I'm old school still using an iPod. I'll be traveling a lot for work in the next 6 months including lots of flights. I've been told by everyone that I must drag myself into the 21st century & listen on my phone so I'm not carrying 2 devices.
Do I manually transfer everything to the phone (I may have to get a new one) or download the spotify/soundclous apps? What about headphones? I'm one of the last remaining people on earth not tethered to my phone so I need some advice. Thanks.
Ipod's not that big, just travel with it! Also, the ipod has better sound than the cellphones for sure. They really had their compressed file playback dialed. Maybe the high end cellphones do ok, but the average ones don't match ipod.
If you really want to ditch the ipod you don't need a new phone at all, even if it has limited storage.
gotta figure how much space you need on your phone. If you need more space (you will) get an SD card, decent 100 gb about 40$, there is a tiny slot under the battery, that will give you mass storage. The transfer of files you do with itunes. Then you arent dealing with the cloud - spotify etc, they stream music at stingy bitrates, your personal files can be fatter.
Headphones same as headphones for ipod, unless you want wireless.
If bewildered by SD card, it is just a tiny flash drive. There is some figuring for which one for which phone, feel free to pm me with phone type, I can find correct SD card in a few minutes.
Besides ipod is retro hip and makes you look cooler in airports.
It's also a break from the damn cellphone, which turns your music into yet another reason to endlessly tap away at the phone like i am doing right now.
WOW! Thanks for the info that basically says I can keep my iPod!!!!! The sound IS better & I want to keep music as a separate haven in my life.
I'll transfer some "can't do without" stuff to my phone as a test. I really hate using my phone for a million things other than as a phone. I try to keep it to concert/movie tickets, boarding pass, biz email, etc. plus phone & text.
Luv the retro angle although in my case, it would just be seen as old not cool.
Thanks for your help.
Thanks BrerRabbit.
I'm in a similar situation. I have 3 160GB Classic I-Pods. I'm not looking forward to their eventual demise.
Ipods are neat machines - they were devoted purely to compressed audio, they really sounded good. I don't know why, maybe better eq who knows but they were the best. I'm not a big fan of mp3 and aac compression, but have for sure found that the ipod sounds better.
The real issue for good portable sound is headphone quality. Rule of thumb is buy cans that cost the same as your ipod, and you will be blown away.
I love my "retro" iPod & still have Walkmen for cassettes & CDs. New headphones would be nice. I want to be blown away. I just don't want to blow away my airplane seatmate.
Good point. Any decent over-ear phones (complete can, not on-ear, forget buds if you like bass) will contain the sound. With good cans if it is loud enough to bother nearby people then you are either deaf or will be soon. There a lot of fantastic headphones out there, figure on 200$ minimum to get you into paradise.
As to wired or wireless - me I gotta be wired, I eat my electrons alive. Wireless is good enough, but plan on spending even more or you will just have a crappy radio strapped to your skull.
Great thread.
Regarding ear buds I use cheap wrap arounds a lot because of how much I use I-Pods while mountain hiking & working out.
Getting an upscale pair for non-sweating use ASAP after reading this.
For sure you don't need audiophile oblivion while hiking or biking, liable to walk off a cliff or cycle into a bus while conducting the London Sypmphony.
Re loudness, when you get really good headphones you won't feel the need to crank - a lot of what causes that is starvation for frequencies lost in bad audio, so you compensate by turning it up.
Headphones are incredible these days - another universe than the ones we had back in the stone age. So many good ones. If your high frequency sense is bad steer clear of phones that are reviewed as very bass-heavy. That is really pooular now, with rap and hip-hop, like Beats headphones, great gear but bassy. Also big bass is the grim reaper for whatever cilia you have left.
Every extra $ you spend comes back tenfold in quality. With audio you really get what you pay for.
Ipods are neat machines - they were devoted purely to compressed audio, they really sounded good. I don't know why, maybe better eq who knows but they were the best. I'm not a big fan of mp3 and aac compression, but have for sure found that the ipod sounds better.
The real issue for good portable sound is headphone quality. Rule of thumb is buy cans that cost the same as your ipod, and you will be blown away.
I have two SanDisk players that play flac and wave formats.
Had them for years and love them.
[Edited on 10/28/2018 by PhotoRon286]
Ipods are neat machines - they were devoted purely to compressed audio, they really sounded good. I don't know why, maybe better eq who knows but they were the best. I'm not a big fan of mp3 and aac compression, but have for sure found that the ipod sounds better.
The real issue for good portable sound is headphone quality. Rule of thumb is buy cans that cost the same as your ipod, and you will be blown away.
I have two SanDisk players that play flac and wave formats.
Had them for years and love them.
[Edited on 10/28/2018 by PhotoRon286]
I have two of those SanDisk players also. They are not expensive and they blow IPOD away for sound. Not just the wave files but mp3s too. Every IPOD user I have let listen has agreed.
[Edited on 10/29/2018 by KCJimmy]
Agree with both of you but I need GB.
I need to see if you can add a 250/256GB SD Card to any of them.
You can plug a thumb drive into the SanDisk but it increases the physical size of the machine by like 110%. It goes from very very small to just very small. 
But now you have all kinds of storage!
Plug in a flash drive - sounds like a good device, gonna look for one - never thought of that.
Man, I agree this is a great post and also admit I am in the stone age. Love my ipod and glad to read so many still support it.
my questions: what are " cans"? ( I feel so dumb!) and can you recommend some models to purchase? Had no idea Head phones had improved so much, mine are 8 years old! great idea for my Christmas list!
what is a san disk? How do you load music to it? ( I only know how to do through ITunes. but I download lots of music and have many flac and wave files.)
brer Rabbit, you are a wealth of info. A short time ago you helped me get alexa to work on my stereo! thank you!
Man, I agree this is a great post and also admit I am in the stone age. Love my ipod and glad to read so many still support it.
my questions: what are " cans"? ( I feel so dumb!) and can you recommend some models to purchase? Had no idea Head phones had improved so much, mine are 8 years old! great idea for my Christmas list!
what is a san disk? How do you load music to it? ( I only know how to do through ITunes. but I download lots of music and have many flac and wave files.)
Follow my link and you'll see the player on Amazon.
You load the files right from your computer, just like burning a disc.
brer Rabbit, you are a wealth of info. A short time ago you helped me get alexa to work on my stereo! thank you!
Sorry, had to leave before I finished the post.
Headphones, but you already knew that.
[Edited on 10/30/2018 by PhotoRon286]
what are " cans"?
Headphones. Personal preference is "over ear" - meaning the type where your ears are inside, as opposed to "on ear" sits on your ears. "Buds" you stick in your ear, they are foul.
Too many good makes to list - it really is a $$$ thing, from looking around it is around $200 where the magic kicks in. Gotta hit the web, find the sound comfort and style suits you. Solid big names, Sennheiser, but there are a lot of neat boutique brands too. Sony, again avoid Beats unless you are into heavy bass. JBLs, nah. It gets pretty subjective though. Best thing is take an hour go to Best Buy and try a bunch, to decide on the sound you prefer, then search for that sound, full, bassy, flat response, whatever the brand.
A very surprising off brand, House of Marley (Bob Marley family company) makes excellent headphones, but they are heavy, with wood trim that looks swell and the wood does something neat to the sound. Never would hsve thought of them but they were suggested to me by Jorma Kaukonen. I got a pair, liked them so much I got my brother a pair too. Those are my walking around phones, they look good, don't make you look like a techno-borg. Same rule of $200 for the Marley line.
The idea is that you can transform any portahle player into a astounding audio if you ditch the crappy headphones.
what are " cans"?
Headphones. Personal preference is "over ear" - meaning the type where your ears are inside, as opposed to "on ear" sits on your ears. "Buds" you stick in your ear, they are foul.
Too many good makes to list - it really is a $$$ thing, from looking around it is around $200 where the magic kicks in. Gotta hit the web, find the sound comfort and style suits you. Solid big names, Sennheiser, but there are a lot of neat boutique brands too. Sony, again avoid Beats unless you are into heavy bass. JBLs, nah. It gets pretty subjective though. Best thing is take an hour go to Best Buy and try a bunch, to decide on the sound you prefer, then search for that sound, full, bassy, flat response, whatever the brand.
A very surprising off brand, House of Marley (Bob Marley family company) makes excellent headphones, but they are heavy, with wood trim that looks swell and the wood does something neat to the sound. Never would hsve thought of them but they were suggested to me by Jorma Kaukonen. I got a pair, liked them so much I got my brother a pair too. Those are my walking around phones, they look good, don't make you look like a techno-borg. Same rule of $200 for the Marley line.
The idea is that you can transform any portahle player into a astounding audio if you ditch the crappy headphones.
You see now I feel like a dumbass. I always knew that nice cans came in pairs but I thought we were talking about........something else.
Doesn't make much difference. It's all the same. They just gotta be comfortable and tight, but not too tight, and hot enough that when you plug in you get full response, especially on the bottom end, but the highs are important too. Don't settle for less.
I am slow to some technology. I got my first mp3 player about 5-6 yrs ago. It was a zune. It was nice but the battery would not hold and after that,pretty much useless. The last 2 hrs I have been using the sandisk. Very nice. A few things here and there I would like updated, but overall very accommodating. The stock headphones went bad, so I bought some 15.00 sony earbuds, and wow!!! Made a big difference. Even though they are low end Sony's, really brought the Sandisk to life. It is 8th and a slot for micro sd card.
I just got my first smart phone about 5 months ago. I am not really into all the texting,social media stuff. It's okay,but I am not one of many who walk around with it all day looking at it .
[Edited on 11/14/2018 by jszfunk]
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
Doesn't make much difference. It's all the same. They just gotta be comfortable and tight, but not too tight, and hot enough that when you plug in you get full response, especially on the bottom end, but the highs are important too. Don't settle for less.
I like the way you think! So what do folks suggest for portable speakers? I bought a little one by Mochahcio or something like that. It is about the size of a stack of pancakes and it sounds pretty darn good. But I want stereo with no wires. I saw a pair of portable speakers recently that could be paired for stereo together or separately in mono to have them in separate rooms. But they were pretty small and I'd like to get some volume from time to time. Anyone?
No such thing as a good portable speaker. Gotta move air. When I need music in the other room I just crank up my tall Odyssey cabinets enough to where the bass travels thru the foundation and the high freqs can turn corners.
No such thing as a good portable speaker. Gotta move air. When I need music in the other room I just crank up my tall Odyssey cabinets enough to where the bass travels thru the foundation and the high freqs can turn corners.
🙁 Kind of a GRIMM answer man. Have you tried/heard any of these little babies? Some of them are surprisingly not bad. Mine is Mokcao (spelling wasn't even close in the earlier post). It ain't going to replace your cabinets or any other real speakers but it will fill a shower or bathroom with decent sound and it is water proof. Very portable so you can share your tunes out the woods if need be. I use it regularly for the shower but I would like two that are paired for stereo and haven't found anything decent.
Actually have a micro set of portable JBL's, they are pretty phenomenal for what they are - kinda dumb of me to bring Big Stereo into a portable listening topic. We aren't discussing rattling our fillings out or causing paint to peel, this is about decent sound in small devices.
[Edited on 11/5/2018 by BrerRabbit]
Are they Bluetooth or wired? If wireless do they pair in stereo?
Both . And stereo. I prefer wired sound. Seems like JBL stuff always comes up on slash sale. Pretty good, not the best but can usually find last year's JBL cheap.
Well my Sandisk took a dump. This is my 2nd one in a little over 2yrs. They are nice, but I doubt I will buy another. Any suggestions as far as other mp3 players? No Apple iPods and I don't want to use my phone. Unfortunately mp3 players are not being made to much any more. I know RCA makes one and I have seen sony has one on ebay.
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
Well my Sandisk took a dump. This is my 2nd one in a little over 2yrs. They are nice, but I doubt I will buy another. Any suggestions as far as other mp3 players? No Apple iPods and I don't want to use my phone. Unfortunately mp3 players are not being made to much any more. I know RCA makes one and I have seen sony has one on ebay.
If you're done with it I'm looking for a replacement charge/usb cord.
The one I have fits one unit but not the other.
B&P???
Well my Sandisk took a dump. This is my 2nd one in a little over 2yrs. They are nice, but I doubt I will buy another. Any suggestions as far as other mp3 players? No Apple iPods and I don't want to use my phone. Unfortunately mp3 players are not being made to much any more. I know RCA makes one and I have seen sony has one on ebay.
Based on what a friend that I trust suggested after sharing this thread with him I bought a FiiO X3Mark III. I'm going to add a 250/256GB SD Card to it.
This is an awesome thread.
Well my Sandisk took a dump. This is my 2nd one in a little over 2yrs. They are nice, but I doubt I will buy another. Any suggestions as far as other mp3 players? No Apple iPods and I don't want to use my phone. Unfortunately mp3 players are not being made to much any more. I know RCA makes one and I have seen sony has one on ebay.
If you're done with it I'm looking for a replacement charge/usb cord.
The one I have fits one unit but not the other.
B&P???
I will probably hang on to it. I use it on my dumb smart phone. 😛
Thanks through.
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
