How is the NC for music?

[taosaur]

The title says it: I'm interested in getting my music and books on one device, ideally with internet access, and not the same device I'm using as phone/text/PDA. The NC looks like a good contender, with android as a bonus, but I haven't heard anything about music playback.

I'm a low-to-middling audiophile--stock iPod earbuds don't cut it, but standard mp3s on my old iPod Video with $20 Skullcandy buds was fine. Is the NC up to that standard?

I'm not sure now whether I'd root/flash the NC, either, so feedback on the included music player(s) is welcome, too.

[NoName]

I don't know how it compares with the sound - unless it's really bad my ears can't tell he difference.

What really bugged me was not being able to create playlists with the stock music player.. After using iPods of one sort or another, a playlist was a must have. After rooting, I went through almost all the players I could find in the Market and settled on MixZing. Don't like how it plays videos (not full screen) but I can live with it as a music player.

[taosaur]

I hardly use playlists--as long as I can shuffle and search by album/artist/song I'm okay. Can you not even load playlists from your computer? A lot of music players don't let you create playlists on the device.

[DuncanWatson]

It is the stock android player. You can easily create playlists, just list the song filenames sans path in a text file (extension .m3u). I have created a number of playlists and use them on my nook color without any issues.

[GreenMonkey]

I like it, rooted, with winamp installed. (my favorite android media player right now).

The stock player is...manageable.

[tubemonkey]

I don't load music on mine. I use a Sansa Clip+ for that purpose. Occasionally, I'll stream music off the net. Device size is the main reason for my choices. The Clip+ is always with me.

[richard_iii]

I've been using poweramp on my rooted nook color. Picked it because it supports flac files, but a few files seemed to be a bit distorted

[taosaur]

Well, just so the answer is out there for the anonymous googler (or MR browser), audio on the Nook Color is terrible. It's easily the device's worst quality.

My only headphones at present are some worn-out Apple earbuds, and I used them once to listen to an audiobook--the only thing I noticed was that the volume was quite low, but otherwise I won't base any impressions on that experience.

Today, however, I decided to compare some music player apps for sound quality, and tried out the NC on three different sound systems in the process:
1) The Nook Color's speaker.
2) Lined in to an iPod dock with an unshielded 3.5mm-to-3.5mm cable.
3) Lined in to a shelf stereo system with a 3.5mm-to-dual-RCA cable.

Okay, the built-in speaker is crap, obviously. It's tiny, points backwards, and there's only one. My cell phone speaker can drown it out, though the sound is marginally better on the NC. It's actually halfway impressive the sound quality they get out of the tiny speaker, but I still couldn't imagine using it for music. It's serviceable for tv shows, but I would probably still pop in earbuds if I had them handy.

Connecting to an outside sound system was what really underwhelmed me. For the two systems I tried, the NC produced drastically lower volume than anything else I've ever plugged into them. At what would be a loud volume for my phone, iPod, or an instrument, the NC's output (at its maximum volume) was barely audible. With the systems cranked to achieve an ambient volume, the sound was tolerable, but washed out in comparison to other sources.

There was also occasional skipping or stuttering in playback, which is really odd considering how well the thing handles video.

I'll give it another go when I have some decent headphones, but so far the answer to my question:

Originally Posted by taosaur

I'm a low-to-middling audiophile--stock iPod earbuds don't cut it, but standard mp3s on my old iPod Video with $20 Skullcandy buds was fine. Is the NC up to that standard?

No. No, it's not.

[khalleron]

Well, I have a minor hearing loss, so YMMV.

I haven't tried to listen to music on it, but I agree that the included speaker is crap. Even turned all the way up, I have to strain to listen to it when watching videos or listening to old radio shows (awesome app for that in the Market called OTR Player, if you like that sort of thing). I nearly always plug in some headphones. Even so, I usually have the volume turned on the way up, so there's not much leeway.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by taosaur

Connecting to an outside sound system was what really underwhelmed me.

I use a set of small, powered speakers - GrandMax Tweakers - whenever I need audio. They more than satisfy my needs for video or an occasional audio stream.

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I use a set of small, powered speakers - GrandMax Tweakers - whenever I need audio. They more than satisfy my needs for video or an occasional audio stream.

In most situations where the speaker won't do, for me, headphones would be more appropriate anyway. Out of curiosity, though, have you tried plugging your mp3 player or any other device into those speakers? Do you find the NC puts out far less sound, like roughly half the volume?

[WillysJeepMan]

Originally Posted by taosaur

In most situations where the speaker won't do, for me, headphones would be more appropriate anyway. Out of curiosity, though, have you tried plugging your mp3 player or any other device into those speakers? Do you find the NC puts out far less sound, like roughly half the volume?

I have found that the nook color puts out about the same volume as my other devices (tablets, mp3 players, portable games systems).

One thing that I DID notice is that when inserting headphone cable into the headphone jack on the nook color, there seems to be a "natural" stop where it feels like the plug is fully inserted. It feels like it is in securely, but there is about 1/8" of the plug exposed. But it is NOT fully inserted.

I had to exert a fair amount of pressure (for a headphone plug) to get it to "snap" fully in.

This sounds silly, but are you inserting the plug fully?

Don't know if it matters, but I'm running with the autonootered 1.1 firmware.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by taosaur

In most situations where the speaker won't do, for me, headphones would be more appropriate anyway. Out of curiosity, though, have you tried plugging your mp3 player or any other device into those speakers? Do you find the NC puts out far less sound, like roughly half the volume?

You're right. I just tested my four toys. I set the volume at max on each one:

• iPod touch 4 - loudest by far
• Sansa Clip+ - almost as loud as iPt4
• Nook Color - quite a bit lower than iPt4 and Clip+
• Kindle KSO - a bit lower than the NC

Funny thing is that when playing off the built-in speakers, the Kindle easily has the loudest volume (note: Clip+ does not have built-in speakers).

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

One thing that I DID notice is that when inserting headphone cable into the headphone jack on the nook color, there seems to be a "natural" stop where it feels like the plug is fully inserted. It feels like it is in securely, but there is about 1/8" of the plug exposed. But it is NOT fully inserted.

I had to exert a fair amount of pressure (for a headphone plug) to get it to "snap" fully in.

This sounds silly, but are you inserting the plug fully?

Don't know if it matters, but I'm running with the autonootered 1.1 firmware.

I'm running the same firmware. I heard no difference between the "natural" stop and fully inserted.

[taosaur]

Yes, I fiddled with the plug pretty extensively, and other than exposing some shorts in the cheaper cable, no results.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Kindle KSO - a bit lower than the NC

Well, at least I know there are devices out there with worse sound, though Amazon makes a point of deeming the Kindle's audio features "experimental." I guess all the audio devices I've used up 'til now, including my last couple phones, were at least somewhat music-optimized. I didn't realize how low the floor is for audio performance on multi-purpose devices.