iPod

[J_Partyka]

Does anyone else here use an iPod?

I've been an iPod user for almost a year (I'm on my second one now), and I'd be curious to know what other users here (if there are any) think of them. Personally, I enjoy mine immensely for what I use it for ... I use it almost exclusively in the car.

[Rspaight]

I just got one about a month ago, and I love it. I use at work and occasionally in the car (via a cassette adapter). It's a 40GB, about half-full, and I just leave it on shuffle all day.

I'm fond of it half for what it does and half for the sheer "coolness" of the design. It's hard to explain in words -- it's just fun to operate (I've got the "4G" click wheel version) in a way most similar devices aren't.

Ryan

[J_Partyka]

My current one is a fourth-generation model with click-wheel as well. I am jealous of the 40GB capacity of yours ... I have the 20GB model right now. Until a few months ago, I had a third-generation 10GB one, and I ran out of room way too quickly. (I still haven't filled my 20GB one, but I'm within 4GB of doing so.)

I use a cassette adapter in the car too, via a Belkin car kit (http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=&pcount=&Product_Id=149006), and I'm pleasantly surprised by how good this combo sounds. I also like that I don't run down the battery that way.

I do listen to mine at work as well, but at a very low volume. And I too love the shuffle mode. I've made various kinds of playlists, but 95 percent of the time I seem to have it randomly shuffling through all the 3500+ songs. Having this thing has allowed me to put good songs I haven't regularly listened to in years back into rotation.

[Rspaight]

I am jealous of the 40GB capacity of yours ... I have the 20GB model right now.

I figured that if I bought the 20GB, I'd turn around and get the 40GB not too long after. (Actually, the *real* reason is that I decided to get it at the last minute for a long plane trip, and the local stores were sold out of the 20GB. I'd probably have bought the 40GB anyway, but I had no choice! I had to! Never mind.)

I had an cassette adapter still sitting around from an old Sony Discman, so I was able to cheap out there. (I did get a car charger.)

Having this thing has allowed me to put good songs I haven't regularly listened to in years back into rotation.

That's what I love about it, too. As I typed this, it went from Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You" to the Bootleg Series verison of Dylan's "Idiot Wind" to AC/DC's "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" to Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly." Find me a radio station that does that.

Ryan

[J_Partyka]

As I typed this, it went from Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You" to the Bootleg Series verison of Dylan's "Idiot Wind" to AC/DC's "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" to Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly." Find me a radio station that does that.

Wicked cool. It is indeed like listening to a ridiculously wide-ranging and eclectic radio station that only plays music I like, without ads or annoying announcers.

In loading up the 'Pod, I've had terrific fun burrowing deep into the more obscure corners of my CD and CD-R collections, and finding all the hidden gems I'd half-forgotten about. I always get a big kick when something like that pops up during the iPod shuffle.

Truth be told, I'll probably move up to a 40GB model at some point ... My CD collection is just too big, and ideally I would like to have as much of it as possible on hand.

[Rspaight]

For me, the hard part finding time to rip stuff. Even on a beefy machine, you really can't do much while EAC is working, but it doesn't take long enough per disc to be able to walk away. So it's hard to multitask while doing that.

Out of curiosity, what format/bitrate are you using? I started ripping stuff years ago at 192K CBR MP3, and never changed because I was scared I'd then want to go through and re-rip everything. (I'm weird that way.)

Ryan

[J_Partyka]

Out of curiosity, what format/bitrate are you using? I started ripping stuff years ago at 192K CBR MP3, and never changed because I was scared I'd then want to go through and re-rip everything. (I'm weird that way.)

I know that feeling. I rip right in iTunes using an external Yamaha CD-RW drive hooked up to an iMac, so I rip in Apple's AAC format. I used to rip 160K AACs, but recently I decided I wanted to have room for as much music as possible, so I started ripping 128K AACs (which is the iTunes default setting, and what you get when you download songs from the iTunes store). To my ears, when I'm listening in the car, there's little to no noticeable difference.

So far I've resisted the temptation to re-rip everything at 128K, but ... when I run out of room on my 20GB 'Pod I may decide to do just that.

[Rspaight]

Makes sense. I've been sticking with MP3 just because it seems to work with everything. 192K seems to be "good enough" for what I use it for -- if I really want to listen critically, I'll get out the CD.

Though, as I pointed out in the Codec thread, I tried matching the iPod with its 192K MP3 against the CD on a very revealing system, and the iPod didn't embarrass itself. The CD was noticeably better, but it was a lot closer than I thought it'd be.

Ryan

[J_Partyka]

I've noticed the same thing even through headphones ... The earbuds that come with the iPod are close to worthless, but when you plug in a quality pair (I use Grado SR-60s and also an AKG studio set), the iPod sounds really fine.