[edog]

Quote:

Originally posted by tracylynn so u recommed the sp250 $148 [online] over the sp90 only $83 [online]...?

It depends on how much that extra sound quality is worth to you. I certainly would pick the SP250 over the SP90. Then again, I care about the other additional features of the SP250 (nicer display, nicer remote, nicer carrying case, etc.) more than you do. So, that extra cost is easily worth it to me. If I were to base my decision purely on sound quality, I'd probably go with the SP90, since the SP250's sound quality improvements by themselves are not worth the extra $65 for me.

This is a highly personal call, so I obviously can't tell you if the extra cost is worth it to you. If you're ordering from a place that has a good return policy, that might make your decision less risky.

 

[BB.]

Well, I do listen to mostly rock and as I said before, I don't find the hiss on the SP90 objectionable at all. It's largely unnoticable in all but the quietest momements.

Interestingly, I found the hiss to be a lot more noticable when using the stock the ear buds that came with the player. With the Ety's hiss actually seemed to decrease for me.

The thing that bothers me the most of about the SP90 is the cheesy quality of the unit itself. The thing is built like the Chinese/Korean piece of electronics that it is. There is also occationally audiable distortions that I didn't hear until I got my Ety's. It is nowhere near the quality of a Japanese unit.

My suggestion: For the $150 the SP250 would cost you can buy both an SP90 *and* a nice Panasonic CD player that will have better sound quality than either.

I do agree with edog though that the best thing about the SP250 is it's nice display. The display on the SP90 is not nearly as nice, though it's good enough in most cases. The dancing stick figures on the SP90 are so annoying it's almost enough to make we want to upgrade to the SP250 just to get rid of them!

 

[tracylynn]

Quote:

It depends on how much that extra sound quality is worth to you. I certainly would pick the SP250 over the SP90. Then again, I care about the other additional features of the SP250 (nicer display, nicer remote, nicer carrying case, etc.) more than you do. So, that extra cost is easily worth it to me. If I were to base my decision purely on sound quality, I'd probably go with the SP90, since the SP250's sound quality improvements by themselves are not worth the extra $65 for me

well i DONT care bout the fancy features.... i audution to the sony mp3 cd player d-cj01.. its sounds GOOD.. very GOOD [good bass...

has anyone tried the new expanium line of mp3 cd player

 

[tracylynn]

im willing to spend $250us for gooding sounding mp3 player... but most iriver product like the slim-x.. the build/sound quality is NOT worth the price.. ya know?


right now, i want to audition the new philips or panasonic mp3 cd.. player.

[im not in a rush in getting a new mp3 player... cuz currently i have the memorex 8505 suffix "A" mp3 cd player]

 

[edog]

Quote:

Originally posted by tracylynn well i DONT care bout the fancy features.... i audution to the sony mp3 cd player d-cj01.. its sounds GOOD.. very GOOD [good bass...

To my ears, the SP250 and the D-CJ01 are equivalent in terms of sound quality. The main problem I have with the D-CJ01 is that you can't rewind or fast forward within an MP3 (this works for regular audio CDs). I'd consider that a basic, necessary feature.

 

[tracylynn]

Quote:

To my ears, the SP250 and the D-CJ01 are equivalent in terms of sound quality. The main problem I have with the D-CJ01 is that you can't rewind or fast forward within an MP3 (this works for regular audio CDs). I'd consider that a basic, necessary feature

i think the sony d-cj01 only have a 5mW headphone out.. cuz i have to crunk the volume up to 75-80% for my senn. mx500 to be audible!

 

[kb_22]

just received my slimx today. build quality is not spectacular, but i don't find the sony's to be all that either (if you've owned a sony, i know i'm preaching to the choir). having played around with it all morning, i'd say it is worth the $199 (free shipping, and i'm not even figuring in the free shoulder bag that has to be worth at least another dollar or two).

my impressions of the slimx:

the good: plays all mp3's i've thrown at it flawlessly (vbr, high bit rate, low bit rate); lots of things are user-configurable; small form-factor; many way cool options that most companies don't even think about (ex: battery charger has mode that will discharge the batteries completely before recharging them); though i don't use them, the earbuds that come with it are nicer than any other i've seen packaged with a pcdp

the bad: text on display is small; no lcd on main unit (i.e. remote goes bad, and you are screwed); fm tuner does not pull in signals all that great; eq options are not exactly precise

the sound: as good or better than any cd-based mp3 player i've heard. does not seem to have the hiss of the previous iriver products.

my bottom line for you: if you don't need all the bells and whistles, i'd say go with the sony dcj01. the sound is comparable to the slimx. however, i have audiitoned the sony for an extended period of time and don't know how well it handles files (vbr, high bit rate, wma). the major problem for me with most cd-based mp3 players is that don't handle files well and/or have high thd. i like the slimx because it does well in these two departments. the rest is just gravy.

for reference so you know where i'm coming from: i've used several cd-based mp3 players (sp90, sp250, memorex junk, etc.) as well as a couple of hd-based and flashcard-based ones (archos, pjb, rio600) in addition to the plethora of regular cd players out there. as for portable cans to use with this unit, i'm partial to the ksc-35/(s)portapro and mdr-v6 as they are the best value for the money and i think the philips hp550 is overhyped as it lacks anything resembling low or mid bass.

 

[tracylynn]

Quote:

the sound: as good or better than any cd-based mp3 player i've heard. does not seem to have the hiss of the previous iriver products.

did ya compared it to other cd mp3 player?

 

[tracylynn]

the slimx is probally a good choice....... where did ya buy urs?


btw dude, can u operate the slimx WITHOUT the remote control


my current mp3 cd player is the "memorex junk".. its pretty good for a 2nd gen. mp3 player... and it sound ok throu the koss ksc-35

 

[kb_22]

i got my slimx from www.iriverstore.com. $199 included shipping (ups ground) and a shoulder bag. my purchasing experience from this store was a positive one. called them on the phone about ups tracking info and the person i spoke with was very nice and responsive. my box came quite damaged (the shipping box was fine, but the actual iriver packaging inside it was really banged up), but the unit and all the accessories were in good shape. i wasn't thrilled about buying it over the 'net as opposed to at a b&m store, but alas, i don't believe it's available at any b&m yet. i believe you can also now order directly from the manufacturer at www.iriveramerica.com.

sound compared to the other cd-based players (imho): sp90: slimx was cleaner; sp250: i haven't listened to one in a while, but from what i remember, the slimx comparable, butr w/o the hiss; memorex-8505: with the slimx eq set to normal and the memorex bass boost disabled, the memorex emphasized the bass a bit more; sony dcj01: sony had better bass, slimx had better midrange and highs; d-link dmpcd100: sound was nice except for large amount of thd, so slimx wins against this one.

at the present moment (6 am) i don't have access to all of these, so i couldn't tell you which have eq functionality. i know the slimx does (5 presets and a user definable one), so you can change it's emphasis. as i mentioned previously however, the slimx's user definable setting is not exactly what i'd describe as fine tuning.

btw dudette, the unit's basic functions (play, ff, rew, etc) do not need the remote.

question for you: if your current memorex is satisfactory, why buy a new player?

 

[tracylynn]

Quote:

question for you: if your current memorex is satisfactory, why buy a new player?

its sounds ok.. playback hiss annoys me... i got it for free from my daddy..so...a free mp3 player that aint bad either

dont know,.. i just want to have a collection of mp3 players... www.geocities.com/maxfli_cdn [my gear page]

grrr.. slimx or sony d-cjo1.. cant decide.. hopefully slimx will be aviable b&m!

 

[kb_22]

i'm sure you'll be happy with either the sony or the slimx. both are very nice.

funny pics of the gear. two comments though...1) you need to clean your room

. 2) noticed you have both the ksc-35 and ksc-50. do you really notice as big a difference in sound between the two as people say there is? i was wondering as circuit city has them for $14 and thought i'd pick up a pair.

 

[tracylynn]

Quote:

funny pics of the gear. two comments though...1) you need to clean your room . 2) noticed you have both the ksc-35 and ksc-50. do you really notice as big a difference in sound between the two as people say there is? i was wondering as circuit city has them for $14 and thought i'd pick up a pair

1) dont mind the messy apt

2) i dont have the koss ksc-50.. its the $30 sony mdr-q33.. the sony mdr-q33 sux when compared to the koss ksc-35/

kb_22, what headphone(s) r u currently using?

from ur exp. of mp3 cd players... in ur own opinons... rate the slimx, sp250, sp90, sony, memorex.. [from best to worse] ya know what i mean, rite?

 

[kb_22]

1) lol, mine is much more messy

2) i use the ksc-35, sportapro, mdr-v6, and a pair of old stax whose model number i can't recall as they are back up at school and i'm still on vacation until monday (sucks to go back, but i'm almost done

)

my rating of the players from best to worst: 1) slimx (good sound and lots of options), 2) sony (good sound and relatively good build quality), 3) sp250 (decent sound and upgradeable firmware), 4) sp90 (firmware can be upgraded by with a hack) and memorex 8505 (has problems reading some files)

not surprisingly, the list concurrently goes highest to lowest in terms of price: 1) $200, 2) $150, 3) $120, 4) $90...ain't life a biatch that way?

 

[tracylynn]

Quote:

and memorex 8505 (has problems reading some files)

i know i know... to burn my mp3 cd, i use NTI CD-MAKER 5.0..use the ROMEO file format (it has the longest file-name.. correct me if im wrong k), burn at disc-at-once, at 1x times

for some reason, when i burn the cd at track-at-once the memorex cant read the last song!

do u use burn ur mp3 cd kb_22?


Quote:

not surprisingly, the list concurrently goes highest to lowest in terms of price: 1) $200, 2) $150, 3) $120, 4) $90...ain't life a biatch that way?

life is a biatch .. 4shure!

i hope slimx will be aviable b&m?