So how do you like the Zune 80? - Page 11

HeHe, no sorry, I was the only one there. What makes it "more" valid for me was the ability to question certain passages and other events in the music immediately, review them over and over between the two. I even did some "cranking" tests between the two on favorite songs.
Have a good one!

Ok, my choice of words might not satisfy everyone. That's cool. I'll explain a little better. The 30, with EQ off, doesn't come close to the 80. The difference is very noticeable. The 80, out preforms the 30 (no EQ) in almost every way you could look for. I know many here are fans of EQ, because it compensates for ear buds or IEM's shortcomings. When used sparingly, it can be a plus for those difficulties. I am not saying the 30 had a chance against the 80 if it's EQ had been turned on. That would be a little nuts! The only true test I could perform was with no EQ. Notice then, that I used a great little tube amp with great (not best) headphones. The two together are very reveling, and they did their jobs well. The 80 was a clear winner.

I love my 30, it has been very good. The new 80 however, is much improved throughout the entire spectrum. Attention has been paid in its audio performance improvements, and they are the things many here are looking for, like improved sound stage, 3D positioning and flatter frequency response over the entire spectrum. This makes the 30 "OK" by comparison.

I wasn't contradicting myself, just not as clear as I could have been. I was being too succinct in my super-mini review. I hope this helps clear things up a bit. I had really intended to do an all out review between the 30 and 80, for the benefit of everyone. I still might if my disabilities will give me a break for a few days. With the Xmas shopping frenzy upon us, many are wanting to know "right away" if the 80 is worth the upgrade cost. IMHO, yes it is. Keep your 30 for a secondary backup unit or similar idea. Our beloved 30s aren't junk! They are still "OK" for listening as they always have been.
Have a great weekend!

Without the amp, is there a noticeable difference between the 80 and 30? or does the amp reveal the 80s superiority over the 30?

If I drive both with just headphones and no amp, the differences are still apparent. The amp does make it more obvious, which makes sense. I would imagine super sensitive IEMs would really scream out the differences, but I don't have a set, yet.

I like my new Zune 80 a lot.
Crisp, clean, accurate, uncolored SQ. True to the music.

The Audiobook as Podcast trick allows audiobook bookmarking which puts me in audiobook heaven.

The big screen (big gorgeous album art) is nice as well as the 80GB and better battery life (vs the Zune 30 or my Kenwood).

Sounds great with my iGrados and Atrios.

It has become my player of choice (for now, at least).

If I were to get a portable amp for the 80 isn't the only thing that's going to improve is 'Volume'...I'm still in the learning stages here and I love my Z80.

Please explain to me the benefits of a portable amp,,Other than an increase in volume...

LQQK

I purchased the Z80 on the first day of introduction and here are some of my opinions.

So far I haven't down-loaded music, only ripped my Cd's (lossless)-(some one recommended I do it that way) Sounds great, not as good as My HT setups but good enough for a portable in my situation.

I have cheap HP's (6)
80's-OK sound for included Stock better than my friends stock Ipod buds (Is that the right word?)

At work every one is trying to get there hands on my Zune it's like (to them) the first time they had sex when they get to checking out the neat features and functionality of my Z80 (It's full of WOW factor)

Senn HD 450 (old) very nice nice sound but at 300 ohms I have to crank zune to 18-20 to get them working (This is why the question concerning the Bennie's of a portable amp up above)

Cheap Sony MDR-W14 fair-almost good sound but convenient & easy to grab quickly and slap on for a few minutes of listening for a short free time (Work/Boss..)

Other old Sony Walkman type HPs below average sound.

Goldring DR 150..I have only listened to them for an hour, I'll keep my opinion on these for later because, I did the dust cover mod on Monday and immediately decide to try the break-in theory I read about here, so they are getting fed music 24/7 until this coming Monday for the 200 hr break-in () I don't know if this theory works or not, but I'm kinda of new to using HP's & this is my first MP3 player, but not speakers, amplifiers, Pre's, etc..I don't believe that speakers need break-in (just my opinion) Please no flames..

I am very impressed with the radio, some of the stations sound as good if not better than my recorded music...Great feature for News, Sports and a break from your collection.

My Ipod friends have been 100% in agreement of wanting a radio included.

Pod cast..Man I've been missing out for however long they have been around...I really love this feature and simplicity of subscribing to them at the Zune site..Once again another break from just the music collection.

Finally I have converted many DVD's (Concerts & Movies) for long down times and although the screen is small it's good for viewing and another choice to the music collection...After I view a movie I delete it to free up space for more additions.

OK, The title of this thread is: 'So how do you like the Zune 80?'

I like it VERY much and for my situation it is almost the perfect Time killer (when you have free time to kill)

Cons:

So far battery is less than advertised and I guess that MIGHT be because I use large music files????

I'm guessing about 3.5-4.5 hrs on full brightness of movie watching.

I watched maybe 30 pod-casts and listened couple of hrs of recorded music + showing my fellow employees some of the funny pod-casts approximately 1 hour of that and the battery still showed about 40%.

I have not done a detailed test of just how long it will last but you get the idea, Less than advertised as with just about everything.

No clock...Yes a clock would be very nice because when your playing with it you tend to lose track of time and well it would be convenient to have it...Yes I have a watch & cellphone, a clock would make a lot sense.

Accessories are expensive (cases, extra sync cables, docks, etc...)

Manual...lame is all I have to say about that.

Screen resolution should have been increased with the added screen size (ipod is same with a 2.5 screen vs 3.2 for zune.)

I'm not a gamer but the ipod gang brags about that,,,So I guess that might be fun.

Overall this is a great featured packed MP3 player...IMO

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now I just have to lock onto the right HP's..

LQQK

Thats ok, I'm alway near confusion myself! If you use a dock with these units, and use the "line out" instead of the headphone jack, the sound is improved because you are bypassing the players built in amplifier. What you probably didn't catch in my earlier post was the LDII++ tube amp, which is a desktop amp. In combination with the headphones I used (Senn HD-580), they together are very revealing.

If you can use the line-out, a portable amp would help reveal the dynamics and nuances of the source much better than the built-in amp. This is a problem of sorts. The line-out connection is part of the dock connector on the bottom of the player. I don't know if anyone makes a specific line-out cable that taps into that connector, yet. Anyone heard more on this??

For simple portable use, you are currently doing well. If someone comes out with a line-out cable, then a good clean portable amp would improve on what you currently have going. The middle ground here would be to buy the dock for the player and a nice amp, so you could listen that way at home. When out and about, you'd continue to do what you are doing now.

I hope this helps some. Have a good one!

Great short review! I can help with a couple of questions I think.
You are right about the FM. Very excellent! A big plus in my book. The headphone burn-in issue..well, I like to think new ones "mature" for the first 200 hours. The elements are designed much different than speakers and the materials are super lightweight, so it is not hard to imagine tolerances changing (maturing) with first uses. Screen resolution is also a problematic subject. If you raise the resolution, you pay for it in battery life. I think the screen is great even if it is bigger. Battery life. This subject has too many assumptions tied to it. If you have the screen blank at the earliest setting possible, and you listen to the poor quality downloaded files, and you don't do anything else but have it play, you might come close to the advertised battery life. Maybe. All the player manufacturers use the "best case scenario" to brag about battery life. It is SO far from reality that they might as well not said anything to begin with! Oh, and yes, using the better files costs you in battery life, but remember, its all about the music, so listening to the better files is very justified. IMHO. Clock? Yes, that would be nice and we may see that in future updates.
Thanks again for the short review. Have a good one!

Well said. I couldn't agree more.

Do you mean that the bag wears away at the Zune Original etching? And how fragile does the etching feel?


I don't get it.

the new ipods have all exceeded their advertised battery life in reviewer's battery tests. the zune models have fallen well short in those same tests (conducted under the same conditions).

Well thats good. At least one or two are making an attempt. Too bad we can't say that for the entire market. I imagine hard drive based players are the most difficult to be accurate about. Marketing managers probably have the last say anyway!

Sorry that was a spelling mistake on my part. Meant to say "back" not "bag". The etching is not fragile by all means. What i meant at that, was when you grip it or slide your hand on the player, you feel the etching. Although, I've noticed this has gone away and it less noticeable. The etching does look beautiful

Great reviews and feedback in this thread I've read. In regards to battery life, I'm sure with 128 mp3's both the ipod & zune would excel.
But when I used lossless files on my ipod, battery life never lasted as long as Apple stated. Keep in mind larger files make a big difference in battery life on both players. Remember these are not flash players.