Non Apple AAC/mp4 digital players?

The Grim Squeaker · Post by **The Grim Squeaker** » 2006-01-12 03:40am

Are there any digital audio players on the markes that can play files encoded in Apples AAC (Advanced Audio Codec)/mp4 format?
(Preferably Olympus, iCowon or the other feature laiden players that do support video playback with a 60gb HD)

Failing that, can someone reccomend a fire and forget program for converting every single mp4 file on my pc into a more supported format without losing quality in the conversion?

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2006-01-12 04:54am

You will always lose quality converting from lossy to lossy.

Ypoknons · Post by **Ypoknons** » 2006-01-12 05:47am

No.

I do applaud your decision to move way from AAC though. Mp3, though a much inferior codec, is much better for the average person - less hassale.

The Grim Squeaker · Post by **The Grim Squeaker** » 2006-01-12 05:52am

So a lossless codec conversion will inflate the size or cause an increased quality loss?

Jawawithagun · Post by **Jawawithagun** » 2006-01-12 07:24am

There's the Panasonic SVSD100V that can play AAC and there's a player software for the Palm

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2006-01-12 10:35am

DEATH wrote:So a lossless codec conversion will inflate the size or cause an increased quality loss?

Transcoding to a lossless codec will inflate file size, but it'll be the exact same quality as the original. If you convert to MP3, you're going to lose quality. Period. You can minimize the quality loss by choosing higher-bitrate MP3.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2006-01-12 10:47am

That Panasonic player looks sweet!
Too bad it's not for sale in the US.

Ypoknons · Post by **Ypoknons** » 2006-01-12 11:01am

Eh I'm in Hong Kong right now.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2006-01-12 11:16am

Ypoknons wrote:Eh I'm in Hong Kong right now.

Not for you, for me.

Plekhanov · Post by **Plekhanov** » 2006-01-12 11:20am

These two players from companies I've never heard of i-STATION i2 20GB Media Player, I-WITH 40GB Multimedia Player both seem to support AAC & pretty loaded with featrues.

Should you decide that limiting yourself to AAC overly restricts your choice of player Easy CD-DA Extractor from www.poikosoft.com has an excellent file format converting function which is compatable with every format you could hope for (and can also use external codecs), it preserves id tags & can recreate your folders if you do a huge batch and is highly user configurable. I use it mainly for ripping CD's but also occasionally if I'm gona be away from my PC for while & need to shrink a batch of mp3s down to wma to get more albums on my puny 512mb player, and it works very well.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2006-01-12 11:29am

On the Panasonic one :

SD Network from SD-Micro to SD Audio Player

What the hell does this mean ?

The Grim Squeaker · Post by **The Grim Squeaker** » 2006-01-12 12:47pm

What the hell does this mean ?

That it uses SD cards for memory from the spec page on the links.

Hmm, so nothing from iRiver or Icowon? Pity, especially since I need more than 40gb of memory, maybe I'll wait a month or two and hope a new generation of players pops up after CES...

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2006-01-12 01:56pm

There is a distinction- there are plenty of other players that support AAC, HOWEVER, none support the iTunes DRM, so don't play protected files.

althornin · Post by **althornin** » 2006-01-12 02:04pm

Ypoknons wrote:No.

I do applaud your decision to move way from AAC though. Mp3, though a much inferior codec, is much better for the average person - less hassale.

Huh.
Dunno why you trash on the mp3 codec.
Last time i checked, AAC was better at low bitrates, but worse at higher ones.

The Grim Squeaker · Post by **The Grim Squeaker** » 2006-01-12 02:15pm

I don't use iTunes (No Israel based store, and I don't have an overseas account or credit card), so all I need is support for AAC without DRM.

AAC is better than mp3 in terms of size/s quality, although LAME mp3 beats it at high bitrates. (Although LAME is seperate from the itunes mp3 converting codec)

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2006-01-13 01:02am

althornin wrote:[Last time i checked, AAC was better at low bitrates, but worse at higher ones.

Higher bitrates don't really matter. If you encode a LAME MP3 at 320 kbps and an AAC at 320 kbps, I guarantee you that virtually no one will be able to tell the difference. When HE-AAC finally makes its appearance, it should win the low-bitrate competition fairly easily.