OK. So I've had them for about a week now.
First of all, design and construction are absolutely first rate. Also it's a lot smaller than I thought. I was thinking "Zen" when I bought these but they're more like iPods. Impressed.
The remote is a little big, but it's the most useful thing I've ever encoutered in MP3-capable portable devices. I can do basically everything the main unit can do, with plenty of LCD resolution for plenty of information displayed, all while the player sits comfortably in my pocket. The remote and earbuds can also be just shoved away into the remaining corners in my left pocket when not in use - the remote of course, clipped onto my jeans with the LCD facing inwards to avoid nasty scratches. I've never really carried portable devices in my pocket before, but I'm learning this new way and really liking it. I'm really taking this around everywhere.
Anyhow. Allow me to jump to the sound quality, as all other aspects really IMO have been covered quite thorougly (and of course, not as important on this mad forum.
)
First of all, the stock earbuds are top-notch. They're specially designed for iRiver by Cresyn, the Korean mostly-OEM manufacturer that manufactures a bunch of bundle earbuds and even the highly-rated A-T aluminum earbuds (I have the Korean equivalent, the Cresyn E-700.) They're shaped very much like the Senn MX-series earbuds, and not surprisingly, sound quite alike. I don't know if they have done some reverse engineering of some sort but whatever the methodology in designing them, they sound great. Their bass is as deep as any earphone or even headphone for that matter - I can clearly hear ~30Hz tones without much distortion! Quite amazing. There is always a sacrifice, of course, and this is at the cost of recessed highs. The mids are very liquid and nice, but the highs aren't so satisfying (after my ears have been burned-in by Etys and CD3Ks, so that may not be the case for many others here.) So, I tried several EQ settings on the IHP-120 and I really liked the Jazz setting, which extends the highs quite a bit and also adds a slight bass oomph. This combo really reminded me of the Sennheiser HD-600s, minus some detail and refinement. What really struck me here was the correct color/tone characteristic, which is often a big problem with earbuds, IMO. With the frequency response corrected by the (excellent) EQ of the IHP, the earbuds sounded like big full sized cans. I'm so happy with them that at times I'll actually choose to listen to this combo over my CD3Ks. Strange. Unfortunately, you can't get these separately (not on Iriver's accessory site, only lists the old "Axe" bundle earbuds.)
But what about the unit's sound? Well, several aspects to touch here. First, the bass extension on this unit is FAR better than any other portable unit I've ever heard. No other unit produced sub-bass (30Hz~40Hz) tones more clearly, I was extremely surprised to hear these deep notes undistorted from the earbuds and etys. Very nice. But what about everything else? Well, with the stock earbuds, it was absolutely gorgeous with the Jazz EQ. With my Etys @ 105ohms (ER-4S), the sound was thin, but I could get enough volume at around 90% of full volume for most music. But it definately sounded like it lacked power. There was absolutely no BG noise with them, though. Then I tried Etys @ 55ohms (ER-4X) and the apparent lack of power disappeared completely. Some noise crept in (for example, little beeps when using the remote) but other noise such as background white noise that was a big concern for me when using the NJB3 with ER-4Ps was not there. Very nice. With the Etys, the frequency response was extremely satisfying, from deep bass (as mentioned before) to the high treble, but overall there was a very slight coloration in the sound that made the unit sound slightly, well, tonky (tinny + honky.
) This didn't bother me at all though with the ER-4X; when I plugged my CD3Ks in the unit, however, this was unbearable. For some reason the CD3Ks on the IHP sounded like an empty oil drum or something, sounding very colored and compressed and flat, with no soundstaging. Strange... Perhaps it is because the CD3Ks are demanding phones (efficient and low-impedance, but still demanding in terms of quality current/power to sound its best) and the IHP couldn't really feed it well enough. Oh well, like I was going to walk around in town with the CD3Ks anyway. But from this test I was able to see why many other Head-Fiers concluded that the IHP sounded terrible, honky and tonky and all that. But with proper earbuds/phones such as the bundle (!) earbuds and Etys the unit sounds fabulous with lots of power to spare, IMO.
Also, I haven't spent so much time with its Line-out but I can confirm that it is indeed a true-line out, although all the DSP effects and volume control apply. Think of it as a soundcard line-out, which is still a "true" line-out but has all those controls. The iRiver products have RISC processors that handle all those functions before it is converted to analog, sort of like on a soundcard. Also, when I plugged my headphones into line-out, I got severe distortion at high volumes, while when plugged into an amp I got extremely clean output. This suggests that the line-out indeed is bypassed from the headphone driving section and is suited only for high-impedance inputs such as amps. The quality of this line-out I haven't really tested thoroughly (mostly because I am so satisifed with the headphone output) but when I initially tested it. it seems to be good enough to be considered a good portable source to be paired with a good portable (or home) amp. I'll add more on this later when I get some more time with the Line-out.
Overall, I don't think I've been this satisifed with a portable device since my first Sharp MD recorder (828? 868? Can't remember...) I really really like how the unit sounds with EQ on stock earbuds, I don't care how EQ is not truly Hi-fidelity, the results ARE in my opinion very Hi-Fi. And it's not like I don't know what Hi-Fi sounds like - I think I've got some pretty decent equipment! (ECHO Mia MIDI S/C --> MagWires Nakeds --> Maxed-Out PPA --> CD3K/ER-4) Definately satisfied with the unit. Of course, compared to my home setup the sound could have been a little better in terms of tonality and coloration, but as far as portable devices go, it's the best I've heard so far. I think it's plenty good enough for music on-the-go, without an amp. Actually, I was thinking of building a portable amp to go along with the IHP but now I won't because I think even without an amp the IHP with ER-4X and stock are hi-fi enough for me.
Anyhow. I'll post some pics later when I take them. Will also add some further impressions as they come. I hope I made sense in this "review", feels like I just babbled on as thoughts bubbled up in my head...
First of all, design and construction are absolutely first rate. Also it's a lot smaller than I thought. I was thinking "Zen" when I bought these but they're more like iPods. Impressed.
The remote is a little big, but it's the most useful thing I've ever encoutered in MP3-capable portable devices. I can do basically everything the main unit can do, with plenty of LCD resolution for plenty of information displayed, all while the player sits comfortably in my pocket. The remote and earbuds can also be just shoved away into the remaining corners in my left pocket when not in use - the remote of course, clipped onto my jeans with the LCD facing inwards to avoid nasty scratches. I've never really carried portable devices in my pocket before, but I'm learning this new way and really liking it. I'm really taking this around everywhere.
Anyhow. Allow me to jump to the sound quality, as all other aspects really IMO have been covered quite thorougly (and of course, not as important on this mad forum.
)First of all, the stock earbuds are top-notch. They're specially designed for iRiver by Cresyn, the Korean mostly-OEM manufacturer that manufactures a bunch of bundle earbuds and even the highly-rated A-T aluminum earbuds (I have the Korean equivalent, the Cresyn E-700.) They're shaped very much like the Senn MX-series earbuds, and not surprisingly, sound quite alike. I don't know if they have done some reverse engineering of some sort but whatever the methodology in designing them, they sound great. Their bass is as deep as any earphone or even headphone for that matter - I can clearly hear ~30Hz tones without much distortion! Quite amazing. There is always a sacrifice, of course, and this is at the cost of recessed highs. The mids are very liquid and nice, but the highs aren't so satisfying (after my ears have been burned-in by Etys and CD3Ks, so that may not be the case for many others here.
) So, I tried several EQ settings on the IHP-120 and I really liked the Jazz setting, which extends the highs quite a bit and also adds a slight bass oomph. This combo really reminded me of the Sennheiser HD-600s, minus some detail and refinement. What really struck me here was the correct color/tone characteristic, which is often a big problem with earbuds, IMO. With the frequency response corrected by the (excellent) EQ of the IHP, the earbuds sounded like big full sized cans. I'm so happy with them that at times I'll actually choose to listen to this combo over my CD3Ks. Strange. Unfortunately, you can't get these separately (not on Iriver's accessory site, only lists the old "Axe" bundle earbuds.)But what about the unit's sound? Well, several aspects to touch here. First, the bass extension on this unit is FAR better than any other portable unit I've ever heard. No other unit produced sub-bass (30Hz~40Hz) tones more clearly, I was extremely surprised to hear these deep notes undistorted from the earbuds and etys. Very nice. But what about everything else? Well, with the stock earbuds, it was absolutely gorgeous with the Jazz EQ. With my Etys @ 105ohms (ER-4S), the sound was thin, but I could get enough volume at around 90% of full volume for most music. But it definately sounded like it lacked power. There was absolutely no BG noise with them, though. Then I tried Etys @ 55ohms (ER-4X) and the apparent lack of power disappeared completely. Some noise crept in (for example, little beeps when using the remote) but other noise such as background white noise that was a big concern for me when using the NJB3 with ER-4Ps was not there. Very nice. With the Etys, the frequency response was extremely satisfying, from deep bass (as mentioned before) to the high treble, but overall there was a very slight coloration in the sound that made the unit sound slightly, well, tonky (tinny + honky.
) This didn't bother me at all though with the ER-4X; when I plugged my CD3Ks in the unit, however, this was unbearable. For some reason the CD3Ks on the IHP sounded like an empty oil drum or something, sounding very colored and compressed and flat, with no soundstaging. Strange... Perhaps it is because the CD3Ks are demanding phones (efficient and low-impedance, but still demanding in terms of quality current/power to sound its best) and the IHP couldn't really feed it well enough. Oh well, like I was going to walk around in town with the CD3Ks anyway. But from this test I was able to see why many other Head-Fiers concluded that the IHP sounded terrible, honky and tonky and all that. But with proper earbuds/phones such as the bundle (!) earbuds and Etys the unit sounds fabulous with lots of power to spare, IMO.Also, I haven't spent so much time with its Line-out but I can confirm that it is indeed a true-line out, although all the DSP effects and volume control apply. Think of it as a soundcard line-out, which is still a "true" line-out but has all those controls. The iRiver products have RISC processors that handle all those functions before it is converted to analog, sort of like on a soundcard. Also, when I plugged my headphones into line-out, I got severe distortion at high volumes, while when plugged into an amp I got extremely clean output. This suggests that the line-out indeed is bypassed from the headphone driving section and is suited only for high-impedance inputs such as amps. The quality of this line-out I haven't really tested thoroughly (mostly because I am so satisifed with the headphone output) but when I initially tested it. it seems to be good enough to be considered a good portable source to be paired with a good portable (or home) amp. I'll add more on this later when I get some more time with the Line-out.
Overall, I don't think I've been this satisifed with a portable device since my first Sharp MD recorder (828? 868? Can't remember...) I really really like how the unit sounds with EQ on stock earbuds, I don't care how EQ is not truly Hi-fidelity, the results ARE in my opinion very Hi-Fi. And it's not like I don't know what Hi-Fi sounds like - I think I've got some pretty decent equipment! (ECHO Mia MIDI S/C --> MagWires Nakeds --> Maxed-Out PPA --> CD3K/ER-4) Definately satisfied with the unit. Of course, compared to my home setup the sound could have been a little better in terms of tonality and coloration, but as far as portable devices go, it's the best I've heard so far. I think it's plenty good enough for music on-the-go, without an amp. Actually, I was thinking of building a portable amp to go along with the IHP but now I won't because I think even without an amp the IHP with ER-4X and stock are hi-fi enough for me.
Anyhow. I'll post some pics later when I take them.
Will also add some further impressions as they come. I hope I made sense in this "review", feels like I just babbled on as thoughts bubbled up in my head... 
And I really like the results. (so much as to not consider a portable amp anymore 
