Seijang
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2004
- Posts
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I did a bunch of researching, and I finally decided upon the Samsung YEPP T7Z as the flash mp3 player for my sister's birthday. My sister knows that I have it (she doesn't know about the Sharp MD33's and CaseLogic MPC7 though
) and told me that I could mess around with the unit and see what it was like. If I had a digital camera, I'd turn this review into a full blown one.. but ^_^;;.
PREVIOUS MUSIC HARDWARE EXPERIENCES:
Sharp MD33, Sony EX-71SL, generic Sony earbuds, Shure e3c
iPod 1G (for 2 months - borrowed from friend), iRiver iHp-120, iRiver H320
Introduction:
The Samsung YEPP T7Z was one I'd never heard of before. I only came upon it because I wanted to buy my sister a 1GB Flash player with good battery life, easy interface and perhaps more features if I could find one like that! I came across it at Cnet.com, who I don't really trust in terms of the actual content of their review. However, I have found cnet's rating system to be pretty accurate. The YEPP received an 8.7 - an impressive score!
Packaging:
Clear plastic packaging. The player is situated apart from all the other accessories, so that you can clearly see only the player itself.
It comes with ...
1) a charger (that charges using the USB interface - initial charge took one hour or so)
2) Player-to-Player male/male jack. I don't know the right term for it, but this is used to connect the YEPP to another source in order to record from it. (ie, record from a CD player's line-out)
3) USB connector to the computer. I think its about 12 inches long.
4) Mini USB connector to computer. I think this was included for portability - nice little item
5) Samsung earbuds - I didn't listen to them, I did my own very subjective listening tests on my Shure e3c's.
6) Little plastic case w/ a clipon. It's obviously not top quality, and it doesn't encase the entire mp3 player, you just slide the YEPP into it (gotta push kinda hard, since there are rubber feet on the case providing resistance so that the player will stay in)
7) Lanyard. You can pull out a little hoop at the top of the YEPP and slip the lanyard through it. The lanyard has a rope similar to ropes you find on cell-phone trinkets. The lanyard seems to be made of a metal chain on the inside, and a clear plastic tubing surrounding it (except for the thin rope that you used to attach it to the mp3 player)
8) Installation CD with optional software and USB drivers.
9) And the Yepp itself!
Physical Observations/Interface
When I opened the box, I was completley floored by how small the player is. I'm 5' 10". If I stick out the 3 middle fingers on my hand, the player is smaller than that.
It's rectangular. On the front, you have it's ~1inch x 1inch screen w/ a glass screen protecting it. You control the player using it's joystick. Joystick is silver and the surface was made a little rough for tactile feel/traction. The joystick is a little loose, but not too loose. You can feel clicks each time you push the joystick far enough in one direction.
On the top, you have it's little metal loop that you can slide in and out of the player (depending on whether you string it through to make a necklace of sorts)
On the right side, you have the hold switch, play/pause, A-B, Rec buttons.
On the left side, you have the headphone jack.
On the bottom, you have one of those plastic coverings you see on cell phones. Except, Samsung colored the plastic covering so that it's a metal color! It blends in with the rest of the player. I really like it. Flip open the cover, and you get your USB port, your Line in, and a little reset button.
On the back, I see logos, two screws, Made in China, and data about the player itself (serial numbers, date made, etc)
Actual Interface (software of player in player, etc)
Navigation - Filetree method (my favorite)
Skipping through songs is interesting. You only skip 1second at a time at the beginning. The longer you hold down a direction (left/right).
*BAD NEWS*
I can't seem to figure out how to skip to the previous track. I don't think I can..
*/BAD NEWS*
The Player tells you what song is playing, what song is next, how much time you have left/has passed in the song, the time (yes, a clock), which track is playing (ie, 010/100), what music format, bitrate, what EQ you're using, battery life.
*OF NOTE*
7 Band Equalizer
*/OF NOTE*
Screen - Color screen, absolutely beautiful! Navigation is like an old friend, esp if you had an iRiver before, with a few twists. When the screen turns off, only the backlight turns off. You can still see everything, although it's more difficult.
I don't know what else to really say about the quality of interface. All I can say is I am thoroughly impressed, and I almost like the interface better than the H320. Actually, I can say I like it better than the H320.
Sound Quality
I am by no means an audiophile. I got into the audiophile scene 5 months ago, and I have not heard nearly anything compared to some of you bigwigs here. Still, my ears are good enough to appreciate stock earbuds to Mdr-71's, to wanting more and going to e3c's.
I'm basing judgements of SQ compared to my iRiver. I listen to my iRiver with the Jazz EQ preset.
I preferred the sound of the YEPP more than my H320. This is mainly because I was given the choice of EQ'ing to my liking. In my iRiver, the Jazz Preset allows voices to come more to the front and "alive". However, it adds a touch too much treble, enough to be terribly bright at high parts of songs. With the YEPP, I could fiddle until I achieved an EQ that was pretty much perfect for me
. The YEPP also has WOW, SRS and bass boost - but I haven't and probably won't touch any of that. The EQ has made my day, and I will seriously considering purchasing another YEPP because of this.
Also, I hear no noise in the background. When the player is paused, I hear no hissing, no white noise (verified by pluggin and unpluggin the headphones). I will say that I suspect that they turn off power to the headphone out when it's paused (maybe?) but I can't actually confirm. I suspect this because it's so silent. The YEPP seems like it has more difficulty driving my e3c's. I get the volume I want at 18/40. On my iRiver, my volume setting is at 11/40.
Conclusions
Pleasantly surprised! I have difficulty believing that (to me) I had barely heard of samsung mp3 players, and yet there's something as good as this sitting in front of me. The sound quality easily rivals my iRiver, simply because of it's 7-band EQ, and it's navigation is so familiar and easy to use. I haven't given a complete review of EVERY LITTLE THING this thing can do, just only what I've played with right now. If this guy had a HDD cousin, (probably does, I'll check it out) I'd sell my iRiver and get it. I am very impressed, and envious that this is going to my sister.
I bought this for 177 off of ebay. It's a total steal for a feature packed 1GB player. I am really happy I will be giving this as a bday present to my sister (even if I think she won't be able to appreciate it as much..
) I would recommend this mp3 player to any iRiver fan/iRiver navigation-type fan.
A more comprehensive review can be found at cnet.com, if you want to know more about other features it has
I'm open to any specific questions: unfortunately, I cannot offer photos, because I do not have a webcam/digicam.
Thanks for reading,
Seijang
PREVIOUS MUSIC HARDWARE EXPERIENCES:
Sharp MD33, Sony EX-71SL, generic Sony earbuds, Shure e3c
iPod 1G (for 2 months - borrowed from friend), iRiver iHp-120, iRiver H320
Introduction:
The Samsung YEPP T7Z was one I'd never heard of before. I only came upon it because I wanted to buy my sister a 1GB Flash player with good battery life, easy interface and perhaps more features if I could find one like that! I came across it at Cnet.com, who I don't really trust in terms of the actual content of their review. However, I have found cnet's rating system to be pretty accurate. The YEPP received an 8.7 - an impressive score!
Packaging:
Clear plastic packaging. The player is situated apart from all the other accessories, so that you can clearly see only the player itself.
It comes with ...
1) a charger (that charges using the USB interface - initial charge took one hour or so)
2) Player-to-Player male/male jack. I don't know the right term for it, but this is used to connect the YEPP to another source in order to record from it. (ie, record from a CD player's line-out)
3) USB connector to the computer. I think its about 12 inches long.
4) Mini USB connector to computer. I think this was included for portability - nice little item
5) Samsung earbuds - I didn't listen to them, I did my own very subjective listening tests on my Shure e3c's.
6) Little plastic case w/ a clipon. It's obviously not top quality, and it doesn't encase the entire mp3 player, you just slide the YEPP into it (gotta push kinda hard, since there are rubber feet on the case providing resistance so that the player will stay in)
7) Lanyard. You can pull out a little hoop at the top of the YEPP and slip the lanyard through it. The lanyard has a rope similar to ropes you find on cell-phone trinkets. The lanyard seems to be made of a metal chain on the inside, and a clear plastic tubing surrounding it (except for the thin rope that you used to attach it to the mp3 player)
8) Installation CD with optional software and USB drivers.
9) And the Yepp itself!
Physical Observations/Interface
When I opened the box, I was completley floored by how small the player is. I'm 5' 10". If I stick out the 3 middle fingers on my hand, the player is smaller than that.
It's rectangular. On the front, you have it's ~1inch x 1inch screen w/ a glass screen protecting it. You control the player using it's joystick. Joystick is silver and the surface was made a little rough for tactile feel/traction. The joystick is a little loose, but not too loose. You can feel clicks each time you push the joystick far enough in one direction.
On the top, you have it's little metal loop that you can slide in and out of the player (depending on whether you string it through to make a necklace of sorts)
On the right side, you have the hold switch, play/pause, A-B, Rec buttons.
On the left side, you have the headphone jack.
On the bottom, you have one of those plastic coverings you see on cell phones. Except, Samsung colored the plastic covering so that it's a metal color! It blends in with the rest of the player. I really like it. Flip open the cover, and you get your USB port, your Line in, and a little reset button.
On the back, I see logos, two screws, Made in China, and data about the player itself (serial numbers, date made, etc)
Actual Interface (software of player in player, etc)
Navigation - Filetree method (my favorite)
Skipping through songs is interesting. You only skip 1second at a time at the beginning. The longer you hold down a direction (left/right).
*BAD NEWS*
I can't seem to figure out how to skip to the previous track. I don't think I can..
*/BAD NEWS*
The Player tells you what song is playing, what song is next, how much time you have left/has passed in the song, the time (yes, a clock), which track is playing (ie, 010/100), what music format, bitrate, what EQ you're using, battery life.
*OF NOTE*
7 Band Equalizer
*/OF NOTE*
Screen - Color screen, absolutely beautiful! Navigation is like an old friend, esp if you had an iRiver before, with a few twists. When the screen turns off, only the backlight turns off. You can still see everything, although it's more difficult.
I don't know what else to really say about the quality of interface. All I can say is I am thoroughly impressed, and I almost like the interface better than the H320. Actually, I can say I like it better than the H320.
Sound Quality
I am by no means an audiophile. I got into the audiophile scene 5 months ago, and I have not heard nearly anything compared to some of you bigwigs here. Still, my ears are good enough to appreciate stock earbuds to Mdr-71's, to wanting more and going to e3c's.
I'm basing judgements of SQ compared to my iRiver. I listen to my iRiver with the Jazz EQ preset.
I preferred the sound of the YEPP more than my H320. This is mainly because I was given the choice of EQ'ing to my liking. In my iRiver, the Jazz Preset allows voices to come more to the front and "alive". However, it adds a touch too much treble, enough to be terribly bright at high parts of songs. With the YEPP, I could fiddle until I achieved an EQ that was pretty much perfect for me
Also, I hear no noise in the background. When the player is paused, I hear no hissing, no white noise (verified by pluggin and unpluggin the headphones). I will say that I suspect that they turn off power to the headphone out when it's paused (maybe?) but I can't actually confirm. I suspect this because it's so silent. The YEPP seems like it has more difficulty driving my e3c's. I get the volume I want at 18/40. On my iRiver, my volume setting is at 11/40.
Conclusions
Pleasantly surprised! I have difficulty believing that (to me) I had barely heard of samsung mp3 players, and yet there's something as good as this sitting in front of me. The sound quality easily rivals my iRiver, simply because of it's 7-band EQ, and it's navigation is so familiar and easy to use. I haven't given a complete review of EVERY LITTLE THING this thing can do, just only what I've played with right now. If this guy had a HDD cousin, (probably does, I'll check it out) I'd sell my iRiver and get it. I am very impressed, and envious that this is going to my sister.
I bought this for 177 off of ebay. It's a total steal for a feature packed 1GB player. I am really happy I will be giving this as a bday present to my sister (even if I think she won't be able to appreciate it as much..
) I would recommend this mp3 player to any iRiver fan/iRiver navigation-type fan.A more comprehensive review can be found at cnet.com, if you want to know more about other features it has
I'm open to any specific questions: unfortunately, I cannot offer photos, because I do not have a webcam/digicam.
Thanks for reading,
Seijang
