Olympus VN-713PC versus an 8 year old iRiver IFP-795

Photo credits: Amazon.co.uk

Since 2004 I am using the same old 1GB iRiver IFP-795 MP3 player on a daily basis. Since the iRiver can only hold 1GB and is slow to upload (USB1 speed) I was looking for an additional player.

After searching the internet, I realized that manufacturers no longer make MP3 players that run on AA or AAA batteries any more. Had I chosen a player with an internal battery, I would never had 8 years (and still going) of use out of my iRiver. So replaceable batteries are a must, especially since I don't want to wait until the internal batteries have been recharged.

Both SONY and Olympus make voice recorders that will run on, albeit AAA batteries, that can be used to also play MP3's. After comparing the Olympus VN-713PC and the SONY ICD-UX512, I chose the Olympus, since it was available in the shop. In hind-sight, the SONY does have LCD Back light and an equalizer, but like the Olympus, it does not have a sleep-timer either.

The iRiver had all the features that I was looking for in 2004:

• Runs up to 40 hours on one single AA battery.
• Has a resume function, so partially listened to podcasts do not start at the beginning again, but exactly where I left off, even if the device had been switched off.
• Has definable skip back / skip forward times.
• Has a definable sleep timer, so I can fall asleep while listening and it will turn off after e.g. 30 minutes.
• Has an LCD backlight, so you can work in the dark.
• Is (relatively) small
• It plays all files from all sub-directories without having to select the sub-directory.
• Can play back a faster than normal speeds, but the voice gets higher (just like playing a tape or record back at a higher speed)
• Has a lock switch to prevent accidentally activating a button during playback or to prevent it from accidentally switching on.

But the iRiver had some disadvantages as well:

• The firmware to make it act as a USB drive reduced the USB speed to USB1, taking 30 minutes to load 1 GB.
• It could only hold 1 GB. All my podcasts are reduced to 32 kb/s mono (max. 93 dB) in a script to store as many mp3's as possible.
• One (sub)directory could only hold up to 128 files.
• File names longer than 128 characters leads to infinite rebooting.
• The soldered connections of the micro switches (buttons) to the pcb can get loose if pressed too hard.
• I can't disable the A-B repeat button, which sometimes leads to jumping back hours in time due to an accidental push of the A-B button.
• Desoldering the A-B button was no option as this button is also used to select the equalizer.

I was looking for a good podcast player with the following features:

• Runs on AA or AAA replaceable batteries.
• Uses (micro) Secure Digital memory.
• Runs a long time on one set of batteries.
• Has a resume function, so partially listened to podcasts do not start at the beginning again, but exactly where I left off.
• Has definable skip back / skip forward times

Olympus VN-713PC Advantages:

After using the Olympus for some time, I can report the following.

I REALLY like these things:

• Runs on 2 AAA replaceable standard or rechargeable batteries.
• Resume (continue playing right where you stopped) is always on.
• Skip back (1 sec ... 10 minutes) and skip forward can be set independently. (Mine are set to 10 seconds back and 60 seconds forward.)
• Playback speed can be changed from 0,5 to 2,0 in 0,1 increments.
• Playback voice stays at normal frequency even when played at a slower or faster rate.

• Resume is remembered per sub-directory. When you switch to listen to an MP3 in an other directory and then return to the previous directory, the MP3 starts exactly where you left off.
• Plays up to 60 hours on one set of batteries.
• Start-up is fast (< 2 seconds).
• Wake-up (after you stopped playback and left the device on, and it went to sleep) is fast (< 1 second).
• Hold switch locks all buttons.
• Recording LED can be switched off.

Olympus VN-713PC Disadvantages:

I REALLY miss these things:

• No sleep timer (switch off during playback after a preset amount of time).
• No LCD back-light.

• Play button and stop buttons are separate. I like to have Play/Pause in one button.
• You can not set the timer when the device goes to sleep or powers off after you stopped playback, the default is about 5 minutes.
• Forward, Reverse, Volume Up and Volume Down buttons are located as a ring around the Play button and I can't easily find/feel the right buttons without looking.
• I would love to have used a single AA battery, as they have a much larger (2.5*) power capacity than these tiny AAA batteries and AA batteries are easier to get abroad.
• Sped-up playback sounds a little "grainy" or "coarse" but the frequency is corrected back to normal.
• Internal AND external memory is always formatted with 5 sub-directories (A...E), each sub-directory can only hold up to 199 files each.
• This is 995 files per selected memory (internal/external) independent of the size of the external memory card. So even a 32 GB MicroSD card would still only be able to hold 995 files.
• When you listened to all the files in Sub-directory A, you must manually switch to sub-directory B (or another sub-directory) in order to listen to the next 199 files.
• Neck strap / necklace hole is located at the bottom of the recorder, device hangs up side down from your neck. The strap itself is not included
• Indexing of new songs/podcasts is relatively slow but this is only done when new MP3's have been added (USB or MicroSD) or the batteries have been replaced.
• The index time depends on the number of files in both the internal & external memory (roughly between 10 -30 seconds)
• No equalizer(there are some very basic voice and noise filters).
• Maximum playback volume (the podcasts I listen to are all normalized to 93dB with MP3Gain) is just about loud enough to listen to in the car with the window rolled down.

All in all, I am happy with the Olympus, but due to my extreme satisfaction with the quality of my iRiver, I would have blindly selected an other iRiver, had they provided a newer model with AA/AAA batteries.

Now a few months later, I can report the following:
- The plastic circle knob around the play button is no longer locked in the upright position. If I want to increase/decrease the volume, I first have to turn the circle in the right position, before pressing the right button. Sometimes the plastic button is locked in a lopsided position and I have to use moderate force to turn the knob in the upright position before I can control the device.
- Every time you replace the batteries, you are asked to enter the time (or accept the often wrong time) before the system starts indexing.
- The display does not scroll long mp3 names, so if you want to know the complete name you have to go to the menu and look at the file properties.
- Progressive fast forward/rewind is too slow in the beginning (first 20 seconds) and speeds up dramatically after that and keeps accelerating, allowing you to fast forward through a 2 hour podcast in less than a minute.
- I still miss the background light in the display, but that probably explains why I indeed get about 50 to 60 hours of playtime from one set of 800 mA AAA rechargeable batteries.
- And I still miss the sleep timer. It sometimes plays the whole night, so the next morning I have to switch back to where I left off.
- Files are always played back in chronological order of the time of recording. I often place the files that I want to listen to first in the first directory and the rest elsewhere.
- After loading a new MicroSD card, the last file in each directory is activated, meaning that you have to first select the next file to start playing file number 1.
- The circular control, started to turn up to 20 degrees in either direction. This made pushing the volume and back/forth controls impossible. Placing some cello-tape over the front with the circular control in the correct position "fixed" this problem.
- The play button is not easy to find by touch only (tactile), a small tactile indicator, like the raised dots that you will find on the F and J keys on many keyboards, would have improved this.

Podcast manipulatie script

Al sinds 2005 gebruik ik Juice, nu al een paar jaar versie 2.2. Waar ik die versie vandaan heb weet ik niet meer maar op sourceforge staat nog steeds versie 2.0.
Maar goed, nadat de bestanden gedownload zijn wil ik ze eerst uniform maken.
Sommige MP3's hebben namen van meer dan 100 karakters lang.

Zoals deze van meer dan 150 tekens, waarbij de tekens in rood tracking tekens zijn:

dailysourcecode-231472-05-15-2010_pshow_352992_dopvhost_media_podshow
_com_doppl_0f98d82d4477dccd4427dc9d013759b3d0f252c2_dopsig_e2705c144
ee77c66df70c7a296d17c94.mp3

Dat vinden mijn iRivers niet zo fijn, dus breng ik die bestandsnamen terug naar maximaal 60 tekens.
Daarna maak ik de bestanden kleiner door ze naar 32kb/s mono te converteren.
De Podcasts waar ik naar luister zijn toch alleen maar gesproken woord (m.u.v. de DSC)...
Omdat Lame (bij het converteren) niet zo'n goede job doet om de podcasts allemaal even luid te laten klinken gooi ik de gekrompen bestanden door mp3gain heen. Hierdoor klinken de Podcasts allemaal even luid en hoef ik niet steeds aan de volume knopjes te zitten...
Lame verliest bij de conversie de ID3 tags, daarom kopieer ik, na de conversie, de ID3 tag van het oorspronkelijke bestand naar het nieuwe gecomprimeerde bestand.

Ik heb de programma's allemaal in "C:\Program Files\MyPrograms\" staan.
De programma's zijn:
id3.exe http://home.wanadoo.nl/squell/id3.html
lame.exe http://lame.sourceforge.net
mp3gain.exe http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/

Processing mp3 files after downloading them with Juice.
I listen to podcasts and I want all files to be small, so I can carry many of them on my iRiver. For that reason, I reduce the file lengths to a maximum of 60 characters, then I have lame convert the files to 32kb/s mono.
In the process the ID3 tags are lost, so I resolve this by copying the ID3 tags from the original files to the reduced files. (The message from Lame.exe is: Be aware that the ID3 tag is currently lost when transcoding.)
In order to make them all sound equally loud I run them through mp3gain.

=====START PodcastScript.bat =====
@ECHO OFF

REM Move all files in TempDirectories to Temp0 directory, this can be done in Juice, but did not work for the ARGOS podcast under Win-XP as there is a >> in the path. Under Win-7, this works just fine.
REM Juice is configured to place all downloaded files in subdirectories under C:\2Podcasts\TempDirectories

REM Copy all files from the Juice temp directories to one single directory TempZero
cd C:\2Podcasts\TempDirectories
FOR /R %1 %%G IN (*.*) DO (
move "%%G" C:\2Podcasts\Temp0\
)

REM rename partially downloaded files from .mp3.partial to .mp3
REM Most partial files are actually fully downloaded, just not renamed
cd C:\2Podcasts\Temp0
FOR /R %1 %%G IN (*.partial) DO (
ren "%%G" "%%~nG"
)

REM Move mp3 files to Temp1 and then move remaining files to RemainingFiles directory
Move /Y C:\2Podcasts\Temp0\*.mp3 C:\2Podcasts\Temp1\
Move /Y C:\2Podcasts\Temp0\*.* C:\2Podcasts\RemainingFiles\

REM All active files are now in Temp1

REM Truncate filenames longer than 60 characters
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
cd "C:\2Podcasts\Temp1"
REM loop over all files in the cwd
for /f %%a in ('dir /a-d /b') do (
REM store this filename in a variable so we can do substringing
set ThisFileName=%%a
REM Set a filename without the extension
set ThisFileNameNOEXT=%%~na
REM now take a substring after removing the extension
set ThisShortFileName=!ThisFileNameNOEXT:~0,60!
REM finally, the rename. I use the shortfilename with an * to handle spaces in he filenames
ren !ThisShortFileName!* !ThisShortFileName!.mp3
)
:EOF
endlocal

REM All active shortnamed files are in Temp1

REM Re-encode all files to 32kbs at 32kHz sample rate from Temp1 to Temp2
REM Copy the lost ID3 Tags from the original file back to the re-encoded file.
REM ID3 is located on: http://home.wanadoo.nl/squell/id3.html
cd C:\2Podcasts\Temp1
FOR /R "C:\2Podcasts\Temp1" %1 %%G IN (*.mp3) DO (
"C:\Program Files\MyPrograms\lame.exe" -f -a -b 32 --resample 32 "%%G" "C:\2Podcasts\Temp2\%%~nxG"
"C:\Program Files\MyPrograms\id3" -D "%%G" -1 -2 "C:\2Podcasts\Temp2\%%~nxG"
)
Move /Y C:\2Podcasts\Temp1\*.mp3 C:\2Podcasts\Backup2\

REM All original shortnamed files are in Backup2
REM All reduced shortnamed files are in Temp2

REM Ensure that all mp3's sound equally loud, files will remain in Temp2
"C:\Program Files\MyPrograms\mp3gain.exe" /r /d -4 /c /p C:\2Podcasts\Temp2\*.mp3

REM All reduced shortnamed files are still in Temp2

REM Move original files to Backup2 and the re-encoded files to LeveledFiles
Move /Y C:\2Podcasts\Temp2\*.mp3 C:\2Podcasts\LevelledFiles
Move /Y C:\2Podcasts\Temp2\*.* C:\2Podcasts\Backup2\

REM Turn the system to sleep
REM echo "Puting system to sleep"

REM pause
REM ping 127.0.0.1 -n 2 -w 1000 > nul
REM %windir%\System32\rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState
REM echo "Shutting system down"
REM shutdown.exe -s -f

=====END DOS Script voor Podcasts van Juice=====


=====Start of Copy ID3 tag script=====
REM I only needed this once to catch up with previously converted mp3's.
REM Copy the ID3 tag from the original files over to the re-encoded files that lost their ID3 tag.
REM Original files: "C:\2Podcasts\Backup2"
REM Re-encoded files: "C:\2Podcasts\LevelledFiles"

cd "C:\2Podcasts\Backup2"
FOR /R "C:\2Podcasts\LevelledFiles" %1 %%G IN (*.mp3) DO (
"C:\Program Files\MyPrograms\id3" -D "C:\2Podcasts\Backup2\%%~nxG" -1 -2 "C:\2Podcasts\LevelledFiles\%%~nxG"
)

=====End of copy ID3 Tag script=====

Lange bestandsnamen inkorten, How to shorten long file names

Als ik via Juice podcasts download zitten er vaak bestanden bij met een gigantisch lange naam. Het laatste deel van de bestandsnaam zijn tracking markers. Mijn MP3 spelers (allemaal iRivers) kunnen die extreem lange bestandsnamen niet aan. Het gevolg is dat ze als er een lange bestandsnaam op staat die iRivers continue in een reboot loop komen. Dan moet ik ze weer even via de USB kabel aansluiten om de lange bestandsnamen in te korten.

Die bestanden zien er dan ongeveer zo uit:

PodcastBestand_nvb_20091207174750_nva_200912081757.mp3

met heel veel "nva" en "nvb" referenties.

Sinds enige tijd gebruik ik nu FileNameFixer. Dit programmatje kun je instellen op een vaste directory en een maximale bestandslengte. Nadat alle MP3 bestanden in één directory zijn verschoven (bij Juice in het [Preferences]-[Advanced] gedeelte met het volgende script: move "%f" "C:\Podcasts\TempFiles\") laat ik eerst FileNameFixer zijn werk doen alvorens een batch scriptje te draaien die alle podcasts op de zelfde geluidssterkte zet. Dat scriptje ziet er zo uit:

"C:\Program Files\MyPrograms\mp3gain.exe" /r /d -4 /c /p C:\Podcasts\TempFiles\*.mp3

Move /Y C:\Podcasts\TempFiles\*.mp3 C:\Podcasts\LevelledFiles\

Move /Y C:\Podcasts\TempFiles\*.* C:\Podcasts\RemainingFiles\

%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState

De eerste regel start het programma mp3gain in command line mode en loopt alle zojuist gedownloade podcasts door om ze allemaal het zelfde geluidsniveau te geven. Daarna worden alle MP3 bestanden gekopieerd naar LeveledFiles en alle overige files (meestal video bestanden of PDF's) naar RemainingFiles. Het laatste commando zet de PC in slaap. Soms gebruik ik op de laatste regel: shutdown.exe -s -f als ik de PC na afloop wil laten afsluiten.

UPDATE: Omdat ik alles via een script wilde laten werken heb ik het inkorten van lange bestandsnamen als DOS script uitgewerkt. Ga naar het volgende artikel om te lezen hoe je dit automatisch in DOS kunt doen: Podcast-manipulatie-script

Cutting long podcast file names.

Some podcasts have long tracking postfixes in their file names which makes my iRivers contstanly reboot. A few months ago, I added an extra step in my download procedure.

I download the podcasts with Juice and within Juice I automatically copy all the files to one central directory (in Juice [Preferences]-[Advanced] add the following script: move "%f" "C:\Podcasts\TempFiles\"). Then I use FileNameFixer to automatically cut the long file names to a maximum length of 60 characters (with a default directory of C:\Podcasts\TempFiles and a default file length of 60). Ater that I run the script above to make sure all audio levels are the same, as I hate these huge variations in recording levels between different podcasts. After processing the mp3 files, the mp3's are copied to LeveledFiles and the remaining files (mostly video and pdf's) are copied to RemainingFiles. The last command line puts the PC in suspend (sleep) mode as I often run the mp3gain script at night.

UPDATE: Since I want to run everything in a script, I created a DOS script to automatically reduce long file names to a fixed maximum length. To read more about this script follow this link: Podcast manipulation script

iRiver IFP-799 repareren

How to repair your iRiver IFP-799 MP3 player (for english, see below)

Na jaren intensief gebruik werkte het start/stop drukknopje van mijn iRiver IFP 799 MP3 speler niet goed meer. Door het schakelaartje schuin in te drukken kon ik er nog wel mee werken. Dit is vaak een teken van een slechte soldeerverbinding. Na het openen van de iRiver gebruik je een kleine soldeerzuiger om de verbinding tussen de twee printplaatjes los te maken. Zie de pijltjes op de foto's A & B. Daarna klik je het LCD display los en vouw je het voorzichtig weg. De schakelaartjes zijn net zo groot als de andere SMD componenten daarom is het belangrijk om met een soldeerboutje te werken dat een heel dunne stift heeft. Even een klein beetje soldeertin op de contactpennentjes én op het beugeltje dat het schakelaartje mechanisch op het printplaatje vast houdt en klaar ben je. Moeilijkheidsgraad: 7

After years of daily use, my iRiver IFP-799 stopped working. I could not use the start/stop button anymore unless I pushed the button firmly sideways. This is a often sign of a poor solder joint. After opening the iRiver you first have to use a desolder pump to to separate the two printed circuit boards. The arrow in the picture indicates the connection between the two PCB's. Please make sure that you use a miniature soldering iron with a small tip as you can not repair the modern SMD (Surface Mounted Devices) components with a large iron. Once you have the main PCB separated, you click the LCD display loose and fold it away. After that use a tiny amount of solder to refasten the two contacts. Make sure that you also refasten the mechanical clamp that holds the switch firmly onto the PCB. Difficulty level: 7

Mijn favorite podcasts

In de wereld van podcasting gaan de veranderingen ook gewoon door. Zo verdwijnen er shows (podfading) en komen er ook weer nieuwe bij. Gelukkig maar dat sommige shows alleen af en toe een nieuwe episode uitbrengen anders zou ik nog moeten gaan omrijden om ze allemaal te kunnen blijven beluisteren tijdens auto- en trein ritten. Ik heb mijn echte top 10 podcasts rood gemarkeerd.

Wetenschap:

• Noorderlicht Radio
• NOVA on PBS
• NPR: Environment Podcast
• NPR: Science Friday Podcast
• NYT: Science Times
• Quirks & Quarks Science Show from CBC Radio
• Science in Action
• The Science Show
• Hoe?Zo! Radio

Technologie:

• NPR: Technology Podcast
• NYT Tech Talk
• PRI's the World: Technology from BBC
• BusinessWeek -- Technology & You
• Focus On Technology Podcast
• IBM and the Future of...

ICT:

• Security Now!
• IT Conversations
• Sybase podcasts
• FLOSS Weekly, Open Source
• Tech Vets
• This Week in Google
• This WEEK in TECH
• Windows Weekly
• Digital Planet
• Mike Tech Show Podcast

Business:

• Manager Tools
• LeanBlog Podcast
• BusinessWeek -- Innovation of the Week
• Peter Day's World of Business
• The Advanced Selling Podcast
• The Engaging Brand
• The Invisible Hand: Management, Economics and Strategy for the Thinking Person
• Thought Leader Podcast Series
• AMA Edgewise
• BNR Nieuwsradio - Specials en Programma's
• Das Abenteuer ChangeManagement
• Deloitte Insights Podcast
• Fireside Chats about Management and Leadership
• McKinsey Global Institute Podcasts

Overige:

• OVT Podcast
• RNW: Earthbeat: Radio Netherlands Worldwide
• TEDTalks (audio)
• Thinking Allowed
• Urban Learning Space Seminars
• NOW on PBS
• A World of Possibilities
• All in the Mind
• Chemie der Innovationen - BASF Podcast
• Futures in Biotech
• NPR: Education Podcast

Mochten er mensen zijn die het XML/OPML bestand met alle podcasts willen hebben dan kan ik dat beschikbaar maken. Laat dan even een berichtje achter via het feedback linkje links bovenaan de pagina.

How to think about science

Een podcast serie van Radio Canada. Het is een prachtige serie over de wetenschap. Wat de serie mooi maakt is dat er gekeken wordt naar waar het fout gaat en waarom. How to think about science.

Een andere podcast die ik graag beluister is die van de Britse journalist Peter Day. Peter behandeld maar een onderwerp per documentaire achtige uitzending. Peter Days World of Business

Een andere podcast zender waar ik naar luister is IT Conversations. Dr. Moira Gunn is een van de presentatoren. Zij verzorgt het programma Tech Nation.

Dit zijn allemaal Engelstalige uitzendingen.

Veel plezier.

Podcasts abonneren

Voor Podcasts (meestal een soort radio programma's) kun je ook RSS

feeds gebruiken. Dit is soms wat verwarrend want de zelfde RSS techniek om de headlines van berichten te lezen, wordt nu gebruikt om nieuwe podcasts van jouw favoriete programma's te vinden en die automatisch voor je te downloaden.

Enkele Podcast ontvangers

iTunes Ik gebruik zelf geen iTunes

Juice Oud en vertouwd voor mij en werkt prima met de iRivers

Ziepod Een nieuwe veelbelovende telg

Wat gebruik ik zelf?

Ik ben zelf in 2005 begonnen met de voorloper van Juice en gebruik Juice nog steeds. Het fijne aan Juice is dat ik scripts kan gebruiken zodat ik alle bestanden naar een tijdelijke directory kan sturen vanwaar ik ze eerst door mp3Gain haal (in een batch script) zodat alle programma's ongeveer even luid klinken tijdens het afspelen. Als speler gebruik ik (meerdere) iRivers. Het ideale aan de iRiver vind ik de gewone AA-batterij. Batterijtje leeg? Gewoon een nieuwe (oplaadbare) batterij erin en doorluisteren terwijl de lege batterij opgeladen wordt.

Bedrijven beginnen nu steeds meer gebruik te maken van de mogelijkheden van Podcasts en Vidcast (portable video) voor trainingen, bijscholingen en informatiedeling. De medewerker kan dan b.v. tijdens de autorit luisteren naar een presentatie van b.v. de verkoopmanager.

Ik weet dat ik nog niet heb laten weten HOE je je kunt abonneren. Dit artikel is meer om je te vertellen dát het bestaat. Heb je vragen? Stuur een mailtje of laat een commentaar achter.