Mp3 players & 12v

[Smelly]

Right then... Anyone following my blatherings knows we'll be moving to using a lot more 12v as opposed to using the inverter all the time.

 

I like the idea of sticking our music collection which will cover about 30 Gb onto an Mp3 player however I wonder how I would go about powering it. I'd quite like to dock it and somehow run it off 12v.

 

Has anyone else done this? What kit did you use? I'm not keen on paying twice the price for fruit shaped adornments and, having heard rumours of fragility (and there are a lot of broken ipods on ebay which makes me superstitious) i'd be happy with something proprietory however wonder whether there's a standard docking platform.

[Robbo]

Right then... Anyone following my blatherings knows we'll be moving to using a lot more 12v as opposed to using the inverter all the time.

 

I like the idea of sticking our music collection which will cover about 30 Gb onto an Mp3 player however I wonder how I would go about powering it. I'd quite like to dock it and somehow run it off 12v.

 

Has anyone else done this? What kit did you use? I'm not keen on paying twice the price for fruit shaped adornments and, having heard rumours of fragility (and there are a lot of broken ipods on ebay which makes me superstitious) i'd be happy with something proprietory however wonder whether there's a standard docking platform.

 

Get one that can be powered via USB, then all you need is a usb car power thingy. There's alot of broken iPod's for sale on ebay cause there's alot of iPods out there. Main issue with any MP3 player been "fragile" is the hard drive storage as having a device thats spinning at 1000rpm's with a head riding on a cushion of air is not really the device to put in something thats always been knocked around! Go with soild state, 30Gb+ is now affordable in this format.

Edited February 14, 2010 by Robbo

[Byeckerslike]

Hi,

I use my trusty Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 40gbyte MP3 player, it is over 6 years old, it is well used and I run it off a 12v car cigar lighter adapter.

I bought this before fruit players came onto the market and I've NEVER regretted it!

 

I plug this either into the mini hifi or the Teac RX1 DAB radio.

 

Rob

[Timleech]

Right then... Anyone following my blatherings knows we'll be moving to using a lot more 12v as opposed to using the inverter all the time.

 

I like the idea of sticking our music collection which will cover about 30 Gb onto an Mp3 player however I wonder how I would go about powering it. I'd quite like to dock it and somehow run it off 12v.

 

Has anyone else done this? What kit did you use? I'm not keen on paying twice the price for fruit shaped adornments and, having heard rumours of fragility (and there are a lot of broken ipods on ebay which makes me superstitious) i'd be happy with something proprietory however wonder whether there's a standard docking platform.

 

I can't help with your exact question, but -

I bought my son a Cowon MP3/4 player 18 months ago, based on internet reviews etc., especially for sound quality, he likes a good range of music, he's been very pleased & it's survived student life this far . I had the same desire to avoid 'exclusive' brands.

I'm not sure whether they do docking stations as such, you might need to make your own arrangements on that front, but it might be worth giving their products a look.

 

Tim

Edited February 14, 2010 by Timleech

[n.b.Goldie]

Right then... Anyone following my blatherings knows we'll be moving to using a lot more 12v as opposed to using the inverter all the time.

 

I like the idea of sticking our music collection which will cover about 30 Gb onto an Mp3 player however I wonder how I would go about powering it. I'd quite like to dock it and somehow run it off 12v.

 

Has anyone else done this? What kit did you use? I'm not keen on paying twice the price for fruit shaped adornments and, having heard rumours of fragility (and there are a lot of broken ipods on ebay which makes me superstitious) i'd be happy with something proprietory however wonder whether there's a standard docking platform.

We did a similar thing when we ripped our cd collection into mp3 and loaded them onto sd memory cards. A decent car radio with sd and usb inputs came up at Lidl and away we went.

 

I put an entry into my cwdf blog..........CWDF Blog entry

 

 

Regards

Ditchdabler

[Smelly]

While you're visiting LM would you mind changing the 2 to a 3 on the title?

 

 

Curse these fat fingers

Edited February 14, 2010 by Smelly

[Smelly]

I've not said ta yet so...

 

Ta all!

 

Enough inspiration to keep me busy on the cheap next payday! (It'll need to be cheap; it's a certain someone's birfdi and there's a 0 at the end of it...)

[DHutch]

Ive got a iRiver hp140 running rockbox, had it since i was at 6th form, very bricky these days and a bit slow to use but ive not changed it as i dont really want to join the iPod crowd but have stuggled to find anything competing in the hdd-based mp3 player market.

- If you cant beat them?

- You will have to install itunes however!

 

But yeah, then just run it through a fag lighter usb power adapter jobbie.

 

 

 

Daniel

[Smelly]

Being compelled to use itunes is another bug bear. Is there any linux support for it?

 

Then again, my android phone's going to keep me tethered in the Gates camp for a couple of years so it's not that much of a worry. Still irksome though!

[Lady Muck]

Being compelled to use itunes is another bug bear. Is there any linux support for it?

 

Then again, my android phone's going to keep me tethered in the Gates camp for a couple of years so it's not that much of a worry. Still irksome though!

 

I manage perfectly fine without i-anything. I use foobar2000 as a player. We have at least 100gb of music - some of it is .wav and .flac - foobar will play any of these formats without having to convert them.

 

We run via external hard drive /laptop and then through our 12v car stereo amp (4 x speakers & 1 enormous bass bin.) In future I plan to buy a small netbook so the power drain isn't so much. I use my phone as an mp3 player when I'm out and about.

 

Review of Foobar2000

 

Download it here

Edited February 14, 2010 by Lady Muck

[Smelly]

In future I plan to buy a small netbook so the power drain isn't so much.

 

In those rare times that the lappy's not switched on it'd be nice to have some music... Less of a power drain with i-something or other.

 

I note a good few on ebay have fm radios which would be nice for The Archers as well

[Robbo]

I note a good few on ebay have fm radios which would be nice for The Archers as well

 

BBC do The Archers as a Podcast/RSS Feed for those who don't want to be tied down to broadcast times...

 

 

I manage perfectly fine without i-anything. I use foobar2000 as a player. We have at least 100gb of music - some of it is .wav and .flac - foobar will play any of these formats without having to convert them.

 

There's also Double Twist if you want a iTunes replacement that works with other devices.... http://www.doubletwist.com

Edited February 14, 2010 by Robbo

[LoneWolf]

I have a 12v pure dab stereo radio and connect the MP3 player to the line-in socket. Sounds great

I dont think you need very powerful speakers in a small space.

 

mp3 gets recharged via computer when it's on.

 

In my opinion; dont but an ipod (or anything else i). An Paul Weller said "it looks like a fridge with no f'ing beer in it"

[DHutch]

I want a squeeze box, but sadly nobodies left one lying about in my room, and im damed if im going to pay what they cost for something a £20 pc could do. Neat solution however.

 

NIce little netbook runing linux might not be a bad shout however?

 

 

 

Daniel

[CJR]

It sounds like having an ipod is like swearing to some on here! We have an ipod classic 80gb and swear by it!

 

We transferred all our CDs to it before we moved on board and play it through an Alpine x100 head unit (car stereo) which is geared especially to ipods, as it has a small screen on the unit which shows what is playing. We also have a small remote for it but it is a bit basic and only adjusts volume, flick to next track or change mode (e.g. to radio). However, the unit itself allows you to use playlists, shuffle, search by track, album or artist etc. The ipod is kept charged while it is plugged into the unit.

 

Our paranoia was if we broke the ipod and lost our music, so as well as having it on itunes, we also back it all up on another external hard drive!

[arpeeuk]

I too have an ipod and love it.

 

I use it with a Roberts iDream DAB radio powered by a Maplin 12v multi voltage converter things

 

Works brilliantly

[Smelly]

I dont think you need very powerful speakers in a small space.

 

That depends how deaf you are due to jumping up and down in front of big speakers in big places

 

I want a squeeze box, but sadly nobodies left one lying about in my room, and im damed if im going to pay what they cost for something a £20 pc could do. Neat solution however.

 

NIce little netbook runing linux might not be a bad shout however?

 

 

 

Daniel

 

I trust squeezebox is code for something else? Must admit I'm consodering using the lil lapy I'm typing on now but I'd need to bite the bullet and install a decent OS. I've been procrastinating over that one since last May.

 

It sounds like having an ipod is like swearing to some on here! We have an ipod classic 80gb and swear by it!

 

Ipods to my mind are like Nike trainers, twice the price for all the glitz and glamour of having a nice logo, plus, being a dyed in the wool PC user since the early days I quake at the concept of buying anything built by, dare i say it Apple. Shhh now.

 

 

edit... we do have a reasonable need for some serious volume on the fair ship Sudan mind, the fair maid does like it turned up loud, it's the only way she can hear the good bits.

Edited February 15, 2010 by Smelly

[wrigglefingers]

I want a squeeze box, but sadly nobodies left one lying about in my room, and im damed if im going to pay what they cost for something a £20 pc could do. Neat solution however.

Daniel

 

You want a squeezebox? You want a squeezebox?????? Why didn't you say before Daniel? I may have one you can borrow under the stairs, I can look for it tomorrow, if you like. It's not a good one, but it's a start. It's best to use a remote - all melodeons sound better when operated a long way away.... Not sure how a PC (spit!) can play a box though ....

 

 

More importantly, wot about running a Cyrus on my boat? I was happy with my Denon PMA 350, ancient and best heard twelve boats down the cut, but Thea broke it when we moved. It was balanced on a pile of books and she jumped on it, thus causing the pile of books to avalanche and so my trusty amp bought the big one. It was partnered with an elderly Cambridge CD5 and a pair of ageing Monitor Audios. At the moment in the house I have an equally ancient Denon PMA 255 running the Cambridge and a pair of Eltax Monitor IIIs. It's quite sweet but a little thin in mid-range and I'd like some more bass response. I don't think I can squeeze the Monitor Audios into the boat, and in any case, the paper cones are very susceptible to the dampso it would be cruel. I'll probably keep the Eltaxs and dump the Cambridge and the amp, so I'm looking for something robust and boat friendly.

[Lady Muck]

I dont think you need very powerful speakers in a small space.

 

It's not necessarily about power. We don't listen to our music loud, but we do listen to alot of dub, you just can't hear the bass without a bass bin.

 

Ipods to my mind are like Nike trainers, twice the price for all the glitz and glamour of having a nice logo.

I think Ipods are actually quite good value (well the classic ones are) for the amount of storage they've got on them. But I don't like Itunes, a friend of ours upgraded his pc and gave us his old harddrive with Itunes and all his music on it. We hated it (Itunes, that is not his music).

[Smelly]

It's not necessarily about power. We don't listen to our music loud, but we do listen to a lot of dub, you just can't hear the bass without a bass bin.

 

Jah sistren!

[Nine of Hearts]

Already done to death, but for my tuppence worth, don't go ipod route. The biggest drawback to an ipod is that it's compatible with... er... another ipod. That's it. My daughter's (bought by the ex - don't look at me) won't plug into my car, or the rather natty jukebox mp3 player she's got. I don't know why they're supplied with USB leads at all as they don't seem to be compatible with anything that has a USB socket. (other than a PC/Laptop with Apple's own proprietary software on it) What was that FastShow catchphrase? Oh yes, "load of old bollocks"...

 

By the way, the above mentioned jukebox mp3 player is very nice (if you value, "ooh, that looks nice" over "ooh, that sounds nice"), but alas 'tis 240v.

[capnthommo]

Already done to death, but for my tuppence worth, don't go ipod route. The biggest drawback to an ipod is that it's compatible with... er... another ipod. That's it. My daughter's (bought by the ex - don't look at me) won't plug into my car, or the rather natty jukebox mp3 player she's got. I don't know why they're supplied with USB leads at all as they don't seem to be compatible with anything that has a USB socket. (other than a PC/Laptop with Apple's own proprietary software on it) What was that FastShow catchphrase? Oh yes, "load of old bollocks"...

 

By the way, the above mentioned jukebox mp3 player is very nice (if you value, "ooh, that looks nice" over "ooh, that sounds nice"), but alas 'tis 240v.

spot on. as said in a post above, you don't expect to have a different browser for each site you visit. and to go back a year or two, we didn't expect to need a different gramophone for each different record label either. where is universality? i have effectively lost half my music collection simply because i changed operating systems outside the ms/apple power bloc and so (since the reasons for switching far outweighed the reasons not to) they have lost a keen customer. i know i still have the tunes on the player, but when it finally breaks, that's it. they are gone.

finally, if anybody knows a way to integrate ipod/tunes with linux then can they pass it on?

cheers

nigel

 

Edit to add, yes there are several 12v compatible ipod docks available

Edited February 15, 2010 by capnthommo

[Chris Pink]

Edit to add, yes there are several 12v compatible ipod docks available

 

i have been a bit puzzled not owning an ipod ipod but

 

http://people.csail.mit.edu/adonovan/hacks/ipod.html

 

implies as i thought that an ipod is just a hard drive with sound built in so you can move all your music in mp3 or aiff format straight over, itunes is not needed.

 

I assume that anyone using Linux must be capable of (even enjoy) working through technogabble like this.

 

The ipod file system hfs+ is natively Mac. I recall it relatively straightforward to use this on Windows.

 

All other mp3 players are almost certainly FAT32 and thus will just appear as drives much like a camera does.

[churchward]

Right then... Anyone following my blatherings knows we'll be moving to using a lot more 12v as opposed to using the inverter all the time.

 

I like the idea of sticking our music collection which will cover about 30 Gb onto an Mp3 player however I wonder how I would go about powering it. I'd quite like to dock it and somehow run it off 12v.

 

Has anyone else done this? What kit did you use? I'm not keen on paying twice the price for fruit shaped adornments and, having heard rumours of fragility (and there are a lot of broken ipods on ebay which makes me superstitious) i'd be happy with something proprietory however wonder whether there's a standard docking platform.

We have an Ipod we use for the boat. There are docking stations that work of a dc supply ( so need a mains transformer if used on a 240V supply) "Pure" make one with a Dab radio and some other makes too. The Dab one works on a 9V supply so you would need a small converter for 12V.

 

we generally use our Ipod through the car radio onboard so we can get its output through the wall speakers. This is done using an FM transmitter attachment to the IPOD. It works well and these can be bought for £20-£40 or so depending on the make and features etc.

[Guest wanted]

It's not necessarily about power. We don't listen to our music loud, but we do listen to alot of dub, you just can't hear the bass without a bass bin.

 

 

I think Ipods are actually quite good value (well the classic ones are) for the amount of storage they've got on them. But I don't like Itunes, a friend of ours upgraded his pc and gave us his old harddrive with Itunes and all his music on it. We hated it (Itunes, that is not his music).

 

I found an Ipod in the pub once, left behind the bar for a month and then claimed it as mine, I hate Itunes but discovered that you can use winamp (free download) seemed to work fine. since lost the IPOD but still use winamp.

 

on the boat we have just got a Dell netbook which we plug into either pc speakers or if we can get away with it we run it through my beloved JVC boom box, had it years and still get surprised by the quality.