Ipod & speakers

[Sailormilan2]

I plan on getting an Ipod and would like to put some small 4" speakers in the ST's built in speaker boxes for intown use. I will probably have to use ear plugs for the road. I will be using MC Larry's Ipod holder and running it off the bike's power supply.
Now for the question.....................will I be able to run the small speaker direct from the Ipod, or will I need get an extra amplifier? If an amp is needed, what should I get?

 

[coldoughboy]

I will not be able to answer your question (I am sure that you will need some kind of amp with the speakers). I have messed around for two years and finally found a system that works for me. I bought a cheap headset from Wallyworld and cut off all of the plastic. I then positioned the remaining speakers close to my ears in my helmet. I use a new Ipod shuffle that clips to my shirt/jacket and the sound is great.

 

[Sailormilan2]

I was just down at CostCo looking at Ipods, trying to get a feel for what size I need. 2Gig($150), 4Gig($190), 8Gig($240), and trying to corrolate that with my stack of homemade CDs. I figure I have 60+ Cds I need to load, ranging from about 10 songs per up to 30 songs per.
Think I can load those all on a 4 gig, so I have plenty of tunes for the Moonshine run in April???

 

[Blrfl]

The rule of thumb for 128K MP3s is about 250 songs per GB. I have about 380 songs in one of my players and it takes up a bit over 1.5 GB.

My feeling on size is that if you have the extra cash, buy the largest one you can afford because the per-gigabyte cost goes down pretty sharply as you add memory (2GB=$75/GB, 4GB=$48/GB, 8GB=$30/GB on the iPods you're looking at). Most players can double as external disk drives, so the space you're not using for music may be handy for that.

Food for thought: Consider your power options. I travel with a couple of cheaper units that run on a single AAA that can be swapped out. I use rechargeable AAAs at home and take regular batteries when I'm away. It's a big plus being able to get fresh batteries anywhere and not have to look for a place to plug in a charger for four hours or carry around a dry cell pack. Built-in rechargeable batteries also have a finite life, and once they deteriorate, you pretty much have to chuck the whole device.

--Mark