Info wanted on MP3 Players

[shezza]

Hi all I would really welcome some information on selecting an MP3 player. What I want it for is for backing tracks, to use alongside my wind synth. I know nothing about them really as I have used mini discs for years. So, can I record anything onto an MP 3 player such as the recorded mini discs that I already have?
If I have one at the side of me are they easy to adjust the volume (as I see no volume knobs etc?) Do they have a line out can they be connected to an amp? Sorry if these questions seem stupid to the experts of MP3 players but as I say I know nothing about them.

[simmo123]

Hi Shezza,not to sure if it will help but i myself have been using a machine called an MBlaster2,it will play midifiles (up to 4000) but i use it to play mps & depending on the size of the removable compact flash card you use reflects on how many mp3s it will store,i have a 2gig one which takes about 120 songs but i have just bought another 4 gig card ( cost 34 Aust dollars )which hopefully will store double the amount.You have the ability on the MBlaster to alter the volume ,bass & treble individually on each song & save the settings you can also press the pause button to stop a song at any point then when you hit the play button it will continue from that point in the song, you can also make playlists on it as well,i should have mentioned it comes with a disc which you load onto your computer which is how you transfer the mp3s from the computer to the MBlaster2 via usb cable,what i do because i use midis is to edit the midis on the computer using sonar le then make them into mp3s also using the the computer from there i transfer them to the MBlaster2 in whatever order i wish just give them a number . if you don't work with midi you can put your songs on the computer & just transfer them to the MBlaster2 using a usb cable,it will transfer them in normal Wav format but it reduces the amout of songs you can put on the flash card so mp3 is the way to go.I connect the MBlaster to my small PA via the normal audio cables also if you want to put your guitar or mic through the MBlaster you can but i prefer to keep it simple,for oll the time i have used it over the past 2 years it has never let me down as well as that it has a reasonable size screen which diplays six songs at a time & with a turn of the dial you can go from one to a hundred if required in seconds, i usually group my sets together which is even faster,the machine has midi in/out usb plus normal audio in/outs,so what did it cost, not cheap when i got mine around AU$1100,make sure you get the most recent model they tried to sell me the MBlaster but when i checked it out it had been superceeded by the MBlaster2 it comes with all cables etc i suggest going on the net & get all the latest info,if you want any more info just give us a hoy,best of luck, Simmo ps if i can work it out it must be easy because i'm not very tech minded ;D

[JohnG]

Hi Shezza,

Just a brief word on conversions. First, the Sony mini-disk uses a compression technique called ATRAC and, of course, mp3 is an audio compression technique too. Both of these, in order to achieve compression, limit the high frequency response of the audio and also tend to "normalise" the sound within the file i.e. limit the dynamic range. When amplified and put through a good set of speakers many people can hear the carnage that has been wrought upon the fidelity of the audio.

Okay, having said that how do you convert from ATRAC to mp3? Well, AFAIK it has to be done as a 2 stage process. ATRAC to wav, wav to mp3. i.e. the audio goes through another stage of high frequency limitation and dynamic range reduction, = bad news.

May I suggest, if you can, you regenerate the original audio from the MIDI file before putting it through the mp3 processor.

If I may recommend a compressor program too, try RazorLAME. It has been recommended here before, but I forget by whom. It uses a compressor called LAME which IMO is one of the best there is, not only because the files it produces are of good quality (as far as they can be), but also because it allows you a high degree of control over the compression parameters. Compression from almost as low as you like up to 320k. Variable rate compression (VBR) as well as others and also you can enter high and low pass filter settings and an audio quality setting. My own preference is to go for at least 192k (or better 256k) and set the quality level to 1.

As far as file players go, I now use a Denon DN-C615 CD player that will also play mp3 CDs. Although I never use mp3s for concerts, only wav files when I can't use MIDI files, I do use it at home for background music and it rocks! I bought it 2nd hand for about half price. It has a memory buffer so is designed "for the road".

Hope that helps,
JohnG