Notes, grumblings and Questions on MP3-players in gene

Question

. A failing of (as far as I know)
any MP3 recorder (if an MP3 player can record MP3s, I call it an MP3 recorder)
are all those missing editing options available on MiniDisk: divide, combine, name and move tracks.
Since fragmenting is of hardly any importance on flash-memory, I really don't see why they don't offer it. Unless someone knows one that does?
2.Q: How good is the quality of this "direct MP3 encoding" compared to software encoders like LAME?
I suppose it's lower ('cause of the far lower computing power and 'cause energy consumption is a FAR greater issue than on home PCs)
but just how much lower is it's
Asked differently: At what bitrate do you have to "direct encode" to achieve approx. the same quality as 80kbs CBR via LAME?
3. "OLEDs are fascinating and are rapidly evolving, but have currently (July 2005) only a life span of 0000-5000 hours or 2-5 years".
(Translated) statement from reichelt-elektronik. So, don't buy an OLED-device yet if you want something really long-lasting.
4.Equalizer: Even on a HiFi stereo system, I'd consider it more of a gimmick (unless one doesn't have a PC - then it can be useful).
If I want a song to have a stronger bass or whatever (which I never did, so far),
then I'd use an audio editing software so the song always sounds the way I prefer it, independently from the playback device.
On a portable player, this function is just a nuisance, since I have to pay attention that it is 'not acti've' or 'normal'.
In addition, often a button is wasted/reserved for this function that could be put to better use.
[So, plea for opensource firmware here that'll let me reprogram such a button. Or alternati'vely, several different firmwares by Creative that cater to different types of customers (like me).].
Far more use than an equalizer, though propably more difficult to implement, would be a
5. Volume Compressor: (A function that narrows the volume range of a song, for example from 2dB-60dB to 55dB-60dB.)
Of course, your average pop song is already heavily compressed,
but if you're listening to some opera or other classical music, it would be great if one could increase compression when there is (a lot of) ambient noise,
so one can still hear quiet passages without going deaf on the loud ones.
Q:I've read that some players have a 'Smart Volume' function. Is that a compressor?
6. Who thinks that Artist-Album-Title is a great sequence for an MP3-player?
Maybe I'm a weird guy, but I've never thought "Now, I wanna hear Madonna." or "Now, I wanna hear ABBA."
Instead, I think like "Now, I wanna hear 'Goodnight moon' " (from whoever) or "Now, 'Music' "(from Madonna) or "Now, 'The winner takes it all' " (from ABBA).
So, to me, the title is by far the Nr. criterion. What do I care who's singing it's And though with pop songs, one often can't help knowing, I've got lots of folklore, oldies and more extraordinary stuff where the Artist(s) and Albums are "Unknown" to me.
What if you want to play a particular song? You don't just have to know who the Artist is and in what Album, but also what track number the song has, because on average, your player won't be able to display more than 'Artist' and part of the 'Album' name, unless each one is on a separate line, which usually isn't the case. (I know it's scrolling, but that takes time, and the longer the names, the more. Prelistening is usually faster).
So, even to those who know 'Artist' and 'Album', the display isn't of much use since there can be dozens of songs in a particular album.
[Again, plea for opensource firmware that'll let me change the display sequence, or many different firmware versions by Creative .].
Of course, I can still have my sequence by saving the track title in the 'Artist' column, but, well... I'm not very fond of the idea!

Answer 1

.) Well, most mp3 players are not dedicated recorders like MiniDiscs were intended to be, namely why they don't commonly come with this functionality.
2.) Guess it depends on the chipset used for the direct encoding I would imagine. I would think it differs from model to model.
3.) Most people won't keep an mp3 player for that long in my opinion. I have had 4 mp3 players in the span of about 3 years. Not to say they've all broken (only one has in fact), but I am a fan of new technology. As are most people. I would think the majority of people have no real care for this figure.
4.) Most people do use an equaliser. It's not a gimmick. It can instantly give a boost to a song when/if it is necessary. I don't personally use one, but it gives people the simplicity of using their player to implement certain presets without having to have any other technical know-how. Most players could do with some kind of memory system, where it remembers what EQ setting you used for a specific track, but it's not 00% necessary.
Also, I've never had a player with a dedicated EQ hardware button. Not that I've wanted one. There are players with configurable buttons though. I am pretty sure iRi'ver players and Cowan's iAudio range have players with at least one configurable button.
5.) No player I know has what you request. Smart Volume also generally is an overall way of making a track seem a different volume, it doesn't analyse separate parts. You could probably achieve what you wanted by running your mp3's through something like mp3gain.
6.) My Creative Zen Sleek let you view by :
Album > Track
Artist > Album > Track
Artist > All Tracks
Genre > Artist > Album > Track
I can even go into "All Tracks" and use the find feature to grab a specific track if I need to. Isn't this more than enough to accomodate the average person?