Skip to main content

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: real ipod competitor (Read 14164 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

real ipod competitor

So... the audio jack in my ipod touch has died and i need a new mp3 player.

I was thinking about just getting another ipod touch but the new ones dont communicate with foobar2000 AFAIK and i just dont really want to give my money to apple. I like the touch screen, use of internet and all those features that come with the ipod touch but I just hate how it arranges my music and the hassle that surrounds most apple products becomes more of a chore to use the device than a great experience.

Questions:

1. Are there any 'real' competitors to the ipod touch?
2. Is it possible to make foobar2000 send files over to the newer ipod touches?
3. Is there any mp3 players that can use foobar2000 to transfer music to them?

real ipod competitor

Reply #1
1. Are there any 'real' competitors to the ipod touch?

Yes, and I find this to be one of the most interesting.

Quote
2. Is it possible to make foobar2000 send files over to the newer ipod touches?

I believe you could make the latest iPod Manager component (kind of) work with them. Look around in the fb2k forum for details. With most "competitors" however, it won't be an issue, as they don't depend on iTunes to copy your files to them.

Quote
3. Is there any mp3 players that can use foobar2000 to transfer music to them?

With most you can see their file structure like they were a hard drive. So yes, fb2k can transfer music to them. Depending on particular software to handle your transfers is something Apple loves, but luckily not universally loved.

real ipod competitor

Reply #2
I think actual smartphones would be the most direct competitor to the Touch.

real ipod competitor

Reply #3
The galaxy player that TomasPin linked to is exactly that, a Galaxy Android phone without the gsm capabilities.

real ipod competitor

Reply #4
What do you mean by "real"?
My Sansa and Walkman work for me, but they are only portable media players.
Quote from: saratoga link=msg=0 date=
I think actual smartphones would be the most direct competitor to the Touch.

Agreed.

real ipod competitor

Reply #5
^read the OP again. this is why a smart phone was suggested.

Quote
I like the touch screen, use of internet and all those features that come with the ipod touch


@TomasPin, re: foobar/newer ipods... see here...

http://yuo.be/wiki/dop:start#supported_models

it won't work on anything even remotely new.

real ipod competitor

Reply #6
so really the galaxy player is the best alternative...

but would any of you switch to the galaxy player? i mean... would you rate the galaxy player over the ipod touch?

also, would any of you buy an ipod touch knowing it wont work with fb2k or would you download itunes just to be able to still transfer music to your ipod?

real ipod competitor

Reply #7
Seeing as the galaxy player series was discontinued some time ago, I don't think very many people did choose it.  The series was kind of an odd fit, relatively expensive compared to a tablet, and not much cheaper than a phone of comparably poor specs.

real ipod competitor

Reply #8
http://yuo.be/wiki/dop:start#supported_models

it won't work on anything even remotely new.
This is not entirely accurate. I can send songs to my iPhone4 (firmware 5.1.1) with foobar2000: it isn't the latest iDevice, but also not so ancient.

I concede it's kinda a kludge and it doesn't do everything that was once possible (like sending albumart and updating fb2k playcounts) but it's better than nothing.

Of course I cannot guarantee it'll work also on newer devices, but it might be possible. For those interested, details are here.

Alessandro

real ipod competitor

Reply #9
so the general consensus is....

i dont have much choice, get a new ipod. even that means im going to need itunes.

real ipod competitor

Reply #10
Nobody ever needs itunes.

real ipod competitor

Reply #11
I understand some of the features that you're looking for aren't available on a sansa clip.what The Rock box platform does offer features that I have not seen on any smartphone.the ability to add crossfeed and a proper equalizer as well as an expandable memory, make for an excellent listening experience for a very reasonable price.

real ipod competitor

Reply #12
I remember really disliking iTunes when I first used it. I got used to it after awhile and now it's not a problem (...maybe if Linux was my primary OS.)  For me it was like most anything else: it takes a bit to get used to and then I'm good.

The problem IMO with finding a decent competitor to the iPod Touch is that nobody makes much effort to compete. Once in a while something halfway-close comes about and it's quickly abandoned (like the Zune HD.)

Here's my suggestion: if you don't like iDevices/iTunes and don't need gapless AAC support buy someone's used Android phone and slap a micro SD card in it. People are upgrading their phones all the time. You could probably get a really good one cheap off of eBay or something and it will more than suffice as a media player/web browser.
The Loudness War is over. Now it's a hopeless occupation.

real ipod competitor

Reply #13
if you don't like iDevices/iTunes and don't need gapless AAC support buy someone's used Android phone and slap a micro SD card in it.


Poweramp plays iTunes AAC gaplessly.

That said, if Windows or OS X were my main OS, I would buy an iPod Touch 5th gen. Nothing comes close in terms of build quality, and its output is very, very clean (ruler flat frequency response, very low distortion, very low output impedance). I'm sure there are alternatives, but they're often hit or miss (with bass rolloff, high output impedance, etc).

real ipod competitor

Reply #14
if you don't like iDevices/iTunes and don't need gapless AAC support buy someone's used Android phone and slap a micro SD card in it.


Poweramp plays iTunes AAC gaplessly.

...


That's really good to know.  I'm comfortable in the Apple ecosystem right now but I like knowing I have options. It seems the OP's only decent choices are a Touch or an Android device with similar functionality.

As a caution: one thing I've experienced with recent iPod Touches is that Apple tends to uncaringly screw them up with iOS updates/bloat. My two last-gen 64 Gb iPod Touches were buggered up by iOS 5+ when they were still current-gen FFS. The Touches always have inferior processors to the iPhones and it seems Apple doesn't test stuff much on them (or, from a cynical perspective, does it on purpose to get people to constantly upgrade hardware.) Coverflow was broken, performance was sluggish, etc. Even before iOS 7 (incompatible with any but the newest Touches) came out many common apps were buggy or altogether stopped working.

The new iPod Touches look really nice IMO but I'm admittedly hesitant to buy any more after spending a significant amount of money on my last two to get that sort of experience.  ...but the build-quality is still there.  I don't know what their problem is lately, but I'd feel much safer getting another iPhone or even an iPad. IMO any of these expensive devices should last and perform reasonably well for at least 2 to 3 years.
The Loudness War is over. Now it's a hopeless occupation.

real ipod competitor

Reply #15
actually, my issue is the apple ecosystem.

for some reason i though it would be ok to assume that the ipod would be "a replica of the music, how it is on my pc".

but no. its not.
i was expecting to be able to set up my music on itunes and then copy it to the ipod to have an identical library but thats not the case.

for some reason, the ipod takes priority over artist rather than album artist as well as some "compilations" and joint cd music also decides to work differently to itunes and you have an option of keeping music clean on your ipod or on your pc.
this is also not taking away that itunes decides to update its UI over and over removing features that I used to use all of the time consistently.

so i dont know how to get the ipod touch 5th gen to work with foobar but I damn well dont want to install itunes if i dont have to.

real ipod competitor

Reply #16
I'm myself considering either a new  cowon player, or a sony (F or Z serie)
I'm not very seduced by a player that looks like a smartphone without the gsm abilities.
Looking for players that have a screen dialog above 3.3 inch  and below 5 inch.
My previous cowon s9 was stolen , I hope I'll find a good replacement, as it's not obvious to find
everything in my country. I hate the itune thing, so I'm not very tempted by ipods. Also apple products are sold at twice the price in Morocco.

real ipod competitor

Reply #17
The Rock box platform does offer features that I have not seen on any smartphone.the ability to add crossfeed and a proper equalizer as well as an expandable memory, make for an excellent listening experience for a very reasonable price.

And DRC, which is really hard to find on mobile players for some reason. You can have the experience on an Android smartphone, I use it on my low-budget one and it works fine.

@TomasPin, re: foobar/newer ipods... see here...

http://yuo.be/wiki/dop:start#supported_models

it won't work on anything even remotely new.

Thanks for the link marc. I had the idea you could make it work... but then I don't use that component.

Seeing as the galaxy player series was discontinued some time ago, I don't think very many people did choose it.

My bad, thought it was still in production. Down here you can find them in some stores, and I believe they sell it as new...

real ipod competitor

Reply #18
Poweramp plays iTunes AAC gaplessly.
That said, if Windows or OS X were my main OS, I would buy an iPod Touch 5th gen. Nothing comes close in terms of build quality, and its output is very, very clean (ruler flat frequency response, very low distortion, very low output impedance). I'm sure there are alternatives, but they're often hit or miss (with bass rolloff, high output impedance, etc).


About Poweramp, no, it doesn't. In fact, it has troubles playing anything gaplessly. Sometimes it manages gapless transition between songs, but most of the time I can hear a little hiccup or silent click noise on transition. It is a good player, though, so I use it, and I have bought it, it's really cheap.
On the other hand, iTunes managed to kill my optical drive with it's upper filter / lower filter nonsense of driver, which on my home computer doesn't work as it should. At work it works, so...

I don't know, I can see why Android can be handy player, but I have ipod Touch 2G, and as a player it is so much better. It just... works. Of course, if you use mp3 and aac only. I use my Android phone as music player because I need to hear when my wife is calling me (I have ZTE Blade III), but the thing is, when you are buying the Android phone as music player, check out to hear if the volume output is capped. On my phone it is, and it is so annoying. My headphones aren't 110+ dB sensitivity, they are 98 dB, I think... so it's rather quiet.
Error 404; signature server not available.

real ipod competitor

Reply #19
You need Jellybean to be gapless on a lot of Android apps IIRC, so a lot of programs won't be gapless on older stuff like the galaxy players.

real ipod competitor

Reply #20
still doesnt take away the fact that a lot of people consider fb2k as the best media player and yet it appears like most of us still require itunes installed to listen to our tunes on the move -.-

real ipod competitor

Reply #21
About Poweramp, no, it doesn't. In fact, it has troubles playing anything gaplessly.


Yes, it does, and notoriously so. I can't be arsed to make recordings again to prove its gaplessness. If it isn't gapless for you, then something is wrong and I suggest you post on their forum about it.

real ipod competitor

Reply #22
Samsung Galaxy S 3.6 or the ipod touch...
i still want to lean towards the ipod touch but i just dont want itunes!

im going to have a heart attack over this decision!

real ipod competitor

Reply #23
If you really do not want a Touch, then go buy a more modern Android device.  There is literally no reason to guy buy some obsolete device.

real ipod competitor

Reply #24
Does anyone have an exposure to the FiiO X3? I am also looking to replace an iPod (shattered glass). This player _sounds_ like it would cause eargasms, but I would like to hear from someone that has actually used it.

http://www.fiio.com.cn/products/index.aspx?MenuID=105026016

Edit to add a link.
--
Eric