[w0lla]

well time for me to upgrade my mp3 player, been using a iRiver IFP-999 for some years now, though its only 1gb its been very good to me (SQ&size), I have it paired with HD25's.

I just feel like having a bigger music collection with me and 1gb aint enough. 8gb seems good for now.

The new Creative Zen 8gb and Sony A818 costs almost the same, so I need some help deciding

. Been reading here that the A818 has superb sq but not many have commented on the Zen.

SQ will be one of the deciding factors, dont care about videos , of course the SD slot on the Zen is nice, but not really a big factor for me.

what I listen to is (mostly); Hiphop, "classic/old" Rock (gnr, metallica etcetc)

Would appreciate some insight on these 2 players

edit.

Does A818 have custom EQ and drag&drop ?

p.s and yea if this matter has allready been discussed, please direct me to the proper thread, did a search but didnt find any suiting one.

 

[grommal]

I have the new Sony NWZ-S616, which has the same SQ and features of the A8xx series, except the S6xx also have FM radio.

It has a 5-band EQ with presets and two custom settings. In addition, one of the sonic features, "Clear Bass", can be adjusted in the EQ as well, and has an effect on the apparent tightness of the bass. The EQ works pretty well without causing audible distortion.

It does support drag and drop from Windows, or can be managed through WMP or other media players. If you drag/drop from Windows, your album art must be embedded in the ID3 file tags to show up, and there's a minor firmware bug that causes the loss of the year info in the tag. If you manage the player through software, the year info stays intact.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. Good SQ, on the smooth and perhaps slightly warm side, but still plenty of detail and good soundstage with my Atrios.

I also looked at the 8xx series you're talking about. I did like the buttons a tiny bit better on the 8xx, the screen is slightly larger, the case is metal, and it comes with better bundled earbuds. But, the 6xx feels very solid despite the plastic case, the buttons work well and have good tactile feedback, the 6xx has FM radio that the 8xx lacks (very strange decision by Sony), I already have better IEMs than any Sony buds, and the 6xx is $20 less.

 

[w0lla]

thx for ur insight, appreciate it. Radio isnt really a concern for me, used it only a couple of times on my ifp999. Iam leaning towards the Sony one atm, seems like a good player. Would be nice to get "thorough" comparison of the these 2, as they seem to be among the top flash players on the market with cowon i7 +D2.

 

[ibo]

I found this thread: http://www.atraclife.com/forums/inde...showtopic=4094

Two minuses: it does not have a Sleep Timer, and no Bookmarks. I have no idea if it restores to the same point on the track or not.

 

[Aevum]

lets get back to basics

1) sound quality,
i think sony takes the cake here,
2)loading music
both support WMP, im not sure if the creative supports drag and drop, but on the other hand, the sony uses a pripietary WM port cable, while the Zen sticks with the generic Mini USB, a cable which costs around 3 bucks to replace,
3) expandability,
the sony is stick on 8gb, the zen has a SD slot, meaning it can be updated to 12gb later or even more if SDHC support functions.
im not exatcly sure about extra features on both, so i suggest you keep filling the chart

 

[selfnoise]

Couple more data points:

Zen screen has more color depth and is larger. Not sure that it matters since you aren't interested in videos.

Sony doesn't have a voice recorder or alarm function.

Sony supports MSC(UMS) and MTP... I think the Creative only supports MTP.

The Sony also has a dedicated volume rocker, which I don't think the Creative Zen has.

 

[ibo]

I just played today with the Sony, the restore function works beautiful, it restart very fast, remembering the exact place, very nice device, looks really cool. Sound quality is superb. I almost bought one on the spot, but I have already two other players. If I got my hands on it again, though...

 

[Audio-Fi]

Sony always take the sound trophy everytime IMHO following up by Creative. Now that SonicStage everyone hates is now gone and no has anything on Sony DAPs anymore.

 

[w0lla]

Seems like the sony one is the one to get, sq wise. True that Zen got a SD slot and u can upgrade it later on with more storagre, but then again, "this" player is gonna be used on smaller distances, home - school and etcetc. So I think 8gb is gonna be good for a couple of years, and after 2-3years when they release those 64gb flash players I'll upgrade again.

And then we have the video options, dont really see the point watching series/movies on a small screen, maybe the zen screen is a bit bigger, but still..sq is the major factor here.

Hmm I wonder if Sony is gonna release a 16gb A818 anytime soon. but then again...dont wanna wait.

Seems like more ppl are recommending the A818, could be that the Zen is a new player and ppl havent really gotten to try it out.
Been checking reviews and both players get praised for their good sound quality, its gonna be a tough choice

 

[byron0512]

I just bought the Sony 818 yesterday as I returned my Ipod Classic. I also had Creative Microphoto and Iriver H320 before. I can definitely say that the SQ of the Sony tops them all. The earphones included are also good. Its just short and you need to use the extensions included. It is also as light and thin as the Ipod Nano. Equalizer is programmable according to your taste. I also tried to use it with my Marshmallows and AKG DJ81. No complaints. The best thing is that Sony dropped Soundstage! Hope this helps.

 

[w0lla]

ah nice info for sure, I was thinking of the ipod classic before, but nää.

Hmm the sony one is really starting to be the one

,.

 

[rhcp_kz]

I've been seriously debating whether I should get a sony A818 or a zen as well. Both seem like prime players, but the Sony seems like a much better player overall.

One feature that I really look for a generous display of album art and browsing by album art (a la cover flow for instance). I feel the zune really got this right, as the album art display is beautiful.

my question: How well can you browse by album art on either players, and how big do the album art show up?

thanks

 

[selfnoise]

I'm not sure about the Zen, but the Sony player doesn't really have anything like cover flow. You can zoom in on album art but it's pretty basic.

The Zen has a larger overall screen so it might be better for viewing album art.

 

[TheBends]

i'm currently rocking a 4gig zen, and keep in mind i haven't heard/seen/messed with the sony. That being said, the zen has a 2.5 16.7 (i think its 16.7) million color screen that is gorgeous for movies as well as photos and album art etc. The zen does have an sd slot but it has yet to be integrated into the library so it shows up separate from the rest of the library, can't be used for playlists, doesn't have bookmarks, or resume. This could be fixed with a firmware update but don't hold your breath. As for extras, the zen has a microphone, fm radio, alarm clock, sleep timer, syncing with outlook, 5 band eq (bit muddy with the eq imo), bass boost, customizable menu options, and a glorious gui. This is actually why i chose the zen over the samsung t9, which is smaller and has clearer sound, though some have described it as cold, it was so absolutely crisp. I absolutely love the creative gui, particularly the top right button that is more or less the equivalent of the windows right click. Depending on where you are, you can hit the button and you have the option to seek to, add to no playing, play, bookmark, view details, look up artist, remove from playlist, save as playlist, change the play mode, volume (you can change this from anywhere in the gui without having to go to the now playing menu). The t9 did not have any sort of make-a-playlist-on-the-player option, with the zen i can customize my playlists and even save them which is absolutely crucial for my music listening. Who cares if the sound quality is the absolute holy grail if you can't play what you want? Oh also, there's a programable shortcut button that i have set to "jump to now playing." also, the back button remembers the order in which you came so it's a legitimate back button with page memory that will go all the way back to the menu.

The zen uses a new chip from the zvm and the sq is better than the zvm as far as i'm concerned. it's balanced, clear, slightly warm and overall very musical and balanced though not as crisp as the t9. I hate having to describe sound signatures. That being said, the sony has been praised for fantastic sound so there may be a slight advantage there, i'd say a/b them if you can.

As for problems, the sd card doesn't integrate so it's really a half assed expansion of the memory (this could change with a firmware update), the start up is a still a bit slow (hopefully future firmware updates will tidy this up, there was already one firmware update for the sd card slot that also quickened the startup on my device), the usb mini as opposed to proprietary is nice because i can use just one mini usb cable for everything BUT this means no line out like there was for the zvm or vision:w.

Overall, i'm quite happy despite the few kinks, in day to day use it performs flawlessly and with ksc75s or sr60s it makes a nice portable set up. if i really want to hear it i'll run it through an amp. It also fits in an altoids tin, in case anyone's interested in that little detail.

edit: the zen has an album art display option where you can browse through the album art on a grid, and you can show the album art by itself taking up most of the screen, and when it shows the track info it shows the album art next to the track, album, artist and rating.

 

[bestnaru]

Nice review