The Glory of Owning a Fiio Snowsky Echo Mini
I wanna start this by saying that I'm not really CRAZY about the “Dedicated technology” Trend. I think if you need to buy a bunch of someone else's old shit and really gas it up to make your life better, you have seriously bigger problems…
But all this to say that as a non-believer, a dedicated music player HAS changed my actually- quite significantly. I am most POSITIVE that it can change yours too.
My player of choice is the FiiO Snowsky Echo Mini, and it's got a great deal of my soul in it.
The importance of a good mp3 player in your life, I truly believe, comes down to when you're limited in an important way with the device- because of this, I have chose the Snowsky echo mini for its screen.
The screen is nothing special, intentionally in fact. If I was to buy a FAR nicer player, like the Hiby R4, with full android and a screen, it would DEFINITELY be far greater in quality and use-ability when it comes to almost anything. THIS is the exact kind of thing that kills an item as useful as the mp3 player- it NEEDS to be gimped visually.
You see, when a device like your phone **can** show you your bank statements, your crushes Instagram, porn, documentaries, and every podcast and album under the sun… Then it WILL show you all those things! And under our sun no less!
If you're buying a dedicated mp3 player, it's because your phone is a distraction, don't buy another distraction, that's dumb. The Echo Mini shows you EXACTLY what you need to see and not a thing more.
You have file name, time, and all the cassette UI garb, just enough to keep things pretty and not distracting.
Now the REAL super power of the dedicated mp3 player has, is being your personal chemical butler!
To explain… The brain like niche and specifically made things, the kind of rush that would send a wine mom crazy when she finds a record at the store labeled “music to listen to while drinking wine”. This kind of thing feels special, this curated soundtrack for the moment,.it's a nifty thing to have a lot of in your pocket.
The reason I use the term “chemical butler” is because you can use a very powerful playlist to steer your perception of the situation.
When I worked at Publix, I would be stuck mopping and squeegeeing the floor for hours at a time, huffing in harsh cleaning chemicals and messing up my breathing, it was hellish dull pain to work through- and funnily enough with just the single addition of “Walking on the sun (acoustic version)” by Smashmouth, I feel like a schlubny worker in the opening scene of a movie. It doesn't make my situation MUCH better, but just good enough to get me through the night.
With a VERRYYY good playlist, your MP3 player is like uh, like uh WEATHER changer for your hormones, you can get through a lot of things, and can make a moment special.
These are types of playlists I think ever person should make, and everything someone should keep on their mp3 player…
A very good rap playlist, gives you good lyrics to learn and use in public
(make sure this includes Project Pat, throw in some ScHoolboy Q, a little of the best Kanye, and most of BigXthaPlug's music will fit in fine.)
A very easy listening playlist
some reggae, bossa Nova jazz and some woodwind band stuff will get you through most rough evenings in life.
A playlist of your cringiest and oldest nostalgic music
surprisingly helpful on long car drives home by yourself.
A playlist for the morning
early morning walks and work for yourself
A playlist for the evening
most of your easy listening stuff can also go in here
A playlist for working out.
Some sounds for sleep
rainforest noises, puddles, babbling Brooke, brown noise, all that jazz, it's all good.
Some emotional support
don't care if it's self affirmation tapes, or if it's mommy asmr, whatever makes you feel better on a lonely and long day
A few audio books at all times.
Something familiar, something you've been meaning to read, and something you don't WANNA read but you're going to force yourself to, to get it done finally. Mine are Based on a true story by Norm Macdonald, Snow crash, and the first Lord of the rings.
Favorite podcast
Favorite podcast clips
-and I can't stress to you enough I'm only putting this here because of how many of the files on my mp3 player are just harmontown clips. harmontown clips rule my life and they are typically the soundtrack for most of the major events in my life. BRING. BACK. HARMON. TOWN.
A playlist for driving fast
2 Earth Wind & Fire albums
3 Supertramp albums
2 ELO albums (Time is a must)
The very best of The Alan Parsons Project
(that's the soundtrack of my life at Publix)
And I'm pretty sure that's just about everything you can put on an mp3 player to make your life incredibly better in every way I guess.
Yeah anyways if you're looking for a player it's like 69 bones, cheap enough to not get mad if it doesn't work, just expensive enough to know it's gonna work, good shit FiiO…
…Good shit…
-Dan
