Odyssey 1000 $289, new reasons to consider this DAP

retail is still $350 at edig (way overpriced considering the new Zen NX at $250 retail), but found it for $289 here :
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...08-103&depa=10

my old review is here :
http://www.austinv.com/odysseyreview.html

but, new firmeware fixes most problems :
http://www.edigital.com/product-supp...re_update.html

Odyssey still has many things that set it apart, in a good way :
1) large screen. by far, the best on any DAP i've used
2) scrolling lines. if a track goes off screen, it will scroll when you select it, and you can set the scroll speed. The main reason I sold my last iPod was because it cuts off all my long title names.
3) easy upgradable with a notebook drive. Xin at Fixup.net documented this.
4) no software needed. its works as a plain removable device.
5) built in radio, voice recorder
6) The WOW effect is actually pretty cool, for some types of music. It adds a bass effect, but without crapping up the rest of the sound - the only useful EQ effect I've seen on all the players. Creative has a timestrech/shrink mode that's cool, but all the other EAX stuff is worthless.
7) the large scroller on front is the best "Selector" switch i've used, my personal opinion anyway. I like it better than Creative's little dial or iPod's optical wheel. Also, as a BIG plus, when playing a track, the scroller controls volume. Makes it very easy to make minor adjustments to volume quickly, which is useful for me at work, where some tracks are much louder than others and I have to turn it down quickly!

there are still some cons...
1) size.. its smaller than NJB3, but still bigger then Zen. a little brick, for sure.
2) boot up time is 10 seconds with new firmware, even
3) made by e.digital which is always near bankruptcy
4) battery is an old-iPod-stlye built in type, not easily user-replacebale. Although, from pics at Fixup.net, the replacement iPod battery should also work in the Odyssey
5) price. even at $289, its not competitive with the Zen NX 20gb at $250 retail

Another thought, I previously slammed the O1000 for its simplistic navigation, being that you can only browse by a file tree type system, and MP3's must be in a 2nd tier directory. This is setup so that you have the Root, and then Artist Names as the 1st tier directories, and then Album Names under those directories, making the 2nd tier directories where music files must be stored. Seems restrictive, right? Buuuut, maybe not! My habits, using the Creative Nomad Jukebox 3, are to *always* go to Music Library > Artists .. then pick an Album.. and play it. Even though zen can search and index by album, song, genre, etc I never use those. So I basically use the same method that Odyssey uses, only it takes more steps on the NJB3!

All in all, I am seriously considering getting the O1000 again and transplanting my 60gb notebook drive from the NJB3 to the Odyssey....

well.... the Line-Out is iffy.

There is only one 3.5mm output port. There is a place in the menu where you can select Headphone-out or Line-out.

Now, when i used the Line-Out function, the volume went relatively loud and I assumed that it was acutally being amped. However, as news has come to light, i may be wrong. I have read here that the Ipod Line-Out volume is actually quite loud as well.

I know Xin from Fixup.net has disassembled his Odyssey before so I sent him an email asking about his thoughts on this. It should be possible to route the basic signal around whatever internal amplifier is inside, but whether that is acutally the case, I don't know yet.