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I use the Trekstor Vibez that has the benefit of being linux compatible, works beautifully with OGG (all my tunes are Ogg) and also is based on the Sigmatel chipset that is a later version of the popular Rio hardware - so has true gapless playback, Rio DJ and proper sound profiling.

Trekstor Vibez. It also plays FLAC and of course MP3, and WAV and WMA.

http://www.trekstor.de/en/products/detail_mp3.php?pid=66

I spent a couple solid days researching the options, because I also refused to get a player that did not do non-proprietary lossless and lossy audio, and found this to be a decent solution. I thought about doing the RockBox route but wanted something I didn't have to hack right away to get to work. I've had one for a year and have had no problems. Only downside is disk space is lower than similar players - but 12 GB isn't too shabby and moving music to it is a snap.

I love my Vibez, from Trekstor! http://www.trekstor.de/en/products/detail_mp3.php?pid=66

If you just want to connectup the old karma to linux then look no further than the splendid karma on linux project. It's amazing what some seriously clever people, fuse and some helpful hints from Sigmatel folks can produce. it integrates with Amarok as well!

rd

Tied to iTunes for full functionality: Still present.
FLAC support: Still missing.
Gapless playback: Only for albums encoded with iTunes.

Considering that I have my CD collection in FLAC format, and can't use iTunes either because iTunes automatically -- and without giving the user an option -- upgrades your QuickTime installation too, which conflicts with hardware I have (why couldn't Apple either make QT backwards compatible or able to co-exist in different versions, like java can?). And even if I could run it, I wouldn't, because I utterly despise programs designed to take up your entire screen.

So I guess I'll skip on this one.

I think I'll end up with a TrekStor Vibez. Too bad it's only 16 GB, but at least I won't have a problem with FLAC, gaps or ties to iTunes. 16 GB equals around fifty albums in FLAC format, so it's still not TOO bad.

FLAC:
At home... http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_squeezebox.html
On the road... http://www.trekstor.de/en/products/detail_mp3.php? pid=66

I can hear the difference, but I mix audio professionally. I still enjoy music on the radio. But I enjoy it more on a nice stereo or even on a player with good converters (i.e. not iPod) and good headphones (like Shure's high end offerings).

A whole new batch of devices and stores support FLAC: for portables there are the iAUDIO T2 and iAUDIO F2, TrekStor's Vibez, the Onda VX737, and the AP3000 from Green Apple. For the home stereo, Slim Devices' Transporter and Ziova's CS510 and CS505. For music in FLAC format check out digital-tunes for electronic and underground, or FestivaLink.net for live shows.

Bluedot's BMP-1430 portable supports FLAC.

AudioReQuest's new S.Series music servers support FLAC.

Cowon's A2 now supports FLAC with the latest firmware, and Olive's new Opus both plays and records to FLAC.

The new Iwod G10 portable supports FLAC.

Want some FLAC with your Volvo? Volvo's Digital Jukebox, developed with PhatNoise, is fully integrated with the car's audio system and available for the S60, V70, XC70, and S80. PhatNoise's PhatBox in 2002 was the first device to support FLAC natively and has gained a loyal following.

I wish people would concentrate on the positive rather than the negative things I present. TrekStore has made the simple player so many people want and I expect there's much more where that came from.

I saw the positive. I even clicked on the affiliate link without sanitizing it first! ;)

I took a look at TrekStor's site, and I'm pretty impressed with what they offer. Thanks for the information. I'm looking for an upgrade for my ancient Archos (works with Linux/Windows/Mac and has been very reliable).

It's got MP3 for those who ripped to that format before license and royalty free ogg.

One of TrekStor's other products, the Vibez also plays FLAC! None of their products appear to support AAC (in case anyone wants to know).

License encumbered formats are not something I really care for

It's very hard to find something that doesn't play some license encumbered format. In TrekStor's case they support WMA-DRM9 and WMA-DRM10 (Janus).

Having been mod bombed again, I'm going to re post with controversial portions edited out.

I think you got bombed, because of your comment about the iPod not being able to play anything other than AAC without transcoding. You might have been thinking of Sony music players, which for a very long time didn't support playing anything other than native Sony formats without transcoding.

Again, thanks for the links...

I wish people would concentrate on the positive rather than the negative things I present. TrekStore has made the simple player so many people want and I expect there's much more where that came from.

I saw the positive. I even clicked on the affiliate link without sanitizing it first! ;)

I took a look at TrekStor's site, and I'm pretty impressed with what they offer. Thanks for the information. I'm looking for an upgrade for my ancient Archos (works with Linux/Windows/Mac and has been very reliable).

It's got MP3 for those who ripped to that format before license and royalty free ogg.

One of TrekStor's other products, the Vibez also plays FLAC! None of their products appear to support AAC (in case anyone wants to know).

License encumbered formats are not something I really care for

It's very hard to find something that doesn't play some license encumbered format. In TrekStor's case they support WMA-DRM9 and WMA-DRM10 (Janus).

Having been mod bombed again, I'm going to re post with controversial portions edited out.

I think you got bombed, because of your comment about the iPod not being able to play anything other than AAC without transcoding. You might have been thinking of Sony music players, which for a very long time didn't support playing anything other than native Sony formats without transcoding.

Again, thanks for the links...

It's [ogg] fine on a desktop with a high powered general purpose processor, but less so in a hardware implementation.

I've heard that before, but not seen it. What exactly is the trade off? How do people like this do it? How does ogg compare to AAC or AAC with unFairPlay? How is it that my dinky ARM Zaurus plays ogg without a problem, just like the 233 MHz PII it's roughly equivalent to? Why don't I see the difference between ogg and mp3 on any of the devices I use besides the one cheap player I own that won't play ogg? It has a reasonable battery life, but this ogg player goes for 25 hours.

Most importantly, is the performance trade off something worth paying licensing fees and putting up with extortion threats?

It's [ogg] fine on a desktop with a high powered general purpose processor, but less so in a hardware implementation.

I've heard that before, but not seen it. What exactly is the trade off? How do people like this do it? How does ogg compare to AAC or AAC with unFairPlay? How is it that my dinky ARM Zaurus plays ogg without a problem, just like the 233 MHz PII it's roughly equivalent to? Why don't I see the difference between ogg and mp3 on any of the devices I use besides the one cheap player I own that won't play ogg? It has a reasonable battery life, but this ogg player goes for 25 hours.

Most importantly, is the performance trade off something worth paying licensing fees and putting up with extortion threats?

I'm seeing more of that... like the recent WSJ rejection of all Linux because the distro tried would not work iTunes (and a few "complex" M$Office docs). It's too bad people don't see the magic combination of:

• Amarok, the awesome free music player.
• The Internet Archive's 34,000 concert Music Archive
• A music publisher that does not suck
• Cheap USB music players from walmart, orcheap good ones or software that makes expensive ones rock like they are worth the money.

The whole DRM fiasco is so avoidable and life without it is so much better. If work forces you to use Windoze, it sucks to be you but you don't have to let that take over your entertainment and home life.

By the way, the GUI that Xine makes does all the cool stuff from keyboard shortcuts you want from a video player. If you want a real video editor, go for kino or cinerella. M$ will never give you any of that any more than M$ Word can be used for publishing.

I hear Google spiders pages. Rather than hammer some idiot's 'lux goodes' site, why not search for and surf to the frickin' OEM? This player is just a one-off for a zillionare.

I enjoy a Trekstor i.Beat organix, which, after downloading their firmware upgrade, does .oggs (Many of their other players do as well and they have a really nice collection...). On the downside (from iPod-POV): It's a flash-based player, aka, 1 GByte is the most you'll get. For me that is no problem, since I dislike the thought of having a spinning HD in my pocket when walking, jogging or rock-climbing :-)

Or that the average consumer who sees the flashy iPod commercials does some research,

Jokes apart, I understand what you mean. But still I find it a little far fetched. That may be just me, though.

P.S.: I love my Trekstor Cube and find it *way* better than any iPod (which still is a great product).

A direct link to the english spec sheet: http://www.trekstor.de/downloads/produkte/i-beat_o rganix/datasheet_i-beat_organix_v0-01_en.pdf

The website given in the parent post is also available in English. You can select the English language once you opened it.

Bye!

Hi!

Everyone looking for reasonably priced good audio players with Ogg Support and all bells and whistles should have a look at the TrekStor devices, eg. the "iBeat Organix" player. I'm still stuck with an old iRiver myself (astonishingly its Ogg support seems to be ok, it's an iFP 390) but I know some happy Organix owners and must admit that this device is tempting. ;)

(It has FM and radio / voice recording capability as well, in combination with timer functions, etc...

I could not directly find an international webpage, the German product page is at http://www.trekstor.de/produkte/mp3-player/ibeat-o rganix.html)

Greetings,

Gunter