Portable audio player

[aluminumsulfate at earthlink.net]

> From: Cole Tuininga <colet at code-energy.com>
> Date: Tue, 06 Mar 2007 12:16:15 -0500

> I've been starting to go to the gym quasi-regularly, so I think it may
> finally be time to break down and get a portable audio player.  Looking
> for any suggestions...  My requirements are:

I would suggest (maybe even recommend) silence.  A workout can be a
good meditation.

But, assuming you *need* pleasing sounds at the gym...

> * Inexpensive
> * Inexpensive
> * Inexpensive

Wal-Fart has a cheap RCA Lyra for $30.  It has 256MB built in storage
and an SD slot for additional storage.  It has a mini USB adapter,
takes 1 AAA battery, and has an 1/8" headphone jack.  It has
once-through, loop, and shuffle modes, but has no playlist
functionality.

mp3s can be stored in multiple directories but are all sorted
alphabetically by filename on boot, so the sort order of the base
filenames is the order in which they appear in the player.  When an
expansion card is inserted, the names are sorted right in with those
on internal storage.  The card can be inserted/removed without
powering down the device, although the player takes a moment to
reindex itself when this is done.  AFAIK, ogg is not supported.

The device appears, under Linux, as a two USB MSDs.  So it can double
as an SD card reader.  Partitions created by fdisk and filesystems
created by mkfs.vfat are both properly recognized by the device, so it
is Linux-friendly.  I think it also has some goofey DSP modes to give
the music certain special effects, but I never use them.

STAY AWAY FROM the 1GB Ilo player!  Last I saw, it was selling at
Mal-Mart for about $60.  It has MANY problems, both in terms of
hardware and Linux compatibility.  It has a built-in DRM which is
overly strict and automatically skips legitimate mp3s.  It can play
PCM WAV files, but WAVs recorded at different sample rates often play
back at a lower volume (or not at all).  The built-in microphone (used
for the voice recording functionality) sucks.  The device also does
not properly interperet x86 partition tables or FAT filesystems
created with mkfs.vfat.  Trust me, I tried!  Online, I read that the
mic has only 2-bit sample depth and that the headphone jack is prone
to breaking off the PCB.  All in all, the Ilo isn't much more than a
glorified SD card reader.

Or, you can invest in some silence, which is probably the cheapest,
most readily available of MP3 devicery. :)