Fully MP3 compliant Hardware MP3-CD players Options

[Shadow RD]

Hi All,

I have had troubles in the past with hardware that claims to play MP3 files but in practice does not play the files properly. I think it would be really useful to know which hardware devices FULLY support MP3.

By fully support I mean:

- playback of all the bitrates up to 320 kbps
- correct handling of VBR (showing correct playback times)
- no introduced sound glitches

Please feel free to reply to this post stating which devices offer full MP3 support in your own experience.

RD.

PS: My experiences... I know that the XMS-750 DVD player (only CBR) and the VOXSON-250 DVD player (plays VBR and 320 kbps but introduces sound glitches) both do not fully support MP3. I have a Kenwood MP727 CD player which seems to fully support MP3.

[Drover's Dog]

My Philips Expanium plays --alt-preset standard files flawlessly; no problems after over 50 hours of playtime. The model number I think is EXP-401, but probably all new Expaniums perform the same. Also, perhaps because the CD's are so tiny (8cm mini-CD's), it practically never skips while it's in my pocket and I'm walking. It skips sometimes if I'm running, unless I hold it in my hand to keep it from banging around in my pocket. It shows the right "time elapsed" and fast forwards and rewinds properly, but it doesn't have an option to show time remaining.

As a plus, it starts playing 6 seconds after you press the play button... the RioVolts and Sonys I've seen take much longer to load. But the headphone output is a bit weak with my Koss PortaPro's, and very weak with my Sony MDR-V6's. It plays loud enough, but the sound isn't stellar; it's kind of mushy, and with the MDR-V6's the bass is weak. The Sony D-CJ01 (does NOT fully support MP3, needs --nores switch with aps VBR) and the SlimX both sound better to me.

My Sony D-CJ01 Discman plays MP3 flawlessy except for VBR. The --nores switch didn't help either.

I have a Pioneer DV535 DVD/MP3 player that plays all MP3s flawlessly. It also has a good GUI (using the TV), but it will only play tracks randomly within a folder, not across all folders. I also have a Lennox DVD/MP3 player but it won't play random tracks and goes a bit haywire with the play sequence if you have too many MP3 files on the disc. Therefore, when you're shopping around, pay attention to the maximum number of folders and files the player will handle. The Pioneer player's limit is around 400 from memory whereas the Lennox player didn't say. The Sony DVD/MP3 player folder/track limit was too low for me (and it didn't have random play function).

I considered buying the Philips Expanium 401 but a PC magazine review on it was not too flattering (poor tone and short battery life). The Philips brochure also claims it will only play 32-320 Kbps, so what happens if your MP3 VBR file goes down to 16 Kbps?

My son-in-law has an XMS 750 and it seems to play all MP3s flawlessly, including VBR.

Panasonic have a new range of MP3 Discmans that seem to be reasonably priced and may be worth a look. Make sure you take a good selection of test CDs (VBR and CBR with both ID3V1 and ID3V2 tags) - and check on that folder/file limit as well.

I hope this information helps.