valid alternative to empeg?

I think personally from a sound quality point of view, a well-encoded mp3 playing back on an ipod through an aux-in to a decent headunit will probably sound just as good as an empeg.

The beauty of an empeg is the interface, there's nothing like it.... yet.

Much of this will depend on your listening style. If you tend to have a single mix that you keep randomized and repeat, a portable is a good match to that. There would be little interaction with the UI, and your capacity would depend on the type of player you buy.

For many people here, the ability to create extremely complex playlists, custom filters and nearly unlimited storage space does not allow a portable to be an option. If you are looking for playlists, searching, direct access to your music on any number of different criteria, an empeg is a better choice.

I have never used an iPod. There are some portable players that do have a number of very strong features and UI capabilities to them - such as the Karma. If you are looking to directly interface with a radio, you are pretty much limited to icelink and ipod, though. If you are going through an aux-in, you have more options, including an empeg mounted elsewhere in the car.

No matter what portable you use, though, unless it has extremely tight integration into the car head unit (think ipod and icelink only), any time you want to change the tracks, pause, etc., you will be "fishing" for the buttons on the portable as it wanders around your dash / console / seat. This is a really bad combination with driving! Make sure whatever solution you select has a good remote control option.

That is another reason the empeg is such a strong choice (admittedly from a biased user) - it is designed for in car use and the interface can be customized to your listening style.

Well, my listening style would be such that I keep every album in a folder of its own. That's about it, plain and simple. Like a shelf full of albums. I like to listen to the albums the way the artist intended. I haven't ever used a portable mp3 player, but I'm pretty sure they allow you to browse and play folders. I'm leaning toward the Creative Nomad.

As far as driving safety, let's just say I'll take the risk. I'm good at multitasking, and I don't need to do that much track switching anyway. Whether the controls are located in your lap or on the dash, you have to look away from the road either way to see them.

Not when you have four large buttons and a knob and a large (usually) bright screen. Compare that to the buttons on the unit your looking at and its tiny, dim, screen. A glance at an empeg will give you as much information as a five second stare at a handheld player.

If there's a long enough cord on the portable, he could hold it up high and directly in front of him, so that he doesn't have to take his eyes far off the road to operate it.

One of the things I liked about my '88 VW GTI was that its radio was mounted very high on the dash, so that I could operate it out of my peripheral vision without taking my eyes off the road. Now, in the Honda, looking down at the empeg (which, despite its clean UI, I still have to do sometimes), I have to take my eyes way too far off the road.

If I did a portable, I'd definitely use a cord long enough so that could lift it high up.

The ladies love wires all over your passenger compartment! It's a subtle way to get them to look at your package when you put the player on your lap while playing a playlist you made for them!

Sometimes they let out a sexy moan when the wires get caught in your seat belt. At least I think it's sexy.

Yeah, well they fawn over my purse with the Empeg logo stitched on it, too, so....

Just put a Coach logo on it and they'll beg to carry it for you!

You can almost always create playlists. Just not hierarchichal ones.

If you're going to try to integrate a portable player into a car system, your best bet is an iPod. There just aren't any compelling conectivity solutions for any other portable players at this time. And likely not going to be.

Keep in mind that if you want to upgrade storage on a portable player, the lowest cost option is to simply replace the entire player with a new one. There will likely be larger capacity iPods later in the year. An empeg can go to 200GB today. And to 240GB in a month or two.

Another option is the Dension player which features a removable drive which doubles as a portable player (it doesn't have a display when portable).

Bruno

The same way the winamp plugins do.

Volume knobs are easier to use than GUI slide widgets.

... I am bothered by the extreme volume variations between songs from different albums/artists. I've tried several different "volume normalization" plugins for Winamp, but none work the way I'd like. They all end up normalizing WITHIN tracks, meaning intentional volume dynamics within one song get ruined.

I think the only method that will do what you want best would be to normalize all tracks to a certain volume when you rip them from CD. Many rippers have this feature, and the option is usually a percentage (i.e., normalize to 98% of maximum). But that doesn't help you with all the encoded files you already have stored on your hard drive(s).

I don't use this myself, as I have always constantly fiddled with the volume. I find myself adjusting it all the time, even with different songs from the same album, in order to prevent certain frequencies from causing my interior paneling in the car to vibrate.

Ack. Terrible brain fart. I read those entries long ago. I understood them long ago, and made a conscious choice not to normalize anything. Ever. Long ago. And yet somehow I forgot all about that. Oops.

One more enlightened soul.