[plug] [OT] Portable Music Player, Voice Recorder

[Mike Roberts]

On Wed, 3 Aug 2005 09:12:09 +0800
  "Craig Foster" <craig at fostware.net> wrote:
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> 
>From: plug-bounces at plug.org.au on behalf of Timothy White
> Sent: Wed 03-Aug-05 7:32 AM
> To: plug at plug.org.au
> Subject: [plug] [OT] Portable Music Player, Voice 
>Recorder
> 
> 
> 
> Hey. Just a quick ask around. I'm looking for a device 
>that fits the
> following description.
> A 'mp3' player that:
> * plays Ogg Vorbis
> * can record voice using Speex (or another good voice 
>only Codec,
> preferably open src)
> * Uses Compact Flash as it's storage medium
> * Preferably can record voice at the same time as 
>playing music
> * Would be nice if it also had an FM radio
> 
> Also, seeing as I'm a new uni student. If I wanted to 
>record a
> lecture, would having the voice recorder sitting next to 
>me (if I'm
> fairly close to the front) sufficient or would I need to 
>have it up
> closer to the lecturer?
> 
> If I can't find a device that does this, then one that 
>just plays ogg
> vorbis and uses CF is fine.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Tim
> p.s. The last requirement is that I can use it under 
>Linux for
> transferring music onto/off the device. But I'm sure you 
>guys knew
> this was obvious. I don't have Windows!
> _______________________________________________
> 
> CF is not required if you have USB, as USB will show up 
>similar to  /dev/sda1 formatted as FAT16, mp3 voice 
>settings are usually fine for lectures, and obviously 
>play mp3. There are some devices (dunno any brand names, 
>but someone here should be able to say one off the top of 
>their head) that will play ogg as well.
> 
> I think looking specifically for an ogg / speex / CF 
>system may not be resolvable...
> 
> It all comes down to what you can use / make do with....
> 
> 
> 
> Craig F.

I agree with Craig here Tim, finding something that fits 
all of those requirements is going to be hard. Its kinda 
like building a new pc, price, speed, reliability, pick 
two.

While in japan a few years ago, my brother picked up an 
iRiver 390T for me. It does mp3 and (ogg || wma) depending 
on the firmware. It has an FM tuner, you can record voice 
or from the fm tuner into mp3 format. It has the ability 
to plug in an external microphone, or use the built in.

Looking at the iRiver website however, that specific model 
does not appear to be available, however there is similar 
models (the 190T for example).

As far as your requirements go, it does not use CF, though 
syncing via USB isn't really much of an issue. It has 
256Mb on board flash ram. This isn't much when your 
putting music oggs onto it, however for recording, I have 
easily gotten 4+ hours off of it.

Linux tools are available for syncing most of the products 
in the iriver range (http://ifp-driver.sourceforge.net/).

My biggest complaint is that the firmware does not allow 
non-recorded audio to be copied off (e.g. you cannot use 
it as a portable harddrive). There is a version of the 
firmware that supports USB Mass Storage, however using 
that removes ogg support.

I know it doesn't do everything you want, but i found it 
pretty handy.

Mike.

--
Mike Roberts <mike at mikeroberts.org>
http://www.mikeroberts.org