MP3 Player Accessories – Which Ones Do You Need?
The market is flooded with MP3 player accessories. Visit any electronics shop and you will find their shelves stocked with all brands and styles of headphones and ear buds, speakers with docking stations, home and car chargers, FM transmitters, and protective cases. All of these can either enrich your enjoyment of your player or protect it from unnecessary damage. Which type of these accessories do you really need ultimately depends on you, or even if you really need them at all.
Let’s start with the earphones. Real music aficionados will probably not be happy with the earphones that come with most MP3 players. These are designed for the average listener who doesn’t mind if he misses the highest tones and doesn’t get a heart-pounding bass. If you are not happy with this, get a noise-cancelling earphone for lesser interference when listening to your music. Go for soft earbuds as these are more comfortable.
Ear doctors do not recommend prolonged listening to music on earphones. Unless you want to risk losing your hearing, get a speaker. There are plenty of speakers in the market with excellent sound quality. Some are small and portable that you can bring with you to the beach or any place where other people won’t be bothered by your music. Choose one with a docking station that recharges the player’s batteries.
Most MP3 players come only with a wall charger so that if you have a car and you like to listen to your player while driving, it is advisable to get a charger that plugs into the car’s cigar lighter socket. Even on long drives you will never run out of power. If you drive only short distances, at least you don’t deplete the batteries while you are in the car. Of course if you are too young to drive a car and all you have is a mountain bike, you don’t need this.
If your car has superb speakers but the stereo does not have a jack to connect with your player, you may want to buy an FM transmitter. Connect this to your player and after identifying an unused frequency it will start transmitting music over the airwaves. Tune your radio to that frequency to pick up the signal and play it on the car’s stereo system.
Plenty of cases that are made of different materials are available. Some have belt clips while others have armbands. Still others are plain cases, solely for protection from scratches. If you like listening to music while working out in the gym or running in the park or on tracks, you will want an armband; but if you are fully dressed, belt clips would be more suitable.