MP3 or CD

[mojolomjl]

Hi All,
I have been playing my BTs through a portable CD player plugged into the Aux input on my amp which can be a bit of a nuisance regarding selecting tracks. Could somebody tell me if a MP3 player would be more flexible ie can you select tracks in any order or am I being optimistic. Sorry if this is a silly question but as an oldie I find the latest technology a bit of a minefield.
Regards,
Maurice.

[sixchannel]

Hi Maurice
I have just come back from hols in Somerset and took my rig with me - a 20w practice amp, Z2000EFTP and my Sony Walkman mp3 player to plug into the Aux In.
Works fine although you do have to page up and down the list for each track you want - only a brief delay when all said and done.
AFAIK, it cant be pre-programmed with any kind of playing order but if you have a set running order in mind, you could load them into the player putting (say) 1-Apache, 2-Peace Pipe, 3-Savage etc and they should then appear in that order.
The biggest problem I find is that the EQ required for my guitar is miles away from anything the mp3 player might want in order to sound realistic.
BTW- I bought the SOny as the CD player was just too bulky and the CDs too "fragile" and unreliable.
HTH
Ian

[mojolomjl]

Hi Ian,
Thanks for the quick reply, I think an MP3 player might be more convenient than a CD player but I wish there was a device which you could pre select the tracks you wanted before you start.

Regards,
Maurice.

[pacman]

Hi Maurice,
I have always used an MP3 player for practice plugged into the aux. on my amp which is a Fender Mustang II .It is also very handy for learning a new number.As regards playing them in a certain order there is no reason why you could'nt put AA (Apache), BB(fbi), CC(Midnight) for eg. or as Ian said you could use numbers or a combination of both.I use the AA, BB method on my mobile phone for my most used numbers and it works fine.The mp3 player I use is a Phillips Go Gear and can hold up to 250 songs and goes with me everywhere.
Kind regards David

[mojolomjl]

Hi David,
Many thanks for the advice, I think I will try an MP3 player and try the listing you and ian suggested.

Regards,
Maurice.

[trickytree]

Hello, I do know that my ipod touch mp3 player allows you to create your own playlists using the apple itunes software, so you could put whatever tracks you want on there in whatever order.


Ian

[harley]

there are so many different mp3 players available now its hard to know which does which. I have recently bought a small hand help computer, primarily as sat nav, but it is also an mp3 and movie player. it is completely controlable in terms of play order and you can create as many playlists as you want. you load files onto it as you would an external hard disk. simply plug it in then drag and drop your files onto it. It uses the small micro sd cards used in mobile phones and even broadcasts to my car stereo. fantastic piece of kit which as i say, was originally purchased as sat nav but now goes everywhere with me.

this is similar but appears to be even better

www.the well known auction site.co.uk/itm/NEW-5-0-5-Touch-Screen-GPS-FM-MP3-4-FREE-EURO-MAP-4GB-/110621294607?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_GPSSystems_GPSSystems&hash=item19c18b000f

regards
Ian

[Rick]

Hi members,I hope i havn't got the wrong end of this & i hope im not imposing but,I have been useing mini disc players & CD players for as long as i can remember out on gigs & have had total reliability with these formats.
I have decades worth of self recorded backing tracks,I have a Sony main deck recorder which i can alter playing order of tracks should i need to or even use on gigs where i can control all functions with a hand control.I generally pop 2 disc players & 2 mini disc players into my gig bag just in case & carbon copies of discs & mini discs, .......... Never had one problem ! and to think that i used to use tape cassette decks ! lol ......... now THAT was dangerous !. Best wishes, Rick.

[harley]

Hi Rick

I too used mini discs for years and could never understand how they never took off in a bigger way than they did. fantastic things. ive been working from laptop now for about 6 yrs and never looked back but a friend still has one of my md players and is using it regularly. it must be 15yrs old now and still works perfectly including the remote!

regards
Ian

[tonybiker]

Hi.

An interesting thread.

One of the issues you come up against is the volume levels of each track and this can become a bigger problem when you rip any audio CD to mp3. I suffered this issue for years on gigs and the only way I sorted the volumes was leaving them on the original CD and buying a CD player which you could load 3 CD's in and select what order, but a pain if you had a track on a 4th CD. Once you rip them and make a CD up the volume levels go to pot.

Volume normalizers (software) I have tried but they just start to compress the sound and that was hit and miss anyway.

Mini Disc sort of addressed the problem and I still have one but they can be a bit time consuming to load the tracks onto in order but you do have the ability to level the volumes up.

I tried and also have a set of DJ CD players. They are better but you can't pre select the tracks.

But now I use a laptop, at first I used media player and I have tried Itunes, and with both you can make up a set list. But again volume levels were never right despite the option to normalize the volumes.

But my saving grace was getting Virtual DJ and running that on a laptop. It has 'auto gain' and you can have the tracks set in whatever order you want. And with this all the volumes are correct and you can also set the delay in which you want the tracks to start, 8 seconds after you press or etc. OK it was designed for a DJ, but it ticks all the box's.

A lot that I have written will suit those who play live, but the same does apply for home use. For a simple and reliable way of getting the tracks in order and at the correct volume a PC, if thats a laptop when your gigging or desktop at home is the way to go.

Tony

[abstamaria]

Maurice,

An MP3 player (a misnomer actually) is infinitely more flexible and easier tro use than a CD player. No more CDs, for one. The player will be smaller too.

I recommend you get an Apple iPod, preferably the "traditional" one without a touchscreen. You will have to download the program iTunes into a computer. When you put a CD into the computer, iTunes will ask you whether you want to copy it. It will then either copy all the selections or only those you tick off. You can also ask the program to copy the tunes as MP3s or the newer MP formats (which don't take up space) or as Apple Lossless files (which take up more room but are superior acoustically). Some people can't tell the difference between these formats; for backing tracks, MP3 is probably ok. Anyway, MP3 is the default setting. Buy the largest capacity player you can afford and your library accumulated over your lifetime will fit in it! And all your backing tracks! I use Lossless as I pretend I can hear the difference between that and MP3 files.

By the way, if your computer is connected to the Internet, iTunes will often automatically put in data relevant to each selection (recording artict, album, etc.).

When your selections are in iTunes, you can create playlists, selecting which songs go into each playlist and in any order you want. I have a Shadows BT playlist in which I have the original Shadows piece followed by the backing track - useful when I am learning a piece. When you delete a selection from a playlist, it remains in your iTunes library, so you can access it again.

You can even alter the duration of the gap between pieces or overlap them, as you wish.

When you plug in your new iPod into the computer, it will synchronize with iTunes and load all the selections and playlists onto the iPod.

The reason I like the traditional iPod is that it is so easy to fast-forward or go back on a selection to practice a difficult lick. The controls are so easy and intuitive to use. You don't have to alter the settings as the default settings should be fine unytil yuou get adventurous. If you have a difficult time with it, call your 10-year old niece and she will know what to do. Actually, it is very easy to use.

The player wins hands down over a CD player. Go for it.

Andres

[Deleted]

Hi Maurice,

If you have a Maplins up in your neck of the woods, pop a long and have a look at their range of tablets.

They are quite reasonable price wise and will do all you ask. After all, if you consider the price of an Ipod they compare very well. The thing for me would be the size of the display. At my age (66), one wants something that can display things at a reasonable size.

Here is one example:

www.maplin.co.uk/7-inch-miscroll-tablet-pc-521539

Best of luck.

Ian

[mojolomjl]

Hi All,
Many thanks for all your comments and recommendations, it just shows what a wealth of knowledge we have on this site. I think I will go for the MP3 player as it seems to fit the criteria I'm looking for without costing too much or being too complicated.

Thank you all again,
Regards,
Maurice.

[gitfenburn]

Hi Maurice,
I also use an Apple iPod and have all my backing tracks loaded on it.
You can create your own playlists or just select the individual tracks that you want to use.
Will send you a PM.

Regards,
Alan.

[roymattblack]

It depends how much you're spending.
I bought an Archos 7 and the HUGE screen makes it perfect for seeing a long list of tracks. I just touch the track I want and away it goes.....
ALSO, it's a fantastic E-Book, having a nice 7" screen, it's a comic reader, (being colour, it's perfect - I have all the Tintin and Asterix books on it - yes, sad, I know...) It's an amazing video player - I have all of the Avengers Emma Peel episodes on it, AND it goes online in a split second. Being Android based, there are countless apps for it.
Best of all, it costs around £130 new at the mo with a 16Gb memory. 32Gb cards can be plugged in. An amazing gadget, 'almost' as good as an i-Pad, and a quarter of the cost.
Roy.

[mojolomjl]

Hi Roy,
Many thanks for the suggestion, I am going to try the MP3 player first and see how things work out. I like the idea of having Emma Peel on an E- Book as well as all my backing tracks
Best regards,
Maurice.

[marvingers]

Hi!

I´m playing a lot on my own when my band not having any gigs. I´m using a small PA system for my backings, I´m also using a PC for my PC. The sound on CD is great but a CD can sometimes not work because of different things, it could be damage etc.. and that´s not that nice. It´s very safe to have your backings both on cd and mp3. The output level is very different between mp3 or cd so I´m using Wav-files instead of mp3. It´s important to have backups so you can continue your playing the whole evening.

Best regards!
Lars G. Vinger

[abstamaria]

On an unrelated note, I am a big fan of Emma Peel and have the boxed set of Avengers DVDs. I even have a Lotus Elan. We seem to be mostly from the 60s here.

Regards,

Any

[roymattblack]

The '60's were great! I too had an Elan long ago. 1967 series 3 SE.
When I bought it, it had the original old green 'log book' and it was Colin Chapmans own car before me!
I wonder what it would be worth now??
Also had an Elan plus 2, a JPS Europa special, then an Elite.
I'm a Jag man now and just bought an XRK Silverstone.
An advantage with being 'older' is, insurance is cheap!
My XKR costs me £385 a year, fully comp.........