Chirstmas Suggestions: MP3 Players

  • Thread starter Thread starter Iceman
  • 94 comments
  • 1,794 views
I've heard there were problems with the headphone socket of the earliest Zen models, it's a fairly common problem.

One other advantage for the Nomad is that the battery is replaceable, so you won't have to send it back when it runs flat after a while. I've had my 60gb Zen Xtra NX for almost a year, without any problems and I used to use it every day back and forth on the commute to work. Although it doesn't get much use since I started to drive, but it's a very good product and the sound quality is the best i've heard from a portable device. Although, it's a bit big and clunky so I i'd reccomend the iPod if your looking for a small size and intuitive menus.

Oh I hated the standard headphones that came with both of them, although I just used my old worn Sienheisers(I can't spell that! Are you crazy? Obviously).
 
I like the iRiver a lot too. Have been looking at these things and the iRiver stands out by a lot. In my personal opinion anything over 4 gigs is more than enough btw as that's already over 600 songs at top quality.

I just bought a cheap ass Acer 128mb MP3 player/USB stick though (for 39 euro but remember every kind of equipment is more expensive here than in the U.S.), that's not too bad either. The selection of songs I listen to rarely exceeds that anyway. The sound quality is awesome, and it really does work as a USB stick too, I can even use it in my PS2 as a MaxDrive.

If I'd were to buy something more fancy though, it would probably be the iRiver - I've been tempted several times already.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and one other thing - the PSP may well be in my possession before Christmas. I pre-ordered one online and it launches 12 december. The PSP is completely region free, meaning that any game will play anywhere, and it's power adapter fits to both 110v and 240v sockets and has all the necessary plug converters.
 
Yea, I forgot to metion the the included headphones for just about any MP3 player are really terrible. I have yet to find an included pair that has anything resembling any type of fidelity whatsoever. I heard the iRivers are nice too but have not used one personally.
 
yea, iRiver used to come with a sennheiser knockoff. Sound was just as good... about as good as ear buds will ever provide. I think they regained the contract with Sennheiser, i'm not sure though.
 
welll days after posting how reliable mine has been it seems to have stopepd working for now. i can turn it on but i cant turn it off without taking the battery out. i can select some menus but when i try and access the main menu it stops working and i cant seem to play any songs on it. i was wondering if anyone knows where i oculd go to look for some help with this.
 
I too like Race Idiot have a Creative Nomad Zen Xtra 60GB, I've had it for about 9 months and its been used nearly everywhere... other than personal use, a DJ has used it at a nightclub, it's been used as the music source at parties/functions etc, connected into car stereo...

The scrolling is not as bad as many make out especially when you start using 'Find Artist/Track/Album' etc, you change change order of selected music etc... basically all what you can do with MusicMatch/WinAmp...

I finally got to play with a 4th gen iPod recently, and while it was only a short play, I'm glad of my Nomad Zen Xtra...

If you can get a 20-30GB one for $200 or less, you really can't go wrong...
 
At the moment, all mine does is play audiobooks.

Just a question, how do you have it hooked up to a car stereo? My old headunit used to have line in socket, but my current one doesn't and I don't want one of those silly FM Tuner things.
 
emad
get an fm modulator. It's the best sounding configuration you can use :)
Click to expand...

No, it's not i've tried them and they don't sound good. Plus I don't get that good reception anyway. 👎
 
fm modulator isn't hte same as an fm transmitter :)

the Modulator is installed inline to the cable between your antenna and the deck. When you turn it on, it completely bypasses the frequency it's set to by filtering out the signal coming in from the antenna and replacing it with what your mp3 player is providing.

The FM Transmitter is just that - it broadcasts your music into x frequency while doing nothing to filter out the radio broadcasts.
 
emad's solution is a good one for hard to solve applications. You still lose a tiny bit of quality when converting audio to an FM signal though, depends on how sensitive your ears are to that sort of thing. Direct connections always the best if possible.

Race Idiot, do have an OEM or aftermarket head unit out of curiosity? Most aftermarkets have RCA-type aux inputs on the back, and lots of OEM units have inputs for optional factory CD changers that might be used as an input for an MP3 player with an aftermarket product. I think there's a company called ice link or something that makes adapters like that, I can't remember without searching.
 
CFM
Race Idiot, do have an OEM or aftermarket head unit out of curiosity? Most aftermarkets have RCA-type aux inputs on the back, and lots of OEM units have inputs for optional factory CD changers that might be used as an input for an MP3 player with an aftermarket product. I think there's a company called ice link or something that makes adapters like that, I can't remember without searching.
Click to expand...

I have an aftermarket JVC Headunit, but I don't think it has that. If it had something on the back would it have another input button like this.

CD = Select CD Player
FM = Fm Radio
AM = AM Radio
Aux = Other output?

I'm sure I used to have a head unit in my other car with a front input ages ago.

What is an RCA output? Is that like a normal headphone jack?
 
Stinky Chicken
Okay, Mr. Mad. Something to test your knowledge.

iRiver or Creative Zen or Creative Nomad fr best quality?
Click to expand...
the Zen followd by Nomad then iRiver. They're pretty damn close though

@ the Idiot:
the RCA Input would be the same connectors as in the back of your tv... minus the video signal.
 
emad
@ the Idiot:
the RCA Input would be the same connectors as in the back of your tv... minus the video signal.
Click to expand...

Ahh, yeah I know what yer talkin bout like what you plug the TV aerial into. Hmm, looks like i'm going to have to remove the headunit.
 
Yea, if you have the RCA inputs, just get a headphone style (male) connector which splits into left and right (male) RCA jacks at Radio Shack. Plug the RCA's into the back of the head unit, and run the other headphone type jack to your MP3 player in your dash cubby, glovebox or wherever you want to have it while in use. I think it should be the proper line signal to go directly into the head unit. (someone correct me if I'm wrong here). If your MP3 player has an AUX out, use that instead of the headphone jack. I'm no expert on this stuff so don't take my advice as the absolute truth on this.
 
I'll have a look at my Headunit manual, but I don't think it has an AUX input. Maybe I should get a better one and a sub! It will me my christmas present to me! :D
 
One day I will own one of these for sure, I love it. Especially the direct mp3 encoded audio in is a boon for me, as it allows me to record voice, singing, concerts, music ideas I have, etc. so easy and nearly endless. Awesome. You could go to a 3 day music festival and just keep it recording (ok, you need to recharge the battery no doubt ... :D)

I still think this little device beats the iPod any day. Software on it is far superior too. At least, all the reviews seem to say so. I love the little thing. Unfortunately they only had the 40gb version last time I checked in my local store, and that was too much for me (370 euro). The 10gb version would suit me fine already.

Storage 10GB : H110
15GB : H115
20GB : H120
40GB : H140


General Continuous Playback Time Approx. 16 Hours
Connection Type USB 2.0
Download Speed Max. 480Mbps
Equalizer 5 Preset EQ(Normal, Rock, Jazz, Classic, Ultra Bass) & 1 User EQ
Dimensions H110, H115, H120 : 105 x 60 x 19 mm
H140 : 105 x 60 x 22 mm
Weight H110, H115, H120 : 160g (Including Battery)
H140 : 172g (Including Battery)
Operational Temperature 0°C ~ 40°C
Direct Encoding MP3
Voice Recording Yes
Line In Yes
Line Out Yes
Optical In Yes
Optical Out Yes

Audio Frequency Range 20Hz~20kHz
Headphone Output Power 20mW(R) + 20mW(L) (16Ω) at Max. Volume
11.6mW(R) + 11.6mW(L) (32Ω) at Max. Volume
Line Output Power 900mV(L) + 900mV(R), (47KOhm) at Max. Volume
S/N Ratio 90dB : A weighted
Frequency Characteristics ± 2dB
No. Channels Stereo (L+R)

File support File Type MPEG 1/2/2.5 Layer 3, WMA, ASF, OGG
Bit Rate MP3: 32Kbps ~ 320Kbps
Tag ID3 V1 Tag, ID3 V2 2.0, ID3 V2 3.0
Text File Type TXT

Video Main Set Display 160*128 Graphic LCD
Remote Control Display 4-line Graphic LCD, 128x64

Power Supply AC Adaptor DC 5.0V, 2.0A
Battery Internal Rechargeable Li-polymer Battery

O/S Windows requirement Window 98SE/ME/2000/XP
 
the iRiver H1xx series is being phased out. The h3xx series is just as good, has more functionality and comes with the same MSRP :)
 
emad
the Zen followd by Nomad then iRiver. They're pretty damn close though
Click to expand...

I'm all about quality, my friend. If that Zen has the best quality then Zen it is.

BTW...I'm noticing that the iPod isn't even getting a mention...
 
the quality difference is only noticeable - and even then barely - if you some rediculously high quality headphones like the Shure e5c :)
 
emad
the quality difference is only noticeable - and even then barely - if you some rediculously high quality headphones like the Shure e5c :)
Click to expand...

You know how you can't hear the difference between FLAC and 192kbps mp3? It's liek that for me, for some reason. Even though they sound the same, you're somehow reassured that FLAC is lossless, and you've somehow got better sound quality.

I'll go with whatever is said to have better quality, even if you have to have the sound up at incredistupid levels or something to hear the difference. That make sense to you? :lol:
 
actually, flac DOES have better quality even *if* your ear can't notice it. The reason being that flac operates on a zip-like compression whereas mp3 removes bits and bytes here and there to make the file sizes smaller.

That said, I prefer 128-192 kbps ogg vorbis to 192kbps mp3 because it somehow sounds a bit cleaner on higher end audio equipment. Frankly, I usually prefer ogg over mp3 simply because the 128kbps ogg is as good as a 192kbps mp3. Saves a lot of space on my mp3 player.
 
Race Idiot, the stereo of the car we were in was a non-cd stereo (it was a early 90's Jaguar XJ40), the person had a casette adaptor so he could play cd's with his Walkman, I simply connected the Nomad Zen Xtra as he did with the Walkman and presto it worked and charged the player...
 
overall they have most of the same features as the hdd players... but some of their cheaper flash players of theirs that i've seen have a slightly cheap feeling build
 
I have limited budget as of now, so I think I might be going for one of the iRiver 100 or 700 series flash player. Also browsing around came across and iAudio player. It seems like a little known brand.
 
what about the tape/casette thingy whereby you can connect the player to the car's casette player?

is it any good?
 
TsLeng
what about the tape/casette thingy whereby you can connect the player to the car's casette player?

is it any good?
Click to expand...

That's what we did with my Zen Xtra, just a 'normal' walkman-cassette adaptor (if you get what I mean), I didn't see the problem, both were 5mm.

It worked perfectly fine. Owner of the car is now considering changing his plans from a 10-CD stacker to a HDD MP3 player...
 

Latest Posts

Back