I bought the latest iPod Shuffle.
I already have the two previous models of Shuffle and have always been mightily pleased with their performance, sound quality, battery life, and robustness. (Pictures here (c) Apple Inc)
Their main drawback has always been that without any display screen one could never easily choose items to listen to. The 3G version of the Shuffle has now changed all that by incorporating voice feedback so that one can find out the name and details of the track currently playing, and one can also flip between albums. Add to that the 4Gb capacity and it becomes a very nice piece of equipment.
The tiny device, about the size of the little finger, can hold days of sound files. Ordinary MP3s or the highly compressed files from Audible can be loaded to provide a huge amount of entertainment. I generally listen to Audio Books or Plays which I have downloaded or recorded from the radio. By grouping their files into playlists within iTunes, then loading them onto the 3G Shuffle, one may flip between albums, books, and plays. It must be wonderful for visually challenged people who now can have a device which allows them to choose more easily what they listen to.
Now when I bought the device I was aware that all the controls for it are incorporated into the Shuffle’s special earphones. Not a problem if you only use it on the move but such a great piece of kit should be available to use with your own earphones, connect in your car, to external speakers, or to your home hi-fi system. I searched the Web for a solution and although various manufacturers were promising adaptors etc. none had actually begun to manufacture anything.
I eventually came upon a company called Scosche, located in California, who had designed a cable which would sit between the Shuffle (by plugging in to the earphone socket) and whatever other device you choose. It may be viewed here on their website.
Just an aside here about ear/headphones. I have always loved great sounding hi-fi and have spent money on my home system to achieve this. With the advent of the Walkman then later the MP3 player, listeners who wanted a great sound from their portable equipment generally had to buy third-party earphones as the sound quality from the supplied ‘phones has been less than good quality. Tinny is generally the word that springs to mind. It is a different story with the Apple iPod as their earphones have always been of an acceptable quality for the purpose for which they were designed. There is a lot of guff talked in the forums about “the low quality of Apple earphones” by folk who do no more than sit on the bus, roller-skate, jog, or exercise in the gym, with them stuck in their ears. The Apple earphones are good quality and are supplied along with the iPod at a price people wish to pay. If Apple were to supply ‘phones of high quality then instead of 60 quid for the latest Shuffle, or 150 quid for a Classic, they would have to ask for an extra cost of anything between £20 and £150 and I bet 99% of people who buy iPods are perfectly happy with the ‘phones supplied. I say this as I do not wish to be mistaken for an “earphone snob”. I do own very high quality earphones, bought so that I can shut out the noise on Airplanes whilst listening to music or watching a film on the iPod. My reason for finding an adaptor to go with the 3G Shuffle was mainly to be able to use it with all items in my hi-fi set up.
(Steps down from the soap box).
I emailed Scosche in the USA and asked if they would supply me with the cable when it came available and they put me on to their UK arm (Scoschedirect) which up to that point had not appeared in my Web searches.
Eventually after some production delays the “tapLINE” cable was delivered and I also purchased another device called the “tapSTICK”. This is a very clever protective case which fits over the Shuffle and has all the necessary controls on the outside of the case. It also has another earphone socket built in so that the device may be plugged in to external equipment.
Both items work perfectly and I would recommend them.