old thread I know, but I have to enquire: does anyone still use a basic iPod? I'm very happy with my HTC Desire S mobile phone, capacity (with card) of 32GB, and (cheapish) bluetooth headphones. Also has a removable battery, so I can always carry a spare. Sound quality is good, too.

So why carry a separate mp3 player?

[jkelman]

Originally Posted by bazzie

An old thread I know, but I have to enquire: does anyone still use a basic iPod? I'm very happy with my HTC Desire S mobile phone, capacity (with card) of 32GB, and (cheapish) bluetooth headphones. Also has a removable battery, so I can always carry a spare. Sound quality is good, too.

So why carry a separate mp3 player?

If you're like me, and you need to travel with a lot of music. I keep the primary stuff I'm listening to on my iPad, and rotate it regularly, but have three ipad classics that allow me, when I travel, to bring full discographies of artists I'll be seeing, for example, so if writing an article, it's all at my fingertips.

But I know that's not the norm

[jazz oud]

I still use a basic ipod, since it has 160GB and I can fit pretty much my entire mp3* library on it. 32GB would mean I'd have to be very selective, use lower quality mp3s, and/or routinely rotate the selection.

*I still have hundreds of CDs and a bunch of vinyl that I haven't taken the time to convert to mp3s. Maybe eventually.

[Vaughan]

Originally Posted by bazzie

An old thread I know, but I have to enquire: does anyone still use a basic iPod? I'm very happy with my HTC Desire S mobile phone, capacity (with card) of 32GB, and (cheapish) bluetooth headphones. Also has a removable battery, so I can always carry a spare. Sound quality is good, too.

So why carry a separate mp3 player?

I don't have a smartphone. So my Philips MP3 player serves me well. It's only 8Gb, so I change things a lot. On the other hand, when something is on there I tend to listen to it many times - so it allows more deep listening. If I had greater storage I'd keep more on it, but listen to each of them less.......

[bazzie]

Originally Posted by Vaughan

I don't have a smartphone. So my Philips MP3 player serves me well. It's only 8Gb, so I change things a lot. On the other hand, when something is on there I tend to listen to it many times - so it allows more deep listening. If I had greater storage I'd keep more on it, but listen to each of them less.......

A good point there, Vaughan. There's so much stuff available these days that we can drown in it. Back in the 60's I used to buy one LP every month or 2, and listen to it over and over again, and I could hum all the solos. Nowadays I wouldn't always know what album I'm listening to without looking at the CD info.

[Vaughan]

Originally Posted by bazzie

A good point there, Vaughan. There's so much stuff available these days that we can drown in it. Back in the 60's I used to buy one LP every month or 2, and listen to it over and over again, and I could hum all the solos. Nowadays I wouldn't always know what album I'm listening to without looking at the CD info.

GUILTY!

I am almost ashamed (but blessed) to be getting three to four CD's most days recently, since my musical tastes have expanded, and I've begun to listen to rock again after years of ignoring it. I got 8 new CD's this morning.

But I recall those days you're talking about, when the music becomes part of your DNA.

However, I find a slight drawback to being over-familiar. I've been doing some deep listening with my music, and I find that if I know the music really well, it's very difficult to do. I end up anticipating things, reading ahead of the music ever so slightly. It hinders deep listening.

Well, for me anyway.

[RogerFarbey]

I still use a classic iPod with the aim of getting all my music collection on it. Also with the aim of actually listening to it. Mainly listening when commuting, I have graduated from cheap in-earphones to slightly more expensive but much better quality foldable headphones (Skull Candy). This does make a difference but as bazzie has stated, there is just so much music around that it's almost impossible to listen to it, unless of course it's your day job and in my case it isn't. The beauty of the iPod as John K has intimated above is that it is such a portable medium to transport a huge amount of music around.

My only dissatisfaction with any MP3 player or downloads in general is that they cannot (usually) offer sleeve notes and personnel listings. This is, for me, a major drawback and I have found myself on occasion painstakingly copying down at least the album's personnel as a "note" on my iPod. So for that reason I still buy CDs and LPs in favour of downloads. On a tangential note, I believe the days of the physical medium are far from over until such time as downloads offer the same quantity and quality of artistic information and artwork that the "old" media do.

I could quite envisage a day when we download a 3-D artwork and information festooned album that displays all we need in order to enhance and inform our listening pleasure. But even then, the $64,000 question is how long would the download last as say compared to a "real" record.