[cstyle]

The EQ settings are useless...they add so much distortion. I'm not a "basehead" or whatever. It's just that you miss out on what a song is really supposed to sound like. I've listened to the same song on my laptop, sony mz-r50, NJB3 and iPod...the ipod stands out as not accurately reproducing the intended bass experience of the song. I hope I made myself clear this time. It's not that hard to tell if you listen objectively. A blind test would be the best.

 

[lextek]

I had the 20gig Jukebox and it souded fine. That's about all it did right. Th iPod to me sounds as good if not better. And the EQ settings can make some music sound better. Hey If it sounds good it sounds good. I still disagree about the iPod lacking bass. Maybe it was your headphone/buds?

 

[cstyle]

i used the same headphones for all...grado sr-80. The ipod sounds good. It's not until you do a head to head comparison that you realize you're missing something. I didn't mean the ipod totally lacks bass...it's just that it is slightly deficient.

 

[lextek]

Well I guess everyones ears are diferent. Try before you buy. Or check the return ploicy. I don't think you could go wrong with any of these players. I had considered the the big gig (40) from nomadness.net for a bedroom system.

 

[archosman]

I primarily use my Ety ER-4Ps on my Jukebox. Expensive, but great. Also have Grado 80s & 325s

 

[geom_tol]

Quote:

Originally posted by Taphil I'll agree that the NJB1 had a low power amp and very stagnant sound. I don't think that applies to the NJB3 or Zen though. .

I have a NJB1. What are you comparing it to???

I'm using Koss portapros as headphones and they tend to make almost anything sound pretty good, but still I disagree with your statements.
IMO the amp is stronger than almost all pcdp's and mdp's I've listened to. And I think the sound is comparable.

My complaints with the NJB1 is size and battery life. Evrything else is pretty good. But it's a first genereation player so it's expected that those things will be lacking.

 

[ejacobsen]

I have to agree with cstyle here. Without an amp, the iPod lacks bass and the eq in the iPod distorts so much that it's unusable. The only solution I've found without an amp is to use Koss PortaPros which have so much bass (see response curve on Headroom's site) that they make up for it.

Unfortunately the Kosses are not as clear and detailed as my Ety 4Ps so with my iPod, I'm stuck with a tough choice: either bass and lack of clarity or clear with little bass.

Simple, non-distorting tone controls on the iPod would be so welcomed.

 

[Taphil]

Quote:

Originally posted by geom_tol I have a NJB1. What are you comparing it to???

I'm comparing it to the NJB1 I had. The volume output was low (it has now been fixed with the latest firmare) and it just didn't sound that great. The iPod just sounds better to me, although the NJB1 wasn't that bad either.

 

[geom_tol]

Quote:

Originally posted by Taphil I'm comparing it to the NJB1 I had. The volume output was low (it has now been fixed with the latest firmare) and it just didn't sound that great. The iPod just sounds better to me, although the NJB1 wasn't that bad either.

Ok. It's just that when I read your post I interpreted it that you thought the NJB1 sound was bad. Which surprised me since I have one and I think it's alot better than most portable devices I have heard.
I think it's a bargain if bought used. $130 or so for something that can store 60+ albums.

I'm starting to seriously dislike the software now though. When you have alot of music it is really hard to use. It must really suck for those with 20gb models etc.

 

[Taphil]

Quote:

Originally posted by geom_tol I'm starting to seriously dislike the software now though. When you have alot of music it is really hard to use. It must really suck for those with 20gb models etc.

At least it (and all Creative Jukeboxes) has the active queue feature so you can que up whatever songs/artist/album you want while a song is playing and let it go for hours, rather than constantly fumbling with the iPod again and again after a few songs.

 

[williamgoody]

Guys, being a former ipod owner, I am impressed with the NJB3 I have recently gotten. I agree with the ipod lacks bass statements, but the way to go IMO to combat that is go with an amp. Of course you sacrifice some portblilty, buy even with my penguin tin cha-47, the bass came to life.
And I really like the NJB3. The interface is a little more intrinsic, but
I believe the features are more comprehensive, and really lend themselves to the device.

 

[geom_tol]

Quote:

Originally posted by Taphil At least it (and all Creative Jukeboxes) has the active queue feature so you can que up whatever songs/artist/album you want while a song is playing and let it go for hours, rather than constantly fumbling with the iPod again and again after a few songs.

The software in the player itself is ok. I was thinking more of the Creative Playcenter that is used to transfer files etc.
I looked at notmad and it is pretty good, but it costs $15. If I had a NJB with a bigger drive I would definately get the notmad software.

 

[stan11003]

any heard of this player?

http://www.edig.com/news/releases/pr072202.html