Anyone know a good modern day MP3 player?
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Apparently called "Digital Audio Players" nowadays:
They've always been called DAPs by technical people and audiophiles. PMPs have gone the way of the dodo too thanks to the modern smartphone. They were basically DAPs with a larger screen for consuming video content.
I think the full circle comeback to these dedicated devices has to do with the removal of the headphone jack, and the poor DACs in the USB-C dongles. That and slow pushback against the subscription model and a return to simpler times where you controlled your media. I for one have very fond memories of my PMP.
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I want to get less reliant on my phone and go out more without it. One of the big use cases for my phone is music.
I have a lot of local music files and I would like to transfer them to a mp3 player. I would prefer something offline that I can drag files too. Also Bluetooth would be a plus so I can continue to use my earbuds.
Something easy to navigate would be ideal too. Basically like what iPods were like with a small screen where you can navigate easily and see album artwork.
I went through this a year or two ago.
You can get an expensive MP3 player, which I didn't really want to do cuz I think MP3 players should be relatively cheap, largely because they take a beating as you carry them around with you. Or get lost.
You can get a cheap Chinese knock-off brand MP3 player on Amazon, which is what I ended up doing. I have some regrets, but it's still working, so whatever. The main thing you need to understand about cheap MP3 players is they may not properly power your headphones if you have a nice set of headphones. I only really use my MP3 player with my bluetooth speaker, so it didn't matter for me. But it absolutely sucks when I'm trying to use headphones with it. Sound is super low, even when maxed out.
Or you can just buy a relatively cheap phone, never activate cell service on it, and use it as an MP3 player, which is probably what I'll do next time. Even cheaper phones have tons of storage and decent specs for powering at least ear buds, if not actual headphones.
Ask yourself if you want a touch screen. That was my main thing. I wanted a touch screen like the iPod Touch so I'm not using some awkward buttons to navigate my huge music library. And I wanted Android so I could install whatever apps I wanted for playing my music. The cheap knockoff MP3 player I got came with an old version of Android, probably on purpose to limit resources used. But I can't update it, so I can never update the apps I threw on it when I first got it. When I was looking I didn't see any of these cheap MP3 players with a modern Android version on it. So they've gotta be using cheap hardware that just can't handle running modern Android versions.
The one really good thing about my cheap MP3 player is it came with a 120gb SD card. So all my music is stored on that. If the device eats shit, I could take that SD card out, put it in another SD card compatible device, and boom, all my music is still there, still organized into the folders I put them in. If you choose to use a cheap phone as your MP3 device, I don't think any are going to have the SD option anymore.
I guess ideally the best device would be a high-end MP3 player with a touch screen and modern Android. But when I was looking, I wasn't really seeing any that had touch screen and Android. And they're pricey.
I'm not a huge Apple fan, but the iPod Touch really hit the right spot. Maybe not that great of a battery life, but whatever. My cheap MP3 player does have a pretty big battery.
All in all, my search was pretty frustrating as I felt like I couldn't find anything that ticked all my boxes. So I'm basically just posting this to give you an idea of what to take into account as you're looking. Good luck.
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By your logic we all should get those devices that you wear so it can auto call if you fall down.
It's more like a "if I already have one, why not throw it in my handbag just in case", since if that the 1 time out of 1000000 that I'll need it, having a phone with me might save my life.
I don't have a phone addiction so bringing it with me won't cause any issue
Might as well stay home. That is the safest thing to do.
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I want to get less reliant on my phone and go out more without it. One of the big use cases for my phone is music.
I have a lot of local music files and I would like to transfer them to a mp3 player. I would prefer something offline that I can drag files too. Also Bluetooth would be a plus so I can continue to use my earbuds.
Something easy to navigate would be ideal too. Basically like what iPods were like with a small screen where you can navigate easily and see album artwork.
Sony Walkman NW-A55. It's a great, non-android device from a reputable brand. They make tons of versions, but they're not available in the US. I got mine off ebay and just changed the region with a simple program (just google, it's real easy). It has radio, a special section for language learning playback, and a ton of features for audio quality without being intrusive.
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Might as well stay home. That is the safest thing to do.
Just throwing in that little 130-200g device into your pack doesn't modify/impact the activity you are going to do. It's just extra safety.
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They've always been called DAPs by technical people and audiophiles. PMPs have gone the way of the dodo too thanks to the modern smartphone. They were basically DAPs with a larger screen for consuming video content.
I think the full circle comeback to these dedicated devices has to do with the removal of the headphone jack, and the poor DACs in the USB-C dongles. That and slow pushback against the subscription model and a return to simpler times where you controlled your media. I for one have very fond memories of my PMP.
I've given up on dedicated daps. They may have superior audio components but you won't ever appreciate them when you're on the go. I just use my phone. I make sure they have an sd card slot and a headphone jack. For OP, they can use an old phone that doesn't have a sim card.
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People [..] are everywhere.
That's why you need a phone, in case those people are ill-intentioned
It is a sad world when we default to expecting the worst from people.
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SanDisk Clip Sport Go! 32GB memory, very small and great for training because of the clip. It has a microSD slot if you need more memory.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I loved my sansa clip+ before it stopped working.
I don't want to think about how long ago that was.
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How about a Tangara?
Definitely the thing with the most hacker cred of the options recommended here, if that's a consideration.
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They've always been called DAPs by technical people and audiophiles. PMPs have gone the way of the dodo too thanks to the modern smartphone. They were basically DAPs with a larger screen for consuming video content.
I think the full circle comeback to these dedicated devices has to do with the removal of the headphone jack, and the poor DACs in the USB-C dongles. That and slow pushback against the subscription model and a return to simpler times where you controlled your media. I for one have very fond memories of my PMP.
Personal music player?
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Personal music player?
Personal Media Player
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I want to get less reliant on my phone and go out more without it. One of the big use cases for my phone is music.
I have a lot of local music files and I would like to transfer them to a mp3 player. I would prefer something offline that I can drag files too. Also Bluetooth would be a plus so I can continue to use my earbuds.
Something easy to navigate would be ideal too. Basically like what iPods were like with a small screen where you can navigate easily and see album artwork.
I've been looking for a descent DAP that plays .flac files and supports 2tb micro SD but they're all pretty pricey.
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You could most definitely buy some old thing. You could legit buy an iPod, actually, in the 2nd hand market.
Why go modern, when the old stuff is good enough?
Because the batteries in old tech weren't great and with time it gets worse.
