Good Mp3 players compatible with mac?

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This is the first time I've wanted to get a non-apple mp3 player, so I don't really know what works with mac and what doesn't.

Any suggestions on good, mac-compatible mp3 players under $200?

Why I'm switching:
None of the players Apple is currently offering matches what I'm looking for.
I don't want a shuffle, and the current nano is so small. :/
This sounds bizarre, but I also really don't want an ipod touch. I just want a nice player that can hold music, play a couple videos, is around 16gb, small enough to put in a pocket, and fairly durable. (My last one broke, and I hardly even used it. /:[
 
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chas_m

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I don't know of any non-iPods that meet all of your criteria. The iPod Touch is, by your description, EXACTLY what you are in fact looking for. Maybe you should actually try one.
 
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chas_m

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Where is it written that you HAVE to buy apps when you have an iPod Touch? Apart from the utilitarian apps that come with it, you're under no obligation to buy anything else. Ever.
 
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No, but what's the point of having the facility and not using it?
The point is, the OP want's an MP3/Media player with out the need. Those companies products fit the bill and then some.
 
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Using a non-iPod MP3 player on a Mac | How To - CNET

as long as the mp3/media player shows on your desktop you should be able to use it...

I have a colby and a philips (sorry neither of them have videos). With each major up grade (Tiger, SnowLeopard) I've noticed that the philips (but it's also a little old) won't show on the Mac so I've had to reformat using my win machine. I haven't used the software much on the mac for the colby but it does work. You just need to make sure that the MP3/media player can/will play Mac compatible media.. most players will (considering Mac is becoming so popular) and as you see in the video on the link there are options. Most will tell you or include software and I haven't heard of any other then webcams that MUST be or have Mac software.

Good luck
 
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chas_m

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So, bottom line: non-Apple MP3 players -- lots of extra work to get them to work, they quickly go obsolete.

OR you could buy an iPod.

There's a *reason* why Apple has 90+% of the MP3 player market.
 
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So, bottom line: non-Apple MP3 players -- lots of extra work to get them to work, they quickly go obsolete.

OR you could buy an iPod.

There's a *reason* why Apple has 90+% of the MP3 player market.

Yep. The reason is marketing. Not saying that the iPod line isn't a good one, but for music and playback quality alone, the iPod is FAR from being as good as some of the Sansa, iRiver and Cowon Mp3 players out there.

The sound quality of any iPod is pure crud put against my years old iRiver iHP 120. It has got an true optical out and a Wolfson DAC. Even my Sansa Fuze destroys any iPod out there. I'd say that the iPod Classic was the best of them.

And no, there's no real extra work to get them to work. That's some FUD right there sir. Not everyone likes or uses iTunes or has to use it. Songbird works just as well as iTunes if an iPod isn't your Mp3 player.

It's too bad that there's no healthy competition for the iPod line anymore. Those smaller companies just didn't have the necessary funds to promote and market their Mp3 players here in the States. Go outside of the US however, and it's a different story. While Apple has gained a much larger foothold into the audio market in Asia, it's still not #1 compared to the more tiny independent companies who make those cutsie little flash players that they love so much there.

Doug
 
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I have to agree with Doug b partially... The music quality of my ipod 1st gen isn't as good as my classic and obviously it hasn't improved (although there have been quite a few complaints), but then again I also miss the sound quality of my old Mac with OS 9.2 O:) I also can't afford to keep buying them. My ipod classic crapped. I was using a Philips and the sound is better. I use it as a thumb drive altho I wish I could use my Ipod to transfer data like I was able to use my classic (It has a bigger hd).

Sorry Chas_m, my Coby is pretty easy to use on the Mac and little less effort then opening itunes. Note that was from 2009 and many MP3 makers know that they need to compete and the price is often why people will go looking. I could replace my mp3 player 5 times, but as far as price goes, once my classic went, and when my 1st gen is gone, it's gone. Problem is that I've gotten addicted to the games lol (I would say games and apps are probably a large reason why it has the market)..

This also might give you some options Achromatic Hue MP3 players, digital music, CD players & portable audio reviews - CNET Reviews most players are trying to be compatible with both mac and win so you might be pretty safe in what you chose and just look at some of the reviews for the product before you buy.
 

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I guess different people have different perceptions on what is accurate sound and what is not. I remember Stereophile Magazine doing a test on MP3 players and finding the iPod 3g and even Mini more accurate than the other players out there. They really knew accurate sound also. I at the time did some tests on my quite decent stereo system and the iPod playing WaVe files sounded better to me also and did not have the issues some were saying at the low end.

I know many who praise the iRivers but a friend had one, and at least his with the phones he had on it sounded very DEAD to my ears. High end seemed very rolled off but then again, it could have been his phones.

But then again, I love iTunes also, so maybe I am nuts! :D Grin

Sorry, I have tried every music application on both OSX and Windows and keep coming back to iTunes. I love the way it works.
 
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I guess different people have different perceptions on what is accurate sound and what is not. I remember Stereophile Magazine doing a test on MP3 players and finding the iPod 3g and even Mini more accurate than the other players out there. They really knew accurate sound also. I at the time did some tests on my quite decent stereo system and the iPod playing WaVe files sounded better to me also and did not have the issues some were saying at the low end.

I know many who praise the iRivers but a friend had one, and at least his with the phones he had on it sounded very DEAD to my ears. High end seemed very rolled off but then again, it could have been his phones.

But then again, I love iTunes also, so maybe I am nuts! :D Grin

Sorry, I have tried every music application on both OSX and Windows and keep coming back to iTunes. I love the way it works.

I'd trust Stereophile about as far as I could thro... wait, can I throw Stereophile? Hmm.... You're not going to find an unbiased "audiophile" magazine out there. They exist to make money through advertisements and such. You can bet your biddy that any "10 star" reviews are paid for as such.

As for your friends Mp3 player, remember... Garbage in, garbage out. That's why people love iPods. They don't discriminate much. The earbuds are crummy, and you can toss an 128 kbps file on there and the lamen would never be the wiser. Put the same garbled file on my IHP with some decent cans, and you're going to be sorry you did. If it sounded flat, it was a reflection of the encoding and the cans used. I can guarantee this.

iTunes is ok for playback, but there are certainly much better front end plugins for iTunes that bypass its DSP and supply a much cleaner and wider soundstage, to say the least. But again, if you're using standard desktop speakers, you would never hear the difference.

Doug

P.S. For the record, I don't care who you are or how experienced you are, the only people capable of knowing what "accurate" sound is, are those whom were producing, mixing and mastering the music in the studio at that time only. It's up to the artist, producer and engineers to work out what the overall sound is going to come out as, but once the record is pressed/recorded etc... and it comes home and gets played on your stereo or digital device, that original intent is pretty much kicked to the curb.

Just sayin'. I guess that pretty makes anything we say moot except for personal preference. ;)
 

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Actually I disagree on Stereophile but that is for another discussion some other time. All the MP3 player comparisons I have done here were on my main stereo system. I never got his iRiver here to compare, but I did not like the interface either! :D Sorry! :D

What might really shock some here is I liked the Zune also when it came out but I never got to bring one home and really test it with known music on my known Stereo system.
 
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I'll happily lend you one of my IHP's if you're truly interested. I don't like the "interface" either, but I'm more concerned with sound quality than the oooh pretty qualities!

To be honest, I modded my main iRiver DAP with ROCKbox, so it's a bit different and customizable to boot. I also modded my iPod 3G (video) with RockBox and turned it into a much better Mp3 player. After putting RB on it, the sound quality improved vastly! Not to mention how much more feature rich it became. Too bad the headphone port is busted. I only get one channel out of it.

I should probably try and take it apart to fix it. Doubt I'd do a good job though.

Doug
 

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Doug, you can fix that port. My older 3g iPod (The one with the 4 touch buttons on the front) headphone jack was messed up. Found someone on Ebay selling them for almost nothing and replaced it in 5 min. Works like new.

How do you ROCKBox an iPod? Sounds interesting.

I really wanted to test out an iRiver closely here at home because of all the positive comments on it's sound, but no one I currently know owns one for me to try.
 
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I always find the sound comparisons interesting, because although the sound processing software on the players must have some effect, the headphones and actual music rip also have a large bearing on thing, maybe more so than the player itself to be honest.
There are some terrible quality MP3 rips that I have heard, all distorted and tinny.
I would personally think that this and heaphones have more bearing on things overall, than the player itself.
 

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Kevin, agree totally with you. That was why Stereophile and me also used very well recorded music ripped to Wave files with no loss to judge the D/A Converters and overall sound. All tests were through my stereo which I know quite well. Also used music I know well also.

I also have heard some MP3 files that make me want to break the player! :D
 
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This is the first time I've wanted to get a non-apple mp3 player, so I don't really know what works with mac and what doesn't.

Any suggestions on good, mac-compatible mp3 players under $200?

GOOD ones? Oh no no no no.

Why I'm switching:
None of the players Apple is currently offering matches what I'm looking for.
I don't want a shuffle, and the current nano is so small. :/
This sounds bizarre, but I also really don't want an ipod touch. I just want a nice player that can hold music, play a couple videos, is around 16gb, small enough to put in a pocket, and fairly durable. (My last one broke, and I hardly even used it. /:[

If I was in the market for a music player, I don't think any of Apple's current iPod offerings would be to my liking either. Have you simply considered getting a used or refurbished iPod nano/mini? The 5th generation of iPod nano is probably your best option. Such as:
Amazon.com: Apple iPod nano 16 GB Black (5th Generation) OLD MODEL: Electronics

My only reservation is your interest in a player that supports videos. Personally, I wouldn't want to watch video on anything smaller than an iPod touch. But if that's what you don't want, then the 5th gen nano is the next best bet.

EDIT: BTW… in what way did you other music player break? If it was an iPod, you know you can get repairs on them, right?
http://www.iresq.com/ipod-repair.html
 
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Dennis, send me your address and I'll send you my older ROCKbox'd H120. It's old, and well used, so the headphone port on that one is also fiddly at times. Needs to have an air can sprayed into it I think. I'll put some FLAC files on it, tell me what artist(s) you like and I'll see if I have them.

As for the headphones and rip taking most of the responsibility, it's a complete circle, or triangle if you will. They each compliment the other. I think the headphones and DAC/amp bear most of the responsibility, whereas a good rip can also sound like crud if played through poor hardware and software.

The rest is personal preference. You also have to realize that your ears have a lot to do with it. The older we get, the less we're able to absorb in terms of frequency. Ear canal shape is also a big factor. And don't forget ear wax! Seriously... Tons of things go into why we think what we hear is good or bad. This is why personal preference plays the biggest role here.

D, what is your home audio setup? Just curious. Are you using components like mono blocks, pre amps etc. What kind of speakers are you using?

Doug

Oh, I forgot: www.rockbox.org ROCKbox'ng the iPod video was easy. The files to do so are right on the ROCKbox site. I'd love to fix that headphone jack. Need a new battery too, I think. Too bad I don't do eBay. Don't trust it. Maybe I'll try and source the part from Tekserve.
 
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Here's my iPod w/RB

6461763479_26cd307939_z.jpg
 
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Whats interesting is when music is encoded with the lossless format 99% can not tell
which player is being used several of my friends tried this with the same songs at the same levels. Places like AVS and Head-FI also have done this now if we are talking MP3 all bets are off but then we really are not talking Hi-Fi.
 

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