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[chriswale]

Hi,

Now that I have Media Center all sorted out, I was hoping to purchase a portable digital audio player to go with it.
Does anyone have any suggestions about what I should consider?

I have already ruled out the following:
iPod - can't play FLAC, but can play WAV, but WAV can't be tagged (as far as I have tested in MC).
Zune - not compatible with MC

Requirements:
I don't have any special requirements, only that I would like to be able to sync with MC (with ease), and then to be able to browse and tag music (ratings, etc..) on the device. Most of my new music is in FLAC.

I'm looking forward what others have found to work. Any other suggestions would be appreciated!
At the moment I am looking at the Cowon S9, but is this compatible with MC? I can't seem to find an answer in any of the posts.

I found this Wikipedia article that has proven somewhat useful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_portable_media_players

Regards,
Chris

[chriswale]

I've done some more research and the Cowon S9 was a good option, it could at least play FLAC files... BUT now I have discovered that you cannot edit any of the song tags when listening to the music! You can't even rate the songs!  What use is that for the music organizer on the go?

Anyone have any other ideas, I don't know what else to consider.

[hit_ny]

The iPod with custom firmware Rockbox can also play FLACs.

Having said that check out their website and you will find they can make iRivers plus others perform the same tricks.

Be advised that Apple (and possibly others) have this rule that if you overwrite their firmware then their warranty (if still valid) becomes void.

For a general idea about portable support see JimH's post here.

[chriswale]

Rockbox is not compatible with the new models of iPod.

Anyway, I've decided to go iPod and convert my FLAC files to MP3 320 for listening on the portable device... but keep flac on the PC.
I'll have to manually update the tags on the PC that I modify on the iPod (ratings, etc...)

[hit_ny]

Oh i don't know

Thought it was already possible to update the MC library from the portable, assuming its a supported model.

[chriswale]

Can anyone confirm that MC works with iPod 120GB (6th) gen? i am just about to purchase and i can't confirm this in any of the posts or on the website.

[Alex B]

Sansa Fuze with the current firmware can play FLAC files. I don't know if its interface and other features are good, but the specs look interesting. I have seen some positive online reviews. Here's one of them: http://www.nerdlogger.com/2008/10/sandisk-sansa-fuzefinally-portable-flac.html

Though it is a flash player and the top model can store only 8 GB (this can be extended with microSD/microSDHC cards). Personally I have been happy with my portable MP3 CD player and a bunch of MP3 CD-RW discs so a capacity of 8-16 GB should be fine for me.

Anyway, I've decided to go iPod and convert my FLAC files to MP3 320 for listening on the portable device... but keep flac on the PC.

320 kbps CBR might be overkill for a portable. The modern MP3 encoders (like the LAME encoder in MC) are surprisingly good at medium bitrates when the VBR mode is used. When they encounter a difficult to encode passage they can use up to 320 kbps bitrate momentarily, but keep the average bitrate a lot smaller.

In general I would advice anyone to be open minded and simply try a medium bitrate MP3 VBR setting. The perceived audio quality should be quite satisfactory -- never annoyingly bad and most of the time identical with the original. Personally I'd start with the HQ portable VBR setting and go to the next higher setting if that is not good enough. In addition, usually the playback time with one battery charge is longer when the file sizes are smaller.

Naturally, if the storage space is big enough and the maximum battery life is not so important the most straightforward thing to do is to use the existing lossless files if the player supports them.

[chriswale]

Hi, I just spent the last 3 hours with at Sandisk reviewing the Sansa products.  I thought I should share my findings so that everyone else could benefit.

We tested the Sansa Fuse and the Sansa View with Media Center 13.
Unfortunately the ratings of the songs does not show up on the device after syncing. We tried everything without success.  Not being able to see or change ratings makes the Sansa devices useless to me.

So if anyone else has a player to recommend, please let me know. I am desperately wanting to play my music in my car, and my only option now is to build an in-car PC.

[chriswale]

In the meantime, I have decided to build a Car PC. I'll install Media Center on that, problem solved. 
And I'll sync with the server via wireless when parked in my garage!

[JamieShanks]

Can anyone confirm that MC works with iPod 120GB (6th) gen? i am just about to purchase and i can't confirm this in any of the posts or on the website.

MC12 does.  I'm still getting around to upgrading to MC13

It gets a bit funny about iTMS movies and things, but no problems with non-protected music, mp3, aac, etc.  I've used both iTunes 7 and 8 concurrently with MC12 and the iPod too (i.e. its syncing from both MC and iTunes).

[enigman]

I was in the same boat as you a little while back, and eventually (sadly) decided to bite the bullet and join the iPod crew with a 160 GB 6th Gen.

Pros:
A great piece of hardware - slender, good looks, decent components
Reasonable price
Readily available
More storage (compared to a 5th gen with Rockbox)
Pretty good functionality with MC (syncing of ratings, number of plays, playlists, etc). Ratings will sync in both directions, even between MP3 on the iPod and FLAC on the desktop, as long as you let MC manage the handheld cache. A really nice feature!

Cons:
Simple and stupid interface
Limited file formats
Occasional hiccups with MC - compilations can easily get fubared, leaving you with thousands of artists and requiring a reflashing of the device (just reinitializing the db doesn't work). It's an intermittant bug in MC12, just upgraded to 13 so don't know if it's really fixed yet


I would have preferred to go with something rockboxable, but in the end it just wasn't worth it.

A quick note on FLAC vs MP3 - trust your ears, not the hype. I've got FLAC on my computer, but I think it's unnecessary for the iPod. Unless you're listening with a really good pair of cans and an external amp, the limitations of the iPod hardware and headphones will greatly outweigh any difference between FLAC and a good quality MP3. Even with really good cans (HD600s) and an external amp, I was hard pressed to find any glaring difference other than general "feel" between a WAV and a 192 VBR.  Add to that the fact that you're usually listening to an iPod in what is much less than a critical listening environment, and you end up with FLAC just not being worth it on a portable. For archival purposes or for the high-end home setup, sure, but my end analysis was it didn't make sense on a portable (especially given that I wouldn't be able to fit my entire FLAC library on it!!)

Good luck!