[Norfolk Newby]

I love my  little MP3 player.

I used to hate working outside. It always seemed to be cold, wet, windy - but most of all - BORING!!

Now I just plug in my ears and off we go.

I have to explain a few details. I am OLD but I like a wide range of music. I also enjoyed loads of radio programmes many years ago:-

Hancock's Half Hour
Round the Horne
I'm Sorry, I haven't a Clue
Lines from my Grandfather's forehead
Journey into Space...

So when I found I could get these from BBC Radio 7 and load them on my player, I have hours of fun and amusement to keep me going through the long hours of harrowing my field or cutting down weeds.

My MP3 player is a very simple 0.5 Gb Sony one which uses an AAA battery to give many hours of playback. The 0.5Gb means I have about 8 hours of programmes loaded and I use my PC at home as my music library. I have converted most of my old vinyl records into MP3 files and usually listen to any CDs I buy via the MP3 player as well. The sound quality - to my battered ears - is excellent.

I also use my mobile phone's FM radio to listen to the afternoon play on BBC Radio 4, music on Radio 3 and similar broadcasts. But I find that I like the predictability of knowing what is on the MP3 player to the surprises of the radio.

My field is near one of the RAF's bases and it is often very noisy. I have a little 2 cylinder tractor which is also loud. So I often wear ear defenders and can use them over the earphones of the radio or MP3 player with good effect. The only downside is that I am 99% oblivious to the rest of the world. The defenders help keep the earphones from falling out as well!

Anyone have similar cultural aids?

NN

[doganjo]

Sounds a good idea - I get lonely when out walking my dogs as they just run and run, they don't walk with me they go hunting, so an MP3 player would be a good idea.  Must see if I can get one

[MrRee]

There are also a lot of free audio books read by some fantastic voices that are free to download. Apparently Stephen Fry lost 6 stone whilst walking and listening to audiobooks! The only problem I found when working with earphones in,is that to drown out the noise of the rotovator/lawnmower,I had to have the volume turned right up. Maybe for xmas I'll get earphones that actively block outside noise allowing for a lower volume level .......... Ree

[Lizmar]

Where can I download free books?  I just got an ipod shuffle only €45 (its for the gym!!! if I can get off my a..e and go - it's so boring), though I like music, I would really love to listen to books - as it were

[doganjo]

Me too - where did you get the shuffle - ebay?  Just going to have a look

[Lizmar]

No, I always get caught on ebay, I got it from Tesco!! Don't forget it was Euros.  You can also get them from Argos at the same price

[doganjo]

I've just bid on one on ebay - max £20 plus p & p, a day to go so will wait and see what happens then check tesco and argos if I don't get it.  I'd like to get the books link though.

[sandy]

Amazing technology can certainly add to our lives

[MrRee]

http://freeclassicaudiobooks.com/   http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/home   http://www.openculture.com/2006/10/audio_book_podc.html

There's three websites to keep you going. Just remember that if you have an iPod,you'll need an Mp4 file extension,Mp3 for everything else. Although I've found that when I download an mp3 and open it with iTunes,it automatically converts it.

Also,did you know you can download photo's and files onto your iPod,so it acts as an external back-up hard-drive? This means that you can download free books from say,the Gutenberg project,( http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/ ) and then read it from the screen on your iPod,whilst listening to your music too. Great for going on holiday with and not having to carry heavy tomes to see you through the weeks......... Ree

[Lizmar]

Wow just went on the audiobooks for free.  I think I will be able to plug myself in and off I go.  Will test it at home tonight

[sandy]

Makes my MP3 very old fashioned

[doganjo]

I've never had any of these as yet.

[Norfolk Newby]

I am impressed by the audiobooks. I have tried a chapter of White Fang by Jack London. It's a book I read many years ago.

A small point. My MP3 player is quite fussy regarding the file format it will accept. The Audio Sample Rate (whatever that is?) has to be 44.1 kb/sec. A lot of the iPlayer files download at 48kb/sec which doesn't work on my player. So, I use a free program called Audacity to edit and amplify any audio files I create or download. you can get a copy from:-

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

It can remove hiss and clicks from transfers off vinyl as well. Then set the Audio Sample Rate (which Audacity called 'Project Rate') to 44,100 and save as an MP3. 

Using this software, you can set the volume to a standard level by selecting the whole file and amplifying it. This means that all the recordings are at about the same volume. So you don't have to keep adjusting the volume control on your player.

However, you need to be aware that any recording over 10 minutes long will create very big files and may cause your PC to run very slowly. Just be patient. It will get the job done. My PC is about 4 years old and sometimes takes a while - particularly when creating the finished MP3 file.

Regarding the ear defenders. They cut out about 90% of the external noise and I can listen to my MP3 player even when the there is a fighter jet going over at about 300ft.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions. I think the audiobooks are great.

NN

[sellickbhoy]

i couldn't live without my ipod. I've one of the all singing all dancing ones.

Daily i get my podcast updates, i've loads of audiobooks (you can get good educational courses via the teaching company.) and i've something like 8000 songs on it

I also have a huge video library (about 400Gb of mp4 videos) this contains stuff like Yes minister/prime minister, rising damp, the simpsons, family guy, southpark, friends, Mock the week, QI, Dexter, Fast show, E.R. ach, basically jsut loads of stuff, i tend to simply download a whole tv series, convert it to ipod format and watch it all on my ipod when i am in the office working away

I can't go into a room without having a telly or radio/music on though.

But i love the mp3 players, makes going on holiday great, wee pair of speakers and my ipod and i can have all the music and entertainment i want wherever i am.

makes airports more endurable!

[ballingall]

My other half is very like you Sellickbhoy. He can't live without his ipod- he wears it for working outside all the time. Only problem is when I shout for help with something- he can't hear me!

The audio books are good, personally I find reading them myself a lot quicker, but I am a super fast reader. What I did find good about a month ago, is that I read all of the Harry Potter series for the first time. I also had them in audio on my ipod (which I inherited from Alex, and he had had them on there), incidently Steven Fry reads them on audio. And it meant that while driving to or from work, I could still be "reading" as it were the book I was on.

We recently got new speakers for the ipod, with a gel speaker- its fantastic and not out in the shops yet. Far better sound than other ipod speakers, and it charges up from your laptop instead of using batteries. If anyone is interested in one, get in touch- I can send you more info. Some of my team at work are selling them to raise funds for Maggie's Trust charity.

Beth