FreeLists / blindipod / [blindipod] Re: Olympus DS series question

["Ed. Rosenthal" <edward@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Not being an audio expert I found this thread was very interesting... I also
use the Olympus DS 50 regularly with clients, so thought I would do some web
research.  Found what I think is a fairly complete article at:
http://ekei.com/audio/ that others may find helpful.  -ed.

-----Original Message-----
From: blindipod-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:blindipod-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Brian Giles
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 10:38 AM
To: blindipod@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blindipod] Olympus DS series question

Hi Anna and all,

Wow! I just might have to buy that book. It definitely sounds interesting to
me.

Are you saying you evaluated all of those players for playing music as well
as other content? I ask because I have a question about the Olympus DS
recorders, which I'm hoping someone might be able to shed some light on.

As you know, I sold my iPod when I got my PAC Mate Omni because I wanted a
portable player that is completely accessible. The one disadvantage of that,
however, is that it's about as big as a laptop -- I have a QX420. So, there
are times when I don't want to take it with me. I also have an Olympus DS-40
recorder that I use for recording lectures and things like that. I also use
it to download all my podcasts to, since it comes with software for doing
that, and I haven't found a way to do that on the PAC Mate. I figure I can
also just drag N drop a few songs onto it to listen to when I don't want my
PAC Mate with me. That way I don't' have to cary the Olympus  and a separate
player for music. The only thing I don't like is that it doesn't have a
shuffle option.

Here's what  I don't understand though. It seems to me at least, like music
doesn't sound as good on the Olympus, as it does on the PM or as it did on
my iPod. I've been encoding most of my music at 160KBPS mp3 in iTunes,
because I reade somewhere that that is equivalent to the 128KBPS AAC that
iTunes uses by default. So those same files sound different to me on the PM
than they do on the Olympus, yet recordings that I've made on the Olympus
sound awesome when I play them back on it. I looked in the properties of a
recording that I copied to my PC, and it said it is a 128KBPS WMA file.

So does that mean the WMA encoder is better than mp3, even if the mp3 has a
higher bit rate?

LOL does that even make sense?
Brian?-----Original Message-----
From: blindipod-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:blindipod-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Woody Anna Dresner
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 4:48 PM
To: BlindAudibleListeners-yahoogroups.com; blind_ipod@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blindipod] accessible MP3 players book available!

Hi,

Some of you have heard me state for months that I had written a book 
on accessible MP3 players and that it should be out soon. Well, it's 
finally out!!! It's available in braille or as a download for $14 
from National Braille Press at
http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/POCKET.html

This book is both a guide to help you choose a player and 
instructions for using one. The players discussed include: the Zen 
Stone; the iPod Shuffle; larger iPods; players running Rockbox; the 
Olympus DS-30, DS-40, and DS-50; the Victor Stream; the Icon; and 
others. I used the same check list for each player so you can easily 
compare features, and there is a Would I Use It section for each 
player, in which I share my impressions of the player to provide a 
more subjective view. In some cases, I tell you everything you need 
to know in order to use the player, and in others, I tell you enough 
to help you get started, as well as any tips and tricks I learned 
while using the player. The book was originally going to be just a 
buyer's guide, but I had to learn to use all the players in order to 
review them, so I figured I should share what I learned. The book 
also includes brief information about the music playing and book 
reading capabilities of notetakers and cell phones, information about 
how MP3 players organize music, information about where to buy books 
and music online, and a resource list for tutorials and other useful 
information. The complete table of contents is on the page I linked 
to above. I will post updated information regarding the players in 
this book on my NBP Updates blog at
http://nbpupdates.wordpress.com

All the best,
Anna

More information about portable media devices can be obtained from the
Portable Player Portal.  Please visit the site at 
www.hartgen.org 

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More information about portable media devices can be obtained from the
Portable Player Portal.  Please visit the site at 
www.hartgen.org 

To post a message, send your e-mail to
blindipod@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

To unsubscribe from this list, please send a message to
blindipod-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
and put the word
unsubscribe
in the subject line.

To contact the List Owner, Brian Hartgen:

E-MAIL:  brian@xxxxxxxxxxx
MSN:  brian@xxxxxxxxxxx
SKYPE:  brianhartgen

More information about portable media devices can be obtained from the Portable 
Player Portal.  Please visit the site at 
www.hartgen.org 

To post a message, send your e-mail to
blindipod@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

To unsubscribe from this list, please send a message to
blindipod-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
and put the word
unsubscribe
in the subject line.

To contact the List Owner, Brian Hartgen:

E-MAIL:  brian@xxxxxxxxxxx
MSN:  brian@xxxxxxxxxxx
SKYPE:  brianhartgen