iPod or MiniDisc? The skier's choice

A snowHead

There's a good informative chat on natives.co.uk about the respective qualities of iPods or MiniDiscs when on the snow: here's the link, and here's one comment - from sam_c - that caught my eye (as a prehistoric vinylHead):

A snowHead

iRiver

http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=72

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I currently use minidisc, but am trying to weigh up whether to convert over to a mp3 player. The personal minidisc that I have only plays back (doesn't record), as does the one I have in the car. The stereo unit, that I only ever used for recording (not playback) has just packed in, and a replacement would be in excess of £150. However, I'm concerned that playback quality is far inferior on mp3 players.

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Im thinking seriously about an ipod because of the multiple file formats it can play but dont know if I can justify the cost.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

iPods are great (I currently have two - a big one and a little one - and have had four in total), but I no longer feel comfortable skiing while listening to music. I used to do it a lot, especially when I went on trips by myself, but now I can't ski and listen at the same time. I don't know whether this is because I'm skiing at a more intense level or because my failing mental facilties can't process all that information coming into my brain at the same time. Whatever the reason, I'd now be a danger to myself and others if I stuck my earphones in while trying to ski!

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The swish of my skis and the air whistling past my ears will do for me!

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I would like to ski to music, but too many times a squeal from behind has alerted me to an out of control skier and saved my skin!

After all it is free

Thinking of maybe buying a MP3 player - handy in the gym top drown out what they play over the speakers. But is ipod, or mini ipod, the way to go? Have they found a way of easy battery change? Is it easy to download music without a mac computer? Is there better value for money? Must admit I am pretty ignorant on all this.

I've a Rio Cali mp3, I use it for running, cycling, gym, ski, everywhere really. Also, I tend to buy the CD and convert it to wav file - so there's no chance of losing it and it supports the band.

If anyone here can tell the difference in quality of the medium used, whilst partaking in an active sport, then they're a better man/woman than me.

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I'm with rob, snowball and Paul on this - for safety and aesthetic reasons, i prefer to go au naturel.

I have often wondered about a music player to fill in those lifts when you're by yourself - but most of the time I'm with a friend or might even speak to a stranger. It just seems rude to sit next to someone on a chairlift with headphones on - and as a boarder i am sure that it would just reinforce an inaccurate stereotype.

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Nick Zotov, iPod mini works wonderfully in the gym. You can get a neoprene armband which holds the min iPod very securely and discreetly (can't really be seen under the sleeve of a t-shirt), and this way you don't have to worry about carrying it or getting it snagged on any gym equipment.

All iPods work equally well on Mac or Windows. It's the same software available on both platforms, downloading tracks from the iTunes Music Store is available on both and it is equally easy to transfer music from your CD collection to iPod.

marc gledhill, absolutely right about whether there is any quality differences between different audio formats on lo-fi headphones while engaging in another activity. I don't believe there are any perceptable differences, and if you're interested in hi-fi quality why compress the music in the first place?

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The mountain sounds better than any music, it's also v.dangerous and in the case of the i pod, a waste of time as any sudden movements and the ear buds fall out, if you want to change tracks/playlists it's a marathon of wires and gloves and you'll probably lose it/have it stolen or break it.

When you consider what an incredible act of creation a work by any of the great composers is, and the years of hard work put in by performers in the perfection of their craft, I find it amazing that anyone would want, or even try, to listen to music while engaged in an activity such as skiing, which also requires the intense and singular focus of the mind which transports us beyond the mundane dreariness of the everyday existence.

The fact that a huge industry exists which is devoted to reducing, and not increasing, the quality of the experience whose creators have sweated blood to produce is mind boggling.

Rise up fellow snowHeads, throw away your compressed digitally sampled raucous noise players with their tiny tinny earplugs and either ski or listen, but not both at the same time. It's time for the dumbing down of everything worthwhile to stop Exclamation

You know it makes sense.

Yes. I dislike background music. If it's good I want to concentrate on it and actually follow what's going on, if its not or I'm in the wrong mood I don't want it.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Alan Craggs, in my defence I have a pretty good hifi system at home, so when I want to focus on the music I can do that as well. Being able to carry your entire CD collection in your pocket and listen to it at any time in (almost) any location has transformed the way I listen to music. I'm slowly re-discovering my cd collection after many years of listening to less and less music. The iPod is a wonderful invention!

A snowHead

I wouldn't personally use an iPod whilst skiing (i prefer the wind rush and the swish of skis through snow) but I would definitely recommend any Apple equipment (I love my Macintosh and my Macintosh loves me! - see link below).
Little sister has just bought a mini iPod and can't believe how easy it is to use - her old mp3 player/windows system was "a real pain" by comparison.
The truth about Mac users

A snowHead

rob@rar.org.uk, I found that a strange and unexpected effect of the iPod, I'm listening to some stuff I've not heard for ages and ages.

I haven't listened to my iPod skiing yet, it's a new toy, but I'll be using it at the weekend at least if I'm alone. I had a Samsung MP3 player I used and it's great, something to listen to in the lift and on the slopes, it's something I would only use if it's reasonably quiet though. There's something to be said for skiing to something fairly rhythmic.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I'm another long-time Apple devotee and yes, I have an iPod. I mainly listen in the car -- I bought an iTrip in the States, that plugs into the iPod and broadcasts the output to a vacant FM channel (at low power, of course). I don't listen to the iPod skiing, cycling or in the gym. However, I also use it as a vanilla hard disk for backing up important work files.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Too dangerous while skiing, got to have your wits about you when in boarder country Wink

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Ah, yes, I can see the point in using something like that in the gym (but I don't go to the gym - too boring. Perhaps listening to my choice of music might get me there!)

But we were talking about on the slopes (perhaps making the first tracks down a steep slope of powdery white crystals, and then threading between trees with chamoix tracks in the snow...

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Another Mac fan here. Used them since the late 80s, although I did have a dalliance with the dark side in the mid-90s when Apple lost its way. Since the Jobs/Ive combination came to the fore just about everything they've done has been insanely great.

Thanks for the link Hywel, shows we Mac fans can laugh at our obsession!

After all it is free

My IPod is great - it has the added bonus for me of actually funding my skiing as the company I work for makes the controls for them snowHead

Having said that, I don't use it for skiing - I want to hear people careering towards me or just not have the wonderful silence disrupted by music (whatever sort), It is great for the gym, though the battery ran out today (minor gripe of IPod is the shortish battery life) ending my gym session! rolling eyes

The new Sony 'walkman' digital music player looks great too - very small, 20GB capacity and 30 hour battery life, now if only it had a touchpad....

BTW 3 ways of getter better sound from your IPod are 1) ditch the headphones that came with it 2) Record as AAC rather than MP3 (though this restricts you to IPod/ITunes you can convert them back to MP3 apparently if you need to. 3) get a US spec IPod, I have a US spec IPod mini and it does not have the volume restriction that EU spec ones (my normal IPod) do - sounds better somehow IMHO, cheaper too snowHead

Like many other earlier comments I think music whilst skiing is far too dangerous as it's only your sense of hearing that alerts you to anyone behind you - especially as helmet mounted rear view mirrors having not yet been invented.

I'd also get a little hacked off if my hard earned peaceful lift ride enjoying the scenery etc was ruined by the beat coming from the headphones of the person sitting next to me.

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I think MP3 would be my choice but not while skiing for the same reasons as above.

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An MP3 player with really loud sounds (chillies, Slopknot, Nirvana) is awesome when you really want to get aggressive with a slope.
It's the rhythm in the music that works for me. Hifi quality not as important when your huffing and puffing through turns and the winds blowing over your ears.
Good loud sounds are particularly good in off piste, moguls or steep piste where loads of short radius turns are required - I never use on the main pistes unless it's really quite.
A particularly great memory was "The Wall" in Avoriaz, almost 1/2 meter of fresh snow and Nirvana "smells like teen spirit" LOUD!!!! ....true Nirvana! snowHead

MP3 is best as there are no moving parts to screw up with condensation as you go from plus 25 degC to minus 10 degC and vice versa. They also cost a lot less than Ipods etc so loosing or breaking is not such an issue.

Your own music (any format) is very useful down the gym as you can workout in time to the rhythm that suits you rather than the continuous 140bpm dance crap that blurts out of the gyms sound system.

Q - Any of you techies know how to modify the speed of MP3 tracks?
The reason I ask is that I would like to slightly speed up or slow down a number of tracks, before dumping on to the MP3, so that I have constant rhythm across all my fav songs. I'm sure it'll help me run for longer on the treadmill.

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MP3 player off eBay-£40.Cheap,tiny(even compared to a mini pod)256MB,so around 5/6hrs music.Quality;as good as anything else with earphones?Skiing with one,never tried it.But,choose the right music and it may give you extra aggression,or calm you;depending on your needs or the strength left in your legs Confused

I'd rather use a solid state memory player (I think what you here refer generically to as MP3)
Don't like the idea of a disk unit on me while skiing...I feel a crash could damage it.
Ever thought of a cell phone wioth integrated MP£ player, like the Nokia 6230?
Also, there's a thread about this over at Epic ski, somewhere...like here
http://forums.epicski.com/showthread.php?t=19530

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

ise, Do you have one of the aforementioned helmets then Puzzled

A snowHead

i have 2 mp3 players, 20GBs, at the moment:

Archos recorder: www.archos.com
Creative Nomad Jukebox 3: www.creative.com

Don't be swayed and sucked in by the apple advertising and marketing, there are lots of makes out there, personally i prefer the latest Creative Zen players, look a lot better than the ipods, functionality is simpler and cleaner and i've found the sound in the Ipods inferior to most mp3 players i've tried (admittedly the last time i listened to an ipod was 2 years ago...........things may have changed?)

a few years old but work perfectly and sound brilliant. Don't believe all this hype about compressing music making it sound pants.........it doesn't, it depends on the bit rate you compress it at, 160 kbs and above and you really will find it hard to find a difference. Only if you are playing on a really good audio player can you pick up the difference. I have heard rumours about classical music suffering but again i have not experienced this.

Note: that these are no good for running unless you are doing it on a machine and can place it down as they have a hard disk that after about 2 minutes of running it needs to restart due to the buffer running out. If you want one for running, get a solid state one (flash memory or the like), i think the new mini Ipods are 4.5Gb of flash memory.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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ise, you can be aware of roughly where people are but there's always going to be someone doing something unexpected. I'm not sure the safety issue is such a big deal though.

However, why would you want to listen to music when skiing/boarding?! Isn't the sensation of the snow and the beauty of the mountains enough for everyone? I don't want/need music intruding on my experience.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I'd love to have an MP3 player but not for skiing, more for the gym etc. I prefer the sounds of the mountain when skiing.

Can anyone give me some 'impartial' advice on MP3 players! I'd love a mini Ipod but hubby says its too expensive at the moment - probably true. The Sony version is supposed to be superior for the price and Dell are releasing one soon I think. Is there a cheaper version which offers a good memory and sound quality but is compact and looks good (which is what attracted me to ipod initially)?

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

ise, I am aware of what is going on, but I don't ski looking behind me all the time. Maybe I should ski a little faster so less people pass me..... Wink

As Alan says, there's always going to be that unexpected time though when your hearing saves you. I also don't think it's a huge safety issue, I just like to hear what's around me.

hayley t, if you just want it for the gym - how much music do you want? are you bothered if you have keep changing the music stored on the player - depends whether you want to store your entire music collection or just a few ablums worth of various tracks you want to run along to.

If you only want to store a few tracks - say a few hours worth, then there is no need to spend say more than £80. Again e-bay is a good place to buy.

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It's all down to personal preference if you listen to music whilst skiing or not. Remember, when radios were first installed in cars the theory was that it would lead to increased accidents, but now they are still here and getting more advanced.

Having just swapped from MD to iPod, got to say iPod is the way to go same as carrying a phone its so small.

And not enough memory? if you use it only for music, how many tunes do you need to not get bored? i would say 1000+ is easily enough - after all if you just play the entire song list through, its a few *DAYS* before you hear the same track again!

Help!!

iPod or MiniDisc? The skier's choice

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