[visia]

Is X5 a clear upgrade over H120 in terms of sound quality and features related to music playback to justify upgrade? I don't care about fetures related to video playback, photo storage, etc. Looking at the posts, seems like there is some improvement on sound quality and some features like EQ, but is it worth extra 150-200 bucks?

 

[HyperM3]

I too had this concern as I itch for an upgrade from whatever Im using about every 3 months. Ive had my 120 since April of 04 and its been nothing but superb. I got a few in between (a Panasonic, Zen Micro, H10) but returned them all because I didnt feel they were any better than the 120.

I ended up getting the X5 and yes, its a keeper. I also dont care about video playback or photo keeping, I want good sound reproduction. Right off the bat the sound quality in the X5 was clearer than the 120 using the same E3 headphones. I like all the information on the screen too that the X5 has. The EQ is much more tunable on the X5 as well. When I put my new E4's with the X5 my music just about exploded. Not sure what Im gonna do with my 120 and the E3's anymore but I'll hang on to them.

Only caveat is the FM tuner, which I use every day on my commute, is not as strong as on the 120. Its not bad but Ive never found a better MP3 player with reception as good as the 120.

Worst thing that can happen is you get it and you dont like it, you return it. I hardly feel that you would though. Pull the trigger. I satisfied my itch for a while.

Oh and lastly, once you see how cool it is to have wallpaper in the background, youll use the photo option.

 

[Febs]

Visia, before you make any decision about whether to upgrade your H120 to an X5, you really owe it to yourself to try the Rockbox firmware on the H120. Rockbox adds features that virtually no player on the market has (like gapless playback, for example), supports multiple codecs including MP3, FLAC, Ogg, and others, and has substantial improvements in navigation and music selection over the iriver firmware (such as on the fly playlists, among other things).

For more information, visit http://www.rockbox.org

Rockbox for iriver is an open-source project, and there has been no formal release yet, but the developmental version has reached a fairly high level of stability, and even in its developmental state, it still beats the iriver firmware easily.

 

[LFC_SL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HyperM3 I too had this concern as I itch for an upgrade from whatever Im using about every 3 months.

alright for some......

signed poor

 

[uncle b]

Had/loved an iHP-120...it broke...I lamented...got 30G X5L...sound quality is excellent, LOUD, user friendly, truly a great purchase.

 

[visia]

Yeah, X5 sounds temping, if only money was not an issue.

 

[kylerk]

It looks like the new iAudio M5 is going to be out in about 2-3 weeks. Same thing as an X5 only it has a black & white screen. A German site is already posting it - 55 Euros (~$65) cheaper than the X5...
http://www.mp3-player.de/artikel.php?ArtNr=1157

 

[Teerawit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylerk It looks like the new iAudio M5 is going to be out in about 2-3 weeks. Same thing as an X5 only it has a black & white screen. A German site is already posting it - 55 Euros (~$65) cheaper than the X5... http://www.mp3-player.de/artikel.php?ArtNr=1157

says for me that the URL isn't valid.

 

[chino9334]

Had the same problem. I copy-pasted it and it worked fine.

 

[LFC_SL]

silver uh! not got much against it, if iaudio never bought out the black X5, if you get me

 

[BIGtrouble77]

I snagged the 30gb X5L when it first came out on cowon americas' site. Here are the players I've gone through:

Creative Jukebox 1 6gb (Upgraded to 30gb)
Creative Jukebox III 20gb (Upgraded to 30gb- same drive)
...creative jukebox III dies...
Ipod mini 4.5gb
...I hate the ipod so much I destroy it for the hd...
iRiver H120 20gb
iAudio X5 30gb(sold to my brother)
iAudio X5L 30gb

I have to say the X5 is simply a combination of the best things on each of these players (sans the ipod mini which had nothing good).

The X5 matches the creative players in sound quality, is noticably better than the h120, absolutely destroys the ipod. It supports ogg like the h120 and also adds FLAC support. It supports the directory structure navigation which eliminates unbearable tag micro management. Recording features are nice although you need the sub pack to record from the line in. 35 hours of battery life is friggin amazing.

The x5 is also recognized as a mass storage device so there's no requirement to sync with programs like itunes that take away from functionality.

I have a Canon 10d SLR camera so it's phenominal that I can now shoot for the day and load my cf card onto my player directly. I used to have to lug my 17" laptop around.

There are some negatives:

- subpack blows. It doesn't click into place so it comes out REALLY easily. I recorded a live show and the subpack came out slightly when a pick was thrown to me. The rest of the recording was in mono. You also need it to charge the unit.

- Recording is limited to mp3. There's no recording to wav, if you can believe it.

In the end the X5 is the best thing out there. The movie and picture mode is just a gimmick and really not that useful (fast forewarding a video looses audio sync.) The screen isn't that great but it's in color so it's better than black and white. I have a feeling future firmware updates will address some of my gripes as this is going to be cowon's flagship product for some time.

Anyone considering the H320 just realize that the firmware in iriver players is notoriously lacking and iriver does little to improve it. iriver prefers to concentrate on their latest and greatest.

 

[Lorrisey]

Hey BIGtrouble (heh, like your name), I really appreciate reading your comments on the X5L, I'm considering buying one.

But I do have a question, and maybe you'd know the answer....


Quote:

Originally Posted by BIGtrouble77 I have a Canon 10d SLR camera so it's phenominal that I can now shoot for the day and load my cf card onto my player directly. I used to have to lug my 17" laptop around.

How do you transfer your photos to the player? I've got a Canon camera too (different model) but had read the USB on-the-go feature doesn't work with Canons. Forgive me if this question is stupid, but I'm a technology dummy, are you using something like a card reader to do the transfer? Thanks.

 

[visia]

Video playback on X5 is not that useful as far as I can tell, so new M5 looks really good. However, looks like for now we'll only get 20 Gb version. Any idea of the exact release date in US or possible pricing?

 

[LFC_SL]

I don't need a DAP with photo/video features now...getting a PSP

 

[Teerawit]

Even if you upgrade from the H120, I would still keep the H120. The optical out is precious! Especially for later down the road, if you decide to get a DAC (cmon, you know you want to). 20 gb + optical out + DAC = match made in heaven