JeffS
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2003
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I'm a fairly dedicated user of the Rio Karma. I've held up to the temptation of neat new DAPs as they become available because, quite frankly I'm happy with what I have. However recently I was given a new iPod Touch, which absolutely thrilled my inner geek. After watching the demo videos on Apples website, I will admit to drooling, but only slightly. So, after playing with it for a while, I sat down to spend some time doing a good comparison.
As far as the interface goes, they are obviously nothing alike. Though the iPod interface is not difficult to navigate, and fairly straight forward for anybody familiar with the karma, the new Touch interface has some neat features. Coverflow is obviously the big draw, but it's really nothing impressive aside from making people go "ohhooooo' and "ahaaaaaaaa". Functionally, Coverflow is kinda bland.
The iPod really falls down compared to the Karma when it comes to the functionality as a music player. Bookmarks on the iPod are only for audiobooks. Audiobooks have to be in a certain format, aac, and named with a .m4b tag instead of the usual .m4p that the file is converted to. I really miss the Karmas ability to bookmark any playlist of spoken word or even music, and be able to jump right back to it at any point no matter what encoding was used.
Playlists are also equally unimpressive. You can only create one on-the-go play list on the device, and it's separate from the Now Playing list. If I start listening to an album, and then go to edit the OTG play list, it is blank, and I can't just append from what I'm listening to at the moment. You besides the OTG, you can only create other playlists in iTunes (don't get me started on that application). The Karmas ability to create, edit, and manage playlists on the player itself was an indispensable function. I never made playlists on my computer, because I so very rarely plugged it into my computer. with 20gigs near full, I had plenty to listen to, and occasionally created a new list to suit my interests. Sorry, if I'm just preaching to the choir, it's hard not to praise the Karma after using it for a few years.
I had never really used the Rio DJ much, or at least I thought I didn't. I'm finding now, that those occasions where I would just tell it to "entertain me" were more often that what stuck in my head. The flexibility of DJ really made the Karma a great player and was more useful than I had realized. I guess it's true what they say, you don't know what you've got till it's gone.
Sound quality is the part that meant the most to me. Even if the interface limitations were seemed like a step backwards, I knew I could count on the sound quality to best the other players on the market, and those of days gone by. Well, I thought I could count on that, but in reality, I was wrong. Since coming to head-fi I've learned that stock buds are not something that should be used for enjoying music. So I pulled out my Etymotic er-6i and gave both players a good solid listen.
First I setup the Touch with a few tracks that I knew very well, and had a good range of both highs and lows. At first I thought the Touch sounded pretty good, and seemed pleased with it. It didn't make me leap out of my chair and scream "Wow!" but it was good. The sound seemed accurate, and aside from being a bit clinical I didn't think bad of it. Then I popped the same tracks onto my Karma, and listened. Now, I found the difference. The sound from the Touch was extremely rolled off, especially at the highs. That beautiful airy feeling as you listen to the decay of the cymbal crash, or hear the delicate pluck from the guitar string and listen as it fades out past where most people would notice was gone. I quickly double checked to make sure I had the EQ turned off on both players, and readjusted the volume so that they were identical. I even used an SPL, to make sure that the volume was the same coming out. The soundstage from the Karma was huge. I felt like I was in the studio with the band and was surrounded by the music. Hey, there is a reason I love good IEMs, the detail and accuracy they provide I dare say is second to none. With the Touch however, the soundstage was narrowed considerably. By comparison, I felt like I was in my car with the radio on.
Next, I decided to make sure that my perceptions weren't just initial guilt for thinking of giving up my Karma. I started doing small loops of tracks to detail the differences. With each sound fresh in my memory as I switched between players, I couldn't believe my ears. The Karma never disappointed me with every little nuance that came through the headphones. The Touch on the other hand never impressed me, as the small details that stock earbuds won't likely resolve were missing from the music. So I switched up my headphones for my Westone UM2s with custom molds. Hey, the Etymotics are detailed, and sometimes detailed to a fault. They'll pickup everything you didn't even know was there. The UM2s are detailed, but not as much as the Etys. They have a more laid back musical sound, and are what I usually use for day to day listening. Again, I was treated to the same situation as before. Karma came in with very high marks, while the Touch just couldn't cut the mustard.
The Touch has some good points though. It's got WiFi so you can surf the web. You can visit the iTunes store wirelessly, and buy low bitrate encodings of music. Yes, I consider 128 low, even for AAC which is supposed to be better than mp3, but that's another debate. Once you've hacked it, which now takes only minutes, you can do much more. I've got email, weather, and stock updates. I can take notes, do some basic math with the calculator, and even play games. Hey, they've got a 3rd party NES emulator. Doesn't every mp3 player need an option to fire up Super Mario Bros. or Legend of Zelda? Just kidding...
Overall, I'm stunned. I'm stunned that Apples new flagship mp3 player falls so short of a player that will be five years old come this January. That's not to say it doesn't serve a purpose though. I do enjoy it for watching movies, and playing the occasional game of Yahtzee or Lights Out. Not to mention iTunes podcast support makes keeping up with a few shows on NPR very easy. All in all, I don't see it as a loss, but that's only because I didn't shell out $400 for this 16 gig do-all device.
In conclusion, I'm not going to give up the iPod. I think it has some good features despite it's shortcomings as an mp3 player. For commuting, the light weight, and slim profile are very nice. I'm also not going to give up my Karma. As a DAP, it has yet to be beaten by anything else I've heard. So hopefully my Karmas battery will continue to hold a good charge, and my HD doesn't encounter problems as the days go by.
-Jeff
As far as the interface goes, they are obviously nothing alike. Though the iPod interface is not difficult to navigate, and fairly straight forward for anybody familiar with the karma, the new Touch interface has some neat features. Coverflow is obviously the big draw, but it's really nothing impressive aside from making people go "ohhooooo' and "ahaaaaaaaa". Functionally, Coverflow is kinda bland.
The iPod really falls down compared to the Karma when it comes to the functionality as a music player. Bookmarks on the iPod are only for audiobooks. Audiobooks have to be in a certain format, aac, and named with a .m4b tag instead of the usual .m4p that the file is converted to. I really miss the Karmas ability to bookmark any playlist of spoken word or even music, and be able to jump right back to it at any point no matter what encoding was used.
Playlists are also equally unimpressive. You can only create one on-the-go play list on the device, and it's separate from the Now Playing list. If I start listening to an album, and then go to edit the OTG play list, it is blank, and I can't just append from what I'm listening to at the moment. You besides the OTG, you can only create other playlists in iTunes (don't get me started on that application). The Karmas ability to create, edit, and manage playlists on the player itself was an indispensable function. I never made playlists on my computer, because I so very rarely plugged it into my computer. with 20gigs near full, I had plenty to listen to, and occasionally created a new list to suit my interests. Sorry, if I'm just preaching to the choir, it's hard not to praise the Karma after using it for a few years.
I had never really used the Rio DJ much, or at least I thought I didn't. I'm finding now, that those occasions where I would just tell it to "entertain me" were more often that what stuck in my head. The flexibility of DJ really made the Karma a great player and was more useful than I had realized. I guess it's true what they say, you don't know what you've got till it's gone.
Sound quality is the part that meant the most to me. Even if the interface limitations were seemed like a step backwards, I knew I could count on the sound quality to best the other players on the market, and those of days gone by. Well, I thought I could count on that, but in reality, I was wrong. Since coming to head-fi I've learned that stock buds are not something that should be used for enjoying music. So I pulled out my Etymotic er-6i and gave both players a good solid listen.
First I setup the Touch with a few tracks that I knew very well, and had a good range of both highs and lows. At first I thought the Touch sounded pretty good, and seemed pleased with it. It didn't make me leap out of my chair and scream "Wow!" but it was good. The sound seemed accurate, and aside from being a bit clinical I didn't think bad of it. Then I popped the same tracks onto my Karma, and listened. Now, I found the difference. The sound from the Touch was extremely rolled off, especially at the highs. That beautiful airy feeling as you listen to the decay of the cymbal crash, or hear the delicate pluck from the guitar string and listen as it fades out past where most people would notice was gone. I quickly double checked to make sure I had the EQ turned off on both players, and readjusted the volume so that they were identical. I even used an SPL, to make sure that the volume was the same coming out. The soundstage from the Karma was huge. I felt like I was in the studio with the band and was surrounded by the music. Hey, there is a reason I love good IEMs, the detail and accuracy they provide I dare say is second to none. With the Touch however, the soundstage was narrowed considerably. By comparison, I felt like I was in my car with the radio on.
Next, I decided to make sure that my perceptions weren't just initial guilt for thinking of giving up my Karma. I started doing small loops of tracks to detail the differences. With each sound fresh in my memory as I switched between players, I couldn't believe my ears. The Karma never disappointed me with every little nuance that came through the headphones. The Touch on the other hand never impressed me, as the small details that stock earbuds won't likely resolve were missing from the music. So I switched up my headphones for my Westone UM2s with custom molds. Hey, the Etymotics are detailed, and sometimes detailed to a fault. They'll pickup everything you didn't even know was there. The UM2s are detailed, but not as much as the Etys. They have a more laid back musical sound, and are what I usually use for day to day listening. Again, I was treated to the same situation as before. Karma came in with very high marks, while the Touch just couldn't cut the mustard.
The Touch has some good points though. It's got WiFi so you can surf the web. You can visit the iTunes store wirelessly, and buy low bitrate encodings of music. Yes, I consider 128 low, even for AAC which is supposed to be better than mp3, but that's another debate. Once you've hacked it, which now takes only minutes, you can do much more. I've got email, weather, and stock updates. I can take notes, do some basic math with the calculator, and even play games. Hey, they've got a 3rd party NES emulator. Doesn't every mp3 player need an option to fire up Super Mario Bros. or Legend of Zelda? Just kidding...
Overall, I'm stunned. I'm stunned that Apples new flagship mp3 player falls so short of a player that will be five years old come this January. That's not to say it doesn't serve a purpose though. I do enjoy it for watching movies, and playing the occasional game of Yahtzee or Lights Out. Not to mention iTunes podcast support makes keeping up with a few shows on NPR very easy. All in all, I don't see it as a loss, but that's only because I didn't shell out $400 for this 16 gig do-all device.
In conclusion, I'm not going to give up the iPod. I think it has some good features despite it's shortcomings as an mp3 player. For commuting, the light weight, and slim profile are very nice. I'm also not going to give up my Karma. As a DAP, it has yet to be beaten by anything else I've heard. So hopefully my Karmas battery will continue to hold a good charge, and my HD doesn't encounter problems as the days go by.
-Jeff
