[LFC_SL]

so it don't like canal phones?

Does the player have a "sound"? - or just neutral. Any genres you've found to sound diff? 'phones notwithstanding

 

[Electric_Mofo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by calvinhobs Wonder how they'd sound with the Shure E4's?

I have not listened to the Shure E4c but from what I have heard they have a detailed and very balanced sound which should compliment this device's already detailed and clear sound. Just dont expect anything in the bass department even with adjustments from the EQ. But I've never listened to them so I'm probably wrong

 

[Electric_Mofo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFC_SL so it don't like canal phones? Does the player have a "sound"? - or just neutral. Any genres you've found to sound diff? 'phones notwithstanding

Does'nt like headphones either. I would describe the sound as neutral, slightly thin and a little bit airy, its just a very clear and hiss free sound. I listen to alot of Rock, Reggae, Hip-Hop and jazz. I thinks the player compliments all these music genre's very well. Nothing in the music is emphasized allowing me to listen to the music on a balanced soundstage sort of thing. The vocals could be abit better though but the genre that really shines is rock and jazz.

 

[Amuse]

Looks like the silver iPod Mini~!

 

[toreide]

I received my Sleek today. Very convenient I thought, as my holiday starts tomorrow.

I own a Creative Rhomba 256mb player that I'm very happy with. Especially the sound through my Grado SR-60's.

Plugged them into the Sleek and boy was my surprise big. The sound is awfull! Flat and thinny. Nothing like the Rhomba at all.

I'm very dissapointed. The player is going back tomorrow, and I'll have to bring my laptop to feed my old Rhomba with music.

 

[titaniumx3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by toreide I received my Sleek today. Very convenient I thought, as my holiday starts tomorrow. I own a Creative Rhomba 256mb player that I'm very happy with. Especially the sound through my Grado SR-60's. Plugged them into the Sleek and boy was my surprise big. The sound is awfull! Flat and thinny. Nothing like the Rhomba at all. I'm very dissapointed. The player is going back tomorrow, and I'll have to bring my laptop to feed my old Rhomba with music.

From peoples descriptions it seems like the Sleek sounds similiar to the Zen Touch; i.e. very clean and balanced sound with very little bass emphasis.

 

[Electric_Mofo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by toreide I received my Sleek today. Very convenient I thought, as my holiday starts tomorrow. I own a Creative Rhomba 256mb player that I'm very happy with. Especially the sound through my Grado SR-60's. Plugged them into the Sleek and boy was my surprise big. The sound is awfull! Flat and thinny. Nothing like the Rhomba at all. I'm very dissapointed. The player is going back tomorrow, and I'll have to bring my laptop to feed my old Rhomba with music.

I was also surprised to find that the Zen Sleek sounds terrible with my headphones aswell, did you try any EQ's?

 

[LFC_SL]

so it sounds clean and has a balanced soundstage or awful? which is it folks?

or is that mainly due to not finding matching 'phones for player?

 

[Electric_Mofo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFC_SL so it sounds clean and has a balanced soundstage or awful? which is it folks? or is that mainly due to not finding matching 'phones for player?

I think its a matter finding the matching phones. To me its the best player I,ve had interms of sound and use.

 

[LFC_SL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electric_Mofo I think its a matter finding the matching phones

Any closer?

 

[Electric_Mofo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFC_SL Any closer?

I dont get it

 

[LFC_SL]

...to finding phones that suit player

 

[Electric_Mofo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFC_SL ...to finding phones that suit player

Ohhhhhhh!

I think it a lack of power, I'll probably get an amp

 

[outsidelookingin]

so I went to Best Buy today and asked if they had this in. The guy said they did, but not on display, so I asked if I could have a look. He impatiently found a box and opened it up and handed me a brand spakin new player. The thing definately looks good and feels quality. If you're familar with the Zen Micro, it's no doubt the same exact thing, but bigger and, well, nicer. The brushed aluminum protects the back as well...most pics online don't show the back so I can say that the whole thing is protected with it.

I definately will be looking to get one of these in the future...

 

[TenaciousO]

I've had this player since Tuesday, and I love many things about it. First, it looks very classy. You really need to see it in person to see how nice it is. Second, like all other Creative hd players, it sounds great with good headphones. Third, I really like the fact that Creative used push buttons because you can feel around to activate a function instead of having to look at the player like with the micro.

Now what I don't like about it...

The screen. The screen is probably the biggest that I've seen in a Creative player, and much bigger than the micro's, but I honestly think that Creative took a step backwards with this screen. The problem is the darn blue backlight. The micro has a really nice contrast setting, but instead of emulating the micro's screen, Creative decided to incorporate a screen that is only a hair better than the one on the Zen Touch. Get rid of the blue backlight already!

Power adapter. This is more of a slight annoyance than an actual problem. The adapter connects to a proprietary connector...kind of like on the ipod. The problem is that the wire that connects the power adapter to the connector is rather thick and unwieldy. I think Creative could have spent the extra 20 minutes or so to think of a better design. But again, not a big deal.

The software. I'm familiar with Creative's software since I've owned several Creative players before, and I haven't had too much of a problem. However, I think Creative is entering into dangerous territory. I've always used the media explorer to transfer music as a simpler alternative to MediaSource, but the version that came with the Sleek seems very bloated. The media explorer programs I've used in the past weren't too far of a departure from windows explorer, but the lastest media explorer looks like it wants to grow up to be like its big brother, MediaSource.

FM radio. The radio sucks. It's as simple as that. I thought that since the Sleek was bigger than the micro that it would possess a better radio, but it's pretty weak. The X5's radio stomps all over the Sleek's radio.

Battery life. This is the biggest problem. Some folks here have stated a battery life of 16 hrs. The box says 18. Now, I've been through countless DAPs, and I've had enough experience to know that rarely does a player match the stated battery life. However, unless my player is defective, I'm finding that the battery life of the Sleek falls waaaaay short of Creative's claim. I'm using 192kb/s mp3s, backlight on for 5 seconds or so, volume at about halfway, playing albums straight through, and I think I'm getting around 7-8 hours of battery life. That's less than half the claimed battery life. That's absolutely terrible. I completely discharged the player last night and then recharged. I started up the player and within 45 minutes one bar of battery life (out of 3) was already gone. Maybe the battery meter is just unreliable. Maybe I need to cycle the player a few more times. Who knows. But if I get 7-8 hours again tonight, this player will go back to Best Buy even though I'm very fond of it.

If the battery issue clears up though, I think this is a nice effort by Creative. It's a little behind the times compared to other recent DAPs, but it's a nice alternative if you're looking for a music-only player. It has great looks, feels sturdy, sounds nice, and finally is about the same size as an ipod.