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My shop is all insulated now, have a nice heater in it, and now I'd like to get some music in it.
Was thinking of an Ipod in a docking speaker. Dont have a fancy dust collection system yet, so I get the dust. Any ideas for keeping the dust off an mp3 player or any music player for that matter? Got an old RCA or Magnavox radio that's about a 1960 or 70 vintage that's "bullet proof" in the shop now, so I'm not worried about it. These new Ipods seem to be a great idea
Dave

I have an MP3 player with some older computer speakers in my shop. The MP3 player isn't to expensive (under $100) and there's very little worry about dust as there are n moving parts to worry about.

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Well there's no real need to keep dust out of modern day mp3 players as most of them have no moving parts at all anyway... A standard iPod with a dock will do fine I think.

While most MP3 players use a flash memory storage system, the iPod Classic does have a hard drive storage system.

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Aoibeann

Right Lillian the MP3s with flash memory are a better bet.

I ran an IPod Nano through a set of Creative powered speakers for a couple of years in my small shop and it was great. As for rugged, my Ipod was also sucked into my shop vac along with a finger plane and it survived that fine.....

In this shop I wanted a bigger system AND Uncle Bob had turned me onto Pandora last February. So...... this meant a PC based system. I had an 8 year old Sony laptop with an ancient Pentium III that I had upgraded to XP but never used because the thing is incredibly slow..... But for streaming audio it's perfect after it takes 5 minutes to start up....... I set it up to operate with the lid closed and not go into suspend.

The computer and Pandora drives a 100 watt receiver that in turn drives the Ohm L's that I just repaired last week. The sound is HUGE and my hope is that since I collect dust with a passion at the source and with the frequent, near daily cleaning that I do here...... I may be OK at least for a while. If the computer dies - so what it sucks anyway and is way to slow to use as a computer. This also gives me the option to plug in my Ipod to the laptop and drive the system with that but so far Pandora has been better than any play list that I have on the IPod.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

I always thought all iPods switched over to flash systems in the recent generations. Either way, I doubt any amount of dust would do anything to clog even a HDD based mp3 player given the fact that they pretty well sealed.

If you are concerned about dust just cover your iPod equipment or speakers with plastic grocery bags when you are doing sanding or any other work that may generate dust. It works great and keeps your equipment like new.

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Peter

The iPod Classic has a 120GB hard drive. The others top out at 32GB.

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Aoibeann

Yeah.. definitely an SLR camera (or any camera for the matter) is much more vulnerable to dust issues than a music player.

I just won this Bose system for $195, so I'll be returning the portable Bose SoundDock I picked up two weeks ago.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0268399944

A friend of mine has the same system, and we listen to it quite a bit during a discussion group every other Monday evening. Absolutely fantastic sound.

iPod docks are surprisingly expensive, and I was really let down by the sound quality of all but the Bose SoundDocks. You can find another Lifestyle 5 system at the price point of most docks. You won't get the compactness, but you'll get superior sound. The others seemed to suffer from 2" speaker syndrome.

Just though I'd mention the route I'm taking in case it interests anyone else. I wouldn't worry about dust. Just tape off the inputs you don't use. Shops all around the country have cheap systems running on the shelves. I think you'll be ok.

Well ok then. Seems I'll be alright with the IPod. Really want to get away from our local (2) radio stations. Yeah, I said 2 ( really rural here )!! No need for me to dump a ton of money into sound systems. I've got an old single cd player in moth balls at the house but I'm sure w/the dust the poor thing wouldn't last long, and I don't want to have all the cd's in the shop anyway. Thought about XM, which I have in the car, but I don't want to pay the monthly fee!! Cheap huh! Guess I could hum......wouldn't spend any money either.

Dave

At times I use an older SONY multi CD jukebox setup, and simply drive the AUX input with my Creative Labs. Its all moounted up in the rafters, so dust is minimal, but every once and a while I hit it with the air .... keep the player in a ziplock bag.

I found out though that pretty much ANY computer speaker system can be driven out of the headphone jack of the MP3 player - these speaker systems are cheap if you just want a powered sub and two satellites, and they sound pretty good - you can get an Altec Lansing one for about 70 bucks - and it will KILL any of the 200 buck iPod docks.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

What's really important is to know who is going to be the first builder on your block to install a disco ball in your shop......

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Hahahaha ..... I used to build those and sell them to DJs in high school .... my mom worked at a glass place and I got the mirror scraps for free ...

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I've got a Milwaukee jobsite radio that I use in conjunction with a creative zen mp3 player connected via a simple 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable...the radio has a nice little zippered bag attached to it that I leave the player in and zip it up around the cable...

I would, for various reasons, advise one to stay away from all Apple products if for no other reason than their incessant proprietary actions...i.e. you are stuck using their oft times bloated software...I am quite happy with my creative zen player which I only have to connect via a usb cable to my computer and it is automatically recognized as an external drive and I only have to copy files over as I would as if it was another HDD...no muss, no fuss, and it uses AAA batteries that can easily be acquired in a rechargeable format...I've been using my original 4 batteries for about 3 years now and they are still going strong....

more reasons to avoid Apple:

a history of making products with embedded batteries which in the past required disposal of the whole unit

requirement to use itunes unless one is up on pirate software which enables other options (which Apple repeatedly disables with their updates, and 'pirates' again hack to enable use of more reasonable products)

IMHO Apple is just a small time Micro$haft (read they are control freaks who will do everything in their power to keep you under their thumbs)

as far as dust, well you will just have to deal with it...feel lucky that as a luthier you will hardly, if ever, deal with MDF dust (which is the most annoying mess I have ever dealt with...it gets everywhere and into everything)...the concepts of enclosure within a bag of some sort are the best you can do..

Gosh!! The Disco Ball. I almost forgot!! I don't think I'm cool enough to have one.
Tony, are you saying that a set of regular computer speakers can be hooked directly to an Ipod without using a computer? I've got a cheap set of computer speakers w/woofer that someone gave me. Thought you'd have to have a computer of some kind for the inputs. Useing a computer in my shop isn't going to work. Only own one in the house.
Dave

you certainly don't need a computer to play the files stored on an mp3 player....what I do is use the headphones output jack (3.5mm or 1/8") and run it to the auxiliary input on my jobsite radio (also 3.5mm)...I would bet that using the same type of cable and then using some sort of splitter to replicate how your computer speakers connect to your machine would work...its the speakers that are powered, not your soundcard or your mp3 player....

As much as I hate Apple, I'm going to have to disagree with avoiding Apple products at least on the grounds that you've stated. The iPod is currently the dominant music player and it doesn't look like this will change anytime in the near future. Because of this, the fact it is largely a proprietary system makes no difference because of the massive support and availability of products it has. Also in terms of hardware, an iPod really is not much more proprietary than the Zen, Zune, or any other MP3 player for the matter... What is the major difference other than the connection points for the charger/USB? I would further argue that this isn't even a factor since you get a cable to connect with the purchase of an iPod and replacement cables are no more expensive than standard USB cables. Yes, the USB cable will have multiple functions, but how many people realistically use the same USB cable that goes into their MP3 for anything else?

In regards to the software, I personally don't have any problem using iTunes to add music to my iPod. Despite how "bloated" an application it may be, I don't know too many people with computers that would present a problem running the application and nobody said you needed to use it as your regular music player. I only use it when I want to transfer or organize my iPod music and I'm just fine doing that as are many others. I don't see this as being so very different in terms of effort from organizing your music in folders as you would on another MP3 player. Yes, you can argue that it's proprietary, but when it comes down to the practice, who really cares? You're spending the same amount of time one way or the other...

Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to dispose of the entire unit if an iPod battery fails. You do not need to even send it back to the manufacturer and pay for what many feel to be a costly battery replacement. There are plenty of sources for iPod batteries out there and they cost about as much as a standard lithium ion battery. Opening the case and replacing the battery is really not difficult at all and given the life span of the batteries, it's hardly an issue. Perhaps I would have agreed with you on this point a few generations ago (1st-3rd generation iPods?) where the battery life would max out at 2 hours and you'd need to replace it within the year, but that's simply not the case anymore. I charge my iPod once every two or three days and I don't even have a dock system that would keep the charge as it's playing.

Now this isn't to say that there's nothing negative about the iPod or Apple. One issue where Apple's proprietary nature bugs me is with the iTunes music store simply because it's a limiting format. I don't know if they have changed this, but somehow I doubt it. I'd much rather purchase standard WAV or even MP3 files because if I purchased music, I'd like to use them for many applications other than simply playing on my iPod. That being said, I haven't purchased a single song or album in the past 10 years so the iTunes issue doesn't affect me as I'm sure it doesn't affect the vast majority of people that own MP3 players.

In regards to Apple's general attitude and business practices, I really do hate them but I cannot deny that they've made a fine product in the iPod. Of course I do wish they had actually made some real advances in the design, but they have no need to since they have the market cornered. I think the only real thing about the iPod that initially gave me pause was the sheer cost, but ever since I bought one, I've been very happy with it and obviously many people feel the same way. I personally tend not to like proprietary things either, but at some point or another, you have to separate the things that matter from the things that don't. The proprietary aspects of the iPod are really so minimal that it has no measurable effect on my life. Of course this differs very much from Apple computers that I would find extremely limiting for my purposes and lifestyle... But that's another story altogether...

Summary: YAY iPod! BOO Apple Computers!

Of course this is all my personal opinion and some people are a lot more passionate and outspoken against proprietary software and technology and if you feel this way... well, all the power to you. ^^;;

And this is totally correct. ^^ Who needs a fancy dock when all you need are a pair of speakers?

But the docks look so sexy..

I was given an iPod Classic by someone because the battery died. They decided that it was cheaper to upgrade. So for about $40 and about a half an hour, I had a working iPod. At the time, a new one would have run over $400. The battery exchange was easy.

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Aoibeann

Right - if your not a head banger a set of powered speakers works great with an MP3 player.

About a year ago when searching for a solution to my shop music needs I demoed a $99 set of Creative computer speakers with my IPod side-by-side with the Bose $300 IPod dock. Regardless of price I thought that the Creative speakers sounded a little better though they both were great. So the $99 computer speakers won and saved me some cash.

I have not heard the Polk solution but know that Polk has made superb products in the past.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

So, I've got some music on my computer(Win. XP). Can I transfer them over to ITunes program downloaded on my pc? Can you also load your own collection of CD's into the ITunes program to install in the IPod?
I haven't bought one yet-hoping they go on sale soon, that's why all the questions. This subject isn't really on guitar const. .....sorry.
Dave

guys....if you read closer you will see I was referring to the past with my comment about the battery...specifically the first generation products...I'm sorry, but I am not going to believe that Apple was unaware of this 'glitch'...in fact I think they did it with full awareness...in a nutshell it is this event that causes me to have absolutely no desire to ever possess an ipod...as other posters have mentioned, you have to have a 3rd party replace the current batteries...sheeshus...I prefer to pull out the drained AAA battery in my unit, and replace it with a charged one...when all 4 that I have are used I put them into their charger, plug it in, and when I wake up in the morning I have them ready for use again...

as far as Apple computers...well I have a very bad track record with them...I have killed 3 of them just by simply being near them from best I can tell...lol...I'll stick to windoze and take advantage of the far greater amount of software available...

for you proponents of ipods and such, more power to you...if you are happy with your device, then fine...I'm sure they are great devices to use (except for having to use itunes...as noted I prefer the simplicity of simply plugging a device into a usb port and having my machine recognize it as a storage device)...I guess my opinions can best be described as why you don't want to annoy (potential) customers as they will go out of their way to spread their thoughts....

it appears as if the timer ran out for editing...soooo...

addendum: this subject got me curious, and upon doing so searching have found out that all ipod batteries can be replaced, though it is a pita and in a couple of models the battery is soldered to the main board...bleh...there are vendors of the batteries with instructions on how to do it yourself...IMHO it is still a pricey proposition, and at the very least a big hairy PITA....Apple had to be sued via a class action lawsuit to get them to 'fairly' deal with the situation (which also included the logic of them lying about the life and charge holding time of the battery)...

I was watching Whale Wars last night. The crew of the Sea Shepherd was sure they were being following by a covert Japanese military force traveling in a rusty unmarked vessel. They decided to lead the covert force through ice fields the Shepherd wasn't built to withstand so they could launch a plan to catch the covert Japanese military crew (the Japanese equivalent of DevGru?) with a carefully laid trap. It was quite dramatic until the Shepherd loosed the snare and found a run down ship full of friendly civilians.

Anyway, I like my Apple products and have found them to simply make things easier for me. The emergence of new options is good in that we can all find solutions that make us happy.