Stand alone MP3 player?

Johnboy2978 · Mar 18, 2011

Hey Guys,
I'm looking for a nice stand alone MP3 player for my den. All I seem to be able to find is stuff like an iPod though. What I'm looking for is a nice high-end unit similar to a Bose Acoustic Wave music system, but instead of a cd changer, an incorporated internal HD with a decent size. I've got only about 30gb of music right now. I don't want to stream it, I just want it all contained in a single unit. Does anyone know of such an animal? I even wrote to Bose to see if they had anything like that in R&D but all I got was a snotty letter saying they don't disclose such information.

Stutterfly · Mar 23, 2011

^ Strange response from Bose.

I don't know of such a beast, sorry. I have a Creative Zen Vision M 30gb but I only use it with headphone...never plugged it into a speaker system type setup.

Patrice · Mar 25, 2011

A half hour with google did not offer up any units like you describe ready for purchase. There are a few sites that offer instructions and examples on how to cobble your own. Not really that complicated if you are at all handy and a tinkerer at heart.

Personally I've been using an 80GB ipod connected to a set of Bose Media Mate computer speakers. This really fills a regular sized room with full dynamic range music as loud as you can tolerate, and have a very small footprint. Another option that works well in my den is the same ipod on an Apple 'boom box' (sic), same sort of functionality as the Bose ipod dock. Full remote functions plus charging plus ac/dc operation. And a roomful of sound.

Patrice · Mar 25, 2011

Stutterfly said:
^ Strange response from Bose.

I don't find it at all strange that Bose, or any company for that matter, would not want to openly discuss their R&D activities. As to the 'snotty' part, we only have the op's opinion of 'snotty'.

Johnboy2978 · Mar 28, 2011

It was just the standard canned response which I'll attach below. I don't why I expected anything else really. Anyway, I'm really surprised that these aren't on the market. Bose could do it quite simply with a retro fit to an existing product. All I want is a HD w/ attached speakers and a power source other than batteries, a jog dial and a display for the current folder and track. I too use the iPod and Bose PC speakers but it has a ghetto feel. You would think in 2011 every company would have a model or two for the home system. Quite a hole in the market if you ask me.

Anyway, here was their response:
Thank you for your interest in Bose Corporation.

In keeping with our philosophy of "Better Products through Research," we have and will continue to introduce new or enhanced products. As a research driven corporation, we continually strive to develop and market new products to address the changing needs of our customers.

We never speak about products still in development for a number of reasons. We believe that to discuss a product that has not been officially released is a "disservice" to our customers. Any number of influences (UL, Government regulations, technology shifts, etc.) can affect the availability of future products, as well as eliminating a product from final production completely.