mp3 players- what do you have, what do you like/hate

[KelseyS]

I'm thinking about getting an mp3 player for my massage music.
I'd like to know-

What kind do you have?
Have you had any problems with a specific kind?
Do you love yours? why?
Is there anything that you hate about them?

I see lots of docks/speakers for Ipods- do other kinds have that many choices for docks?

I'd like to have something that would have a 'random' or shuffle, and one that would have specific playlists.

Thanks for your insight

 

[Tabitha H]

I have a used iPod Nano which a friend gave me when he upgraded. (Mine holds like 240 songs, I think the most I have ever had on it is 166.)
And I use iHome2go speakers which I really like a lot.
As a matter of fact one of my clients was so impressed with my set up that he went out and got himself a New iPod Nano (holds 1000 songs) and speakers.
The great thing was his massage (outdoors when weather permits) was done to his favorite music last week! : (Even less for me to cart around, because I get tired of doing the whole pack-mule thing...)

Here's a thread that has a photo of my set up:
small portable stereo:
http://www.massageplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9814

I love mine, never have had a problem with it yet. And I'm particularly fond of the fact that the iHome2go can plug in or run on AA batteries. Comes with it's own padded case for transport too!

 

[Timbo is here]

I just recently got a Microsoft Zune, and I love it. 30GB (that means nothing to me but apparently means there's lots of room for a TON of music) I have a Zune docking station and then have Bose speakers hooked up to it. sounds fantastic, and I love the variety and the fact that I flip to client's requests with the click of a button.
regular speakers would probably work great too, I love my Bose tho cuz I have a huge office and they really help fill up the space with deep rich sound.

 

[Lost Girl]

I started out with a regular iPod for the larger memory (30 GB) but didn't realize it had a hard drive, which made it quite fragile. I broke it within a year. : Then, thanks to advice on this forum, I replaced it with a Nano, which has a flash drive. It's very sturdy, meaning it can usually survive being dropped or getting wet. I'm not a klutz, but MP3 players are small & portable, and it's just really easy to drop them unintentionally. I bought the highest memory Nano they sell (8GB). I have all of my massage music on it (about 400 songs) and I've become a podcast junkie as well. There's plenty of memory for both. It has a shuffle option, as well as playlists. For speakers, I use Logitech's mm50 Portable Speaker System for iPods:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F49RAA/002-6547836-6084015

Once I switched from a CD player to an iPod, I was hooked. I rarely get sick of massage music now, because I can play such a variety. All I have to do is add one or two new songs to a playlist, and the whole playlist seems new & fresh again. When my first iPod broke, it was a rough week for me to go back to a CD player, while I waited for the Nano to arrive in the mail.

 

[justbeingher]

You might want to look into satellite radio.

They have a spa channel which is great - never get bored of hearing the same stuff over and over again.

You can always switch it to another station in between clients while you are working in your space.

Plus, you can get a portable version that goes in your car too.

 

[lalo fublilk]

Ditto on the satellite radio...I have an XM 50, which holds 50 hours of recorded music. It uses Napster to purchase music and you can manage your playlists on the computer or the player. I record from their audio visions channel overnight, then listen and edit during the day to come up with my playlists. It also has a random play setting...I'm very happy with it.

My son has a video ipod, which is giving him trouble..my daughter a nano ipod..no trouble so far...they both like ipods despite problems. Happy shopping!

wellnessgarden

 

[horsegirl101]

I have an Ipod 30 GB - I love mine and so far no serious problems. I got a speaker at Radio Shack from JBL - it's donut shaped , has a plus or minus sign to turn it up or down - and it charges the unit while you are playing it. The sound is awesome! You don't have to turn it up far to get the desired level of sound. At first I bought one of the docking stations that looks like the old style boom-box...static when I played the Ipod and static when I tried to play the radio. That's when I took it back and got the other speaker.

The one thing I don't like is sometimes trying to find what you put in it - and how sensitive the wheel is when trying to select things. Overall, I'd buy it again! Wish it had a flash drive - but I didn't know about the difference until after I bought mine. I'm being really careful LOL! Cost is the other thing I don't like - all the accessories for any mp3 players seems to cost $$$ to get a quality product...oh well, you play - you pay I guess!

On another note - has anybody purchased a car stereo adapter for their mp3 players?

 

[Requiem]

Like Blisss, I have the ipod nano 8GB and the logitech mm50 speaker system. I am very happy with them. The sound is wonderful and the storage capacity of the ipod is amazing. I could have gotten by with the 4GB ipod nano - but I wanted to have some wiggle room. The main reason I made this change (from cd's/boombox) was to lighten the load I carried around to my chair massage gigs.

 

[visualthailand]

Not for massage music, (no docking station though I could get an FM tranmitter or speakers) I've got a Sony Ericsson W880i Walkman phone as an mp3 player, USB connection for downloading from the computer, uses an Memory Stick Micro which you can easily upgrade from the 1BG it comes with, 2MP camera, and it is about the size of an iPod Nano. It's great

 

[Lord of the Flies]

I recently purchased a Logitech mm50 speaker system for my iPod.

The sound quality is great and I scored it on ebay for 1/3rd of the price at the local Apple store.

I enjoy it so much that I take it to my spa job and use it instead of the provided sound system. (But I take my own face cradle (caress) too... I'm picky.)

 

[Fadin Reigne]

i use an altec lansing imMini portable speakers with my ipod nano. the speakers were less than twenty dollars with free shipping on buy.com

 

[alvinyprime]

For outcall I use the Apple HiFi dock:

http://www.apple.com/ipodhifi/

It's pretty heavy but very durable. I'm a musician and am willing to pay the price in heft for better sound quality and the sound is excellent. I was using the Bose dock but it's too frail for outcall so I keep that in my studio and don't travel with it. It has great sound as well.

I have 50 gigs on my iPod and make new playlists every day. I find it's a lot of fun to do that. What a great invention the iPod is!

 

[William T]

On another note - has anybody purchased a car stereo adapter for their mp3 players?

YES! I have a Griffin Road Trip that I got at Target for about $90. I LOVE IT! Plugs into the cig lighter and holds the iPod sturdy. Some of the adapters are just corded and leave the iPod loose on the console or in the cup holders etc.

 

[swift.taylor37]

Looking for more info & updates... :grin:

 

[aeroqueen]

Looking for more info & updates... :grin:

I ended up getting an Ipod nano (an older one) and a JBL speaker dock that also charges the nano. I am very happy with it! I think the nano was around $200 when I bought it, and the speaker dock was around $160.

 

[Bean on Board]

this is my second mp3 player, and just last month i upgraded to the ipod classic 120gb, and altec laning inMotion iM600 speakers. i used to be one to scoff at the ipod because of the "lack of features". i'm also a long time mac user, and i didn't even use itunes. well i couldn't be more overjoyed to use the ipod/itunes combo with smart playlists but i won't bore you with old news.

i read a lot of reviews, and in-store testing and decided on the altec lansing inMotion iM600 speakers. i was in the market for something with a clock however, but i couldn't find anything comparable. i love its 1.7" thick size. easily slips into my bag, and sounds excellent.

 

[Chloe-James]

I love my iPod and have used it for years. I spend way too much time making custom playlists though, lol! Not everyone wants to hear "spa" or "new age" music as much of it is cloying, saccharine and not very creative. This will drive most musicians like me crazy. Making playlists lets me be specific to the persons I work on and trust me I can be very creative in my playlists!

I also bring the iPod Hi Fi unit. It's big and it's kind of heavy but the sound is great and being a musician ( I play the harp) I am really particular about sound reproduction and most smaller units just don't cut it. Vibrational frequencies are healing modalities in and of themselves, not too many people fully utilize the potential or even understand it. For this reason I don't mind carrying a heavier player. I went through 2 Bose docks (great sound) but they weren't durable enough for outcall so now I keep one in my treatment room but travel with the heavy duty system.

 

[Laya]

I have an Ipod nano and I LOVE IT!

I really like that it is so easy for me to select albums and make up my own playlists lets me be really creative.

I use mine everyday at work with a charging stand/speakers and it also has it's own digital clock. It is small and portable so easy to take out with me and also have a reliable clock right there.

The speaker/stand/clock was about $30 and sounds really good.

Can't imagine life now without it! lol

 

[Kristal]

I also have an iPod Nano, it is 1st generation I think. Holds 250 songs, it was a hand me down when one of my friends upgraded.

I got an iHome2go clock/speaker set and I love it. I think it cost about $70 at Aldi Foods of all places. I am happy with the quality of sound... and very happy with the size and portability for outcalls.

I'm a MacBook user too now for almost a year.

 

[ddti]

I just recently got the IPOD classic 160gb. Frankly, I'm not entirely happy with itunes. It seems almost too user friendly. I like to be able to go into my files and manually change stuff, but if I do that in my music files, itunes gets all messed up. I am slowly fixing everything now.

I also got the altec lansing iM600 speakers. For being very slim and fitting in my shoulder bag, they sound great. And they charge the ipod while it's docked.