[jstef]

Hey everyone, it's my first post here. I'm not much of an audiophile but I'm getting there.

Here's the deal:

- I have about $300-350 to spend on an MP3 Jukebox.
- Sound quality is very important.
- Interface is very important.
- All my MP3's are ID3 tagged, but only half my collection is organized in any kind of folder hierarchy. If one player leans more to ID3 for interface, rather than folders and filenames, that is very important.

Given these factors, which player would you recommend? If you own either, what features do you find exceptionally useful and what features do you find useless? Are there any bugs or quirks that hamper the function of the player or your enjoyment of it?

Thanks for the help.

PS- I plan to be using a pair of Etymotic ER-6's with the player, my budget won't allow for the better ones. I've been looking into the ER-4's and the new Shure in-ear headphones. Are the ER-4's worth the extra $150? Are the ER-6's any good? Are the Shure's really that bad?

Thanks again! Please be kind to the new guy.

 

[Peddler]

Get the Jukebox 2 or 3. The sound quality is first rate and, most importantly, you can change the damned batteries when they eventually do fail.

The Jukebox 3 with the supplied carrying case (UK only - ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! - about fu**ing time) makes the unit easy to carry.

 

[jstef]

I've noticed that a lot of people in this forum preach about the Jukebox 3, but it doesn't seem to fit me well.

From reading a few posts, I gather that it has a pretty bad interface and is filled with bugs. The form factor is something I also am turned off by, that's why I'm looking at the Zen and not the JB3.

 

[Peddler]

Basically the Zen has the same user interface. I too suffered with connection problems and the like - this appears to have been resolved with the installation of the latest firmware for the Nomad 3. So far I have not had ANY!!! problems and I was getting them virtually on a daily basis at one point in time.

I strap the Nomad 3 to my belt using the supplied carrying case and I honestly don't really feel that it's that big a deal - admittedly I'm sometimes a little nervous about carrying something so damned expensive around but so far it has not fallen off or skipped once.

Admittedly I'm not a jogger but the SlimX I own constantly skips when I try to walk with it - and that is with the additional anti-skip setting switched on. The Nomad 3 has not skipped once on me.

I honestly think that this is the best MP3 player out there. The combination of excellent sound quality (most important) coupled with a powerful headphone output (drives Koss KSC-35's LOUD), good battery life (genuine 8 hours for me at high bitrates), excellent anti skip protection, recording functions and, finally, the cheesy wired remote control (along with my infra-red I rarely use) makes this the machine to beat.

It must sound like I work for Creative - I don't and I wouldn't have hesitated to take it back if it sounded like **** - I did the Archos Jukebox recorder. I have listened to a lot of good stuff (Panasonic 570, Sony D-915, SlimX, Sony R-900 and so on) and I think the Nomad 3 sounds consistently better than all of the others. Works well with the Etymotic ER4P/S phones as well. I have not listened to the ER6 so I cannot comment on the differences is sound quality. I can tell you that the 4P/S is an outstanding product - well recommended with any of the machines I have mentioned (except the Archos I'm afraid). I suspect that the ER6 is not that far behind it though.

The RIOT is an excellent sounding machine as well. I briefly tried one out for a couple of days and I was VERY VERY impressed with the sound quality - an almost 'valve' quality to the machine - lovely! The only problem with the machine was the slow interface (USB only) and the fact that, like the IPOD, the battery is a non-user replacable item - major setback there. In addition, no recording functions, optical input, etc, etc. To be truthful I have not heard the IPOD but the lack of removable batteries and recording functions would tend to put it in second place for my wants and needs as well. Still a damned cool looking machine though .... drool

 

[austonia]

check out the nomadness.net forums.

i have owned a Zen for about a month, and it pretty much beats the iPod in ALL areas except 1. size (slightly) 2. weight (slightly) 3. screen 4. ease of use (though limited functionality)

that means the Zen is
1. better sound quality (96dB SNR supposedly)
2. louder output 100ma (full volume is intolerablely loud, little distortion)
3. cheaper ($330 after rebate, with remote)
4. more features
- plays WMA & WAVS besides MP3
- on the fly playlist creation and queing
- FM radio (on remote)
- voice recording (on remote)
- remote has LCD built in that displays ID3 tags (not on iPods)
- EAX DSP (slow down songs, spacial effects, etc)
- bookmark a place in an MP3 (useful for audio books)
5. has USB 1.1 & Firewire
6. upgradable (theoretically, since uses laptop drives)
7. more durable (subjective at this point)
8. attractive industrial design vs. ipod's trademark polished-acyrlic look
9. NO DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT BS... with most portables your can put music on but can't get it off. Just load Creative's playcenter on any PC and you can download off the Zen.

also, you don't have to have your files at all sorted. as long as they're tagged right, you can just load them on zen the play or search by artist, album, genre, etc..

 

[austonia]

also keep in mind there are 2 worthy competitors to iPod and Zen that may be due out by Christmas.


e.digital ODYSSEY 1000
http://www.edig.com/news/releases/pr072202.html
http://www.cesweb.org/for_press_anal...asp?prodid=845
...a review of the VoiceNav technology inlcuded in the Odyssey :
http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/2...100review.html



bantam BA1000
http://gear.ign.com/articles/372/372006p1.html
http://www.evolutionmc.com/bantam/me...2011-11-02.pdf
http://gear.ign.com/articles/376/376972p1.html

 

[jstef]

The Odyssey and the Bantam cost too much and don't have enough storage. I think I am leaning towards the Riot right now, but I like the fact that you can queue files on the Zen while a song is playing. Can you do this on the Riot?

I am also looking at the 10GB iPod because I saw it on sale at Amazon for $327. If the price stays low, I might get that instead of the Riot.