PocketTunes Vs. Aeroplayer -which is better?

[mich]

Which do you prefer?

[golalmo]

pocketunes !!!
'cause it can stream !!!

[gnaihc]

I am not saying which one is better, but I do notice one thing though. In AeroPlayer I can play/pause the music by pressing the JogDial while in PocketTunes I can't. Does anyone have other solutions?

[TechnoCat]

I did a very careful set of comparisons back at the end of September between the two. Keep in mind that this information is over a month old now; it's possible the landscape has changed. But at the time AeroPlayer was able to handle a substantially wider range of MP3 files and caused fewer problems with them. PocketTunes simply could not handle certain files, especially low-bitrate (spoken, such as old radio comedy) without causing pauses. And at rather lowish bitrates with aggressive VBR/JS-encoding PocketTunes introduced more artifacts.

These may not be relevant metrics to you. I didn't test any Og or non-MP3 files; all my files are MP3 because my portable I use for travel is MP3. Both players did quite satisfactory at the "near-CD" levels people usually encode at (112Kbps on up). I tested below those norms because my portable is used on long flights on noisey aircraft and I'm good with LAME so I tend to aggressively use every MP3 trick depending on how much it will affect the music - rolloffs, downsampling, different psycho-acoustic curves, always JS, and varying ABR rates - which impact AC/DC or Judas Priest a lot less than they impact Mozart or Savatage. And there's simply no reason to listen to Bob Newhart or George Carlin in high-bitrate stereo.

So my suggestion is, if you have a very wide variety of encodings and sources as I do, then AeroPlayer is the way to go unless PocketTunes has fixed the issues. But if you listen to pedestrian encodings, either one, and maybe even the stock Sony player, will work for you.

[lostether]

Originally posted by TechnoCat
But if you listen to pedestrian encodings, either one, and maybe even the stock Sony player, will work for you.

Gee, how condescending of you. You know, even progressive mp3 encoding is not exactly rocket science.

[Bad_Influence]

pocket tunes + streaming = winner

[TechnoCat]

Originally posted by lostether
Gee, how condescending of you. You know, even progressive mp3 encoding is not exactly rocket science. No, but significantly less common. Look up "pedestrian"; it isn't really a negative term. The definition in m-w as an adjective is "commonplace, unimaginative." Clearly the first description is dead-on to my sentence and the second one pretty much surmises why it may not be an issue to him.

Don't be so quick to attack. Take a chill pill. Relax. Not everything that could be taken as an attack or condescencion, is meant as one.

[markdaunt]

Hi,

I suggest you download them both and see which one you prefer / works for you.

I tried both but had problems with Aeroplayer so ended up buying PocketTunes and have not regretted it.

[Omnitron]

I just tried Aeroplayer. I had tried the built in player and was severely dissapointed that my VBR or low BPS mp3s were not going to work. But they DO on Aeroplayer! I'm definitely getting this...

Streaming is not needed for me...

[norcalredfire]

I have Aeroplayer but downloaded PocketTunes yesterday to test out the streaming.

I was able to connect to only one stream, the others just would not connect. I tried connecting both through bluetooth cell phone connection and then at home on wifi. I had no trouble connecting on my desktop, but the PocketTunes would not connect.

I think it may be a port issue because the one stream I was able to connect to was a port 80 stream, but that may not be the problem.

I have not had time to fool with it any more, but if anyone has had this problem and can offer some help, it would be greatly appreciated.

[mich711]

Thank you all for your responses.

[Jorge Torralba]

I had both and ended up with Aero. The number 1 reason being that when creating a play list with PT you cannot scroll to the right of the list to see the entire filename you wish to add to yoir play list. This can be a real problem if you have classical musice which need to be played in a specific order. With Aero, I can scroll to the far rright of my file listing and see the complete file name. If this has been aded to PT recently I would like to know.

JT

[lostether]

Originally posted by TechnoCat
No, but significantly less common. Look up "pedestrian"; it isn't really a negative term. The definition in m-w as an adjective is "commonplace, unimaginative." Clearly the first description is dead-on to my sentence and the second one pretty much surmises why it may not be an issue to him.

Don't be so quick to attack. Take a chill pill. Relax. Not everything that could be taken as an attack or condescencion, is meant as one.

You sound like a politician :D Actually the word is quite negative.

From the Pocket Oxford Dictionary:

N. person who is walking

adj. prosaic, dull, uninspired

synonyms:

adj. boring, banal, tiresome, commonplace, mundane, tedious, unimaginative, uninteresting, monotonous.

As a side note, I need to find a good landscape dictionary reader for my UX50.

[yOyOYoo]

I use Aeroplayer because it looks so much cooler and in my opinion the skins are much better looking.

can someone explain what "streaming" is? Does it mean that I can connect to my desktop via bluetooth and play mp3s that are on my desktop??

[TechnoCat]

Streaming means the music (or video) is sent byte-by-byte rather than file-by-file, so you can start listening before you've received the whole thing.

It's used for internet radio, so you can listen to music from somewhere else. Not usually music on your own desktop, though I don't know what PocketTunes is using it for.

[Omnitron]

If you can get you're stuff offline, I think on the power level alone you're going to be ahead.

If you don't have an external battery, the Streaming Wifi connection sounds like a good way to quickly deplete your battery...

[cosFFM]

Hi folks,

any updates here? Version 2.2 of Pocket Tunes looks real nice and supports the widescreen of the UX which AeroPlayer does not. I`m running the trial on both right now and have not decided yet. Though I am leaning towards Pocket Tunes. Like the console feature when running in background.

What about batterie life - Is one better than the other?

[TechnoCat]

When I tested them months ago they had about the same impact on battery life. (Although, lostether's pathetic illiteracy aside, AeroPlayer handled a much wider variety of encodings and got more usage as a result.)

Most of the time I had the LCD light off to save power; not sure I'd care much if it was widescreen, but AeroPlayer is falling behind that way.

[cosFFM]

Originally posted by TechnoCat
When I tested them months ago they had about the same impact on battery life. (Although, lostether's pathetic illiteracy aside, AeroPlayer handled a much wider variety of encodings and got more usage as a result.)

;-)


Most of the time I had the LCD light off to save power; not sure I'd care much if it was widescreen, but AeroPlayer is falling behind that way.

Thanks for posting, TechnoCat. I still have 10 days left on both trials - I`ll see how it goes.

[YOD4]

Why a large number of ux50 users prefer an esternal program to read the mp3 file ?
i think that the bundled player is not bad...

[klimson]

I prefer Aeroplayer-> equalizer:) for .ogg!
BTW. Anybody knows the full (480x320) skins for this app? Where can I find it?

[cosFFM]

Originally posted by YOD4
Why a large number of ux50 users prefer an esternal program to read the mp3 file ?
i think that the bundled player is not bad...

No, it`s not bad, but sometimes it does have problems playing certain mp3s at different bitrates where they other 2 mentioned players perform better. Also the file- and playlist handling is a pain with the standard player, don`t you agree?

Then there is no EQ and for me most important it can`t handle ogg files. I almost always use ogg because of the lower filesizes (but same quality) compared to mp3s.

A strong point for the standard player is that it makes use of the UX built in "power saving mode while playing music" ;-) whatever this feature is called..

Originally posted by klimson
I prefer Aeroplayer-> equalizer for .ogg!
BTW. Anybody knows the full (480x320) skins for this app? Where can I find it?

Yeah and AeroPlayer is free if you only use the ogg plugin. Pocket Tunes has EQ, too and it supports 480x320 (AeroPlayer doesn`t).

[norcalredfire]

Originally posted by YOD4
Why a large number of ux50 users prefer an esternal program to read the mp3 file ?
i think that the bundled player is not bad...

For me, the answer is streaming.

[Omnitron]

I tried the PocketTunes beta, but even though it played some low bitrate mp3s, it did it inserting a pause every so many seconds. Since what I was listening to was old radio and talk radio it wasn't that disturbing, but the same tracks played without pauses on Aeroplayer. They've definitely got something off there. I like the wide screen (better characters), but it isn't quite there yet...

[TechnoCat]

Originally posted by YOD4
Why a large number of ux50 users prefer an esternal program to read the mp3 file ?
i think that the bundled player is not bad... It doesn't handle low-bitrate files or VBR files. Those of us who travel a lot or know a lot about MP3 encoding and build our files aggressively using that knowledge quickly discovered that the internal software couldn't play many of our files.

Also the internal player is infernally picky about where files reside.

[crazy_smeggie]

I have tried both and for whatever reason, I had some trouble with Aeroplayer.

Then, I discovered the magic we call Shoutcast on PocketTunes and I have been a satisfied pTunes user ever since. :)


SMEGGIE :)

[blackdoc]

I just switched back to Pocket-Tunes having deserted a year ago, the selling points for me:
Widescreen
Streaming audio
any help setting up streaming guys? Do I need to simply type in the URL and connect using my Wifi or Bluetooth connection to www.shoutcast.com?

[blackdoc]

Pocket Tunes gets reinstalled in RAM when you use it if installed on the Memory card, that can casue a crash (similar to DTG6)

[crazy_smeggie]

Originally posted by blackdoc
I just switched back to Pocket-Tunes having deserted a year ago, the selling points for me:
Widescreen
Streaming audio
any help setting up streaming guys? Do I need to simply type in the URL and connect using my Wifi or Bluetooth connection to www.shoutcast.com?

What's up, Doc?

(sorry)

Search this forum on how to set up Shoutcast or try using the comprehensive FAQ that Saono kindly set up for the board.

That's how I learned how to do it. Look for a post from c0mm0n.

Good luck!

SMEGGIE :)

[cosFFM]

I just discovered AeroPlayer has a remote controle console as well! Accessible through the `Command`stroke/shortcut.

[blackdoc]

I rate Pocket Tunes up ther with DateBk5, this guy has done a wonderful job, I have spend all weekend listening to various stations from round the world quite effortlessly, I prefer streaming music to listening to my own collection, I have to convince the tech support guys at work tomorrow to allow me WiFi access,

[crazy_smeggie]

Well, I'll tell ya Doc...

If you listen to the Comedy station at work tomorrow, ya might want to keep it turned down a bit! (my favorite Internet station)

SMEGGIE :)