that is a long message man.
I don't know
I am in the market for a hard-drive MP3 player. I am not a newbie as far as dealing with MP3s, I'm experienced in converting sound files to MP3 and burning them onto CD-R's, am knowledgeable about bit rates, etc. I've also downloaded music from ITunes and Wal-Mart and have never had any trouble using that software.
However, I've only taken a minor plunge into getting something other than a CD player with MP3 capability, that being a Frontier Labs Nex 1A, that uses CF cards. It's not exactly the finest piece of electronic equipment I've ever held in my hands but it gives decent performance for what it is, and has sort of whetted my appetite for something more.
Also, you have to go about it in a bass-ackward and probably illegal way ... even though the instruction manual gave instructions for doing this ... to use downloaded music on the Nex because it doesn't accomodate DRM encoded files, and aside from the trouble I'll wager you lose some sound quality.
So, I'm looking for recommendations for a player and thought I'd turn here for advice.
First off, I'm looking for something with at least 20 GB of memory. The mini players with 5 GB or so are tempting because of the price, and if there are some out there that meet my other criteria please don't hesitate to recommend them for my consideration. But I'd kind of like something a little bigger.
Aside from that, my No. 1 consideration is sound quality when it comes to music. I realize that you are not going to get the same sound quality with something the size of a cigarette pack playing compressed files that you will with a $10,000 stereo system. But sound quality when it comes to music is extremely important to me. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that if something has head and shoulders better sound quality, but is less user-friendly when it comes to the controls, interfaces, software, downloading, etc., I'd still be highly tempted to go with the better sound. (FYI, I realize I'm most likely going to have to get some upgraded headphones). And I'd also like a decent equalization setup, preferably one that would let me customize my settings.
As an addendum, I'd also prefer something that has the capability to play other types of files than MP3s, like WMA, etc.
I'm also looking for something that is going to be durable. I don't tend to abuse my electronic equipment, neither do I treat it like fine china. But while I know things happen, I do have the expectation that something I pay several hundred dollars for will last a decent amount of time with proper care and not have to be disposed of annually. Along those lines, I'm looking with something that I can purchase an extended warranty on if the manufacturer doesn't offer a full year, because I know some folks, like Rio, only offer a 90-day warranty and that just ain't gonna cut it with me, because it shows they don't have much faith in the product and as I said, I'm not independently wealthy enough to where I can handle shelling out a few hundred bucks every six months for an MP3 player and tossing the old one out like a toilet paper roll.
Finally, I need something that will play MP3s encoded at a very low bit rate. This may sound a little funny being that I was so concerned about sound quality when it comes to music. However, I specifically mentioned music there because an awful lot of my MP3 collection consists of old-time radio shows which are encoded as low as 32 kbs simply for space purposes.
I'm willing to consider products from any manufacturer ... Apple, Creative, Dell, I-River, Sony, doesn't matter to me. I'm not beholden to any one of them.
I do realize that I'd need an Ipod to be able to play the stuff I've downloaded from ITunes on a portable player ... right now it's just on my computer plus I've burned it to audio disc ... but while I'm certainly willing to get an Ipod if it meets my criteria, if another player is right for me and does a better job of providing what I'm looking for, there are certainly other options for purchasing and downloading music, even though I do not do an inordinate amount of downloading.
Thanks in advance for any help, and I hope I haven't been too long-winded. ![]()

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