Sick of your iPod - there is hope!

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  1. #1

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    Sick of your iPod - there is hope!

    Apple has done a brilliant job at marketing this box.

    The sound quality is mediocre
    iTunes, is horrible,
    - can't upload any file music format, (no OGG, or Flac support)
    - stores files in any place in incomprehensible names directories.
    - on many pc's it does not work and you have to go and get Floola or buy Anapod (which is great).
    - it does not allow you to download files from the device etc..
    You have to buy new headphones as they are too pretty poor.
    The firmware on the device is also buggy, on an iPod video you could not adjust the brightness for 6 months after they released it. It crashes and you have to wait until it runs out of battery to use it again.

    If all of this has not made you put your iPod in a drawer and forget about it you must be very patient. At least the GB/$ ratio is not bad.

    The Rockbox has been around for a long time and replacement firmware is now viable.

    What these guys have done is install an extra firmware fileand book up its own software.

    The system supports a lot more file formats, allows you to have themes {see them here}, customize the ipod, change fonts, allows to install a ver large number of plug ins. Including voice support (for blind people), even games like Doom., graphic equalizer, crossfader etc. You name it, its there.

    overall it blows Apples iPod firmware out of the water.

    Installing the firwarware seems a bit daunting but it is pretty easy. It takes about 5-10mins to do so, after that you unzip a load of files in a .rockbox directory. To add more features/themes/fonts unzip more files into the :\ root of your iPod drive and enjoy.

    Reboot the iPod with the "HOLD" button on and it will load the Apple firmware.

    The two major down sides.
    1. You can't read the titles of the files you have installed with iTunes (thank you apple), the "database" function can scan the device and build from the ID3 tags. There is tool to convert also the itunesDB to Rockbox Database format (but have not tried it yet).
    2. They say battery life is not as efficient, but it will get better.
    3. Whilst the backlinght is not on 100% I've not found where to adjust it.


  2. #2

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    I installed rockbox to my aging ipod mini 2nd gen ... its like having a new player. Some tweaking in the sound settings and it sounds way better than before ... batteries seems to be used faster but still lasts me around 3 days with normal use.


  3. #3

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    For the older iPods this must be a great upgrade.

    I also have noticed an improvement but I have changed too many things to be able to know if the firmware is the cause.

    I am using another file format (OGG), I also have new Sony headphones.

    Being able to adjust the sound to my liking may have something to do with the improvement also. The sound now is not a total joke like the original ipod/headphones.


  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by hk.com:
    The sound quality is mediocre
    iTunes, is horrible,
    A lot of audiophiles like it, especially compared to the other crap devices when it appeared.
    can't upload any file music format, (no OGG, or Flac support)
    Both those formats require extra processing power that the earlier iPods didn't have, and will drain the battery power faster. I read there was a OGG logo in iTunes but nothing appeared of it.

    I had a lot of music in OGG format, kinda sucks, ended up re-ripping to FLAC to play in Foobar 2000 and converting to AAC for iTunes.



    stores files in any place in incomprehensible names directories.
    The names are hashed to improve access performance. Basic tools like yamipod decode the file names correctly.
    on many pc's it does not work and you have to go and get Floola or buy Anapod (which is great).
    Vista is Microsoft's fault, you know the Zune doesn't work with Vista too right?
    it does not allow you to download files from the device etc..
    You can thank the wonderful RIAA for that.

    ... overall it blows Apples iPod firmware out of the water.

    The two major down sides.
    1. You can't read the titles of the files you have installed with iTunes
    2. They say battery life is not as efficient, but it will get better.
    I'd says that's pretty crap in comparison
    Last edited by MrMoo; 07-05-2007 at 05:27 PM.

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by MrMoo:

    The names are hashed to improve access performance. Basic tools like yamipod decode the file names correctly.

    Vista is Microsoft's fault, you know the Zune doesn't work with Vista too right?

    You can thank the wonderful RIAA for that.

    I'd says that's pretty crap in comparison
    Rockbox can also decode the files on the drive but the file names remain the same. If you browse the file list you can't tell what is what. Given how many songs you are likely to store in a directory, I doubt that performance gain is actually the reason why files are spread accross directories.

    My comment about iTunes/iPod do not working on some PC's is with Win2K and Xp on something like a Dell laptop.

    The battery consumption is a bit of a pain. Still I am willing to put up with that for the pleasure of actually having the music I want on the player. I feel like I have a new player altogether.

    On battery consumption I think they see:
    - Optimize the code.
    - use the iPOD standby mode when it is idle instead of powering off.
    - turn off the lcd/screen saver
    - allow us to adjust the brighness to minimum.

    Moo, on Rockbox listening on Flac files is actually more cpu/battery efficient than OGG and MP3 according to the docs. It keeps the CPU at 30Mhz steady, instead of it speeding up and down from 75Mhz to 30Mhz.

    I also like all the "Debug/diag" in Rockbox, lots of geeky stuff in there also.

  6. #6

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    what i find funny is that you start out by dissing the ipod for all of its "flaws", but you don't mention another mp3 player that can compare to the overall design and function.

    if apple did such a piss poor job with the ipod...why did you buy it? why did everyone else buy it? its not justy the marketing...the ipod is the most stylish of mp3 players...and is an answer to "most" peoples mp3 player needs.

    i dont think there is a device out there that tackles more points than the ipod when it comes to consumer "needs"


    and a snide side remark...maybe the ultimate problem here is the fact you are using a PC.....but lets not get into that


  7. #7

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    I'm an Ipod owner

    1. When I'm working out and listening to my ipod, am I really looking for that AMAZING sound quality?????

    2. Maybe its just me, but I would guess that myself and about other 95% of the population have no freaking idea what these abbreviations are:

    OGG? Flac? Floola? Anapod? ID3? AAC? Foobar 2000? Zune? RIAA?

    Wow....listen guys, most of us (consumers) just buy the product to listen to the music occasionally that's all. Preferrably being able to download songs onto the player without having a Masters degree from MIT.


  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by mattstewart:
    what i find funny is that you start out by dissing the ipod for all of its "flaws", but you don't mention another mp3 player that can compare to the overall design and function.

    if apple did such a piss poor job with the ipod...why did you buy it? why did everyone else buy it? its not justy the marketing...the ipod is the most stylish of mp3 players...and is an answer to "most" peoples mp3 player needs.

    i dont think there is a device out there that tackles more points than the ipod when it comes to consumer "needs"


    and a snide side remark...maybe the ultimate problem here is the fact you are using a PC.....but lets not get into that
    I did not buy the iPod it was given to me. I am pretty austere with toys, the best mp3 player I've seen in terms of user interface and sound quality is the iAudio.

    Why the iPod is succesful? today is namely brand and price. People just buy them even without knowing if it is any good. It is a genius marketing and product launching that has become self fueling.

    I don't argue about the PC vs Mac. In the cases where the USB did not work, the problem was iTunes. If used other software it worked fine.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by climber07:
    1. When I'm working out and listening to my ipod, am I really looking for that AMAZING sound quality?????

    2. Maybe its just me, but I would guess that myself and about other 95% of the population have no freaking idea what these abbreviations are:

    OGG? Flac? Floola? Anapod? ID3? AAC? Foobar 2000? Zune? RIAA?

    Wow....listen guys, most of us (consumers) just buy the product to listen to the music occasionally that's all. Preferrably being able to download songs onto the player without having a Masters degree from MIT.

    I have got a Masters but not from MIT though and I could not get this iPOD working with its original software. Yes, you and I do want something that works well. I fact with my Masters I could not upload my songs to the iPOD as it does not support OGG files which is supported by many players.

    You may not understand what the acronyms mean, but you are also not aware that things could be far easier than what Apple makes them. iTunes is there to help you load music and cripple the player at the same time to ensure you don't do anything other than what they want you to do.

    I've changed the software on the player so I don't need iTunes any more, I just drag and drop the music into the "removable drive". It supports MP3, OGG, and Flac file formats and does a bunch of other things the iPod does not do.

    I can flick a switch on the iPod and make it work like Apple intended if so I chose.
    Last edited by hk.com; 08-05-2007 at 04:17 PM.

  10. #10

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    I have had 3 generations of iPod and run them on both PC and Mac and have never had any issues with either.
    I think it could be because you are trying to over complicate something which is quite simple.
    The sales numbers speak for themselves when iPods are discussed. They have been around for almost a decade- if they were so inherently bad they would not have the market share they do.
    I have no idea what an iaudio is but interesting to see that they have opted to have an 'i' in the front to piggyback on the Apple branding. If the rest of the unit is as original most iPod users will probably also like it.
    In the time that the Zune has been around I have yet to see one so can't comment- I notice from looking on the internet it is rather expensive though.
    And correct me if I'm wrong- but does the iPod not support MP3?

    Last edited by Lammarite; 08-05-2007 at 04:58 PM.

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