OT: 4 & 5gb Mp3 Comparison

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 12:30 am

Alright fellas...I had to bring this issue back up because I picked up the highly anticipated IRiver H10 today (5gb, color screen, fm recorder, etc.) and it is everything I had hoped for.

I was concerned that in the small form factor, I'd lose some of the sound quality that I LOVED about it's bigger brother, the H320. It doesn't have that problem at all. It is just as good. I have now sold my H320 and my Creative Muvo N200 because it's stupid to have TWO Mp3 players, one for the office and one for the gym. This one covers both.

So if I had to compare the H10 with the Ipod Mini and the Creative Zen Micro, it will win EVERY TIME. The functionality is rivaled by the Creative but then again, the Creative cannot compete when it comes to sound quality. The sound reproduction, especially the bass response, is far superior on the IRiver...which was the case with the H320 as well.

So all in all, if you've gotta choose the best sounding 4 or 5 gb player, the Iriver wins in a landslide. Only the Creative can compete when it comes to the feature set.

The one downside...the Iriver costs $279.99 (I assume it's more because of the beautiful color screen) whereas the Ipod Mini and the Zen Micro check in at $249.99. It just depends where your priorities are.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 8:39 am

I've often wondered why the 5gb players are just as much if not more than the 20 and 30 gb players. I bought my son a Creative 30 gig for Christmas and the 5 gb players all cost more than the one I got him.

What's the logic behind that? You would think...smaller capacity, smaller price, but that doesn't seem to be the case with these things. Why?

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 9:26 am

db:

Sorry for hi-jacking the thread, but would you recommend the new Ipod Shuffle for a casual user like me?

I want a player for my daily morning jogging session, I really don't need too much space on it nor want to spend $200+ for it. Size(small) would actually be more important for me. Maybe integrated FM radio?

Any recomendations?

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 9:37 am

Having the small form factor leads to more expensive micro drives vs. the laptop-style drives in the larger capacity players.

Quick question, do you guys actually use your FM tuners on your players? I'm probably a freak, but I'd much rather have an AM tuner. The FM dial is a freaking wasteland (we have a light of hope up here finally with a new station), so I'm either listening to talk radio or my mp3's.

I'll have to check out this new player, sounds sweet. But every time I look around, I realize how big the uphill battle is for non-Apple manufacturers in the 'misinformed' marketplace, which is the majority of it.

jlp - the shuffle should definitely fit your needs if you don't need/want an FM tuner. If you're entirely using it during exercise, you should go with the flash-based players. And since you probably won't spend much time fumbling with the player, the shuffle's screenless form shouldn't cause any problems.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 9:53 am

Dave:

I'd actually like if it had a FM tuner.
I see Creative has a flash player called Micro Muvo. The 512mb model is $129 and has a FM tuner. Looks like it has all I need.

Has anyone had experience with that model?

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 12:18 pm

jLp vAkEr0 wrote:Dave:

I'd actually like if it had a FM tuner.
I see Creative has a flash player called Micro Muvo. The 512mb model is $129 and has a FM tuner. Looks like it has all I need.

Has anyone had experience with that model?

Guess you didn't read my initial post. I had a Creative Muvo N200 (which is the better model) and it was badass for what it was...a small player that did pretty much everything, including very good sound quality. It has the FM tuner and all that stuff and you can get them up to a gig. It is pretty much the best flash based player out there, and it's DAMN small. I would recommend it if you don't want to have any more music with you.

Oh yeah...and skip the Shuffle. Why would anyone want a player without an external screen?

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 12:32 pm

Badgun wrote:I've often wondered why the 5gb players are just as much if not more than the 20 and 30 gb players. I bought my son a Creative 30 gig for Christmas and the 5 gb players all cost more than the one I got him.

What's the logic behind that? You would think...smaller capacity, smaller price, but that doesn't seem to be the case with these things. Why?

Smaller capacity = Smaller Device

The fact that you can buy 1gig Flash drives for 200 bucks drives the price up for the 4 and 5 gig devices too. Sure, it's nice to have 20 or 40 gigs worth of music with you, but not at the expense of the huge Zen Xtra. Can you imagine carrying that thing around at the gym? I'm the biggest proponent of the Zen Xtra if your biggest concern is cost to gigbytes of storage. If that's not your main concern, then there are much more functional albeit more expensive devices out there. The iPod is not on that list either.

Apple is winning the Mp3 war just because of the status symbol, not because they make the best devices. The sound quality is severly lacking and they are missing a few key features that make the other devices out there more appealing (FM Tuner, Voice Recorder, etc.). Now, I say appealing because I look for more features, not less. An FM tuner is a HUGE deal to me.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 12:36 pm

Dave wrote:Quick question, do you guys actually use your FM tuners on your players?

Yes, I use it daily. There is a talk radio show here in LA that I listen to daily and by having a tuner built into my player, I can just turn it on, rather than trying to find a radio to tune it in.

Dave wrote:And since you probably won't spend much time fumbling with the player, the shuffle's screenless form shouldn't cause any problems.

Sheesh...I couldn't imagine using a device that didn't have a screen. Sometimes a guy just likes to see what he's listening to. Plus, sometimes I put full albums on my player and I'd like to know what the songs are called if it's something new I haven't heard before. The Shuffle is ridiculous...I actually am quite surprised that even made it to market.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 12:57 pm

Thanx db,

I'm turn between the 256mb and 512mb versions of the n200.

256mb is $90 and 512mb is $120

I really feel 256mb would be enough for me since the FM feature will take lots of my time joggin anyways. I want to spend as little as possible but you think the extra 256mb are worth $30?

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 1:27 pm

jLp vAkEr0 wrote:I really feel 256mb would be enough for me since the FM feature will take lots of my time joggin anyways. I want to spend as little as possible but you think the extra 256mb are worth $30?

Yes I do. Think about it, you're doubling your capacity for only 30 bucks. It's worth it to me.

tsunami · Post by **tsunami** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 4:50 pm

Db -

Hard to keep track of all the mp3 players you had. When did you ditch the Creative Zen Micro?

I'm definitely interested in the H10. Anyway, how does the slide strip work out? I've read varying reports about it. Also, how is the UI as compared to some of the other players you've had (and you've seemingly had all of them)? What about file transfers? Is it drag and drop or do you have to use special software?

The biggest problem I see with this deivce is that it is not UMS compliant. IMO, that is a useful feature and should be included in all mp3 players. Apparently, the Asian versions are.

tsunami · Post by **tsunami** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 4:54 pm

jLp vAkEr0 wrote:Thanx db,

I'm turn between the 256mb and 512mb versions of the n200.

256mb is $90 and 512mb is $120

I really feel 256mb would be enough for me since the FM feature will take lots of my time joggin anyways. I want to spend as little as possible but you think the extra 256mb are worth $30?

You might also want to take a look at the Creative Muvo Slim and the iAudio U2. They come in 256, 512, and 1 GB (U2) and have all the other features you require. The biggest advantage for me with these devices is that they have rechargeable batteries. I hate having to replace AA/AAA batteries. I'm probably going to replace my current mp3 player with one of these just for that reason alone.

Also, Benq makes a line called the Joybee and they have some super small players that fit all of the same criteria.

tsunami · Post by **tsunami** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 4:59 pm

I think I might wait for this one:

Comes in 256MB, 512MB, and 1GB sizes, and sports a decently-sized color screen for looking at digital photos, a text file viewer, a battery life of about ten hours, and support for playback of Ogg, MP3, WMA, WAV, and ASF audio files.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:15 pm

tsunami wrote:I'm definitely interested in the H10. Anyway, how does the slide strip work out? I've read varying reports about it. Also, how is the UI as compared to some of the other players you've had (and you've seemingly had all of them)? What about file transfers? Is it drag and drop or do you have to use special software?

I didn't ditch the Zen Micro, it was stolen by my girlfriend. She had an Ipod Mini and she liked the Micro a lot better so we sold her Mini.

Anyway, about the H10. I'm not convinced that the touch strip is better on it when compared to the strip on the Micro. It seems like it's a lot more sensitive and there isn't a way to tone the sensitivity down, like there is on the Micro. It's by no means unuseable, but I just prefer the controls on the Micro more. The UI is very very nice and simple...better than that of the Micro and on par with the Ipod Mini (which does UI's better than anyone). I have no complaints there.

The files are drag and drop...I just have to figure out how to make the player play the songs in order of appearance on an album...but then again I haven't even cracked open the manual. I had to do some tweaking of the display on my H320 so I know there is going to be a slight learning curve with the H10. Overall, I am really digging the H10. Like I said before, the sound quality is what sets it apart. It simply cannot be matched on a flash based player (even the IRiver flash players).

BTW Tsu...there already is a player like the one you posted above...not sure of the brand, but it looked like a piece of crap in person. I'm not about to even test that one out.

injunwal · Post by **injunwal** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:25 pm

I picked up an H10 this weekend and so far I have no real complaints other than it putting the CD tracks alphabetical order.

db, you have a pm

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:30 pm

injunwal wrote:I picked up an H10 this weekend and so far I have no real complaints other than it putting the CD tracks alphabetical order.

db, you have a pm

The thing about the alphabetical order doesn't bother me much because I know that RedChair Software's Irivium will support the H10. Their software will take care of it...it did on my H320. I still want to get it working in the meantime....I haven't gotten too deep into it, like you Injun...I'll let you know if I figure it out.

tsunami · Post by **tsunami** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:31 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:

The files are drag and drop...I just have to figure out how to make the player play the songs in order of appearance on an album...but then again I haven't even cracked open the manual.

Apparently, you can't sort by track number...only alphabetical. It seems to be one of the big drawbacks of the UI.

It can (and probably will) be fixed by a patch.

Thanks for the info...

tsunami · Post by **tsunami** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:34 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:
BTW Tsu...there already is a player like the one you posted above...not sure of the brand, but it looked like a piece of crap in person. I'm not about to even test that one out.

I'm not sure when the Samsung player is coming out in the US. I think it is out in Japan already and is supposed to be headed here later this month.

Yeah, I wouldn't bother checking out imitations either. I'll wait for the reviews of the Samsung one. They aren't known for great mp3 players, but this one looks really cool and has all the features I would want in such a small package (as far as flash players go). We'll see.

I'm still debating about the Iriver for a HD based player. Keep up posted how it works out in the next few weeks.

dbdynsty25 wrote: The files are drag and drop...

Forgot to ask...when you say drag and drop you mean via software right? I didn't think this player was recognized as a mass storage device.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:47 pm

tsunami wrote:Forgot to ask...when you say drag and drop you mean via software right? I didn't think this player was recognized as a mass storage device.

The H10 is recognized as a mass storage device. You do not need software to transfer music to it whatsoever.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:48 pm

tsunami wrote:Apparently, you can't sort by track number...only alphabetical. It seems to be one of the big drawbacks of the UI.

The Irivium Software will probably take care of this. It did with my H320 anyway.

injunwal · Post by **injunwal** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:53 pm

Does the Irivium software work with the H10. It is not listed on the Red Chair site as compatible

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 6:10 pm

This is my favorite new toy.

I got this just after Christmas. It absolutely consumes me. Best of all, I got it free through the retailer promotion that I found out about at slickdeals.net. The thing retails for $350 and it truly is worth every penny.

Comes with a home kit, car kit, charging station, personal antenna and much more. Best of all, it has a Tivo feature that allows you to record up to 5 hours of music or 10 hours of talk. I bought XM Radio for mine and my wife's car back in September and we both love it. I got a 10 disc cd changer in my van and I haven't even turned it on since I got XM.

Between all the great commercial free radio, news, and sports, I listen to Opie & Anthony every single day.

To me, there is no kind of mp3 player that can compare with my MyFi.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 6:18 pm

Badgun wrote:Between all the great commercial free radio, news, and sports, I listen to Opie & Anthony every single day.

It's not commercial free in a technical sense...remember, you are paying a monthly subscription for the thing. Not to mention it's the size of a small VW Bug.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 6:19 pm

injunwal wrote:Does the Irivium software work with the H10. It is not listed on the Red Chair site as compatible

Like I said...it will. They are in testing right now (I have a direct contact over there) and it will be released shortly. It took them around a week and a half to make it compatible with the H320 after it was released. I expect the same with the H10.

injunwal · Post by **injunwal** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 8:09 pm

I found a "work around" to playing songs in the album order.

Navigate to the Browser Menu ---> Select Music ---> Select the Artist ---> Select the Album ---> then select which song to start with.

Here the songs are ordered by track number and not alphabetically.

So basically the same steps as going through the music menu but using the browser menu instead.

db, I cannot figure out how to load anything under the Playlist menu. Any help would be much appreciated