Are Standalone MP3 Players..............

The Jerk · #1 22nd January 2016, 19:11

...................... nearly dead?

.........................a few years ago there seemed to be quite a choice of mp3 players......now.......... not so much......... do you have a standalone player or do you use your mobile phone?

Pablo Huntsbach · #2 22nd January 2016, 20:13

If Apple found a way to iterate on the 160gb iPod rather than focusing on portable computers with limited storage I'd snap one up instantly as my old one is ready to give up the ghost, and I think they've been discontinued.

Indigo_ · #3 22nd January 2016, 22:16

I don't play music on my phone. I have an iPod touch

Mikei · #4 24th January 2016, 21:26

I still use an old ipod, it just works, trying to use a smartphone to play audio is frustrating and irritating, even when it's as simple as clicking on a simple music app to get it to work, I want my phone to do other things and not have to switch tasks so I can change the track that's playing. As much as I dislike apple, they got the ipod right, a pure music experience that you don't get with anything else.

pAuL1974 · #5 24th January 2016, 21:38

I use both.

iPod as my main player, and Deezer/Spotify/Amazon

It's a shame Apple killed the iPod classic without releasing an iPod touch with 160GB+ capacity. My classic must be about 9 years old and I hope it keeps working until the flash-based players have a decent capacity/value point.

Mikei · #6 24th January 2016, 21:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by pAuL1974

I use both.

iPod as my main player, and Deezer/Spotify/Amazon

It's a shame Apple killed the iPod classic without releasing an iPod touch with 160GB+ capacity. My classic must be about 9 years old and I hope it keeps working until the flash-based players have a decent capacity/value point.

I am almost never anywhere with good wi-fi so using cloud/streaming services is completely out, but I too would be keen on a high capacity flash based music player.

pAuL1974 · #7 24th January 2016, 22:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikei

I am almost never anywhere with good wi-fi so using cloud/streaming services is completely out, but I too would be keen on a high capacity flash based music player.

I'm not sure how much they let you download, but the pay versions of the streaming services usually enable you to download stuff and play off-line, so lack of WiFi becomes less of a problem.

I switched from Spotify to Deezer a couple of years ago, so I've probably lost the ability to use Spotify off-line, but both Deezer (Premium) and Amazon (might be Prime-related) will download locally and play the files from the phone. More battery efficient than streaming, too.

Agreed with you on Apple, they really did get the iPod right. I also like iTunes, which a lot of people hate, but I don't have any other Apple stuff.

Mole58 · #8 25th January 2016, 20:40

I

my iPod.

Alf in Pog Form · #9 26th January 2016, 20:46

I had to get one for one of my old jobs where all phones and camera devices were banned. It was 60 quid, and while it served a purpose, I've never once used it out of that office.

Thirteen · #10 7th May 2016, 23:23

I used to never leave the house without earphones in listening to music. But I don't so much nowadays for some reason. I have the tiny iPod shuffle but stopped using that a while back once I started using Spotify on my phone instead. I get the impression a lot of people just use their phones as they're carrying them around anyway. I did love my iPod Photo though back in the day. Had the biggest hard drive in it at the time. I still have it, but it's kinda dead now though and doesn't hold charge. Was gutted; so much stuff on it. :\

Schmosby · #11 7th May 2016, 23:31

Until recently I was using a SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip along with some Soundmagic E10 headphones. After many years the Zip died and I switched to using my smartphone.

The combination of Zip and E10s was awesome, very loud with good clarity and separation, it used micro SD cards for memory so I could swap between music sets on the fly and had good battery life.

The sound quality on my phone is muddy and I don't really like getting my it out to change tracks, however it has 128GB capacity, which fits as much music as I want and I mostly use it for playing music through a speaker at work. My walk home only takes half an hour so no need to change tracks.

I do think when I move and start going on long walks through the countryside I will probably get another small MP3 player, probably another SanDisk with a 128G/256G micro SD