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Re: [ARSCLIST] flash recorders
I keep thinking someone in China will come up with a Wal-Mart special that will be an iPod killer
come Christmastime. But no one has done it yet. I've been messing with these digital music players
since the first RioPlayer and no one has yet come close to iPod, and Apple keeps improving it and
lower cost-per-storage. For me, the Shuffle is the cat's meow because I need durable and small and
mostly listen to spoken-word stuff so I don't need a status screen. But I've been very tempted by
the Nano (only reservation is reports that the screen is not durable and I am not gentle on these
things while exercising). The hard drive models, while very high in cool factor and very well
executed, are not for me due to moving parts. Also, Apple keeps improving iTunes software. Yes, it's
now bloated like, for instance, MusicMatch, but it's turned into a superior library-management
program (once it gets finished starting up). My biggest beef -- which I can't get anyone's ear at
Apple to address and it's such a simple fix -- is that iTunes won't look for CD Text, so it won't
find the songs/album info for most home-brew CD's (like transfers from LP). Very annoying. So I
still keep a full-function MusicMatch on one computer just to rip homebrew CD's to MP3.
I've also experimented a lot with Apple's format engines and find that they do excellent to superior
192K MP3 vs other engines, at least to my ears. I am not a fan of Apple MP4 because it's not
supported by the "other 95%" (Windows). Apple Lossless Format has the same problem but it's so
appealing because it offers CD quality with about 40% less storage requirement. If I ever get around
to "the mother of all jukeboxes" which will contain every song I even half-like from every CD in the
house (all 5000+), it'll be all Apple Lossless Format, and network-controlled with the library
centralized so any computer can play any song at any time anywhere in the house.
All of this actually is ARSC-relevant since we're moving into a world where the playback systems
I've discussed are the majority and old-fashioned CD players (or near-extict tape and grooved-disk
systems) are only used by a small fringe. So this very much effects archiving, dissemination and
production of sound.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lou Judson" <loujudson@xxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 11:49 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] flash recorders
I did a webcast today of an investment seminar - one presenter had a line of players that incuded a
pocket size one with a three and a half inch screen that can record from TV and used flash card
memory... guy's rap was far away from Steve Jobs' but he wanted to be a comptitor. He has the
Wal-mart market and a pod-like device for under $100. That is part of Apple's competition...
Lou Judson
On Sep 21, 2006, at 3:11 AM, Tom Fine wrote:
BTW2, what's the news on Apple? A recording iPod soon? Two cool possibilites: 1) a "recorder pod"
that is a cradle with a stereo mic, line input and record-control buttons. Recorder would allow
WAV or ALF or Apple MP4 formats. 2) a "DVR pod" that is a cradle that hooks to a digital camera
via firewire and allows 60 gigs of recording space for video.
-- Tom Fine