i've seen people with the ipod attachment to their alpine cd player and i like that, i'd be interested in getting one if it wasnt for the huge price tag....i'm not looking for anything huge, a cuple gigs maybe...i dont really know what sizes the ipod runs in...

but does anyone know of a good mp3 player that i could run with my alpine?

 

you can run any mp3 player to any stereo that has rca inputs in the back...

you just get a headphone - red/white cord :)



12ft should be plenty to get it run wherever you want, in your truck...

$7.95 cable... much cheaper than alpine's fancy little box(no thanks)

http://www.svideo.com/audioadapter12.html

 

ipod's now come in:

512mb
1gb
4gb
6gb
20gb
30gb
60gb

if some of those numbers sound odd that is because apple just released it's new line of ipod's. they are not the 5generation of the regular ipod, just some new sizes. the NEW ipod should be released Q3/Q4 of this year hopefully

 

In my jeep, i connected my laptop, through which Christian posted... To my deck.. And boy was that nice.. Music galore.. With a dc/ac converter... Constant power...


I might do that with the ranger, when i get a chance..

 

i have a 12 disk mp3 cd changer mounted behind the seat... its not able to hold as much as my ipod but its better than having to carry the ipod everywhere when im in the car

 

But I think it's important to classify which type of ipod each 'size' is. There are presently three different types, solid state flash based, micro drive hard drive based, and laptop-sized hard drive based. Unless I'm mistaken, the 512MB and 1 GB ipods are flash based, the 4GB is micro drive, and the rest are full-size hard drive based.

However the title to this thread is Alternative MP3 Players, so maybe it's worth mentioning some alternatives. Countless makers make competing flash players, easily too many to list. Rio and Creative both have moderately nice micro drive based players, and Creative makes a slew of very nice full-size drive based players.

I have recently aquired a very nice Creative Zen Micro, which competes directly w/ the ipod mini (4GB). I've been meaning to write a decent review of it here, but here are some cliff-notes: It's basically the same size and weight in hand as the ipod mini, has 1GB more capacity (5GB total), supports WMA files, has an FM tuner, user servicable/replacable batteries, comes w/ an extra battery, has an optional wired remote and costs about $25 LESS than the ipod. So far I've had mine for about a month or so and am moderately happy w/ it. I've had a few problems w/ it and am not ready to give it a full 'bd' rating, but it is real close. I'm quite certian it was a better investment than an ipod.

 

i will clarify a little more:
Shuffle: 512 and 1gb
Mini: 4gb and 6gb
iPod: 20
Photo:30,60

also the prices have changed a lot. a 4gb mini is now like $200

 

no more 40 gig ipod?

that's what i have..

 

Really? Then it is now $25 LESS expensive than my Zen..

Edit: Yep, seems to be the case. ipod mini can now be had from Crutchfield for $180. They still want $250 for the Zen micro, although you can beat that price elsewhere..

 

Well I think im surely the odd man here but I have a Minidisc player.

It awesome cause i can put like 5-6 albums on one disc, can redorc from any headphone jack (TV,DVD,RADIO,XM) whatever.

I dont know why it never caught on but I love mine! and itnever skips too.

 

MiniDiscs are awesome! Well, they were until Sony ruined it w/ the MD-Net jobbies. I had a Aiwa portable for years and loved it, until I destroyed it while on a plane heading out west to do some big mountian skiing w/ my buddies. Had to perform surgery on it w/ a butter-knife in the room we were staying at just to get it to work enough so I could survive the return flight.

Although if you're putting 5-6 albums on a disc, then it must be a Net player w/ compression. Mine was 1:1 ratio. But it had an optical plug meaning I could dub directly from my CD player and it would automatically segment the tracks. MDs rock because you have infinite expansion in the form of the discs and last time I checked (which was years ago) you could get them for < $2 disc in packs of 10 or so.

MDs are still VERY popular w/ the pro audio and recording crowds. We automate a few players including a very very sweet deck made by Denon. Everytime one comes in to be added to a system we're building for someone I think about nabbing it and skipping town..

 

the thing with ipod... and it's popularity, is that they are really simple to to transfer songs, etc. THe thing with the Zen, is that it looks ridiculously plasticy... Good idea, bad design. Now, the iRiver H10, that's a true competitor. It's design is pretty neat, very slick. Magnesium casing i believe. CHeck that out. I'd still go for the iPod, and with it's recent price drop. It's even more appealing (mini-wise)

 

yahh sorry christian, no more 40gig. BUT if i remember right the 60gig is now the same price that the 40gig was

 

oh well... 5000 songs on mine, now, and i just passed the 20 gig mark...

 

my 15 gig died on me about a month ago... my falt tho... I love them replacement plans. I got a 20 gig and paid nothing!!

 

i think i would like an iPod, but i just think they're a little bit too much $$$...i wouldnt really need the newest gen of it, i could settle with an older model, and a 15 gig one seems HUGE to me...i have currently almost 5 gigs of mp3's and they have taken me about 4 or 5 years to get (dial up)....so 5 gig=15 gig ipod, then 4 years=12 years of total download time to fill it up...i'm sure that music sharing/downloading/technology will have been far advanced by then...

 

I thought about doing that last week, although i don't have a power inverter... I was just going to run it until the battery died. I decided not to go through the hastle for a 30 minute drive with no constant power.

I hear you with the money for an ipod thing, i wish i had some extra cash to afford one.

I'm happy enough that my JVC HU plays mp3/wma, i wouldn't need much more for now.

 

yah i've got the apline cda9811 that'll play mp3's....but whenever i burn a mp3 cd, i forget to get the songs on there that i really like....i'm an idiot i know...but i was wantin to carry around my whole music collection in a small device..maybe i'll just opt out for the mp3 cd changer...even though i'd want something thats updateable

has anyone see the Alpine harddrive? its very phat, a buddy of mine has it in his truck..it'll hold 60 gigs of stuff, has the organic EL display....way cool search functions and etc..but at $900..i'll just drool over his...

 

Does your alpine take CD-RW discs? My Kenwood does. I use it for short term mixes as they are re-usable and I can add/remove tracks any time I like 1, 2, or 10 at a time.Have you actually USED any of the Zens? They're pretty slick! The old Zen had a bit of a clunky interface, but they're pretty solid. At least 3 people in the office here have had them running strong for well over a year. They older Zen design actually was plated in metal, I dunno if it was aluminum or what, but both front and back were metal plates. The Zen Micro I have is a fawking sweet layout. The thing fits perfectly in your hand and is a dream to operate. I can navigate it faster w/ the scroll and tap interface than my GF's ipod.. but that's subjective and how it works for me.

Transfering songs to and from the ipod is not cake if you have a PC. That's actually been a huge issue for my GF and her mum. First of all the itunes software is highly uptight about managing songs w/ multiple ipods, an RIAA thing I presume. Secondly the software is tricky to setup and use if you've got a PC. At least that's been our experience. The Creative devices attach as USB devices and let you transfer files through the standard windows explorer interface, which is far easier in my opinion. Unless you WANT to use the proprietary music managers..