[shuurajou]

Hi there folks,

I'm going to be traveling quite a bit soon and I'm spending WAY too much time at work recently, so I'm looking for a portable player.

I've been looking into the iPod, Rio Carbon and the Creative Zen Micro. This will most likely be used with some Hd-25's (non sp vs) and eventually (maybe), a portable amp.

I'm basically looking for some advice. Audio quality & build quality is my highest priority - I'm not too fussy on the price tag, or the storage space though.

So - what do you think?

 

[fr4c]

the choices you listed above are all micro hard drive players. is that what you want or are you willing to carry bigger units?

from the 3 i would go with either carbon or mini.

 

[shuurajou]

I'm considering to go bigger if it will offer me better sound quality. Size isn't really something that bothers me. But I'm not wanting a CD-based mp3 player.

 

[Charlie87]

I think the iPod mini displays the best balance of build quality and audio quality of those three.

 

[fr4c]

how about the Rio Karma? it definitely has good reviews and feedbacks. or you can always cross to the dark side and go with a iPod 20/40GB

 

[Thisp]

I'd throw out the iPod mini(you _are_ referring to the mini, right? If not, you're comparing apples to oranges here) immediately.

Less storage capacity, worse sound quality(if the normal iPod has probs driving the bass on low impedance 'phones compared to other DAPs, I can imagine what it'd be like with the smaller chips

), and in normal Apple fashion costs more than all of the competetiors.

And this is my opinion, but the scroll wheel takes way too much hand movement. Buttons/joystick > moving my thumb in a circle. For someone who screws around with stuff as much as I do, I need something that won't give me carpel tunnel after using for a while..

The Zen Micro and the Carbon are considered very close, it's a matter of preference. You should do a search here and read over the threads about it, you'll find some comparisons. I'm biased because I own a Rio, and in addition, when saw the Carbon just thought it was much better.

I'd go with the Carbon because:

- Rio DJ is elite. I can't live without this(makes playlists in order of most played, or stuff that hasn't been played in a certain amount of time, etc..)

- Twice the battery life. 20 hours = amazing.

- Frankly, I'm sick and tired of creative lying about the SNR to sell their products.. 98 dB SNR is so off they shouldn't be lawfully allowed to put it on the box.

The Zen doesn't have the static headphone issue though, yet this can easily be remedied with clear nail polish, and only screws things up with certain headphones. And again - it's your opinion wheather it looks better or not, or wheather.

Also, the Carbon uses a hard drive engineered for use in DAPs by Seagate, so it should be very durable and able to sustain lots of shock. Don't expect the hard drive failure rate to be even close to that of the Karma's.

 

[shuurajou]

I'm not a big fan of the iPod mini myself. I've heard quite regularly on these forums that the new Zen Micro is something that offers superior sound quality to that of an iPod mini - but I'm sure that is debateable. When I say iPod in the previous list - I mean the iPod, not the iPod mini.

Again, I've heard some unpleasent storys about the build quality of the Rio Karma's; sounds like it is the only thing that lets them down. But, build quality is something that matters alot to me.

Quote:

The Zen doesn't have the static headphone issue though, yet this can easily be remedied with clear nail polish, and only screws things up with certain headphones. And again - it's your opinion wheather it looks better or not, or wheather.

I've not heard of this static headphone issue before?

 

[Charlie87]

Quote:

I'd throw out the iPod mini(you _are_ referring to the mini, right? If not, you're comparing apples to oranges here) immediately. Less storage capacity, worse sound quality(if the normal iPod has probs driving the bass on low impedance 'phones compared to other DAPs, I can imagine what it'd be like with the smaller chips

You might know some things about DAP's but that is a false statement u made, "smaller chips" aren't any less powerful than bigger ones, today's technology is shrinking, so now that it is the iPod mini, it has mini sound? Don't Think so

 

[fr4c]

if you want build and sound quality, then i'm gonna have to say the 4G iPods. seriously, i have never seen any DAP's built as nice as the iPod. sometimes at night i just turn on the backlight and play UFO with it

 

[Charlie87]

btw, if you are on the issue of driving headphones, might as well bring up mW supplied to each channel...I am no expert in this but is the iPod (as well as the mini) 30mW per channel as the micro is 5-7mW?

 

[shuurajou]

Okay, the 4G iPod is looking the most seductive of the few so far. That mW is very important.

 

[fr4c]

i believe iPod is 30mW per channel. not so sure about micro, but i remember reading somewhere that its less than Apple's (again correct me if i'm wrong)

 

[Charlie87]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shuurajou Okay, the 4G iPod is looking the most seductive of the few so far. That mW is very important.

I was in the same exact position as you were, the mW and the customer support was my deciding factor....

If you go to nomadness.net, alot of Zen Micro users are only getting half the claimed battery life, That is lower battery life with lower mW

I figured with more mW i could customize my headphone choice more, but I am quite limited with 5-7mW ........These are my consumer viewpoints, I am no expert in audio, but I am juding strictly by #'s, unfair=yes, bias=no

 

[shuurajou]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie87 I was in the same exact position as you were, the mW and the customer support was my deciding factor.... If you go to nomadness.net, alot of Zen Micro users are only getting half the claimed battery life, That is lower battery life with lower mW I figured with more mW i could customize my headphone choice more, but I am quite limited with 5-7mW ........These are my consumer viewpoints, I am no expert in audio, but I am juding strictly by #'s, unfair=yes, bias=no

I'm not a huge fan of creative, after experiancing the drivers they offer for their sound card line and also experiancing their false advertising. The iPod seems like a good choice right now - but I'll have to learn how to replace that battery myself

.

 

[Charlie87]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shuurajou I'm not a huge fan of creative, after experiancing the drivers they offer for their sound card line and also experiancing their false advertising. The iPod seems like a good choice right now - but I'll have to learn how to replace that battery myself .

LoL, the least ya could do is go in optimistic, when I purchased my mini at the store i Bought it with 2 year service plan from Circuit City, meaning if my ipod mini screws up in 9 months and they dont carry the mini, they have to give me the next thing for free....i suggest this plan over a "Apple Care" plan,