From somebody who has much less experience with DAPs than you guys and hasn't really posted here in several years, let me share my limited experiences:
I've had an H-120 for over 3 years now. The only reason I got it back then was because it basically had every possible feature out there when compared to the iPod of the day: great battery life, FM tuner, recording, line out, line in, very solid build quality, inline remote, and great SQ. I thought that over time other players would start to integrate all these features. Surprisingly, here in 2007, there are still very few players out there that offer all this right out of the box. And since I've added RockBox, needless to say the iRiver has only gotten better. It's served me faithfully for over 3 years with NO issues whatsoever. I've accidentally dropped it two or three times and subjected it to extreme heat and cold, and it still works like the day I bought it.
Now this past Christmas I decided I wanted to try something new, but I haven't had much time to research lately, so what little time I did spend resulted in the purchase of a 30GB Zen Vision M. Let's just say that I've been less than impressed as I've tried to cope with this thing for the past 1.5 months and convince myself to keep it. I honestly think that compared to my iHP-120, the ONLY thing the creative has going for it is an extra 10GB and a beautiful screen. Aside from that, the iRiver mops the floor with the Creative in every respect (IMHO).
The size differences are negligible; while the iRiver is slightly longer and a tad thicker, the Creative is wider and seems every bit as heavy. Both are large players compared to iPods and that's all there is to it. Startup time with the Creative (after not listening to it for more than a few hours) is ridiculous, it's definitely at or over 30 seconds. Startup time with Rockbox on the iRiver is probably about 4 seconds. Both feel solid, but the Creative has the soft plastic on the front which is very prone to scratching. Neither is terribly attractive, and I never thought I'd find myself enjoying the iRiver's appearance, but the Creative is just so ugly. The iRiver gets at least 3-4 hours better battery life under typical listening. The iRiver has the line in and out and does not require the proprietary connector for anything. I personally think the iRiver has much easier navigation; really who needs a touchpad surface on these things? Both players have slowish navigation, but I still think the iRiver is a bit faster. The iRiver still does everything the Creative does plus more. The only thing the Creative does is movies, and I couldn't care less about movies on an mp3 player; that's what laptops are for.
Most importantly, the Creative, though it has some clarity, has ZERO bass. I listen to mostly 70s, 90s, and some modern rock, and this thing is weak as hell in that department. I've tried playing with the graphic EQ, but all I get is distortion, and the built-in bass boost sucks too.
So here I am, sitting with both players on my desk in front of me, and my UM1s are plugged into the iRiver. The SQ on this thing has really impressed me, especially with RockBox. And the fact that it continues to impress me over a device with 3 years more technology says a lot about iRiver. I think I just convinced myself to sell the Creative...
But of course this leaves me right back where I started. I could just keep the iRiver and be happy, but unfortunately I like change and need a new toy every now and then. I really like the Zune. I like how they didn't feel a need to use a touchpad for navi, I like the build quality (at least it feels solid), and I hear it has good SQ. But again, it doesn't have all the little toys that my iHP-120 still has, like recording, remote, and great battery life. I like the look and smooth operation of the iPod, and of course the immense aftermarket support is nice, but like others I can't help being cautious about iPod's quality.
Either way, when I researched the Creative, I saw all kinds of great reviews about its SQ. After hearing it myself, this leads to me to conclude that these reviewers had never heard an iHP-120. They probably had used iPods before, though. So does that mean the iPod SQ is worse than the zen vision m SQ and therefore much worse than the iHP SQ? And what about the Zune, how does it compare to the iRiver's depth and strong low-end (at least compared to a zen vision m)?
Ultimately, I will not get rid of my iRiver unless I know the player I replace it with is going to have equal or better SQ. I would be willing to sacrifice a few toys if this criterion is met though. I guess I could live with the Zune's 12 hr battery life and lack of recording so long as it has great SQ. Same with the iPod.
Such a tough decision. The real shame is that iRiver doesn't make a player for me anymore...
