Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Playing MP3s on a DP

I want to be able to play MP3s on my DP rig. That's so that I can play along with a piece of music.

Right now, the Clavinova will accept a thumb drive. I can copy MIDI files from my computer to a thumb drive, and then plug the thumb drive into the Clav's USB port. The Clav will play the MIDI files, and I can play along. But the Clav won't play MP3s.

Since I play the Clav through an external amplifier and speakers, I could play the MP3s on my laptop, feeding its audio output to the amplifier, mixed with the DP's output. But that's inconvenient. (I don't ordinarily keep the laptop near the computer. And anyway, I don't want a lot of "rigging" in my living room.)

Instead, I could hook a small MP3 player into the amplifier, mixed with the DP's output. That entails less "rigging" ... MP3 players are small, and the connection requires nothing more than an audio cable.

So I'll just need a simple MP3 player ... preferably a very inexpensive one. I don't need lots of storage. I need only store a small set of MP3 files, so storage size is not important.

Any recommendations?

PS: I can't tolerate an ipod. Had one. Junk. Typical Apple crap. Does any other maker have something simpler, cheaper, better?

Some digital pianos allow MP3s to be played back directly on the instrument. I believe Roland offer this functionality, and I expect other manufacturers do also.

Anyway, to answer your question, I believe the most inexpensive MP3 players are those that do not actually feature any onboard memory, and instead simply playback files directly from an SD memory card.

For example:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/SnowFox-XT105-Card-MP3-Player/dp/B000F9TD1S



I personally believe the iPod is actually one of the best MP3 players available. I am not terribly fond of iTunes (on Windows at least), however there are plenty of alternative programmes to transfer songs to and from the iPod.

Cheers,
James
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Thanks KJ. I'd never heard of an MP3 player that uses an SD card for storage. Nice idea. Your link points to a UK site. I'll just have to see if I can find something like that here in America.

BTW, I didn't know that there are DPs that can play MP3s. (But that isn't an option with the Clav, eh?)

Side note: I wonder why there are MP3 players anymore? All you really need to have is an SD card. Then ...
- Your phone has audio capability. Just plug in an SD. Music.
- Your stereo has audio capability. Just plug in an SD. Music.
- Your TV has audio capability. Just plug in an SD. Music (and video).
- Your car has audio capability. Just plug in an SD. Music.
- Your computer has audio capability. Just plug in an SD. Music (and video).
It seems that the only thing you need to carry is an SD. The audio system is already there, wherever you go. Just carry the SD. But ... when will they make that a reality??

Anyway ... to the other folks out there. Do you know of a unit like the one James suggested, that's available in the US?

If there is something about the iPod you don't like then you'd better tell us otherwise we are likely to recommend an MP3 player that has this same feature you dislike. That's because almost all mp3 players are copies of the iPod but just made and sold at lower cost. I'd hate to recommend to you a cheap iPod wantabe. If the iPod is "junk" you will be hard pressed to find better quality. All of Apple's competitors compete solely on price so you can expect things like thin aluminum skins that dent or plastic rather then glass screens.

For you use I think the ideal would be a last generation used iPod. These sell for "way cheap". Maybe $25 to $35

One more thing. Sound quality. Are MP3s good enough or do you need a losses format. Many people with good ears are driven nuts with sonic artifacts and others don't seem to notice. So, do you need to play WAV or FLAC files?

I recently bought a Cowon brand MP3 player. It works well, though it's a bit quirky to load from a Mac. On Windows it has actual supporting software, which would probably make it work better.

You didn't mention which Clavinova model you have, but some are capable of playing .wav files from a thumb drive. Worth checking anyway.

If you want the cheapest way to play mp3s, you probably have all you need, already, on your mobile phone.

MacMacMac,


I checked Amazon.com briefly also, but was unable to find the same product. I'm sure you'll be able to find something similar at any reasonably sized electronics retailer.



Yes, some Roland instruments have supported this feature for a few years, while new Yamaha (CVP-505) and KAWAI (CA, CP) instruments also offer this functionality.



What about when you wish to listen to music on the move - in between the 'where you come from' and 'where you're going' stages? I love listening to podcasts while cycling, for example.

Cheers,
James
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I have a CLP-240. The manual doesn't say anything about mid files, although it plays them. Neither does it say anything about mp3 files or wav files. It won't play mp3 files, but I've not yet tried a wav file. Maybe I'll try that tomorrow.

But ... even if the Clav can play audio files, I still think I'll need an external player. That's because the Clav has no FF or REW controls. Come to think of it, it might be useful to have an MP3 player with the "A/B" functionality found in CD/DVD players.

Thanks.

I couldn't find that unit here in the states. Instead I found the Sandisk Sansa online. It costs about $45 (because it has 4 GB of onboard memory).

But I found another solution ... quite by accident.

While unpacking the Christmas decorations today, I found a small Sandisk MP3 that one of my daughters left behind when she moved away. Runs on a single AAA battery. Has 256 MB of memory ... plenty enough for what I need.

I hooked it up and it works. Just dump some MP3's from the PC into the player, take it to the piano, and plug it's headphone output into the amplifier. Works fine.

Better yet, this unit has the A/B capability. I can mark any start point and stop point in a piece, and that segment will play repeatedly. That's just what I need when learning a difficult piece. (Most of them are difficult!)

Thanks again for the idea, KJ.