CD player caught some air....

sidetoside · 06-19-2003, 08:17 AM

I have a Marsee 20L Tear Drop Tank bag and have been putting my handy dandy CD player in its map pocket so that I can touch the buttons while riding and connect it to the wiring for my Autocom. This map pocket attaches to the bag on one end by velcro (a small piece). Well, it gets kinda windy here in the SF bay area and a big ol' gust of wind decided to take the CD player out of my map pocket and throw it across a few lanes of traffic while I was whistling along at 90. Sounds like a good time to shop for a new music source. I'm out of touch with all the new technology out there. Is there some highly recommended unit to buy (CD player, MP3 (although I'm not quite sure how they work)?????) for use on the bike? Any recommendations would be mucho appreciated.

markjenn · 06-19-2003, 11:55 AM

Personally, for mobile use, I'd go solid-state MP3 (reading from compact flash or another solid-state memory). You can get them the size of a pack of cigs and with a 1-GB CF for $200, you can load hundreds of songs. The small ones will play 10+ hours on a single AA battery.

There are also hard disk and CD-based MP3 systems that will store thousands of songs, but I'd prioritize sold-state and small size for bike use. You might have issues with small buttons though.

With any MP3-type system, the disadvantage is that you you have to rip or download music onto your computer and then download to the device over USB, firewire, or burning CDs. So there is some active mangement of your music collection as opposed to simply buying CDs and popping them in.

The situation is analgous to a digital camera vs. a film camera - a digital is cheaper and more flexible, but only if you're willing to active manage your photos on your computer rather than simply buying film, dropping it off for developing, and looking at the prints that come back. If you want the convenience of being able to use your CD collection "as is" without effort, I'd just get another CD player - they're dirt cheap.

- Mark

sidetoside · 06-19-2003, 01:23 PM

do you happen to know which MP3 solid state units are best and about how much they'd run?

markjenn · 06-19-2003, 02:09 PM

Wow, there are literally hundreds of models ... like asking what's the best TV. Cheapest run maybe $50 but you can spend a few hundred if you go for one of the really fancy models with a lot of internal memory.

If you go solid-state with removeable media the big decision is storage media: Compact flash, SmartMedia, Memory Sticks, Secure Digital Cards, etc. etc. etc. It's a mess out there with lots of competing companies trying to become the "standard." CF is generally the cheapest per MB and the most mature technology, but is the bulkiest, not that it's bulky to put a GB of music, photos, or video on a piece of plastic 1.5 x 1.5 x 1/4 inch. If you have any other devices using this type of storage (e.g., cameras), then you should try and consoldiate on one type so you can use the storage across devices.

www.cnet.com and www.zdnet.com are good places to see all the different options.

FWIIW, I got a cheap MP3 player for my wife to use while jogging:

http://www.mydivaplayer.com/html/diva.html#buy3032.html

for $50 on special at Xmas. With a $70 256 MB CF card it will hold about a hundred or so songs. I'm not saying this is the best or ideal, but it gives you an idea of what you get.

Keep in mind, that even with all the nifty features, I still use a CD player (or listen to the radio) when driving, and after several attempts over the years, I've given up on music on the bike all-together - just too much trouble for lousy audio and I've always found it a little too distracting. So grabbing a CD off the shelf as I head out the door to the car is about the limit of my desire to manage my music. IOW, I'm speaking from inexperience insofar as music on a bike.

- Mark

Iceblue02 · 06-21-2003, 05:20 PM

I have an Archos Jukebox. One 6gig and one 20 gig Hard Drive MP3 player. Its a little bigger than a pack of cigs and is wonderful. I do a lot with MP3 and at last count had 103 disks with about 10-12 CDs on each disk. I down load about everynight off the internet. There is several bit rates that you can use to encode MP3s and I love 160, 192, or 256 bit rate. The higher the bit rate the better sound and quality of the MP3. But high bit rates take up more disk space. I like the 20 gig player the best and it is also a recorder. I can hook it up to stereo or tv to record stuff or hook up a microphone and record a conference. It runs off of 4 AAs and last about 10 -12 hrs. The Archos Jukebox is a Hard drive so you can treat is as such. I put pictures and Word files etc on it so its not just a MP3 player. Runs about $200+ from Best Buy or internet. The 20 gig I think I have about 100 cds on it and its about half full. I use it everyday.

T

Mike Gehl · 06-21-2003, 08:52 PM

One word - iPod.
Everyone I know who has one swears by it. Tons of tunes, great battery life, rugged, easy to use (even for Windoze Neanderthals), perfect.
Add a pair of Etymotic ER-4s or 6s, you get great (earplug) isolation + great sound. At least until the Radio Disney crap the kids dropped into iTunes (which immediately got downloaded to the 'Pod) shuffles in at the first great set of turns...

Mike

Len · 06-23-2003, 05:48 AM

I use Minidisc and think they are great. First you are not restricted to the memory like in the MP3 players. So I have a stack of Minidiscs with my fav music made up and ready to go. This I do via the PC so it's quick and simple and cheap. One disk holds about 3 albums. Second is that play time is 50 odd hours on one charge.

Saintly · 06-23-2003, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sidetoside
CD player, MP3 (although I'm not quite sure how they work)?????

MP3 players are the way to go but as you say above, you don't know how they work. I'll try to explain.
What you will need for you to create your MP3 collection is a computer (Mac or pc) the CD music disks and an encoding software like Music Match Jukebox (free). (you can also download them on the internet, but I won't cover the legalities for that here)
You then encode them into MP3 computer files. (this process is a form of compression to make the files smaller)
These files are then transferred onto your MP3 device. The MP3 device can store the files in several methods:
solid state memory (non volatile ram), good for high vibration environments, small capacities (average 128mb)
or
CD-R disks, cheap, will hold roughly the equivalent of 10 music CDs, but you still have to swap disks from time to time and you will require a cd burner on your computer
or
Hard disk, Lots of space but potential head crash in high vibration environments.

I personally use an iPod from apple (one of the new 30Gig units) and it is superb. it can hold everything, and seems to hold up to vibrations very well.

Hope this helps