[TheBends]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJGeorgeT /img/forum/go_quote.gif I heard this from a monkey, so it must be true: oh oh oh, the creative zen 16GB sucks because it can't properly drive 16 ohm headphones and the bass is weak and not flat, let me show you the rightmark test results I always use when arguing with everybody in the world....on the other hand the sansa express is flat and sansa clip as well. Sony rules!!! Ipod rules even though it also has weak bass with 16 ohm headphones cus it is coool! yeah cool! and who cares about distortion and hiss, as long as it is flat, that's all it matter...did I just contradict myself there? Samsung sucks for sure.

Was this an attempt at satire?

Sony seems to be the undisputed king of sq. that being said, the zen vision m is a respectable player sq wise and the new zen has the same creative house sound which is nothing short of somewhere between warm and neutral. it does have a weaker amp than the m which is regrettable but it drives most portables just fine and even on occasion with a push, depending on the gain set on your mp3s whether from your tweaking or from the terrible loudness that is rampant throughout today's production, i can drive beyer 770 80s just fine. but that's a stretch.

i'd say just go to circuit city and check it out, if you don't like, return it. if you do like, return it, and buy online because its cheaper. that being said, i love my zen because i absolutely adore the interface which for my portable listening is the most important thing. when i'm walking around from class to class and riding the subway i hardly have the presence of concentrated listening to devote to listening to cymbal decay or vocal graininess. So what's so great about the creatives is the navigation which the sony doesn't have, specifically on the go playlists, which is basically all that i listen to.

 

[DJGeorgeT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBends /img/forum/go_quote.gif that being said, i love my zen because i absolutely adore the interface which for my portable listening is the most important thing. when i'm walking around from class to class and riding the subway i hardly have the presence of concentrated listening to devote to listening to cymbal decay or vocal graininess. So what's so great about the creatives is the navigation which the sony doesn't have, specifically on the go playlists, which is basically all that i listen to.

sounds OK to me. Not everybody needs to buy Sony, sansa clips or express sansa (although sansa is all I buy). I wonder how many will be praising Sony a year from now...

When the AKG 701 was released three years ago, everybody was all over it. Best headphone in the world. The hype has finally died and after you listen to it, you discover it is not anywhere near as good as people hyped it up.

 

[sigsegv0x0B]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJGeorgeT /img/forum/go_quote.gif I heard this from a monkey, so it must be true:

In many cases I monkeys would be far more reliable sources then ignorant people.

Quote:

oh oh oh, the creative zen 16GB sucks because it can't properly drive 16 ohm headphones and the bass is weak and not flat, let me show you the rightmark test results I always use when arguing with everybody in the world....on the other hand the sansa express is flat and sansa clip as well. Sony rules!!!

Yes, that is infact a correct statement. Inferior sound hardware that the Creative Zen series offers as of late is a real disappointment. Rightmark is definitively a more valid comparison then saying "Ooooh.. I think it sounds good and I don't care about your charts because science and logic are meaningless to me".

I am pretty sure whatever you like to hear (since you seem to like creative zen sound) is not the same I like to hear since I dislike that sound signature.

Therefor I am unable to use your opinions to decide if I like a player because they're meaningless to me knowing your taste in sound. On the other hand with RMAA I can see an approximation of how a device sounds which is FAR FAR more useful then your opinions on what you think sounds good.

Quote:

Ipod rules even though it also has weak bass with 16 ohm headphones cus it is coool! yeah cool! and who cares about distortion and hiss, as long as it is flat, that's all it matter...did I just contradict myself there? Samsung sucks for sure.

Lets be specific here you are talking about iPod classic? Or shuffle? Which one? For example a 5.5G iPod video will eat any creative player SQ wise. 1st and 2nd gen Nanos will do the same thing. I have never heard nor tested the iPod Classic nor iPod Nano 3RD gen so I can't comment on them. On the other hand 5.5G iPod is really the best deal EVER right now. Awesome sound quality, lots of storage and on top of that it has the super-killer-feature of rockbox compatibility. You simply can't loose.

Well you can loose, creative zen lineup offers a lot of options to loose today

You seem to have no problem contradicting yourself at all. You may continue doing so at your leisure.

 

[RedSky0]

Just got a 4gb Zen, and really compared to my iRiver H320 it pales, especially in base, I can max the base on the H320 and there is perhaps a little insignificant distortion, if I try the same on the Zen it distorts like crazy, and an acceptable level has nowhere near the impact of the iRiver. Treble also sounds different, but I suppose which you'd prefer would depend on personal taste there. This is based on testing with AD700s and iM716, I'd understand if it had trouble driving the 716s, but it should have no problems with the AD700s, yet the lack of base is consistent. With no amp also, not sure how it would respond to that.

It's incredibly compact and light though, and the video quality is great for such a small screen for TV shows. Think I'll sell mine for a Cowon/Sony/iRiver though.

 

[sandino]

I'm listening to my Creative ZV:M right now, and well, some other guy in another thread mentioned that his CV:M kinda sounds cold. I thought about it and compared it with my laptop (an HP dv1000) and it feels that my laptop has a fuller sound (more presence?), as if the soundstage was a little bit wider (is that possible?). I'm using my Shure SCL4. As a side note, will getting an amp make it sound warmer?

I also have an old Sony Minidisc player, a Sony Ericsson Walkman phone. My two cents: Sony does sound good, the way I see (hear, rather) it, is that it has more bass and sounds fuller. The ZV:M I'd say has more detail. And yes, I agree with the post before this one. I also get F-LOADS of distortion from the bass of my ZV:M when I turn the Bass Boost feature, or even just adding bass on the equalizer. Will an amp fix this problem?

 

[dr dougie]

My 8gb Zen sounds very good to me but I do use mostly use high impedance (50) Klipsch Images with it. I compared it to other pmp in stores and there was no noticeable difference. At home against a new Nano and Classic with same songs again there is no noticeable difference but it sure helped me realize how mediocre the X-fi is. I've been comparing mp3 compression codecs and am having no problem hearing the differences between LAME 3.97, LAME 3.98 beta 6 and the WMP 11 Fraunhofer for example. With low impedance earphones and high volume and I can see maybe, maybe clipping the bass.

I love the interface and video quality, like the software and can live with the average battery life. It sure is lighter than a D2. And $95 for a 4gb Zen vs. $160 for a 4gb D2 or $150 for a 4gb Nano? C'mon ...

 

[ILikeMusic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sigsegv0x0B /img/forum/go_quote.gif In many cases I monkeys would be far more reliable sources then ignorant people.

Yes sigsegv0x0B, on that point everyone agrees with you...