The Reviews
Rio Karma - 20 GB -
discontinued
This player has been my first serious player. It features great controls, the famous Rio Avalon interface that has been recently integrated in Trekstor Vibez. It's able to create and edit playlists on the go, and modify the order of songs played with shuffle, at owner's will.
The equalizer was good and bad. I only used the Bass preset, and it was very muddy. The 5-bands custom equalizer, instead, makes people obtain every combination out of it, since it can be tuned on every frequency.
It had become a legend on headfi, but sound quality-wise it brought a lot less details than my first Kenwood (the HD20GA7), and even slightly less details than the Muvo V200. By that time, I used the Sennheiser CX300 with all the three players. Soundstage wasn't very good as well. On one of my reference songs, Moss Garden by David Bowie, there is a plane sound that goes behind the listener, from left to right. With the Rio Karma, there was a dead angle behind me, so I could hear the "plane" passing from a channel from the other.
The Karma didn't have any hiss, but it often had a random spinning sound, due to the hard disk mechanics.
The Karma suffered from HD issues. My HD broke after three months. Other issues seemed due to the battery, and its shortening life.
This player is very thick, and unconvenient to take out of the pocket.
The Karma is gapless, but actually a very small gap is easily audible in live albums.
Battery life on this player is 8 hours (poor).
It has a lineout cradle, though it isn't praised for its quality (iPods should be better).
Further info:
dapreview.net's "1000 Things about the Rio Karma"
Creative MuVo V200 - 256 MB -
upgraded to new models
This is my very first mp3 player. When I passed from the MuVo to the Karma, I didn't notice any improvements. I thought I wasn't audiophile at all, since the Karma was so greatly praised at that time. When my Karma broke, I came back to the MuVo for few weeks - before buying the HD20GA7. I was surprised, to say the least, by the fact that I could here more details than on the Karma.
Today I can say that the MuVo, amped with a Xin Supermini can easily rival both Kenwood players.
It can be used as USB drive (without the cable). The equalizer has 5 bands, and is more effective than the EQ on both Kenwood players. Each band has 10 possible levels, from -14 to +14 dB (a LOT).
The MuVo is the only player I have never sold, and it's the player I come back to, each time that I sell my main player to try something new.
Kenwood HD20GA7 - 20 GB -
discontinued (but easy to find at online shops) - Price: 289$-429$
Output power: 6mW+6mW
This player is my first true entry in Hi-Fi world. It's the first "toy" which allowed me to actually hear differences in sound. I'll resume some of my previous takes about it. I came from MuVo and Rio Karma, at the time, and still using the Sennheiser CX300.
"It’s lovely to listen to my songs: this dap makes them much more musical, and alive. It’s like a concert in which you can hear every single note and how they become part of something superior. [...]
Instruments are more distanced and songs are much more detailed.
Each note is crafted precisely."
What surprised me, at that time, was the Bass equalizer setting. It wasn't muddy at all.
"When a song shows a bass component, it is underlined making it more impactful, adding some power and vibration to the notes, without touching any other frequencies."
The Kenwood has clean bass and a slightly warm tonal balance.
Soundstage, like can be easily understood, is much better than Rio Karma's. David Bowie's "Moss Garden" plane sounded around me without any interruptions, nor dead angles.
Custom EQ is almost useless. It basically boosts all frequencies over/under certain fixed frequencies. I didn't like it.
The hiss is a real problem. With sensitive IEMs like d-JAYS (116 dB/mW sensitivity) and Shure E500 (119 dB/mW), it was easily audible when at home. The ER4P and Sennheiser CX300 are more forgiving, and the hiss could be heard only during quite passages. No worries from hiss on the road.
The interface isn't nearly as good as on the Rio Karma. I could make playlists only using Kenwood Media Applications, for example. Unconvenient.
The Kenwood Hd20GA7 doesn't have a lineout, but it can possibly sound better than iPod's lineout.
Further info:
My first Kenwood HD20GA7 review
Kenwood HD10GB7 - 10 GB -
currently available - Price: 300$-389$
Output power: 8mW+8mW
I traded my HD20GA7 for a Kenwood HD10GB7 to achieve more portability. The HD10GB7 features the Supreme conversion, to recover the high frequencies that are usually lost while playing music from a portable, but at the expense of any possible EQ-ing. It was no good for my Etymotic, since they needed a strong bass boost in order to sound lively, and not thin.
The HD10GB7 has slightly wider soundstage than his predecessor, and a three band EQ with switchable frequencies (better than the HD20GA7). Actually I never used the custom eq, since it is still poorly effective. Though, I become keen on the Rock preset, which made my Etys sound much more lively and natural than the Shure E500 (see also:
Clash of Kings: Etymotic ER4P vs Shure E500 (and d-JAYS appearance)).
The hiss is the same on the HD10GB7 as it were on the HD20GA7.
Due to the small size, navigation is less convenient (and slower) than with its older brother.
I tried to amp the HD10GB7 with a Xin Supermacro LE. Sound signature remained pretty much the same, but I found useful to add Supermacro's bass boost to the chain (and over the Rock preset). The Etys sounded amazing, with bass that could be boomy when required.
I sold the Supermacro (too expensive to keep) and I couldn't go back to normal listening. Like I said to a fellow headfier, "After having sold the Supermacro, Kenwood + ER4P sound like if a crippled limb is being thrown to a wall".
This is what made me sell this classy and small player, in order to look for something with better sound options.
Still, it was the best combo I tried 'til that moment.
Like the HD20GA7, the lil' Kenwood doesn't have a lineout.
Further info:
Kenwood HD10GB7 amped with Xin Supermacro LE
JVC Alneo XA-HD500 - 6 GB -
discontinued, still available at some online shops - Price: 235$ (Japan) - 289$ (eBay)
Output power: 5mW+5mW
I was very interested in this player. The only other person who tried it on Head-fi, FenderP, sold it because it wasn't gapless (like all players but the Karma and Trekstor Vibez, actually, and Rockboxed players), but found it was the best player he ever tried.
I tried a selection of songs to AB against my neighbour's HD20GA7. I used the ER4P with both players without equalization. What I found at the very start was that the JVC was at least as detailed as the Kenwood (and, for prejudice, I was sure that the Kenwood was unbeatable in details). It took me a little more time to realize that the XA-HD500 is actually
more detailed than the HD20GA7, especially in midrange, where I could discover more vocal layers in some songs that I used to think I knew well. Highs are slightly more sparkling on the JVC than on the Kenwood, while sibilance is slightly less, or perhaps the same. They are not sibilant players, anyway. They manage well treble peaks ("Radiohead - Subterranean homesick alien").
The JVC sounds slightly flatter than the Kenwood. I think the latter's lower midrange is a bit more pronounced (other people here think the Hd20GA7 is on the "warm" side).
Soundstage is on par with the HD10GB7, possibly wider ("John Cale - Dying on the Vine" is amazing) and more out the head (especially vocals). The JVC passes effortlessly the "Moss Garden" test, like expected.
This player still has hiss, but it's less audible than on the Kenwood. I can't hear any when I'm at home in the night, even during quite passages. Even at loooow volumes (10/30). It becomes noticeable only between the silent end of a song and the beginning of the next. I don't have the E500 anymore, but my guess is that they should sound fine.
The JVC XA-HD500 features a CC-converter, which makes up for lost high frequencies, just like the Supreme on the HD10GB7. Unlike the latter, the CC-converter can be used along with the Equalizer, and doesn't decrease battery life. The EQ has 5 bands, that can be adjusted from -6 to +6 dB.
I like a lot the Digital Hyper Bass. Activating it gives to the Etys a lot of bass slam, which is great since I listen to many of 70s-80s songs, that often aren't well recorded, while keeping the midrange and high sweetness of my Etys.
It's possible to toy with left-right channel balance, and even make the player sound as Mono.
The XA-HD500 doesn't have the on-the-go playlisting (the only thing I miss from my old Karma). Navigation is as good as on the HD20GA7, but the JVC has two shortcut buttons (I usually have one set to Digital Bass Boost, so I can switch it on/off).
It comes with a charger/lineout cradle, and a remote control to use the player when on it. Lineout has no hiss, and it is VERY powerful.
The JVC has also the best battery life out of all the players I tried (30 actual hours).
Further Info:
Tony's new toy: JVC XA-HD500 impressions (and comparison with Kenwood HD20GA7)
Septavius' take about JVC XA-C210 (flash player)
FenderP brief comments and pics (XA-HD500)
Ranking:
Pure sound quality
1 - JVC XA-HD500
2 - Kenwood HD10GB7
3 - Kenwood HD20GA7
4 - Creative MuVo V200
5 - Rio Karma
Features (size, capacity, battery life, interface)
1 - Rio Karma (+Rio Avalon, +EQ options, -Big, -battery life)
2 - Kenwood HD20GA7 (+20GB, +fast navigation, -Big)
3 - JVC XA-HD500 (+shortcuts, +battery life, -look)
4 - Kenwood HD10GB7 (+smaaall)
5 - Creative MuVo (it's a pen-drive dap)
[REVIEW] 5 great MP3 Players reviewed and compared!!!
