View Full Version : MP3 players on the AT
UCONNMike
12-29-2004, 23:15
Anyone taken an MP3 player with them while hiking? I got one for christmas made by nike that was designed for running, it holds about 150-175 songs and has a battery life of 12 hours, it is also sweat proof and weather proof. It's crazy light, it weighs about as much as my wallet. It uses a charger, which is suprisingly very light, light enough to make me think its worth taking, not to mention it has a radio too. Do anyone else agree that taking may be worth it? or is it a bad idea?
-thanks
imput appreciated
hikerjohnd
12-29-2004, 23:24
I've heard of people taking walkmans for entertainment, so an MP3 player shouldn't be a problem. I assume you have battery/recharging issues resolved. I have an iPod that is staying home because the recharging stuff weighs as much as the player! Good Luck!
I try to stay away from electronics that require recharging. It can be a pain at times. My camera battery needs recharging so I know the problems involved. But I often hike with a dog so I don't stay overnight in towns or hostels where electicity is available. Since you already have your MP3 I say go for it and recharge as you can.
I really like my tunes at times and spent a lot of time researching what is available. I found the following to be the best for the trail:
iRiver makes a 1 gig MP3 (approx 200-300 tunes) that weighs a couple of ounces and runs on a single AA Battery. Published batterly life is 40 hours but it is more like 30. No recharging just carry a backup AA and you easily make it between resupply points. AA is also used in my headlamp so I just carry the single backup.
It also operates as a FM radio and a digital recorder. I really enjoy the digital recorder. Being old and forgetful this is a real blessing. I record my thoughts throughout the day for writing my journal at night. No more scratching my head thinking "I know there is something else I want to write about but just can't remember".
Here is a link for those interested.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2663559&sourceid=0100000030660804302498&dest=9999999997
screwysquirrel
12-30-2004, 02:02
I just got a Sony CD-r/rw walkman player AM\FM\Weather with the SonicStage software that allows you to put up to 490 songs on 1 cd. It uses 2 AA batteries that the manual says will last up to 85 hours before they die. It weights about maybe 1 1/2 lbs. I recorded all the Beatle albums on 1 disc and it plays pretty good but I haven't seen how long the batteries last yet, as I just got this yesterday. Might take it with me on a weekender this weekend and see how it works weight & battery wise and how good it picks up radio stations.
Thoughts I've had on carrying an mp3 player:
1. How are you going to get new music on it? 150 songs may be nice for a short hike, but I think I'd be tired of them before the first few weeks were over, depending on how often/long I listened to it each day. An mp3 player that takes flash memory cards like a camera or PDA would be ideal. My wife and I could each fill a card up with songs, swap them occassionally and change them out in the mail when we send home digital camera pics.
2. Don't have an mp3 player at the moment so I can't really speak regarding the weight, but I don't think I'd be comparing it to my wallet which doesn't go hiking with me.
3. I always have concerns regarding batteries, particularly ones that have to be recharged vice popping in new ones. I'd prefer to have something that used AA or AAA batteries instead of carrying a charger. I may be wrong though as there have been numerous others posting here on WB that say it's not really an issue.
4. We haven't, thus far, had a problem picking up radio stations with the tiny 2 1/2 ounce radios we carry now. I'm not sure I would really want the added hassles of an mp3 player on a thru hike. For a short hike, yes.
Bloodroot
12-30-2004, 07:44
Thoughts I've had on carrying an mp3 player:
1. How are you going to get new music on it? 150 songs may be nice for a short hike, but I think I'd be tired of them before the first few weeks were over, depending on how often/long I listened to it each day. An mp3 player that takes flash memory cards like a camera or PDA would be ideal. My wife and I could each fill a card up with songs, swap them occassionally and change them out in the mail when we send home digital camera pics.
2. Don't have an mp3 player at the moment so I can't really speak regarding the weight, but I don't think I'd be comparing it to my wallet which doesn't go hiking with me.
3. I always have concerns regarding batteries, particularly ones that have to be recharged vice popping in new ones. I'd prefer to have something that used AA or AAA batteries instead of carrying a charger. I may be wrong though as there have been numerous others posting here on WB that say it's not really an issue.
4. We haven't, thus far, had a problem picking up radio stations with the tiny 2 1/2 ounce radios we carry now. I'm not sure I would really want the added hassles of an mp3 player on a thru hike. For a short hike, yes.
I plan on taking mine.
1. Holds 5gig of music so I really don't have to worry about music selection because I have stored thousands of songs (with room to spare)
2. Very small and slim, still uncertain actually how much it weighs though (maybe 9 oz?). Just tacking it on as one of my two luxury items.
3. No need to replace batteries, it charges. The charger folds up and is extremely light and small. At full charge it holds somewhere around 17 hours. I only plan on using it probably a couple hours daily, if that. So recharging really won't be that big of an issue.
4. Alot of MP3 players have radios built in.
As for headphones, I use ear-buds. For as small, weighing nearly nothing, and quality of sound they produce with noise concellation, they can't be beat.
Bloodroot
12-30-2004, 07:51
Oh yeah, I fogot, if anyones interested the one I have in particular is a 2004 Rio Carbon
Moose2001
12-30-2004, 10:08
Mike, I switched over to a Rio Sport MP3 player for this upcoming hike. I used a small AM/FM radio previously. I liked having the radio and used it quite a bit. The drawback to the radio is some days, you get very poor reception. If you're in a valley or away from larger towns, the signal strength can be pretty poor. If you do get a signal, there's no telling what music genere you'll get. You may find something to listen to but it's not what you really want. There was a mention made about listening to the same 150 songs over and over. Anyone that has spent some time listening to the radio quickly learns they play the same songs over and over! At least with the MP3, you can listen to what you enjoy.
Don't forget to buy the "Lithium" style AA batteries. It offers a much longer life on my MP3 player.
Don't forget to buy the "Lithium" style AA batteries. It offers a much longer life on my MP3 player.
Plus they weigh less than regular batteries...
grrickar
12-30-2004, 14:33
Check out the new Creative Labs Zen Micro. 5GB of storage and a user replaceable battery, FM tuner and voice recorder, comes in ten colors, glows in the dark, and battery life is 12 hours. The first 35,000 units they sell with come with two batteries. All of this you get for 3.8oz weight (unit plus one battery).
I have my eye on one of these. Currently they are hard to find due to the demand for them.
http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=10795&campid=20506
Plus they weigh less than regular batteries...
Plus they are not effected by temperature change:)
Pooja Blue
12-30-2004, 15:22
I took an MP3 player. It turned out to be an essential piece of gear for me. I didn't listen to it while I was hiking but my favourite tunes were a big reward I looked forward to at the end of each day. They were a major psych boost when it had been a tough day.
I filled the MP3 player and then a couple of chips. I kept the extra chips in my bounce box and swapped them out when I wanted new tunes. I'm not an ultralighter but one of the advantages of adopting some ultralight practices is that "makes room" for you to carry a few luxuries. My MP3 player didn't weigh that much. It took 2 AA batteries and I always carried extras. It was absolutely worth it. I love my music.
Alligator
12-30-2004, 22:00
Either get an MP3 with a removable memory stick, and bounce sticks, or burn CDs and bounce those. Computers with Windows newer than 98 SE should just recognize the flash drive (if this is the type you have).
I have a 1GB Sandisk in the mail. It holds 16 hours of MP3 music or 32 of WMA and uses 1 AAA for 15 hours of life. FM and voice recording. ~1.5 oz. Should be good enough for my uses, but it's not removable.
Anyone have any problems with the mini hard drive types on long hikes? I would think that there is a lot of jarring.
Pencil Pusher
12-31-2004, 13:45
Take it with you and see for yourself. If it runs out of juice, recharge it when you can. If you're not using it and don't think it's worth carrying, ship it home.
flyfisher
01-06-2005, 14:59
I occasionally run into people with ear buds in their ears... It bothers me a little that when some of the them seem to look right through me without acknowleging my presence. It's a little like walking right past a hiker while talking on a cell phone.
That person may be the first person I have seen for the last two days. I feel robbed of the social contact when their recorded music is more important than saying hi.
One of my college roommates elected to not say one word to me or the other fellow in the room for the last 4 months we lived in the dorm when I was 18. That may have sensitized me to people who do not acknowledge one another.
Flyfisher - I know what your saying about coming up to people that don't bother taking out their earbuds - I feel the same way about sunglasses...I like to look into someone's eyes when I am chatting to them!!
I always take my ear buds out - I was out on a training hike with a rucksack filled with rocks last evening...I came across a man walking his dog...he didn't say anything to me - but when I saw him coming towards me I automatically took the ear buds out...just in case he greeted me. It's courtesy in my mind.
About music - I invested in a Net-MD mini disk player and I am thrilled with it! It uses a 1 GIG mini disk and I currently have almost 400 tracks on it and have room for more. It runs on 1 AA battery. You can charge the battery with the unit plugged in, but I am bringing the battery charger that came with my camera instead as it's lighter and will charge two at a time - and I tested it last May and it WILL work with a plug adapter on the USA current.
Funny enough - with a rechargable battery I can get 27 hours but on a dry battery (Duracell - Energizer, etc) I can get over 40.
Anyway - it's weighs next to nothing. I love it!!
I love taking music with me, especially in the winter when you're spending alot of time around camp at night.
After Sony really shafted me with their newer mini-disks, I’ve been shopping for a new mp3 player, specifically for my next thru-hike.
I just ended up getting a SanDisk mp3 player as a birthday present. It has 1 gig of space and 1.4 oz with batteries. There is no software necessary, just treat it like a removable drive (very important).
While shopping around, SanDisk also has something called the Cruzer that plays mp3s from their mini thumb drives, so you can take as many as you want, or send some home and hope your friends / family have decent taste in music.
I have completely given up on Sony’s mini-disk players. The software is a real pain, and has gotten worse over time (go figure). After having to replace my old one under warranty, I found that the new software rejected over 3/4 of my music for one reason or another, and was incredibly slow and cumbersome to run.
If anyone is interested, I’ll post a review of the SanDisk one in a couple of days after I give it a whirl.
Mother Nature
02-02-2005, 22:20
I take my MP3 player loaded with "put you to sleep" music. I am the world's lightest sleeper. Some shelters vibrate with the snoring and the music helps block the rafter shakers. I take an extra chip with zippy music for days when my creaky knees need diversion such as climbing The Priest or Dragon's Tooth.
If I am doing a very long section hike where reception won't be a real problem ie.. Shenandoah, I take my SONY radio which has AM/Fm/Weather.
I am a social creature and need to talk :jump . Smokestack is by nature, quiet. The music keeps me from driving HIM crazy with my blabber mouth.
Mother Nature
I never listen to music while hiking, but I am very impressed with the Creative MuVo TX FM MP3 player I picked up for $99.99 at Staples. 256 mb of "flash" storage (No moving parts. Holds about 3 hours worth of music, which for me is roughly 25 to 30 songs), decent FM tuner, you can dictate into it, and you can use it like a thumb drive to store any kind of computer file, not just music.
The user interface is simple and for the most part intuitive. Plugs write into the USB port on your computer. I haven't needed to install the software that comes with it to transfer files. Dropped it twice already on a tile floor, no damage. Not water resistant.
2.1 oz. including the single AAA battery and the headphones. A tiny 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 x 3/4.
I'm up to about 8 hours of actual play time, and still on my first battery.
Almost forgot. It sounds great. For an old guy like me who grew up with vacuum tubes and 33 1/3 LPs, this is like magic.
Footslogger
02-08-2005, 18:52
Anyone taken an MP3 player with them while hiking? I got one for christmas made by nike that was designed for running, it holds about 150-175 songs and has a battery life of 12 hours=========================================
Does it take media cards or is it all internal memory ? Reason for asking is that I'd think you'd get kinda tired of those same 175 songs after a while.
I knew several hikers in 2003 who carried MP3's. They would get sent media cards in their maildrops and could update their music selection. Aside from that (and you've already mentioned it) the device needs to be rather shock proof and weather proof.
I carried a small FM radio that clipped onto my sternum strap and had the over-the-ear deals for sound. Couldn't always get a big variety of channels but it broke the monotony and allowed me to catch the local weather or news. To be totally honest, you'll probably find that it's nice NOT to have your ears covered up when you're hiking, especially in PA. The rattlers give you a warning when you're getting too close and it's not the kind of thing you'd want to miss while grooving on some tunes.
'Slogger
AT 2003
http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?productId=47862229&storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&langId=-1&addon=715778-718949&ext_cat=undefined
I haven't yet hiked the AT (did some sections back when I was in the boyscouts in the 70's) but am planning to do a GAME thru-hike in 2007.
I am going to take my PDA with me. It is a Sony Clie TH-55 (as of now), it has a camera/movire recorder, voice recorder and MP3 player as well as being a Palm Pilot OS PDA. I read books with it and do all sorts of things, it is my right hand (I'm a lefty). I've been reading numerous posts about whether to take one or not. There are some pros and cons, most of the cons have to do with the power. Well you can get solar units for about $150 that will charge your equipment and they weigh in at 19 oz.
The one problem I have is storage space. My memory card has books and apps on it. By the time I do the AT I'll also have maps.
<Technical stuff> The original MP3 specification stated that one minute would take up 1 meg of file space at 128 kbps bitrate. Most CDs are at 256 or higher. I had only 50 megs to use. What to do??? Well being the techno geek I am I decided that I had to find a way to reduce the file size. Up until this point I didn't know much about audio file formats. I got an application that allows you to change the bitrate down to 8kbps. Now 15 songs that took up 52.6megs of space only take up 3.3megs. Granted the quality is not as good as a CD but after all those years in the Air Force listening to funny noises on radios my hearing is not that good so to me it doesn't matter.
If you go to sourceforge.net and search for mp3 you will find a great FREE (not stolen) app called WinLame, this will only reduce down to 32kbps which will reduce the files to 13.1megs. But you can edit a file to further reduce them if need be.
So if you can take a song and reduce it by about 93% you could put a bunch of songs on your MP3 player or what have you and not have to listen to the same songs over and over again.
Well my 2 cents worth. email me if you need help converting your files.
[email protected]
The other Lone Wolf <grin>
Moon Monster
09-05-2005, 16:27
150 songs may be nice for a short hike, but I think I'd be tired of them before the first few weeks were over,
That's a much greater number of songs than the average ClearChannel radio station plays in a given day! Or even a week!
According to the below link, average is less than 250 unique songs a week:
http://www.accessatlanta.com/entertainment/content/custom/blogs/radiotalk/entries/2005/02/08/so_which_statio.html
HappyAppy
09-05-2005, 17:20
Hey,
I have a pda that plays mp3's and I have a lot of books on it. I like to listen to them at night-helps me fall asleep. The pda doesn't weigh that much and it holds a good charge and playing the mp3's doesn't use much juice at all. I know there are a lot of folks who think electronics don't belong on the trail but if you are using earphones than who should care really?
Just one woman's opinion. :-)