There've been several posts about Real alternatives for Windows, but are there any alternative players for Macs? So far, I haven't installed Real on my PowerBook, but I'd like to be able to decode RealAudio (for Marketplace, if nothing else.)
This looks really tempting, especially with the Ogg support, but I just hope they'll support Macs. Currently, the iHP-120 only has limited Mac support:
After loading new music, you can right-click the Database file in the player's root directory to start a scanning process that harvests song information for use in browsing by artist, album, genre, or song title. If you fail to do this, you'll be able to browse only by directory. Since the software is currently Windows-only, browsing by artist, album, and genre is disabled when songs are loaded from a Mac [...]
When you say "index them", are you referring to creating an internal database like the iHP-120 uses? That's the only thing that concerns me -- whether these new iRiver players fully support Macs (since I'm not sure whether the database-updater app exists for OS X).
The Karma sounds like a great product -- especially with Ogg & Flac support, but it still doesn't appear to support Mac. If it did, it'd be a very easy decision for me:-/.
I presume you're talking about their Nex 1A? It looks like a promising player and, while it does mention that it supports "multiple formats (MP3 and WMA) and emerging formats such as Ogg Vorbis through firmware upgrades", I don't see any confirmation that their firmware upgrades have Ogg support yet:-/.
Though I'm pleased with the Konqueror port (for the geek value, if nothing else), I'm particularly excited about the intentions to port KOffice as well. I have a 15" PowerBook and I was dismayed to discover that there just isn't much in the way of free office suites for OS X:-/.
Sure, there's OpenOffice.org for OS X, but it feels more like a halway-port since it requires X11 and it's stuck with Unix widgets. Really, I like OpenOffice.org as much as the next guy -- I run it exclusively on my Windows box -- but it just feels halfway-finished on the Mac (and a native OS X port is only coming in 2006 or so).
So, after setting aside OpenOffice.org, I looked to other options.. and it appears that MS Office is just about the only other choice. And that's about $200 (and, no, I'm not going to cheat and buy the academic or government editions). So, a native port of KOffice to OS X would be a real breakthrough.
It may seem a bit unusual to ask about fast AGP 2x cards, (especially since we're up to 8x now) but I have an older motherboard and that's the most it'll take:-/. It's an Asus K7M -- one of the first Slot A boards -- and it only supports the AGP 1.0 spec (AGP 1x/2x).
You'd think that AGP would be backwards compatible, but that's doesn't appear to be the case. Due to voltage changes as the spec evolved, my motherboard will only supply 3.3v (as opposed to 1.5v or even 0.8v of some of the other AGP versions). And, while there is a "Universal AGP 3.0" spec which supports all three voltages, I'm not sure which cards fit into that category or even if those cards may still be keyed in favor of more recent motherboards.
For what it's worth, the processor in there is an Athlon 700. And I only have a TNT2 in there now but I figure that if I can get a more recent card (relatively speaking), perhaps I can perhaps enjoy some Quake III on there from time to time:).
However, you can store arbitrary files on it. Note that the player prevents you from copying mp3s _off_ the device as a copy protection strategy.
Not that I have any particular reason to try either, but does it also prevent you from copying Oggs off the device?
BTW, thanks for all your replies -- it's rather tempting to get one of these. The flash-based players would probably work well for me, but I still wish they'd release Mac software for the iHP-120;).
"Major investor" doesn't always equate to a controling interest [...]
I can't say with certainty that ClearChannel has a controlling interest. However, as a major investor, ClearChannel receives earnings if XM performs well. And, as I don't want to push any money towards dishonest companies such as ClearChannel, I've chosen to go with Sirius.
The bottom line, for those needing a quick answer, is Sirius is superior in sound quality, features(free streaming from their website!), and channel quality(better music, no commercials, better talk). XM has a few more channels that make very little difference to the end result (read on).
I will agree that Sirius has very good sound quality (I've had Sirius for over a year now, myself). But, just to warn any audiophiles in the audience: compression artifacts can occasionally be heard.
If you enjoy mp3s at 128 kbps and 160 kbps, you have nothing to worry about;). But, if you're the type that insists on 192+ kbps mp3s, then you may hear artifacts occasionally (though not necessarily on all streams, since some are compressed less than others).
I blogged about this a bit and if my onomatopoeia resonates with you, perhaps you should listen closely to a Sirius radio setup to be sure that their compression choices are acceptable to you:
"[...] But, in due fairness, I'll include one caveat. Sirius Radio does use psychoacoustic (mp3-like) compression and I have been able to detect artifacts. From time to time, I'll notice the characteristic spwish-spwish of overcompressed cymbals or the fwuth-fwuth of an overcompressed bass drum."
[From entry http://www.handcoding.com/archives/000413.shtml which I've chosen not to make a link since I'd rather avoid the Slashdotting if I can.]
I can't speak for XM, but Sirius isn't censored. One example that comes to mind is the track "People = Shit" by Slipknot (which I heard on Sirius' metal channel). Not that it's a particularly good track;), but they left it all in there -- "shit", "motherfucker", "fuck" and so on.
I chose to go with Sirius Radio and I've been very pleased with it (I've had it for a bit over a year now). And, in addition to the no-commercials policy on their music stations, one of the major deciding factors for me was ClearChannel's stake in XM.
For those not aware, ClearChannel owns over 1200 stations nationwide and they're one of the major proponents of payola. That's right -- artists get on the air simply because their labels paid for their songs to be played.
I believe that radio play should be based on merit and not deep pockets. And, I don't want to have anything to do with ClearChannel.
Does the DISH PVR require a landline? I currently have a TiVo with regular cable tv and no landline (the TiVo is connected via WiFi). And, I've been thinking about upgrading to satellite but I know that DirectTV requires a land line for their PVR (though I'm not sure about DISH).
I just tried Foobar2000 and it's not bad on paper -- it has most of the features that I'm looking for. But, its interface just seems a bit plain for me:-/. So, I think I'll stick with Quintessential Player (which also supports Ogg).
I'd be tempted to buy one if they only supported Macs (their support page only lists Windows downloads). Unfortunately, the Rio Karma doesn't natively support Mac either. All I need is an Ogg-supporting player that works on a Mac:).
That helps a bit, but is there a non-eBay source for unlocked phones that you can recommend? (The whole auction-thing is just a bit of a hassle sometimes.)
See also the Space Invaders wall art at ThinkGeek -- you get individual "sprites" which you can stick on your wall to arrange a life-size screenshot:). (My only concern is whether the images might leave an adhesive residue after they're removed.)
Try the Sony-Ericsson T68i or T610. They are GSM phones, so simply get one unlocked and use it on T-Mobile, Cingular, or any other GSM provider.
But, doesn't it cost megabucks to buy an unlocked phone? I mean, you can often find "phone x" for $100 as part of a service contract but that same phone would cost $400 if you were paying full price without the "help" of the carrier (or so I understand).
All the same, if you know a cheap place to buy unlocked phones, I'm interested.
Slashdot Mirror
There've been several posts about Real alternatives for Windows, but are there any alternative players for Macs? So far, I haven't installed Real on my PowerBook, but I'd like to be able to decode RealAudio (for Marketplace, if nothing else.)
Hmm, that doesn't sound too bad.. Is this latest version also fairly benign on Macs? (I have a 15" PowerBook here.)
This looks really tempting, especially with the Ogg support, but I just hope they'll support Macs. Currently, the iHP-120 only has limited Mac support:
When you say "index them", are you referring to creating an internal database like the iHP-120 uses? That's the only thing that concerns me -- whether these new iRiver players fully support Macs (since I'm not sure whether the database-updater app exists for OS X).
The Karma sounds like a great product -- especially with Ogg & Flac support, but it still doesn't appear to support Mac. If it did, it'd be a very easy decision for me :-/.
I presume you're talking about their Nex 1A? It looks like a promising player and, while it does mention that it supports "multiple formats (MP3 and WMA) and emerging formats such as Ogg Vorbis through firmware upgrades", I don't see any confirmation that their firmware upgrades have Ogg support yet :-/.
That helps a bit -- but how do I know if a card will physically fit without buying it? :(
Though I'm pleased with the Konqueror port (for the geek value, if nothing else), I'm particularly excited about the intentions to port KOffice as well. I have a 15" PowerBook and I was dismayed to discover that there just isn't much in the way of free office suites for OS X :-/.
Sure, there's OpenOffice.org for OS X, but it feels more like a halway-port since it requires X11 and it's stuck with Unix widgets. Really, I like OpenOffice.org as much as the next guy -- I run it exclusively on my Windows box -- but it just feels halfway-finished on the Mac (and a native OS X port is only coming in 2006 or so).
So, after setting aside OpenOffice.org, I looked to other options.. and it appears that MS Office is just about the only other choice. And that's about $200 (and, no, I'm not going to cheat and buy the academic or government editions). So, a native port of KOffice to OS X would be a real breakthrough.
The only problem with Cyberduck (IIRC) is that it has no automatic switching between ASCII/binary file transfers :(.
It may seem a bit unusual to ask about fast AGP 2x cards, (especially since we're up to 8x now) but I have an older motherboard and that's the most it'll take :-/. It's an Asus K7M -- one of the first Slot A boards -- and it only supports the AGP 1.0 spec (AGP 1x/2x).
You'd think that AGP would be backwards compatible, but that's doesn't appear to be the case. Due to voltage changes as the spec evolved, my motherboard will only supply 3.3v (as opposed to 1.5v or even 0.8v of some of the other AGP versions). And, while there is a "Universal AGP 3.0" spec which supports all three voltages, I'm not sure which cards fit into that category or even if those cards may still be keyed in favor of more recent motherboards.
For what it's worth, the processor in there is an Athlon 700. And I only have a TNT2 in there now but I figure that if I can get a more recent card (relatively speaking), perhaps I can perhaps enjoy some Quake III on there from time to time :).
Not that I have any particular reason to try either, but does it also prevent you from copying Oggs off the device?
BTW, thanks for all your replies -- it's rather tempting to get one of these. The flash-based players would probably work well for me, but I still wish they'd release Mac software for the iHP-120 ;).
Hmm, the only Music Manager software I saw was a Windows .exe file -- are they hiding the OSX software elsewhere on the site?
The iHP-120 looks like a great player, but the only problem with it is that its audio manager is for Windows only (an exe). :(
It appears that these players only have internal flash memory. So, I'm guessing that they're not expandable?
In any case, are these Mac compatible? If they can be setup as a universal-storage USB device (?), I would think so.
See also this definition at The Word Spy.
I can't say with certainty that ClearChannel has a controlling interest. However, as a major investor, ClearChannel receives earnings if XM performs well. And, as I don't want to push any money towards dishonest companies such as ClearChannel, I've chosen to go with Sirius.
I will agree that Sirius has very good sound quality (I've had Sirius for over a year now, myself). But, just to warn any audiophiles in the audience: compression artifacts can occasionally be heard.
If you enjoy mp3s at 128 kbps and 160 kbps, you have nothing to worry about ;). But, if you're the type that insists on 192+ kbps mp3s, then you may hear artifacts occasionally (though not necessarily on all streams, since some are compressed less than others).
I blogged about this a bit and if my onomatopoeia resonates with you, perhaps you should listen closely to a Sirius radio setup to be sure that their compression choices are acceptable to you:
[From entry http://www.handcoding.com/archives/000413.shtml which I've chosen not to make a link since I'd rather avoid the Slashdotting if I can.]
I can't speak for XM, but Sirius isn't censored. One example that comes to mind is the track "People = Shit" by Slipknot (which I heard on Sirius' metal channel). Not that it's a particularly good track ;), but they left it all in there -- "shit", "motherfucker", "fuck" and so on.
I chose to go with Sirius Radio and I've been very pleased with it (I've had it for a bit over a year now). And, in addition to the no-commercials policy on their music stations, one of the major deciding factors for me was ClearChannel's stake in XM.
For those not aware, ClearChannel owns over 1200 stations nationwide and they're one of the major proponents of payola. That's right -- artists get on the air simply because their labels paid for their songs to be played.
I believe that radio play should be based on merit and not deep pockets. And, I don't want to have anything to do with ClearChannel.
Does the DISH PVR require a landline? I currently have a TiVo with regular cable tv and no landline (the TiVo is connected via WiFi). And, I've been thinking about upgrading to satellite but I know that DirectTV requires a land line for their PVR (though I'm not sure about DISH).
I just tried Foobar2000 and it's not bad on paper -- it has most of the features that I'm looking for. But, its interface just seems a bit plain for me :-/. So, I think I'll stick with Quintessential Player (which also supports Ogg).
I'd be tempted to buy one if they only supported Macs (their support page only lists Windows downloads). Unfortunately, the Rio Karma doesn't natively support Mac either. All I need is an Ogg-supporting player that works on a Mac :).
That helps a bit, but is there a non-eBay source for unlocked phones that you can recommend? (The whole auction-thing is just a bit of a hassle sometimes.)
See also the Space Invaders wall art at ThinkGeek -- you get individual "sprites" which you can stick on your wall to arrange a life-size screenshot :). (My only concern is whether the images might leave an adhesive residue after they're removed.)
But, doesn't it cost megabucks to buy an unlocked phone? I mean, you can often find "phone x" for $100 as part of a service contract but that same phone would cost $400 if you were paying full price without the "help" of the carrier (or so I understand).
All the same, if you know a cheap place to buy unlocked phones, I'm interested.