Help me decide.

[SFz]

The time for me to buy a mp3 player is close.

My 3 choices:
iPod (20Gb)
NW-HD3
JNC SSF-M3 (I'm in HK, they don't sell M3)
iRiver H320

I wanted to get some 40Gb, but it seems that I don't have enough money to buy one...so 20 Gb will by my limit

Now the problem, which one....

Till now, I like the JNC SSF-M3 the most, but I still have some question about it:
Is the JNC SSF-M3 the same thing as iAudio M3, does that mean that I could use the same firmware from iAudio (from www.jetaudio.com) for my player?
And one thing that stops me from liking this the most is that this player doesn't support id3 tags....(but then all I have do is to put everything in a folder, not a biggie, cuz I don't have a rather big music library)

How about the other choices?
NW-HD3 seems a ok choice, but I worry about its codec Atratc
iPod, maybe not a bad choice after all....but no ogg, but the battery-life (before the need to recharge)???
iRiver H320 - It seems a good choice too, because it support ogg, but I heard the interface is just messed up....

Choice of music?
It is rather a mix bag: pop, rock, classicial, and a bit more of anime+game soundtracks (another mix there) etc....

So can some people help me decide which one?

 

[pank2002]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SFz How about the other choices? NW-HD3 seems a ok choice, but I worry about its codec Atratc iPod, maybe not a bad choice after all....but no ogg, but the battery-life (before the need to recharge)??? iRiver H320 - It seems a good choice too, because it support ogg, but I heard the interface is just messed up....

Sony support mp3 natively on that player as far as I have understood. It doesn't support ogg though. The sound is darker than the iPod. More bass.

iPod isn't a bad choice. There's a reason it's the top selling mp3 player (beside commercials,) don't you think? Great OS. The sound is supposedly rather flat. On my 3rd gen I'd have like a bit more bass, but as I have understood there's more bass on the newer revisions. You can check what the battery life is like on apple.com under iPod & iTunes. You should be able to get better battery life than the advertised.

iRiver has nice sound. Dark and boomy. A consumer sound, one might say. The interface isn't too good, but it's not bad either, for their flash- & CD-players that is. I haven't tried any hdd iRiver.

 

[Beach123456]

Wait, you say your music library isnt that big and you can throw it all in one folder, but you still want 40 gigs?

Do you really need ogg? If you don't, i think the iPod would be the best choice for you. The battery life isnt that bad, unless you are flying around the world or something with it.

 

[SFz]

lol, I was first thinkin ripping all my Cd to flac, but then that will be too less CD's if I only have a 20Gb, I need space for my future CDs (cuz I plan to buy more Cds after getting the player), but then I don't have money enough for 40Gb, so I'll 20 Gb with ogg.

Do I really need ogg? Hmmmmm, ain't it better then the other codecs? For me, I think ogg seems better then aac and atrac, thats the reason I need ogg.

 

[blessingx]

Have you done tests between Ogg Vorbis and AAC (or even L.A.M.E. MP3) in the ~192 kbps and above range (what I assume you'll use with decent headphones)? I think you'd find very little difference between Vorbis and AAC. They both have there adantages (so it depends on which artifacts you're most sensative to), but you could even argue AAC is superior to Vorbis for Classical for instance. Not pushing AAC over Vorbis, just saying as long as you have either you should be fine.

 

[hyperActive]

I own an iRiver H320 and Im extremely pleased with it. It has alot of awesome features (Videos/Pictures/Text/FM Tuner/Voice/Fm Recording/USB OTG/No need for software etc.). Personally, I like the looks of it better than all of the DAPs, (you must see it in real life, not very photogenic) and the Navigation is NOT confusing at all. Honestly, people just piss me off when they say its confusing. Ya maybe for the first 10 minutes you have it, but not after reading the manual. Maybe 30 - 45min learning time.

Just because you cant pick it up and use it without even glancing at the manual doesnt mean it has a confusing navigation. Blame the lazy "I want everything in less than a second and it must be the best ever" Americans for this perception.

My 2 cents.

 

[SFz]

How about the sound of each DAP?
As I recall:
iPod: flat
H320: bassy
SSF-M3 (M3): in the middle
And I forgot about the NW-HD3....

I haven't try ne of the players before, but form the voices of lots of people around, being flat can be good or not. Than I don't like music too bassy, with the SSF-M3 in the middle, it might be a good choice....

(I haven't done any tests on the codec, my choice of codec was determined by reading, so your advice on the codec also useful)

PS: what is LAME mp3? What difference does it have from normal mp3?

 

[Mr Iriver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SFz How about the sound of each DAP? As I recall: iPod: flat H320: bassy SSF-M3 (M3): in the middle And I forgot about the NW-HD3.... I haven't try ne of the players before, but form the voices of lots of people around, being flat can be good or not. Than I don't like music too bassy, with the SSF-M3 in the middle, it might be a good choice.... (I haven't done any tests on the codec, my choice of codec was determined by reading, so your advice on the codec also useful) PS: what is LAME mp3? What difference does it have from normal mp3?

According to recent charts the iRiver is flat sounding from end to end. So it will sound bassy compared to the ipod's used with lower impedance phones. This is due to an ipod problem that when used with low impedance headphones their bass rolls off. All the players listed sound very good. My two favorites soundwize the Iaudio and the H320.

 

[jesse_w]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hyperActive I own an iRiver H320 and Im extremely pleased with it. It has alot of awesome features (Videos/Pictures/Text/FM Tuner/Voice/Fm Recording/USB OTG/No need for software etc.). Personally, I like the looks of it better than all of the DAPs, (you must see it in real life, not very photogenic) and the Navigation is NOT confusing at all. Honestly, people just piss me off when they say its confusing. Ya maybe for the first 10 minutes you have it, but not after reading the manual. Maybe 30 - 45min learning time. Just because you cant pick it up and use it without even glancing at the manual doesnt mean it has a confusing navigation. Blame the lazy "I want everything in less than a second and it must be the best ever" Americans for this perception. My 2 cents.

yes, because anyone who disagrees with you is clearly lazy, dumb, and enough to make you angry at their stupidity!

jesse

 

[Spadge]

Another vote for the H320...

I own the H340 and love it. The interface is far from confusing!. If you don't have your files organised well they can be hard to find... but I can get to any song on mine within 10 seconds.

I wouldn't call it bassy either. It sounds great to my ears.

Paul

 

[hyperActive]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesse_w yes, because anyone who disagrees with you is clearly lazy, dumb, and enough to make you angry at their stupidity! jesse

No,anyone who says the H320's navigation is confusing is clearly lazy and/or dumb. Im not angry but more pissed off. Like you're pissed off at people who get through life modeling and earning millions of dollars while us ugly people actually have to WORK.

I love satire.

 

[LFC_SL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hyperActive No,anyone who says the H320's navigation is confusing is clearly lazy and/or dumb. Im not angry but more pissed off. Like you're pissed off at people who get through life modeling and earning millions of dollars while us ugly people actually have to WORK. I love satire.

Calm down people....

Now, back to the task at hand. SFz I am the owner of a HD3. It supports MP3. If you get it, download SS 3.1. Basically I compared 3 songs ripped to Atrac 3plus 256 kbps (highest Atrac encoding) and MP3 320 kbps. For fairness sake, I used Senn MX500s for test with EQ off, obviously. I felt - in my opinion - that Atrac was better. I felt there was more clarity, paying attention to cymbals. Also, Atrac has gapless playback on HD3, not MP3 though. Also only certain EQ features on HD3 work with Atrac, not MP3.

Atrac for: Atrac 3+256 better than MP3 320 (my opinion)
Gapless playback

MP3 for: Future compatibility (see below)
Sony may abandon Atrac due to pressure?

Edit: comparing HD3 to mates Ipod. Yes Ipod is flat. HD3 more "full", leaning towards bass. Or it may be 'cos I'm used to "sony" sound having bought a DNE10

 

[IstariAsuka]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesse_w Yes, because anyone who disagrees with you is clearly lazy or dumb!

That is possible...

 

[SFz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFC_SL Calm down people.... Now, back to the task at hand. SFz I am the owner of a HD3. It supports MP3. If you get it, download SS 3.1. Basically I compared 3 songs ripped to Atrac 3plus 256 kbps (highest Atrac encoding) and MP3 320 kbps. For fairness sake, I used Senn MX500s for test with EQ off, obviously. I felt - in my opinion - that Atrac was better. I felt there was more clarity, paying attention to cymbals. Also, Atrac has gapless playback on HD3, not MP3 though. Also only certain EQ features on HD3 work with Atrac, not MP3. .....

Ok, Atrac is better then mp3, but how about comparing atrac against aac and ogg?

 

[LFC_SL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SFz Ok, Atrac is better then mp3, but how about comparing atrac against aac and ogg?

No point as HD3 only plays Atrac + MP3. Everything else needs to be converted. Unless you will get a player specifically for the formats it supports. But isn't OGG a dying format? In all honesty, it hasn't really caught on has it?