ot - small mp3 player with speaker?

ushere wrote on 3/29/2011, 9:22 PM
anyone know of a cheap small mp3 player with a built in speaker (loud if poss)?

i have a specific need for one, and found the zen stone perfect, but of course, it's no longer available:

http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/zenstone/

any thoughts most appreciated.

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 3/29/2011, 11:44 PM
I know nothing about mp3 players. But, this being the Internet, that makes me perfectly qualified to answer your question.

A friend gave me an iTouch, and the built-in speaker is useless.

However, another friend stayed with us this past weekend and had a small device called a Jawbone Jambox. It is self-powered, and connects to your mp3 or laptop via Bluetooth:

Jambox

It is very pricey, but had an amazing sound for a totally portable device. The sound is similar in timbre and feeling to what I get from my Bose Acoustimass radio. The Jambox is very small, but somewhat heavy. I think my friend said he purchased it at an Apple retail store, so you might be able to audition it, along with other similar devices, if you have a store nearby.

Even if this doesn't help, you might at least want to consider the idea of a small external device because most portable music players that have their own speakers really don't come close to filling the room with sound.

ushere wrote on 3/30/2011, 2:20 AM
thanks jonny, much appreciated.

nice little box - a very neat idea.

the fact of the matter is i don't really need 'decent' sound - just enough volume to literally make a horse prick up its ears ;-) that's why the zen stone was so good - i could give it the handle and tell them to give it a blast, and i'd get the perfect 'stance'. worked on dogs too.

problem is it got battered around, drop on the ground, stood on, etc., and it's still going, but age has taken its toll on the battery....

how loud does the itouch go?


farss wrote on 3/30/2011, 2:40 AM
"age has taken its toll on the battery...."

They may not be that hard to replace....

Alternatively as you don't need much bass response a not terribly loud device can be made louder with a small horn.
Other avenue you could look into is the devices hunters use, you might find something that doesn't even need batteries.

Bob.

ushere wrote on 3/30/2011, 3:43 AM
actually wouldn't mind shooting some of the horses ;-)

actually hadn't thought about trying to replace the battery - might be worth a fiddle.....

the horn idea would more than likely work, but would probably also affect its handleability - the wranglers usually have enough going on without worrying about an mp3 player with a horn!

TheHappyFriar wrote on 3/30/2011, 5:44 AM
I was looking for the same thing & couldn't find anything. It might be your best bet to buy a $30 mp3 player & a $30 boombox with 1/8" hookup & duct tape the mp3 player to the box. :D

I found out my Kindle plays mp3's though & it has built in speakers.
musicvid10 wrote on 3/30/2011, 10:18 AM
I did a search on Nextag for "mp3 player built-in speaker" and it brought up lots of hits. You need to sift, but will probably find some valid hits.
http://www.nextag.com/mp3-player-with-built-in-speaker/stores-html

That being said, I truly loved my old Pogo Plus w/ mic, line-in, and speaker. Unfortunately, they are out of business.
Steve Mann wrote on 3/30/2011, 5:02 PM
just enough volume to literally make a horse prick up its ears ;-)

How do you get the horse to wear the earbuds?
rs170a wrote on 3/30/2011, 5:10 PM
Leslie, I'm curious as to why it has to an mp3 player.
Is there a specific type of sound or music used?
Why wouldn't a whistle work?

Mike
ushere wrote on 3/30/2011, 5:14 PM
don't steve - use countryman headset, that way i get their replies as well ;-)

thanks mv - went there and will, as you say, sift my way through them all.