The explosion in portable MP3 players has created quite a quandary for the first time buyer and the experienced gadget fan, no longer is it just a matter of buying a brand like and iPod now the decision on which player is best for you is more complicated.

Perhaps the first questions and the primary ones are to ask yourself what, where and when?

What will I use the Player for? Sounds like a daft question but perhaps it isn’t, after all you may just need a  limited section of your collection with you or perhaps you want every track you own stored, or you may even want the device to encode files as well. Then there is where will I use it? A critical question for device selection, there is a vast range of mp3 players each targeted at a specific niche, will you want a player for the gym, home or for the office? And lastly when? Do you want to carry your device everywhere you go or do you want it sat in a dock on your desk?

Having answered those questions we can now look at the various options you will be presented with when browsing the web looking for a player. 

Storage - Firstly the thorny issue of storage. If you really want all your tracks with you then a 20gb device is probably the best starting point, this will allow you to store about 5000 tracks encoded at 128kbits. Devices can go up to 40gb but this would be beyond almost everyone’s collection for example Lordpercy's Ipod has about  22gb on it and we know of one chap with 35gb but that is about the most we’ve encountered.

If you can live with only having enough music on the device to entertain you for a short trip or about a week of your daily commute then a mini MP3 player should suffice, something between 4gb and 6gb (around 1500 tracks). If you intend to use the device only for short sessions and or intend to top up and change tracks daily you can consider a micro MP3 player, these also have the advantage of being physically much smaller and are normally under 1gb (around 240 tracks).

Formats - One of the weird things about MP3 players is that you might not want to use MP3 as your chosen format or even use a different flavour of MP3 or bit rate.

The range of formats can be a little confusing but we’ll try and hack through that for you, the most important element of format choice to ask where are your files coming from? While ripping (the process of digitising a CD) can be performed to your chosen format, if you use and online music store you need to ensure your player will support that format.

MP3 - As well as being the generic name for this form of digital music player, MP3 is by far the most popular format. It is a standard so devices claiming to support MP3 will play your files and most devices will play any bit rate between 64kbps and 320kbps, however its most likely that you would go for either 128kbits or 192kbits. If you want the widest choice of music sources ensure your device supports MP3. 

WMA - Windows Media Audio, a format widely supported in the PC world but not always by portable players, this is a proprietary format from Microsoft that can provide digital rights management (more on that later).  

WAV - This is a very common and widely supported format and one that a standard CD player will support, so if you burn these files to an audio CD your home or car CD player will work with them. The downside is that they are not highly compressed so they are often very large in size compared to MP3.

AAC - Apples own take on MP3, this is an extension of the MP3 standard to include their very own DRM system, the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format is used on the iTunes store and within the Ipod.

Atrac - Sony being Sony have gone their own way, Atrac and its various flavours is a proprietary format meaning only Sony’s network walkman products support it. Of course its very good and a 64kbit Atrac files sound almost as good as a 128kbit MP3 file due to the better compression system used by Sony. This is a good format if you intend to rip all of your own CD’s to a format and use it on a Sony device, otherwise steer clear.

Ogg Vorbis - OK strange name, but actually a very good format. Its best to compare Ogg to Linux in that it’s the techies audio format and rapidly growing in popularity, many players from big names such as Rio and Archos now support Ogg Vorbis. It has a highly efficient compression system and can provide very high quality audio at a much lower bit rate, meaning smaller files and therefore more music on your player.

Digital Rights Management - Now the thorny issue of DRM, the music industry is more than a little nervous about having music in digital form as you and I might share it with each other without paying them each time (heaven forbid). So they have added digital rights management to their online music stores, this means that when you buy a track from iTunes or Napster it is licensed to you and even your device.

Apple use their own proprietary AAC format which has in built DRM, this ensures that you can download a track from iTunes and then copy it from device to device but only up to a maximum of 5 devices. Windows also have DRM in their windows media format WMA, not all WMA files are protected and it’s an option in Windows media 10. However if you use a store like Napster then you can bet that the WMA you download will be licensed to you and may have limitations like the number of devices it can be on at any one time. 

What does this mean for player selection? In short you need to decide which online music stores you want to play with (if any) and ensure that the device you purchase supports the right file format and digital rights management system.

Connectivity - It sounds like a daft area to check but do ensure that the player you buy will connect to your PC or that device that your files start life on. We know of one chap that bought a new shiny Ipod only to realise he had no PC to connect it to, a bit dramatic but you’d be surprised how many players have only one connection option. So check if you need to be using USB or Firewire to connect to your PC or Mac and if there are any wireless or removable storage card options check that they are of use to you.

Also check the software you get with your device to mange its contents, there are well respected packages like iTunes and Music match, where as Sony ship the abomination that is Sonic stage with all of their players. This needn't be the end of the world as many players will work with Windows media player 10 or Winamp which are both free to use.

Battery Life - You may recall the rumpus over the Apple Ipod and its non-replaceable battery, while this was big news the underlying problem was that the first Ipods only gave about 8 hours playing time on a charge. This charge time also diminishes over time, as anyone who still has a mobile phone with the older battery technology will testify. So always check battery life, the longer the better and also see what the charging methods are, most still need a bulky AC adaptor plug and lead but more and more players can now charge while to connected via USB to any PC. 

Extras - You probably want your MP3 player to play audio files and nothing more, seems reasonable? But the manufacturers have their plans and have a while host of whizzy extras to tempt you to their device. There are players with FM radios, voice recorders, picture viewers, removable storage, wireless connections, calendar and to do lists and even the ability to record audio direct from a CD player. As with all purchases don’t be swayed by a feature you’ll never use, first and foremost make sure the device meets your other criteria and then look at the toys. 

Headphones - An often an overlooked part of an MP3 player package, sadly the best MP3 players are often saddled with the most appalling earphones, take the Ipod for example. It ships with earbuds, shinny white and a great "mug me" advert as all and sundry know you have £200 plus of player in your jacket and worst of all they sound terrible. Some players ship with a branded headphone like Sennheiser or Sony's own brand, while this is worth bearing in mind, for as little as £40 you can buy a good performing set of earphones and throw away the trash ones that came with your new device.

Price - Last but not least is price, players come in all shapes and sizes and the price tends to match. If you have never heard of the brand and it sounds more like a form of diarrhoea then it will probably sound like it too. You don't have to take a risk just to get value for money, many big names like Rio, Archos, Creative, Cowon and MPIO all offer devices that are easily up to the Ipod challenge.

Take your time, browse around, check out AV forums and ask other who have players what they think of them and best of all check out our very own MP3 Player Reviews. By use of the pointers in this article and some common sense you'll get the best MP3 player for you.

Published - 24/05/2005

More Guides-

[ Up ] [ GPS Navigation Buyers Guide ] [ Gadget Guide ] [ Christmas Gadgets Guide ] [ Best MP3 Player ] [ Smartphone Buyers Guide ] [ Speed Camera Detectors Buyers Guide ]