What are the Most Important MP3 Player Features?

[Alex91]

good video quality(30fps)
bigger screen(being why i sold my ZVM)
solid battery life(14+ audio 4+ video)
user removable battery(another reason I sold the ZVM)
Good user interface(why I don't like ShItPod...doesn't agree w/me)
power button/switch
wallpaper is nice(Zens>>>Ipod)
probably more but none i can think of right now

[CrowdAds]

[Dima_Meizu]

For a music DAP:
Good GUI (and themeable)
Easy & quick browsing.
ID3 Tagging.
Small, not to thick.
Plenty of memory (flash) like 4 to 8Gb.
Good and bright display.
Good sound.
Changeable Wallpaper (iPod does really suck w/o this feature)
Cheap or good price, not expensive shit like shitpods.
Drag & drop filetransfer unlike shitpods that you have to use crappyTunes.
Good battery! Atleast 10h of music playback.
It needs to look sleek and cool.
Support many formats.

[CDMP3PlayerFan]

For me, the most important features of an MP3 player are:

- Good sound quality
- Ability to play all MP3 bitrates within the standard, not just a single bitrate or a limited number of bitrates
- Dedicated control buttons in a logical arrangement
- Easy to adjust settings
- Large and easy-to-read display
- Ability to load the files via removable media (burned CD or memory card)
- Ability to use both standard alkaline batteries and standard rechargeable batteries (AA and AAA type) that can be easily replaced by the user
- Long battery life, a minimum of 12 hours on a charge/set of batteries no matter how the player is used
- Reasonably priced.

Due to the above, I've chosen a CD/MP3 player as my on-the-go player. Most of the other types of players I've seen have don't meet many of the above items.

[Brent212]

Requirements:

• Can be configured to downmix to mono.
• Requires NO software to be installed on computer in order to transfer files to device, when using WinXP SP1, **without** WMP 10 or higher. Allows me to store whatever files I want on device in whatever directory/file layout that I want. I don't mind being forced to put certain types of files in special "base" directories on the device (like putting mp3s into a "/Music" directory and video files into a "/Video" directory).
• Ability to browse the device's directory/file structure from the device. Not required to browse by ID3 tag attributes (although searching all files with these would be nice).
• In "currently playing" display: Shows artist, year, album, track #, song ID3v2 tag info. Would be nice if the content of this display was customizable, so you could set it to do something similar to: ARTIST - (YEAR) ALBUM - TRACK SONG
• In "currently playing" display: If no ID3 tag present, displays filename.
• In playlist display: Shows artist, year, album, track #, song ID3v2 tag info. Would be nice if the content of this display was customizable, so you could set it to do something similar to: ARTIST - (YEAR) ALBUM - TRACK SONG
• In playlist display: If no ID3 tag present, displays filename.
• Can search by filename or directory name in file structure.
• Can search by ID3v2 tag info (artist, album, song, genre, etc) within the currently loaded playlist. Would be nice to also be able to search by filename and directory name.
• Can be configured to turn off when AC power is removed.
• Can be configured to turn on when AC power is applied.
• When the device turns on, it resumes playback from the place where it left off in the song that was playing when it last turned off.
• Accepts playlists in Winamp 1.x format (simple text file with a list of absolute or relative file paths).
• When the device turns off, the currently playing playlist is still loaded the next time it turns on.
• To build off the previous requirement, if you load a playlist, you can add/remove songs to/from the list, and when the device turns off, while the modified playlist isn't saved to the same file you originally loaded, it is saved somewhere in temporary storage and loaded the next time the device turns on.
• Ability to save the current playlist to a file anywhere in the directory structure. Playlist will be saved with relative file paths.
• 80 GB storage or more (preferably 100 or more, but willing to settle for 80)
• At least 5 hours battery life while playing music only.
• User replaceable battery.
• Good sound quality.
• Standard headphone jack.
• Warranty where the repair to the device is free for issues that are not caused by neglect or abuse. The two things that I think one of which has happened to every walkman, discman and mp3 player that I've ever owned (probably about 8-10 total), are 1) the AC adapter socket loses connectivity and 2) the line-out/headphones socket loses connectivity. An example of this is the line out on my last mp3 player started only making a connection with one side of the stereo plug, so I'd have to jiggle the plug to get audio to come out of both speakers, and once successful, if it were slightly bumped it would go back to one side. Super annoying. Cost like $60 to have manufacturer fix it. Fuck that.

Features I'd like to have but not required:

• Can be configured to output reverse stereo.
• Displaying album art - either embedded in currently-playing file or separate file in same directory. Would be cool if filename of image didn't matter -- it just displays the first image file it finds in the directory.
• At least 10 hours battery life while playing music only.
• Wireless headphone support (via bluetooth? Not sure what the best or normal way of doing this is, but I saw someone else mentioned it… sounds pretty sweet… I could keep the player in a backpack and not need a hole for the cord).
• Sleep timer
• In "currently playing" display: shows bitrate

I realize I'm being super picky, but I'm not in dire need of a DAP, as I use a small laptop for music in my car, and a PC for music in my house, so I already have all of these features. If a player came along that did meet my requirements, I'd probably get it, but until that happens, I won't settle for less.

[dfkt]

You're more or less talking about Rockbox, but you probably will never see a player with stock firmware perform all these tasks, or have all these features.

[Phoenix-X]

1-Good price
2-ok audio quality
3-cool UI
4-cool controls
5-good video screen(3" or more)
6-decent video quality
7-videos take little space
8-great battery life(over 25hrs audio, at least 6 video)
9-8+gb
10-good build quality(scratch resistant and metal casing)

[zhalfim]

UMS (preferred, but not a deal-breaker)
Long battery life, and user replaceable
As short of a charge time as possible (my Sony 1GB NW-4** charged in three minutes for a 48 hour battery life...man that was useful, wish it wasn't lost down a storm-drain)
Initial flat sound quality with a mega-responsive EQ so that I can tweak those that I feel need tweaking (it happens...)
Dedicated volume controls
Mappable button
Can play all sorts of audio and video codecs...(actually this is my first priority)

[Gadgetgirl]

My list (in a nutshell)

Uses standard headphone jack-I can't STAND proprietary or mini headphone jacks!

Size isn't too much an issue, but if it must be a brick it has to have many features. That means:

play and preferrably record video
has a nice clear and large screen
can be used as a harddrive
view pics
voice record

Has decent battery life. Having a replaceable battery would be nice too

Has AV out
---
I don't want that much

[blues277]

Sound Quality
Battery Life
Portability - don't want to carry lunch boxes now
Solid durability and buttons
Mini Games - =D
Large variety of codecs
Drag-N-Drop

[Dr.Musique]

Originally Posted by Night Surfer

1. Sound Quality
2. Battery Life
3. Album Art
4. Build Quality
5. Interface

The Same Things................."Sound Quality"

[rubennyc]

Here are the things I've come to depend on as a former Rio Karma and current TrekStor vibez owner:

• Gapless playback. I expect asbolutely perfect gapless playback. No clicks and no clipping of frames. It has to be perfect. And, no, crossfade is not an acceptable "workaround". (Note: Gapless playback does not imply removing intentional gaps that appear on the source CD. Rather, it only refers to faithful reproduction of song-to-song transitions exactly as they occur on the source CD.)
• Codecs. MP3, WMA, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, FLAC. (I don't have AAC now, but it's standard enough that it should be there.)
• Custom EQ, 5-band minimum. I also enjoy the ability to customize the center frequency and width of each of the bands, plus the ability to save multiple custom presets. Karma allowed you to save 3 custom presets as Custom 1, Custom 2 and Custom 3. The vibez lets you name and save as many as you want.
• Full control over running playlist. Being able to add music from my library anywhere I want to in the running playlist, remove music from the running playlist, and rearrange tracks within the running playlist. Plus the ability to save it as a named playlist using whatever name I want.
• Ability to create/edit/delete playlists. The Karma even let you do this independent of the running playlist.
• RioDJ style dynamic playlists.
• USB 2.0 for transfer & charging. Maybe I'm in the minority here, but having it charge by USB also means zero dependency on a proprietary charger. I'll never have a hard time finding a replacement USB wall charger or car charger.
• Easy access to all available file information. It doesn't have to be on the now playing screen, I just need easy access to it. The vibez adds the ability to view this information for any track in the running playlist, not just the track that's currently playing.
• Browse by ID3 tags. I appreciate while some prefer folder browsing. But, I much prefer browsing by tags.
• A case. No case = too many scratches.

Edit: a couple more I forgot to include:

• Dedicated volume buttons. For all the reasons already mentioned.
• Dedicated lock switch. The two finger lock/unlock on the vibez is annoying to say the least.
• Single handed operation. This is one of the many areas where the Rio Karma was king.

[SpiderSpore]

No 1. Large Variety Of Codecs Supported - I Hate Having To Convert To Other Formats [Ipod!!]

No 2. Drag-N-Drop - Programs That Come With Players Usually Suck!!

No 3. Battery Life

No 4. Sound Quality

No 5. Size

[xnamkcor]

Readable Display
Shuffle Repeat
Playlist Editing(On the Go)
Easy Volume Control
Smart Volume
Rechargable Battery
Durability
Fast Access to Power/Standby

I own a Zen MicroPhoto 8GB I got for 100usd
It's usually found on my belt inside a GBA Micro holster that I got for 2.99usd

[rubennyc]

Originally Posted by xnamkcor

Readable Display
Shuffle Repeat
Playlist Editing(On the Go)
Easy Volume Control
Smart Volume
Rechargable Battery
Durability
Fast Access to Power/Standby

Hard to arguie with that list.

Can you explain a little what you mean by "smart volume"? Karma has an "auto-gain" function that never really worked right. Or, it did, but it would constantly change volume mid-song. I always left it off.

If you mean Replay-Gain and/or mp3 Gain support, then I'm completely with you on that, too.

[ZenChick]

The ZVM has Smart Volume that works just like Replay-Gain. Maybe that's what he meant?

[abiok]

Interesting. Things that some listed as important I see as annoyances and as reasons against choosing an MP3 player. The most frustrating thing about all players currently on market is that they often sacrifice what should matter most to those who really care about audio for attracting the (probably much larger) crowd of those who are after cool gadgets. The result is that while those gadgets sport an endless list of features, some important things are always left outside.

I want portable audio players to be just good audio players. Features that don't serve this purpose just crowd the menus, add unnecessary controls, and usually divert the engineers' attention from perfecting things that do serve this purpose. I don't see why audio players should include silly color screens, visualizations, equalizers, alarm clocks, games, video playback and so forth while basic operation - finding what you want to listen to, changing the volume etc. - isn't as simple as these things can be. It is frustrating to see devices that come with too many bells and whistles but with mediocre sound quality or a bad joystick that is likely to switch tracks when you want to change the volume and vice versa, get favorable reviews because of the sheer number of cool and mostly unnecessary features that they include.

My list of most important features in an AUDIO player would be:

- Excellent sound quality.

- Optional gapless playback of multiple files.

- No built-in battery (why shouldn't I be able to just insert a charged battery when the battery inside the player runs out of power? Why should I ship my player to the manufacturer or get a new device when the battery gets old, or risk damaging it by trying to replace the battery myself, if I am able to find one at all?)

- Clear and easy navigation between files and clear, minimal menus.

- Support for multiple file formats, lossy and lossless.

- Build quality and accuracy of controls: I want the player to do exactly what I want it to do even if I am not the most dexterous person. In particular I want separate and easy to use controls for volume and navigation which I can find and operate reliably without looking at the device even if it is inside my pocket.

- No features that don't directly contribute to the purpose the device is suppose to serve: play audio. More is less. Simple is beautiful.

[JK98]

Here is what I want in an mp3 player.

Powered by one AA battery, with at least 40 hours battery life. Works fine with both alkaline and nimh rechargeable.

At least 25 mw per channel output into 16 ohms.

At least 95 db S/N.

SD card slot. SD memory integrated with main memory. Ability to copy to and from the main memory and an SD card.

Support for browsing by either folders or ID3 tags.

Ability to display both text files and .PDF files. Ability to display photos and zoom in on sections of them. It would also be nice to have the ability to create an new jpg file on the player that is the section of a JPG was zoomed in on.

Display at least 1.8". Ideally it should also be user customizable(what is diplayed and how large each displayed item is).

Shirt pocket sized.

Having both AM and FM radio.

Support for ALL mp3 files that meet the mp3 standard, and having this fact publicized. Support for all WMA files meeting its standard.

Variable speed playback between half and double normal speed.

Dedicated volume buttons, and a dedicated play/pause button. A dedicated button to toggle between radio and stored file playing. Also a dedicated button to toggle between AM and FM radio.

A microphone jack with high quality MP3 recording at a user selectable bitrate(anything from 320 kbps to 8 kbps). A choice of mono or stereo recording. Mono recording should be playable on both channels.

Player comes with a good skin that protects the player and has all controls accesible without removing it.

I guess I am quite demanding and probably will never see such a player, especially at a resonable price.

[Xenodius]

Usability.

Sound quality.

Build quality.

Reasonable price.


That gets every base, doesn't it? K.I.S.S.!

[Solan]

Originally Posted by phon-ethics

-Pure and perfect sound without any enhancement
- Excellent dynamic range, sonic stage and noise-free
-multi format support including FLAC
-full drag&drop plug&play
-Good covered screen with a lot of info displayed
-Smallish
-min 20 GB
-undestructable, you should be able to literally smash it to the ground without damage neither internal nor external

Agree, except for the 20GB. I'd rather buy a 2-4GB drive player, and spend the difference in price buying a 500GB external HD.

[DJ Shred]

Originally Posted by Solan

Agree, except for the 20GB. I'd rather buy a 2-4GB drive player, and spend the difference in price buying a 500GB external HD.

Yes I agree, I tend to prefer flash players

btw just noticed this thread is a year old today