MP3 Player help, if possible...

[alcoholandcoffeebeans]

i get asked a lot of questions about electronics because I'm 25 and i use a computer very efficiently compared to anyone else in my family and I've installed CD players, relatives home entertainment stuffs, and I'm a junkie with music on the computer...

so they always call me when they have a problem.
my aunt bought my 2 younger cousins this mp3 player for the holidays...

http://www.beachaudio.com/Coby/Mpc883-p-103219.html

they're 5 & 10, she told them if they learn how to take care of this and use it well, they could have a nano for their birthdays next year... don't blame her...

anyhow... i haven't gotten to play with this yet, i will tomorrow..
her problem tho, is getting music onto the drive.
it tells her that the music is there... then it's not when she tries to listen to it...
i may get there and figure it out... but i thought to seek out advice of the more electronically inclined...

anything will help me out, tomorrow, to figure this out... programs or anything...

thanks in advance for you help, guys and gals

[Guyute]

I would check the manual, a lot of the cheaper players require the music to be at a certain bit rate to play, that could be off.

[birdman]

How about the volume... :-P
I know its not much help, but start with the easiest solution first.
I went through this with my mom when she bought her first ipod.

[August]

It's most likely the file format.
iTunes uses .m4a instead of .mp3 files.
If they are using iTunes to rip CD's or buy songs from, they are gonna be in .m4a format.

I have an mp3 player thaat does the same thing.
If you open up the mp3 drive on your computer, you'll see the files there (it really is just a storage device) but it won't be able to play them.
The majority of mp3 players (aside from the iPod) don't play .m4a's.
a

[nab]

Does the player need a certain program to sync the music to it, like WMP (usually)?  Does it have a setting that allows you to drop and drag files directly into the player?



Aug- You must mean .m4a files won't play on most mp3 players.

[August]

Whoops!
a

[alcoholandcoffeebeans]

It's most likely the file format.
iTunes uses .m4a instead of .mp3 files.
If they are using iTunes to rip CD's or buy songs from, they are gonna be in .m4a format.

I have an mp3 player thaat does the same thing.
If you open up the mp3 drive on your computer, you'll see the files there (it really is just a storage device) but it won't be able to play them.
The majority of mp3 players (aside from the iPod) don't play .m4a's.
a

silly question, maybe....

but can you take mp4's back to mp3's?

[nab]

.mp4 or .m4a?


I believe you could go m??->wav->mp3, but it is a further lossy step.

[alcoholandcoffeebeans]

after playing around with it, it was the type of file and the bit rate she downloaded...
so i converted them and

VOILA!

thanks for the suggestions, everyone
i learned a lot teaching my aunt this stuffs....

[mattstick]

I think it's awsome that kids that young want iPods.   :-D