Altmann Tera Player - Page 116  

A few more comments on the Tera ie800 combo.

After some more lengthy and critical listening I continue to be impressed with this combination. The sound is as lifelike and natural as I have heard from almost any headphone I have experienced. Vocal and guitar texture is rich and detailed. Percussion sounds amazing. Cymbal attacks sound like a stick hitting a cymbal, not a rash of hiss. Followed by very realistic decay. Soundstage and instrument separation is excellent. On well recorded material I can actual see/hear tambourines and cabasas twisting in the soundstage, which I have never experienced before. And the imaging is pinpoint. Overall I am thrilled with how this combo performs. There is a slight tradeoff in bass roll off with the Tera, but this is largely compensated for by the ie800 and at medium or more volume, the bass is almost perfect. I do find myself turning up the volume a little too much, but that is because everything sounds so clear I want just a little more. One final negative is that there is no true pause button. There is a stop button which puts the device in a lower power state, but when resumed, the song playing starts over from the beginning.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenman345 

I am one of those people.

 

First, a screen inherently adds noise into the enclosure. 

Second, the Tera Player is controlled by Assembly ARM language. That's a low level programming language (literally any closer to directly communicating to hardware would be the binary level, Assembly is considered the first realistic programming level up from binary, basically interchangeable with binary). Not only was this a choice Charles made, but it was the only way for him to get the size he wanted and the performance as well. The chip he used has no available space for any more controlling of any more items in the Tera Player. To add anything would require a complete redesign and performance compromises. 

Third, a screen means more battery usage. Some people even consider the ~15 hours of playback still unacceptable.

Four, It's extremely easy to navigate. It gets harder if you have a ridiculous amount of music and you wanna get to it quickly, but otherwise it's really easy to get quickly to whatever you want and as I have stated before, I can even tell my friends exactly how many presses of any buttons will get them to the song i want or they want without having to look at it.

A ridiculous amount of music????? The lack of navigation overcompensation exaggeration continues.

I'm sure it's a great sounding player but you guys gotta quit with the lack of something as an advancement. You can have a display that shuts off. It could be 1/2" longer to compensate for a larger battery and small efficient screen setup. Good sound and a screen are not mutually exclusive regardless of how much you want it to be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodvibes 

A ridiculous amount of music????? The lack of navigation overcompensation exaggeration continues.

 

I'm sure it's a great sounding player but you guys gotta quit with the lack of something as an advancement. You can have a display that shuts off. It could be 1/2" longer to compensate for a larger battery and small efficient screen setup. Good sound and a screen are not mutually exclusive regardless of how much you want it to be.

I know, it does sound kind of crazy in this day & age but I prefer it's interface. It's the only player I have ever used where I can adjust volume, switch artist, album or song, turn shuffle on and off, and pause (er, stop) while the player is my pocket. All via five small raised buttons with a satisfying push or combo of pushes. Pretty ingenius, if you ask me, that a non-modern approach can solve the problems that a modern device like an iphone presents.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ace8888 


Yes you can. But you must memorized the location /folder structure of a particular song... and when you have a 64gb library... BAM! .... That's the main reason why I sold my Tera... But SQ alone, it's the best out there.

As the buyer of ace8888's tp, this is an argument that can not be won or lost. I use a 64g card of music that I can now, after a week or so of use, navigate easily with the TP's controls. Same with a 128gb card I recently loaded up.

For some, the lack of screen is a deal-breaker. For those that can adapt to a lack of screen, well, it is (or can be) a good thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by uchihaitachi 

Perfect for somebody with eidetic memory...

I only wish I had such a trait. 

Living/working with the tp for only a couple of weeks has led to not only my being able to navigate my collection more quickly and efficiently than I could with my iphone or rwak(now sold), but it has led to my listening to music much more often, as I am not battling loading screens, finding 'next' buttons on touch screens, etc. In all honesty, this UI is the best UI introduced since Apple invented the ipod's scroll wheel. No joke.

Point well taken. I haven't used a shuffle in some years now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by flymetothemoon 




Don't see much problem with TP's UI as IPod Shuffle sells millions for years!

I take a screen shot of my file directory with my phone and use it when I need to.  Music from the Tera is so good that most of time I just let it play and enjoy the music.    We are spoil with choices in modern day technology and the Tera just let me go back to basics and just listen to the music.  If I am in the mood to browse and sample my wide collections of music, I will bring along the AK100.  But for pure music listening the Tera can't be beaten in my opinion, with its combination of portability, durability and great synergy with a variety of headphones.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by flymetothemoon 




Don't see much problem with TP's UI as IPod Shuffle sells millions for years!

I dont really agree with that comparison,  since they have nothing in common besides their ui