[papa_snap]

Aloha - Old Father Time has taken a bat to my ageing Sharp MiniDisc recorder, and it's time to get a new portable.

1. The single biggest limitation of MD for me is in getting new digital content onto the device painlessly on a very regular basis (eg several times a day, when neccessary).

2. My musical moods change throughout the day so I need to have a huge range of music on me at any time (from Herbie Hancock to Tool to Goldfrapp etc)

So, after looking around, it would appear that a HDD MP3 portable would make the most sense - in particular, the iRiver iHP-120 (I've also been waiting around for Toshiba to release a english language version of their mighty fine looking Gigabeat G20/MEG 200, the worlds smallest HDD player - Japanese only at the moment unfortunately). In addition, the iHP-120 sounds like it will do a great job (with its 20mw output, low THD, etc) of driving my Etmotic ER-6's (getting 4P's soon) and my Grado SR-60's (considering RS-2's next) without an amp. And, as all the CD's I rip recently are stored as OGG's, thats another big plus for the 120.

My big concern: I need deep, serious bass. Not cheap and nasty boomy bass, but deep and taut bass, and not at the expense of overall clarity. Of course I value the entire frequency range as well, but bass is the bricks and mortar. My Sharp MD delivers pretty well on this front, perceptibly better than my previous Sony MD's/Discmans. The new sharp IM-DR80 MD recorder sounds like it only builds on this strength (1bit digtal amp etc) - but if I get that I think I'll need to get a portable amp to keep me happy (Xin's SuperMicro sounds like it fits the bill), and I've still got the headache of putting content onto the device

So - my question is this - can anyone advise me if the iRiver (or any HDD-player you suggest) makes the grade on the bass front? Or am I better sticking with MD?

On the iHP, I'm aware of the "ultrabass" EQ setting and SRS TruBass but have no idea what they're like in practice (and living in Australia, my chances of demo-ing one are slim to none) - It doesn't have to be totally earthshaking, but if they can't muster a decent amount of punch then it's not worth it for me (eg I discounted iPod for this reason).

 

[SpoonMan]

Quote:

I discounted iPod for this reason

What reason would that be ... I'm an avid hip hop fan and I love the bass I get out of my iPod. Are you looking for neutral bass...or exaggerated bass? If you want exaggerated bass, then I would indeed count the iPod out...but from a standpoint of neutrality it does quite well...though I have heard reports of low bass response on low impedance (16 ohms) headphones. I can't speak for the iHP, as I've never heard it.

I'm listening to Symphony Metallica right now and the bass out of my iPod into my A900's is great...clear, defined and really deep (in the places where there is deep bass) but not overly exaggerated or boomy...I guess it depends on your listening preferances, I like my bass to be part of the sound stage, but not the defining part.

 

[ASDFer]

The iRiver offers neutral bass with the EQ off:

With the UBASS and ROCK EQ options, there is about a 15dB boost between 0-40Hz and a roll off from there to 200 Hz. The ROCK EQ adds about 3dB to the 10kHz+ band.

My listening impressions: neutral sounds very good with ER-4"S"- you can hear the lowest registers with ease. With the UBASS mode, there is no clipping or anything and _very_ accentuated bass. Since it's mainly below the 100Hz band, it's just very loud, but not like the mid-bass boom of cheap boomboxes. I don't use it extensively though, so you may want to wait for other responses to make sure this is what you want.

 

[papa_snap]

Sorry spoonman - I should have clarified - 2 requirements:

1. neutral, unassisted bass - I know the iPod is competent at that, tho apparently the iRiver is even more neutral (great graphs ASDFer - much appreciated).

2. boosted bass - ja, many consider it barbaric I know, but I do like the option of subwoofer-esque punch that I've never yet found possible with earphones (eg my Ety's) without artificial boosting (conversely, you'd be mad or deaf to boost the bass any further than neutral with Grado's, but thats a different case), especially in electronic music (where theres no original instrument as such to be faithful to)

So, in this case - my emphasis is on the boosted kind of bass goodness.

Thanks all!!