If you're into quality-sounding music, get a pair of Koss Porta Pros (~$50) and a Sansa Clip (~$35) + Rockbox (free!).
Koss Porta Pros are the BEST headphones under $100, and Rockbox makes custom firmware for the Clip and many other players to give you virtual surround sound, support for .flac and almost all file formats, full EQ and custom interfaces. Mine is Pikachus that pika to the music.
...I hope someone sees this.
ETA: I prefer the sound processor in the original Sansa Clip, but the Clip+ has a microSD slot for memory expansion.
Check out this description of an audible problem associated with SD card access: http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/11907
I don't know if changing the SD card affects this particular bug, but you don't know until you try. I understand that changing the firmware alleviates it, too, but it makes you think.
I've heard the noise this bug describes on my rockboxed player, and it was annoying.
Install rockbox on your ipod , it s a more intuitive interface ,play movie , you just copy the movie on your ipod using it as usb key.
It s an opensource firmware for mp3 players. http://www.rockbox.org/ it also support a few more music format ( ogg )
Yep, San Disk products are great. I've used their e200, Clip, and Clip Zip players. I've always installed the Rockbox firmware. It gives quite a few more features and options.
These players all have an FM radio and a microphone for recordings. All but the first Clip have MicroSD card slots for additional storage. I've been able to buy a number of Clip Zip players used for under $20.
The cheapest option is probably a SanDisc Clip+/Zip.
Add rockbox (a free, open-source firmware), a SD card and you're good to go.
(Why rockbox? Support for a maximum amount of audio codecs, good equalizer, replaygain support, both database and file browsing functionality, cue sheet support, ... And of course OSS.)
A (cheapish) Android smartphone with an SD card slot might be another option.
Turn off wifi/mobile and it should last you a while.
I replaced OS X with Arch Linux on my work-issued Macbook and run Rockbox on my iPod.
I also make a best effort to use proper spelling and grammar in all of my text messages.
It's pretty awesome how compatible it was with so many models, including iPods, IIRC. I should probably see if a new release has come out yet.
EDIT: Yes, there has been.
ARM hardware is not well standardized like x86. There is no equivalent of Intel setting standards like EFI (or IBM and the PC BIOS) that defines standard ways of initializing memory, talking to hardware, or even just powering up the system.
You can take the stock linux kernel and port it to almost anything with a compiler and an MMU, but this is an enormous amount of work. To give you an example, take a look at the steps required to port rockbox to very simple ARM hardware:
http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/NewPort
To put that in context, the port to the Sandisk Clip players took a team of developers approximately 2 years to port a simple embedded operating system to a very simple ARM system (250 MHz, 8 MB of RAM, no modem/communications) with access to detailed chipset documentation. When you say something like 'undo the Nexus changes and make the right ones for an iphone without access to documentation' you are proposing something that would take even a very skilled team many, many years of effort to achieve a stable, power efficient port.
Regarding bootloaders, this is actually one of the steps involved. Generally when porting to a new hardware platform, you will start by trying to get a bootloader running, which at a minimum generally requires you to setup the memory controller, MMU, storage functions, display, and probably some kind of button or touch read out.
I turned my back on itunes long ago, infact it was soon as I found I could sync my ipod without using itunes whatsoever.
Never looked back since.
Edit: People are asking how to add to ipod without itunes, this was a while ago so i was using an Ipod 5th Gen and installed some software called Rockbox which changed the enitre apple firmware on the device allowing me custom skins and a few games (Such as pokemon red). I am unsure if there is anything working for new models however so sorry guys! I mainly use my android phone as mp3 player now days.
This may help a few of you however. http://lifehacker.com/237986/hack-attack-add-music-and-movies-to-your-ipod-from-any-computer-without-itunes or maybe there is a way if you jailbreak/root the device to do so.
I'm going to suggest a Sansa Clip+ or Sansa Fuze (original, not +) because they're well priced, excellent in terms of sound quality and can run Rockbox. TL;DR; Rockbox is an alternative open source firmware for certain audio players that gives them more features than you can shake a stick at. You won't be able to live without it once you master everything it can do. And Sansa players are widely regarded as the best Rockbox devices.
Upgrade it to, rockbox firmware, then follow the Doom plugin instructions. The controls on a Clip Zip are very limiting though so it's not very practical. It runs at a much better frame rate than this GIF depicted.
I would suggest a Sansa Fuze, drop a 32gb micro SD card in it, load it with Rockbox and you're good to go.
You can get the 8gig version refurb here for $50 - I know I used the "r" word, but I've ordered 2 Sansa refurbed units from them over the years and you honestly couldn't tell they were used. No problems.
As far as loading music onto it, the thing looks like a flash drive. Two, with the micro SD card. Just drop you tunes on it and you're done.
Exactly. I didn't expect this to get much attention so I didn't give credit (yet), very sorry for that.
The picture is by Tobias Dietrich from the Rockbox wiki. It shows the Sansa Clip+, which I was planning to buy :)
I've got an old refurbished Sansa Fuze. It has 8G on board, but it takes micro-SD cards up to 32G in size, so capacity is infinitely expandable. I've had it for years. Paid like $50 for it.
And I've replaced the default lame-ass OS with Rockbox, which is infinitely cooler, and plays a lot more formats - like FLAC, Ogg and so forth.
You can load Rockbox on iPods and other players as well, so I suggest you keep that in mind when making your decision: you're not necessarily stuck with what comes out of the box.
I'm no expert programmer myself, but I know this is not something you want to do from scratch.
I think I'd start with looking at Rockbox, particularly their development guide. If your MP4 player is not supported yet, maybe you can start a port.
Good luck.
iPods are recognized by Ubuntu as a removable drive, there's no need to have to use iTunes beyond the initial firmware install. There's also Rockbox which can make your iPod play FLACs and all those little features that for some reason Apple won't let you have.
Note: This is my answer to this comment which I accidentally posted in the wrong place.
Well me personally, I'm more of an exception and can't speak for the general consumer.
I've been a big smartphone and Android/AOSP fan until I recently (deliberately, I wasn't forced due to financial problems or whatever) sold my Moto X, from that moment on I do not use a smartphone. Still want to listen to music on the go without taking out my laptop, that's why I need a music player :).
Why the Sansa Clip+? I study computer science and I believe that libre software is superior to proprietary software. To summarize it, libre software grants you the right to modify and redistribute the software however you wish. Due to its nature (open source), libre software is generally less likely to contain viruses, spyware or other malicious or unwanted functions, which is just one of its many advantages over proprietary software. The Clip+ is one of the few music players that can run Rockbox, which is a libre operating system. That's why the Clip+ is of particular interest to me.
Not out of the box, it doesn't, but once you replace the firmware with Rockbox it sure does!
Rockbox turns your Fuze (and other MP3 players) into a whole new machine. A Fuze without Rockbox is like a PC without a web browser. And it's a piece of cake to install. If you've got a Fuze you have to check it out.
Edit: Actually, if memory serves, the Fuze will play .WAV out of the box, so you could play lossless that way. Not that anyone could, but to be pedantic...
You did mention custom firmware, which leads me to believe you're aware of Rockbox. I think there is a way to get the feature you want, though it is timeconsuming to set up:
First, acquire a device that can run RockBox. This may be difficult, as most are out of production, and you'll need one with plugin support, as that's how you'll be configuring it later. My personal suggestion is a Sansa e200 (I own one), with a 32 GB microSD card stuffed in. (As an aside, I can't comment on the heatworthiness of it, as I've never left it in a sweltering car, though I have owned this guy for 5 years now, and he's still trucking.)
Now that you have your device, after installing rockbox, you'll have to organize your albums into their own directories (Which you've probably already done.) Then, you'll have to enable "Auto-change directories" under playback settings (Which you can read about on page 61 of this rockbox user's manual,) and use the "Random Folder Advance Configuration" plugin, which will let you play all the files in a directory in order, then switch to a random directory. The place I read about this (By ctrl+f-ing for "shuffle") is the sansa e200 Rockbox firmware user's manual, on pages 160-161.
I hope it helps!
Not nearly as widely as MP3. I installed Rockbox on my portable music player, which supports virtually every audio codec there is. I mainly use Vorbis, but some of my audio is in MP3, and some of it is Speex.
Don't expect widespread device support with Vorbis though, but if you stick mainly to listening to music on your computer or Rockbox player like I do, you're good to go.
I remember the old days of being the "cool guy" in middle school with the odd iPod. (JK, everyone thought I had an off-brand).
Good luck, man!
There's also the experimental Rockbox for Android which gets you a host of cool stuff, like Breakout, Tetris, A Pac-Man emulator, Sudoku, Solitaire, Chess, Life and a Gameboy emulator.
I don't know about linux based mp3 devices on the market, but then I can't linux linux installed laptops near me either.
Check out http://www.rockbox.org/. It's a firmware replacement that targets various devices and should be more friendly when it comes to interfacing with your linux pc.
That said, many devices work well with linux at the moment.
> Rockbox is an open source firmware replacement for a growing number of digital audio players. It has been in development since 2001 and receives new features, tweaks and fixes every day to provide you with the best possible music listening experience. Rockbox aims to be considerably more functional and efficient than your device's stock firmware while remaining easy to use and customizable. It is a goal to not only offer a wide range of functionality, but where possible make sure that this functionality is presented in a consistent manner that is easy to learn and use. It is written by users, for users. > > Another top priority of Rockbox is audio playback quality. Rockbox, for most models, includes a wider range of sound settings than that device's original firmware. A lot of work has been put into making Rockbox sound the best it can, and improvements are constantly being made. All models have access to a large number of plugins, including many games, applications, and graphical demos. > > You can load different configurations quickly for different purposes (e.g. a large font for in your car, different sound settings for at home). You can even customize your While Playing Screen to display only and exactly what you want to see when your music is playing. In addition, Rockbox features a wide range of languages, and all supported models also have the ability to talk to you - menus can be voiced and filenames spelled out or spoken.
From: Why Rockbox?
iPod 1g through 5.5g, iPod Mini, iPod Nano 1g and iPod Nano 2g (and a whole bunch of other music players) can all have their firmware replaced with Rockbox, thus not needing iTunes.
Refurb Sansa Fuse 4Gig: $30
16Gig MicroSD card: $21
Upgrade firmware to Rockbox (adds more playback formats, skins, games, etc): Free
Who needs an iPod?
There are a number of ipod programs, and should work with an older device like yours.
You could use RockBox on your ipod, an alternative OS. I have never used it myself, but I have heard good things about it.
That looks like an xtal oscillator, but I have never known those to leak.
Edit: Yeah, it is a 24Mhz oscillator it looks like that orange stuff is glue.
I remember back on the day, Amarok had iPod support. I can't say how much support that is since o don't have an iPod anymore. You could also see if RockBox could expand your functionality: http://www.rockbox.org/
Very few portable media players support free formats from what I've seen for some strange reason, at least with official firmware. Mostly anything you can install Rockbox on supports lots of formats though, including Vorbis and FLAC.
I have an iPod Classic with Rockbox on it, so I can play my FLACs wherever I am!
if you want to be cheap about it (you mentioned 192 and streaming services as viable), then you should really try getting a sansa clip with rockbox installed, a sansa clip is like $20 USD and is microSD compatible
They're relatively cheap and easy to repair too, with replacement parts readily available.
I took an old iPod Mini and replaced the HDD with a Compact Flash card. It's light, has tons of storage, battery life for days, and is compatible with Rockbox if that's your thing.
I've got the Sansa Clip+.... And I'd highly recommend installing RockBox on it. It'll play many more different types of audio formats... And it should help with the tagging because you can play by folders not by tags :)
I used to do this on a Sansa e200 series, if memory recalls correctly. You'll want to load it with custom firmware RockBox. Depending on the device, GB roms should work pretty well, and GBC work decently.
first you need to check if you device is supported they list the supported devices right on their site. Then you download the installer here. Theres also a bunch of videos on youtube showing you how to do it.
There are tons of programs you can use to manage your iPod's music, and depending on the one you get, you may be able to install custom software on it that allows it to play FLAC. I can't remember the name of it, but I'm pretty sure it exists.
Update: It's called Rockbox http://www.rockbox.org/
Gapless playback, more supported file formats, lots of playlist options, and (ridiculously enough) it can play Doom.
Yes, Doom. Monochrome gradients are simulated by rapidly strobing individual pixels at different rates. It's dark as pitch, and the controls are terrible, but it runs. I would never deign to call it playable, but it runs.
But really, you should just check out the list of features.
I use Rockbox for Android. It is listed as "Unusable ports" on the website, but I've been using it without any problems for many weeks now.
The interface is definitely not optimized yet, but I'm still very happy with it.
For strictly audio (no video), get a Sansa Clip+. It can take a 64GB microSD card. No moving parts. The thing seems indestructible. I think it's more likely to just get lost than damaged, because it's so small. You might want to put the rockbox firmware on it too. More glowing reviews from cyclists here.
Hardware wallet absolutely needs screen to show what transaction is being signed.
I think it might be easier to adapt existing devices than to manufacture specifically for this purpose.
Say, there are cheap cell phones, they have screen and lots of processing power, so it might be possible to make a custom firmware which implements bitcoin stuff in a secure way.
It might be hard to make sure that it is actually secure (as it might be using bits from vendor's firmware), but there will be no problems with manufacturing.
Alternative approach: MP3 player like SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip. $30 in Amazon. Add Bitcoin signing functions to Rockbox open source firmware.
But if you are already using a workaround/hack could the authors just not grab the update and then create a work around for those people and include it into their next build?
I used rockbox on my old ipod 5th gen and it was the greatest thing i ever did for that ipod.
Check out Rockbox. It's a free firmware alternative that's compatible with some of the major media players. It'll make compatibility and feature issues simpler to deal with so you can focus on finding a size/cost balance.
*edit formatting
I have a iPod Video (5th gen) and a first gen iPod Touch. I probably use the Video the most - I have the last version that supports the RockBox alternative firmware which means I can just drag and drop all sorts of audio files (including straight FLACs!) onto the drive and play them. Even has automated database generator so I can still browse by artist and album and whatnot.
I really like the Sansa Fuze. I also have a couple of the Clip+, but like the larger screen a bit better. I got both on sale, very cheaply. Use the stock firmware, or install Rockbox, as you prefer.
The rockbox devs have collected some information on it in the rockbox wiki. Your best bet may be to help port rockbox to the device, then write your games using their documentation and games as guide. You could start by reading through this thread to see how far along they are and reading through their new port wiki page.
Yup. Clementine/Amarok 1.4 are the only desktop music players I've used for more than 10 minutes total, aside from the original WinAmp. I also don't buy portable players that can't run rockbox.
I do exactly the same. I have a big folder, called "Music", and another (smaller) one with playlists. I have countless playlists in .m3u format, which I prepare on my computer (with Winamp, but you can use any player or playlist manager to make the playlists). And then I just choose a playlist, or a folder, or a file... you can add playlists to your playlist, you can add files (songs), and/or folders with albums, and/or folders with artists... the possibilities are endless. You can even load .cue files (one big file with the whole album with no gaps, and .cue file with the track marks), and then you'll see the tracks of the album. And Rockbox supports a lot of file formats. You can even delete tracks/files and folders within Rockbox menu.
See www.rockbox.org
I don't know the exact issues you were having with SanDisk, but putting Rockbox on my Clip+ is the best thing I ever did. It has pretty awesome compatibility with file formats, but the interface is clunky to people who aren't into that sort of thing. Tiny, decent battery life, crazy good DAC for the size and price. Grab a 128gb microSD and you're good to go.
I haven't used the Sansa Clip Jam, but I currently use the Sansa Clip Zip which looks very similar. Also I use a 3rd party firmware called Rockbox that greatly improves response time and offers so many features that aren't available on the factory firmware. It might be worth checking out. Rockbox is pretty great.
I use a Sansa Clip + with an SD card. Much cheaper than an iPod and sounds much better. That said, it's barebones so you won't get the fun graphics, etc.
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-Clip-Player-Black/dp/B002MAPS6W
You can also install Rockbox (alternative firmware) and get an even wider range of file compatibility:
Isto. (ou o Clip Zip se quiseres um ecrã melhorzinho).
Qualquer um dos dois (Clip+ ou Clip Zip) corre o Rockbox que é um firmware alternativo opensource (melhor interface, tempo de startup, opções, EQ, suporte para last.fm, navegação, customização, etc...)
I just tested with my sansa clip+ and a mains USB charger, it didn't go into file transfer mode (MSC mode in settings rather than MTP if that makes any difference), just the battery indicator showing it was getting charged.
Interesting.
I wonder if rockbox would see it as a USB on the go source, and you could investigate if there's anything to look at. A little sansa seems like a fairly safe tool to experiment with.
No, it's not. If you have a first generation iPod nano, the closest thing to that is Rockbox, a custom OS. Otherwise, there's no way to mod the stock OS that's on iPods that aren't the "touch" model, especially the ones from ~2006 and later.
I've heard good things about Rockbox custom firmware, and the devices it supports are fairly cheap/good/easy to find. You can even use an older model of iPod and never have to worry about iTunes.
iTunes? Sounds suspiciously like some sort of screwy vendor lock-in strategy.
It might be time for you to join the Sansa Rockbox master race. I've probably put it on put it on about a dozen of them for various people. Even my old e260 is still going strong with support for newer formats and microSDHC cards.
For one, yes Rockbox supports many audio codecs that stock firmwares do not. "Better visuals" most likely not, it's an audio player first and foremost, and thats a philosophy that the developers follow, there are a multitude of themes available from the community though. Battery life? oh yes most times Rockbox achieves a longer play time compared to the original firmware, most times but not always. But for me its not only those things, but there's also the mpeg player, and gameboy emulator, and many other tools, plugins and apps that make it "my little computer in my pocket", and not just a mp3 player.
Might I recommend a Sansa? I have an e200, it's small, cheap, amazing battery life, has a high-capacity MicroSD slot (where I've currently got a 32GB card), and you can install RockBox on it, which increases the usability and functionality of the device about tenfold. Pop a 64GB or 128GB MicroSD in there, and it could hold an appreciable portion of your library very easily. Not the ultimate option, but better than 200 songs on a smartphone.
I am very happy with a Sansa Clip Zip I bought 2 years ago. No moving parts, small, light and even a color oled display. If you use Rockbox as an alternative firmware as I do, you can even use 64 GB sdxc cards in it.
tl;dr You can play Doom on mp3-players with Rockbox =)
> I would gladly spend 5 hours doing something I semi enjoy than fighting a piece of shit product for years.
Exactly. Products that I use frequently, I spend more time researching. I use an MP3 player daily. For those that are wondering, I went with a Sansa Clip Zip. I plan on installing Rockbox.
I can't wait to uninstall ITunes.
The worst part: There are existing, cheap, totally offline devices available on the market right now, which have established methods of running custom code, and which would be capable of functioning as hardware wallets. Many of them would even be capable of producing non-deterministic random data for purposes of generating a secure wallet seed. Some of them can be obtained for as little as $20 used and $40 new.
They are MP3 players - specifically, any player supported by Rockbox.
How about a rockboxed Clip+ with a 32GB / 64GB microSD card?
Clip+: http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-Clip-Player-Blue/dp/B002MAPSC6
Rockbox: http://www.rockbox.org/
You'll come in way under budget, but I love mine.
My own recommendations would be:
Not necessarily in that order of preference.
Heh, I'm seeing a few of these posts popping up. Believe it or not I could run doom on my Cowan iAudio XL back in 2005 using the Rockbox firmware.
It's too bad they aren't still designing for new iPods, because it was an amazing OS.
generally speaking the more cpu usage the more power is used, unless you have a hard drive player which would use a lot of extra power time it needs to be accessed, so then file size would matter, but the J3 is flash based. You might be surprised but flac will actually get you the longest battery life because it is very easy for the cpu to decode, unlike say ogg or mp3 which can take up as much as 5 times the cpu time, which is what you're trying to minimize. source: http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/CodecPerformanceComparison
oh and turn your brightness down if battery life is really an issue. I get pretty good life from my J3 but I rarely use the screen, just press play and leave it for a while. Set it to now lock the physical buttons when the screen locks, then you can play, pause, fast forward, and rewind without ever using the screen which is probably what uses the most power.
What size do you need? you can get something like The Sansa Clip+ which has a micro SD card slot on it so you can up the space, I did hear rumor that there is a limit on the size of the micro SD card you can put in it (i.e. it will only recognize up to a certain number of songs).
I haven't noticed any issues with one with a 16gb mSD card in. However I run it with Rockbox which may work better then the stock firmware.
I used to be someone who liked to carry around all my music on 100gb+ players then I realized it was ultimately pointless and there were a small number of artists/albums I listened too a lot more when on the move, then when I was at home I listen to a wider range of my 155gb library.
You might see if your player is supported by rockbox http://www.rockbox.org/
I also use mp3 because that's how I buy my music. No major retailer sells flac. I've also never bothered to figure out if i can really hear the difference.
Rockbox is open-source software for music players, and it can be installed on a surprisingly wide array of hardware. If you don't like how it works, hack on it until you do.
If you disapprove of every piece of hardware Rockbox can be installed on, I don't know what to tell you.
+1 for any Sansa player. Or really anything that works with RockBox.
Also, the iRiver devices are pretty.
The iRiver has a much more capable DAC & amp, hence it can drive larger headphones cleanly, with better sound output.
Regarding your MP3 problems, is that with the stock iRiver firmware that you can't play some MP3s? Have you tried rockbox?
you could try booting the original firmware, see the rockbox FAQ > Shut the device down by holding power/menu. Then, press power/menu to boot the Sansa. Immediately after doing this, hold down the |<< (left) button.
http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/SansaFAQ
E: It seems like you already tried that, my blind guess would be a power problem.
In order to achieve this you'd have to change the software to Rock box, i'm sure you can look up on youtube how to do that.
In regards to your Emulator question I refer you to the Rock box wiki. http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/PluginRockboy#ROMs
"Do not ask for Gameboy/Gameboy Color ROMs on the forums or IRC because it is illegal. Though you can find some legal homebrew and public domain ROMs here: http://www.pdroms.de/ and here: http://www.zophar.net/roms.phtml?op=show&type=gb "
I hope this answers your question.
I managed to Rockbox my 160GB Classic, I don't stack X3 as I mainly use it at home, it's a nice portable system though just wish Fiio supported Opus, I sent them a twitter message.
Sadly, yes. I have the last version to be released (6th gen, 2nd revision) and there's not Album Artist option. Kinda ticks me off, since it would be such a simple firmware update to add the functionality.
Never looked to much into custom firmware, though—there might be homebrew software that would enable that functionality. The one I'm familiar with is Rockbox, but it seems like development of the iPod classic firmware was abandoned before it reached what they call a "usable" state. Might want to do some searching around about that.
I recomend a Sandisk Clip Zip with Rockbox firmware added (http://www.rockbox.org/). This will give you a MP3 player the size of a matchbook that can do bookmarks and can take at least a 64gb micro sdcard (I haven't tried a larger one). I would recommend getting a three year squaretrade warranty that includes drops and spills. Cost for a new Clip zip is about $90 on eBay.
Edit: headphones or external speaker required.
I've been very happy with my Sandisk Sansa E200 for about 8 years now. It's got all that - buttons, USB, and a MicroSD card slot, which takes up to 32GB cards. Look for that, or its successor, the Sansa Fuze. I've owned both, but found I prefer the feel of the E200's click wheel. And if you're up to it, check out Rockbox, which is an alternative but far superior firmware for these sorts of devices.
I dunno - 7 or 8 years ago I bought a used Ipod Video (5.5 generation, 80 gigabytes) for maybe $200 on ebay, put Rockbox on it, and today it works exactly as well - though someday I expect the battery to shit the bed on me, so there's that.
maybe: Creative Steelseries Behringer COWON (http://www.cowonglobal.com/) Sandisk (https://www.sandisk.com/)
if there are any plans for supporting "unofficial firmware" somehow then maybe RockBox? :) (http://www.rockbox.org/)
The Sandisk Sansa Clip+ fulfills all your conditions except the clock part. If you're comfortable with messing with firmwares, there is a custom firmware called Rockbox that can show the date and time on the display for the Clip+.
I was in a similar boat (had a 120G Zune). I caved and bought an iPod but found there are ways to jailbreak it, specifically RockBox. It lets you avoid using iTunes, use FLAC and other high-quality files, and has lots of customization features. I've been using it for around 4 years on 3 different iPods (dropped two on concrete) and have had very few problems. It is unreversable, though, so if you fuck up, that's that.
I am always glad to hear new music; the response this was getting made me really want to hear it. I may just give in and stream it. I'm too lazy to drag the headphones out right now and this place closes in about 35 minutes.
Can music be downloaded from bandcamp? I understand you don't want anyone with a local copy re-uploading claiming it was their own. I may just have to stream it later. I have an old old iPod that I ~~hacked~~ installed Rockbox onto that is the best sounding audio player I have ever heard, especially with a pair of really high quality in-ear monitors, so I always try to get a downloaded copy. Nothing quite replicates the sound except a high end component system.
/gearnerd electronic music aficionado
Rockbox is an open source firmware that you can put on a lot of different devices, especially older ones. It is very playlist-centric, and features all kinds of advanced features for listening to your music. For example, you can have different profiles based on what type of speakers you have connected. You can very easily 'DJ' on the fly, queuing things into the mix, queing things shuffled, etc. Custom EQs, Crossfading, Normalization, Custom skins, etc.
It does take a little getting used to it, but once you understand the way it works, it is a great way to put new life into your dedicated media player.
The Sansa E200 with rockbox is a pretty kickass combination. I don't have a fuze, but assume now that they have it working there, that is a good option as well.
Seems development has stopped, but it is a rock solid firmware for dedicated music players:
Check it out at http://www.rockbox.org/download/byhand.cgi
If you want a smaller player for active use, I'd recommend a Sansa Clip+ or Clip Zip. Do not get the sport version if you can avoid it, the other two models are Rockbox compatible. Also you can pop in a microSD card if you need more space.
It crashes once in a blue moon - very, very infrequently.
The longest trip I did in recent memory was around 10 hours and it was fine, there are user benchmarks on this page:
http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/SansaRuntime
(scroll down the the clip+ part)
It seems to support 12-14 hours as a conservative estimate.
I use VLC to do to speed adjustments. I haven't found anything for Android/Blackberry. And I also have a modded MP3 player with a custom firmware (Rockbox) that lets me do pitch/rate adjustments.
You could fit your whole collection on a modified 5.5G ipod. I went through a similar search. Slightly larger capacity needed in my case, but I wound up getting an iPod 5.5G and installing a 240GB drive and Rockbox. You wind up with something that has pretty good capacity, is for sure apple hardware but is much more flexible and configurable (since it is rockbox instead of ios). Rockbox is slower and slightly less intuitive out of the box than the standard iPod firmware but you can make it look however you like and you can really customize the UI very thoroughly. I still have spinning disk media in my solution. My drive seems to be holding up pretty well and didn't cost too much. For a bit more money/effort it looks like you could use an SSD or SD cards.
Features features features.
It provides extreme customizability, although the default theme and settings are very usable. Music management is great. You can browse the filesystem directly or there is a music browser where you can navigate by artist, album, etc. based on the music metadata. You can make and rearrange playlists on the device, and save them for future use.
In audiophile territory, it supports over 30 codecs, gapless playback, replaygain, high-resolution volume, and a ten band parametric equalizer.
Of course album art, the FM radio, and the audio recorder are supported. It also has a ton of other extras, such as a live FFT viewer, VU meter, image viewer, video player, and dozens of games(including DOOM).
I used to use rockbox on my old ipod nano 1st gen, it let you play videos so it was awesome back when the ipod video was the only thing that could. Here is their site: http://www.rockbox.org/ I'm not sure how to do it on the Clip Zip but their should be instructions there
I second this. A lot of Sansa models are also Rockbox compatible, giving them the best format compatibility of pretty much any player (even beyond Sandisk's already great format support, which includes FLAC and Vorbis out of the box for many players). It also adds a lot of other nice features and customization options.
Actually they do have a port (A stable one at that) here: http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/IPodNano2GPort
They even have a beta build that was last updated yesterday :) I installed it using my friends PC last night and it works great on ChromeOS now.
Just a quick question. If you wanted to keep it instead of selling the iPod, you could always try to put Rockbox on it. It's straight forward to do, and will bring it back to life hopefully.
Not sure what you mean by a lot of storage and how strict you are on the 'not an iPod' spec, but I recently went through a search with similar criteria. Wound up getting an iPod 5.5G and installing a 240GB drive and Rockbox. You wind up with something that has pretty good capacity, is for sure apple hardware but is much more flexible and configurable (since it is rockbox instead of ios). Rockbox is slower and slightly less intuitive out of the box than the standard iPod firmware but you can make it look however you like and you can really customize the UI very thoroughly. You still have spinning disk media in this solution but my drive seems to be holding up pretty well and didn't cost too much.
It's incredibly easy on the iPhone, you just have to buy one of many applications. I use golden ears which is a bit pricy (6 bucks) but works really well. With iPods, I think you can use something called Rockbox to trick it into playing flac.
Check this out : http://www.rockbox.org/
If I remember correctly, Rockbox was first designed as an alternative firmware for iPods but it grew to become compatible with many other players, including Sansa's.
The benefits are generally a faster device, highly customizable, filled with zillions of options. In the case of my Sansa, it gave it FLAC and gapless support. It turned a "meh" device into a real treat to use.
Not if it's rockbox'd. ;) (Suggestion of http://www.rockbox.org/ for those of you, like myself, wanting FLAC on the iPod - such improvement even when I still had those "Ink'd" earbuds [which I've since upgraded as well].)
No, from 2011 (when they started selling them) or newer. The clip zip is aimed at people who want something small and light for exercise. I much prefer it to using my smartphone for music. The picture doesn't do a very good job of showing how small it is. It's very small, and it's got a micro-sd slot. You can also flash it with Rockbox.
for any of you with compatible MP3 player, be sure to check out rockbox.
I may be deaf but this alternate firmware allowed me TOTAL control over the audio allowing me to force all audio to mono and output to only the right speaker of my headphone so it would sound much better by far on my hearing aid. The rockbox even include games and apps if you want to. Solitaire, metronome, clock, calendar, calculator, minesweeper, and even DOOM!
Don't worry, you will still retain the original software. For example, if I hold vol down as I power on my MP3 player, it will boot into the original firmware. So you are not losing anything.
Just thought some of you might like this to further extend your BIFL MP3 player's features by far.