MP3 Players and music software

[Brandon]

I think I'm going to be in the market for a new mp3 player. I was curious what people had or recommended. I'm really over iPods and despise iTunes.

I wouldn't mind keeping this iPod, but want to use something besides iTunes if anyone likes or prefers another system.

Anyone use anything other than iTunes?

[nate]

Media Monkey

[RallyMo]

B, what kind of phone are you rockin?

Any reason you're angling for a dedicated player?

[Brandon]

Galaxy 2s, I believe. Waiting for the upgrade to kick in to get the newer Galaxy.

No real reason other than I usually have to charge my phone constantly. Just something dedicated to the car and gym, I suppose. I'm open to just using the phone if it's more convenient. I just find myself downloading more music these days and want to get away from iTunes because of their multiple issues and errors, plus my laptop took a dump so when I ever go to update iPod songs it's going to delete everything and make me reregister.

I miss the original mp3 player system where you simply dragged music over while it was attached via USB and it uploaded and you were off. No random sorting, deleting, duplicating, or random file names appearing like iTunes.

Nate, does Media Monkey work with all mp3/music devices?

[nate]

Yep including idevices.  It works really well as a music player as well as a tool to load music to your devices.

[Brandon]

killer. I'll check it out, thanks man

[Section517]

Since you have a Galaxy S II, I HIGHLY recommend Poweramp app.

There's a 2 week free trial version.  And if you like the app, you can pay $5 for it.

I'm a cheap a$$ and let me say that it's the best $5 I have spent for an app.

It has many different features that the 2 week trial period may not be long enough to fully appreciate its utility.

 

I got away from iTunes several years ago.  As you, I prefer moving files and folders from one device to another without restriction.  

[mrwicked]

off topic i will point out that a networked receiver at home with built in airplay, or an appletv, is bomb ass for parties.

you can either just play your own stuff, or let anyone with an iphone play their own playlist or individual song.

effortless, no wires, etc. 

[Brandon]

Sweet, thanks dudes.

That is also a perk I was looking for Wicked. I know you can't do that with iTunes unless you have a program like Senuti.

[mrwicked]

dude you can totally do it with itunes. its super simple.

just like any other program on your mac or app on your iphone, just tell it to play over airplay.

or tell apple tv to sync to your home music library and control it from there.

its rad.

appletv is worth it just for airplay alone.

 

itunes on windows though, i dunno. 

[nate]

With my new TV I can do it too.  The Panasonic Viera Remote 2 app for the iPhone gives me all kinds of control over my DLNA system.

[InsideThePark]

You don't have to sync your iPod to your computer. I believe it's defaulted that way but if you unclick that option in the settings, you won't have to deal with that annoyance. But you need to do that from the start. The next time you plug your iPod into a computer Brandon, it will sync to it since that's the option it was left on.

[mrwicked]

With my new TV I can do it too.  The Panasonic Viera Remote 2 app for the iPhone gives me all kinds of control over my DLNA system.

yep.

definitely take advantage of that stuff - its fantastic.

i use airplay for parties all the time.

we can play from my main collection on shuffle, or have revolving DJ and people can just click a song on their phone and play it.

or use pandora, etc.

its great. 

[Brandon]

You don't have to sync your iPod to your computer. I believe it's defaulted that way but if you unclick that option in the settings, you won't have to deal with that annoyance. But you need to do that from the start. The next time you plug your iPod into a computer Brandon, it will sync to it since that's the option it was left on.

Yeah, I took it off because that was a way that songs were deleting/duplicating initially. But since I'm getting a new laptop at some point when I hook up it will auto sync as a first time set up.

[nate]

Also, make sure that you uncheck the preference that says "let iTunes organize your music."  One of the most frustrating features ever invented.

[InsideThePark]

Yeah, I took it off because that was a way that songs were deleting/duplicating initially. But since I'm getting a new laptop at some point when I hook up it will auto sync as a first time set up.

As long as it remains unchecked, it won't auto sync. That setting saves on your iPod, not your computer.

[Jobu]

Google Music just updated with a new interface and a subscription service (similar to spotify) to go along with the cloud storage. Looks pretty great.

[red321]

AirPlay works great, we use it over the AppleTv as well as our Pioneer receiver. Personally I use it to stream internet radio to the main sound system in the house. iTunes itself is a pain in the ass, and the Apple Cloud service is shit. I use the Amazon Cloud for almost everything now. We buy most of our music through Amazon (almost always cheaper than iTunes) and it syncs up great with my iPhone, Windows PC, iPad, Kindle Fire, and Mac Laptop. It also automatically imports in to iTunes and then uploads to the Apple Cloud service (my wife still uses the Apple cloud crap for some reason). We can use AirPlay with the Amazon Cloud player to play through the AppleTv and Pioneer receiver as well. You do have to upload music purchased through another site to the Amazon Cloud, which can be a pain. The cool thing was they recently added all CDs I purchased from Amazon over the past decade automatically to my Amazon Cloud.

 

I've been tempted to look at the Google service, but wanted to wait until the had apps for iOS first. Do they have a lot of the older stuff? Jazz, American Roots, kind of stuff?

[Jobu]

I'm not sure what the streaming library is like, but they have all big record labels.

There is an iOS version in the works, although if you are heavily invested in the Amazon ecosystem, then it may not be worth making the switch. The big difference between the music cloud services is that Google allows a lot more storage for non-Google purchased music, and now, the streaming service. But if you buy all your music from Amazon and/or already have Spotify, you might be set.

[red321]

Thanks Jobu, good points...though I think I'd start to move away from purchases if a streaming service had most of what I wanted to listen to and that's where Google Play interests me the most. Don't know why it's something I wasn't looking at before. I imagine Amazon has something in the works as well, maybe tie it in to Amazon Prime.

[Lifetime]

Google streaming is more along the lines of Pandora in that it selects music for you based on your preference (song, artist, style) as a "radio starion" whereas Spotify does stream channels like that (for free) but they also allow you to make your own playlists with whatever artists/songs/size you want (free for desktop with occasion ads, or ad free on all devices for $10/mo). With the subscription you can also download for offline listening. 

[Jobu]

No, you can add streaming library songs to your personal library, add them to playlists, and even "pin" them for offline listening. It's really going after both services.

[Jobu]

Thanks Jobu, good points...though I think I'd start to move away from purchases if a streaming service had most of what I wanted to listen to and that's where Google Play interests me the most. Don't know why it's something I wasn't looking at before. I imagine Amazon has something in the works as well, maybe tie it in to Amazon Prime.

You probably weren't looking because it was just released 2 weeks ago!

There have many rumors about Apple doing a streaming service, and no doubt Amazon is looking into it as well. It's actually somewhat notable that Google beat them to the punch, considering the longstanding relationships Apple and Amazon have with record labels.

I haven't used it, but there is a free trial so you could at least explore the depth of the library using the web interface.

[mrwicked]

apple is going to announce iRadio next week at WWDC.

pandora and spotify will not be pleased.

[Lhalo]

Hopefully it will have a better layout than Spotify's. It's impossible to organize downloaded music with that app.