Pandora as Portable Music Player?


S

SalmonGod

Still Fresh
Joined
Jun 24, 2009
Messages
5
I need a new mp3 player. My old one is really showing its age and frustrating me. I'm also fascinated with the Open Pandora.


Most of my listening is done at my psuedo-data entry job, and will often run up to 6 hours a day where it's the only defense I have against total brain death. So music functionality is kind of a big deal to me. I also don't have to be very mobile with it, as I'm just setting up at a desk.


So I'm thinking of getting one of these along with a usb portable hard drive containing my music library. I'm wondering what some of you with experience with this device think of such a set up. Is there good music software easily available? Would it handle large playlists well? Would there be a lot of delay reading information from the external drive? Good headphone jack/sound quality? Anything else I should know?


I'm just kind of nervous about getting this as primarily an mp3 player, but I'm in love with the versatility the pandora appears to have.
 
VLC, mplayer, and deadbeef are all ported to the Pandora. You can check them out on your desktop to see if they work out for you. Deadbeef is probably your best bet.


The sound quality is quite superb, assuming you've got decent headphones.
 
SalmonGod said:
I need a new mp3 player. My old one is really showing its age and frustrating me. I'm also fascinated with the Open Pandora.


Most of my listening is done at my psuedo-data entry job, and will often run up to 6 hours a day where it's the only defense I have against total brain death. So music functionality is kind of a big deal to me. I also don't have to be very mobile with it, as I'm just setting up at a desk.


So I'm thinking of getting one of these along with a usb portable hard drive containing my music library. I'm wondering what some of you with experience with this device think of such a set up. Is there good music software easily available? Would it handle large playlists well? Would there be a lot of delay reading information from the external drive? Good headphone jack/sound quality? Anything else I should know?


I'm just kind of nervous about getting this as primarily an mp3 player, but I'm in love with the versatility the pandora appears to have.
Click to expand...
Hey there!


I will keep my answers short.


Portable HD: I think you will need an additional power supply (e.g. powered usb hub) for those HD's that are powered through USB only. But they will work like on any PC. The big ones need a powercord anyway so they'll just work with the pandora. Reading delay? Hmm, music from external storage works fine and plays instantly. I don't know what happens if you put 150GB of music into a huge playlist all at once, thats what Exailes library is for. Playlists with 1000 songs should be no problem, I didn't test more.


Programs: There are multiple Players in the file archive. Exaile (for bigger music libraries), Audacious (Winamp clone) and others. The built in player in the Ginge emulator is also fine. If you like nice graphics: There is even a slightly unstable build of XBMC somewhere in the forums.


Sound quality: Perfect, no static or distorsions. And VERY loud, so its sufficient even for BIG Headphones. Don't destroy the sound with Equalizers, its good as is. General advice: IF you use Equalizers, keep ALL sliders below +0db (or you will have distorsions), so instead of raising bass and treble, its better to lower midrange for example. Louder than +0db always produces distorsions.


Anything else? Nope, try Exaile and Audacious on your PC. Its not different on the Pandora.


Hope that helps ;)


Edit: Oh yeah, Deadbeef is also fine
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Or... If you have the money for the SDXC cards... You could, in theory, put 128GB of music directly on your Pandora and skip the external HDD.
 
audacious seems to work well but deadbeef had display issues.Didnt display properly on the screen so i just use audacious
 
SalmonGod said:
Is there good music software easily available?
Click to expand...
There are tons of various music players: from simple console mpd/mpc to quite heavy like Amarok.


Here's a nice set: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_audio_player_software All GPL/BSD-licensed should work on Pandora.

SalmonGod said:
Would it handle large playlists well?
Click to expand...
Yes, of course.

SalmonGod said:
Would there be a lot of delay reading information from the external drive?
Click to expand...
Don't know, but you can always buy a fat SDXC card.

SalmonGod said:
Good headphone jack/sound quality?
Click to expand...
Very good, at least for me.

SalmonGod said:
Anything else I should know?
Click to expand...
I've been using my Pandora as an audio player for a few month. Here's my opinion:


+ Good sound quality


+ Hardware volume control


+ Very long battery life


+ Lots of free audio players available


- Pandora is quite large and heavy


- No wired remote control


- No "true" suspend to RAM mode


BTW, I use mpd/Gimmix.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks for all the responses! Sounds like a good deal.


I wish I could afford one of those uber SDXC cards to go with it, but a good 320gb portable drive is much more realistic for me. I wasn't aware those little SDs had so much capacity these days. Last I checked, they maxed out in the 20-30 GB range :blink:


That's alright, though. Size/mobility isn't really an issue. I have kids, so when I'm out and about, I usually need to be paying attention to them anyway. This will just be a stationary set-up at work, and then a nifty handheld gaming device anywhere else.

Portable HD: I think you will need an additional power supply (e.g. powered usb hub) for those HD's that are powered through USB only. But they will work like on any PC. The big ones need a powercord anyway so they'll just work with the pandora. Reading delay? Hmm, music from external storage works fine and plays instantly. I don't know what happens if you put 150GB of music into a huge playlist all at once, thats what Exailes library is for. Playlists with 1000 songs should be no problem, I didn't test more.
Click to expand...

My playlists get up around 3 or 4 thousand songs currently, and are always growing. I've maxed out capacity on my 120 GB Wolverine ESP, and the interface and disk speed on it are terrible. I'm so glad an upgrade is finally on the horizon.


http://www.amazon.com/Iomega-Select-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B002BG5SFS


So something like this would require another accessory to power? What if the Pandora is always plugged in to an outlet whenever I have it set up? Still too much drain on the device for it to keep up?
 
SalmonGod said:
So something like this would require another accessory to power? What if the Pandora is always plugged in to an outlet whenever I have it set up? Still too much drain on the device for it to keep up?
Click to expand...
It's not a matter of keeping up or not, it's that the Pandora's bus is only rated to go to 500ma. You know how your house has 15 and 30 amp breakers (or fuses) that blow if something tries to suck too much juice off them? The Pandora has no such fuse: if something tries to draw more than the maximum rated power (and a lot of external hard drives do, which technically makes them not USB compliant even though they say they are) you run a serious risk of burning out the power lines in your Pandora.


If you're Pandora is always plugged in, just get a portable hard drive that plugs in as well.


Alternatively, you can get a bus powered hard drive like that one, and give it a quick test (just plug it in quickly, cross your fingers, maybe it's not so bad, unplug it if anything weird happens, and you will definitely know if something weird happens). If it works, hooray! If it doesn't work, you can still use it, you just need to pick up a powered USB hub: they cost about $10. The benefit to also having a USB hub is that you can then plug other things into it as well, if you need. The downside to having a USB hub is that it's a little extra bulk to deal with. Remember, it has to be a powered hub, not unpowered.
 
I used this with my Pandora, but it (the Pandora) was plugged in at the time. When I tried to use it while not plugged in, the screen just dimmed. I didn't try it other than that, and I can't test it now as my Pandora is currently in for repairs.
 
ToastBucket said:
I used this with my Pandora, but it (the Pandora) was plugged in at the time. When I tried to use it while not plugged in, the screen just dimmed. I didn't try it other than that, and I can't test it now as my Pandora is currently in for repairs.
Click to expand...
Those are really handy, but I would advise anyone looking for one not to buy from Amazon - no idea why they're so expensive there, but they can be had for $80 from Newegg.


edit: they have them in a whole range of colors and capacities; you might even be interested in the 1TB model, for $120.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Tom said:
Those are really handy, but I would advise anyone looking for one not to buy from Amazon - no idea why they're so expensive there, but they can be had for $80 from Newegg.


edit: they have them in a whole range of colors and capacities; you might even be interested in the 1TB model, for $120.
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention that (at least last time I checked) The 1TB model was only $100 at Costco. That's where I got my 500GB one a while back, but it was $100 then :/
 
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Another option, depending on your lockdown at work -- bring a usb thumbdrive in, loaded up with mp3s, and just play them on your data-entry machine?


jeff
 
bosbeetle said:
My favorite is audacious, it works well with larger playlists. And it scrobbles :D
Click to expand...

And, it supports Winamp 2 skins! Welcome to 1998!


I use Audacious on my Linux workstations*,


* and I use antlers in all of my de-co-rating
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

L
Pandora - The Music Player
2 3 4
Replies
64
Views
12K
logokas
L
T
music player boot option
Replies
2
Views
1K
Exophase
E
T
Music Player Concept
2 3
Replies
45
Views
7K
Anthony
A
klapse
Using the Pandora as my Primary Music Player
Replies
13
Views
4K
sebt3
sebt3
Viral18
Pandora Audio/music Sequencer/mixer?
2
Replies
20
Views
6K
Viral18
Viral18
Back
Top