iPod vs Karma vs Ihp vs Zen

[austonia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jordanus my vote goes to iPod. it is thinner, narrower, and only wieghs 0.1 ounce more than the Karma. it is more durable. and looks the BY FARRRRR. so sleek, so cool, so simple. iTunes rocks too. it has good EQ, the stock headphones rock!, i just got the new inears which kick arse too.

cool, the first person in the world that thinks the iPod has a good EQ. had to happen eventually.

 

[ratdog]

If you think the stock headphones are good then you will be presently surprised by what $30-$60 can get you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jordanus my vote goes to iPod. it is thinner, narrower, and only wieghs 0.1 ounce more than the Karma. it is more durable. and looks the BY FARRRRR. so sleek, so cool, so simple. iTunes rocks too. it has good EQ, the stock headphones rock!, i just got the new inears which kick arse too. cya ps. the Vaja cases are nothing compared to the iSkin Evo's. iSkin Evo

 

[Reck45]

Quote:

Nobody seems to talk much about the iRiver iHP's audio quality in comparison to the iPod's. I don't know if this is relevant but ign.com's review of the iPod pretty much spat on the audio quality of it.

I've brought that up numerous times. I know they use nice headphones to test their gear too. There's no way I'd buy one now anyway... there is much better ones just a few weeks away. You'd be really dumb to do that unless you enjoy regret...

 

[shuurajou]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reck45 I've brought that up numerous times. I know they use nice headphones to test their gear too. There's no way I'd buy one now anyway... there is much better ones just a few weeks away. You'd be really dumb to do that unless you enjoy regret...

Yeah, I was considering purchasing one tomorrow, but with the karma 2 on the horizon amongst other things, be wise to wait me thinks.

 

[bobfa]

40 gig two batteries..... Big, but interesting.

 

[Sczervok]

Jordanus... you seem unfamiliar to how humans work. Do try to understand the principle of being a "unique individual"

First off... looks are so subjective, when you speak of them, you speak only of trivial details. He's looking for information to base his purchase on, and I don't think that your personal preferences would help him much. After all, I do hope that he's seen an iPod before, and already decided for himself, how it looks to him.

Good EQ? The iPod can't even handle it's own EQ (or as I find it off my friend's). And dear lord if I ever get caught listening to the stock earbuds... I guess they do have the "signature" look to them, but man... whatever.

iPod...
Superior software
Very nice LCD
Super fast speed scrolling (fastest of all mp3 players)
UMS Capability
Small size
Mirror (yes, I have seen the iPod used in this manner before)
and not to mention how friken SEXAY that piece of electronics is!!! YEA BABY!!! (sorry... just had to do that)

Those are the main reasons... and just about the only ones I see to buy the iPod. Which even so, are very nice.

 

[Sczervok]

Jordanus... you seem unfamiliar to how humans work. Do try to understand the principle of being a "unique individual"

First off... looks are so subjective, when you speak of them, you speak only of trivial details. He's looking for information to base his purchase on, and I don't think that your personal preferences would help him much. After all, I do hope that he's seen an iPod before, and already decided for himself, how it looks to him.

Good EQ? The iPod can't even handle it's own EQ (or as I find it off my friend's). And dear lord if I ever get caught listening to the stock earbuds... I guess they do have the "signature" look to them, but man... whatever.

iPod...
Superior software
Very nice LCD
Super fast speed scrolling (fastest of all mp3 players)
UMS Capability
Small size
Mirror (yes, I have seen the iPod used in this manner before)
and not to mention how friken SEXAY that piece of electronics is!!! YEA BABY!!! (sorry... just had to do that)

Those are the main reasons... and just about the only ones I see to buy the iPod. Which even so, are very nice.

 

[stevent]

I just love these comparrison discussions...
I find the reviews/discussions at HeadRoom to usually be accurate and helpful. I suggest you check out their buying guide discussion on hard-drive based players at
http://headroom.headphone.com/layout...&subTopicID=28

For those that are lazy, here is their discussion on players below:

The hard drive players we’ve tested here at HeadRoom are: the old and new iPod (of course); Creative’s Zen, Zen NX, and Nomad Jukebox 2; the Archos Jukebox FM, the iRiver iHP 120, the Rio Karma, the Dell Digital DJ, and the Neuros.

The Apple iPod is great, no doubt, and it sounds good, too; every bit as good as the best sounding portable CD players around these days and better. The iPod has a cheerful sound; in part, characteristic of good MP3 encoding---which seem to take some of the sharpness out of the sometimes-harsh “digital” sound of portable CD player DA converters. But beyond that, the iPod is well spoken for a portable player; articulating the musical intent with a simple clarity remarkable in a mass-market product. Its user interface is simple, its styling is elegant, the only downside is that it may be a bit on the fragile side---don’t get one if you tend to be hard on your equipment. This is certainly the benchmark device in the category, and perfect for those who want a simple, great sounding player to for portable listening.

We think the Creative Zen Xtra, and most of the devices below are almost as good sounding as the iPod; falling slightly short with a bit withdrawn midrange. Zen Xtra is an NX with a 60 Gig drive making it the leader in storage capacity. The Zen NX series can be opened up to allow extra battery changes making it the player for the international traveler who spends long hours in the air, and/or the audiophile who wants to carry huge music collections.

When it comes to the audio hardware enthusiast (that’s us), the iRiver iHP120 is the player to beat. Having both line and optical-digital ins and outs; the ability to record both analog and digital signals; support for more file types; and a simple, but powerful “use as a drive” interface and solid support in other common music managers, all while being about the same size as the iPod! This player is the Swiss Army Knife of the portable audio world: it just does everything. Drool.

With all this success selling music playing hardware, you know Dell had to get into it. Thank goodness because the Dell DJ is one fine player and will keep everyone working hard. Right between the iPod and Zen in size, the DJ has a solid feel, good looks, and a great use interface. We think this is a great all-around player for the music enthusiast who want the convenience of a MusicMatch or Windows Media Player interface.

The Rio Karma is the smallest of the devices we tested. If you are the young, active sort that is out and about and must have your music with you at all times, then this may be the player for you. It sounds as good as the rest; its menu system is well navigable and complete; and it’s about the same size as a big hackysack. The trade-off is loss of the audio geek connectorization of the iRiver. (Which we would never do without.)

The Neuros is an interesting machine. Its claim to fame is the ability to be either a flash or hard drive player depending upon which back-pack you are wearing. The problem is that it is a bit larger than optimal in both cases. It also has some nifty abilities to listen to, record, and label songs off the FM radio. And you can play your music on nearby FM radios through small built-in FM transmitter. We think this may be a cool box for a typical teen who might want to play music through a friend’s car stereo or boom-box. It also appears quite rugged and possibly a bit less likely to loose due to its slight large size. Users should be somewhat computer literate as the software set-up is among the more complex in the category.

The Archos FM Jukebox was a bit disappointing, but certainly worth mentioning in this article. It’s a bit big, it sounds a bit worse, its use interface is a bit cumbersome and confusing, but we did like the fact that if you moved music files onto the machine the player would recognize and play them. We hate the fact that most of these players can be used as drives but few will play music when moved onto the machine in that manner. We find this restrictive and cumbersome, and applaud Archos and iRiver for their Information Age approach. Sorry, rant. We’ll keep an eye on the Archos products; they do have some cool new product we haven’t tested yet.

Keep checking back here for buying information and links.