Traveller
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2004
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Hi2all!
I did a search for reviews, but found no mention of the following, even though the magazine article discussed below will be considered "outdated" in this business...
I am currently situated in Vienna (AUT) and forced to resort to German mags (sniff) for my [offline] reading pleasure. I picked up a copy of PC Welt - Digital.World, issue 1/04. The publication hit the stands beginning Dec. and thus the info is stoneage-old and the article must have been turned in by the author sometime in Oct.-Nov.
None the less, I think the shootout was interesting & can offer a bit of news. There were 10 candidates, but I will only list those that were in the top, particularly in audio reproduction which is more important to me.
Overall Score (1-10, based on the usual stuff - audio quality, build, functionality (weighting N/A):
iRiver iHP-100...... 9.0 (Shootout Winner
)
Apple iPOD 20GB*.... 7.6
Creative Jukebox3... 7.6
Creative Zen NX..... 7.2
Philips HDD 100..... 7.5
MPIO HD-100......... 7.3
*Note, the article labled the iPOD as "2nd generation". I'm not sure how to tell the difference between 2G & 3G iPODs, but find it difficult to believe considering the 3G's been out for a while now! The pics show the current-style body (4 buttons) & a docking station.
Frequency roll-off tests for ext-amp*, HP-out & recording:
iRiver iHP-100..... 0.1dB/ 0.1dB/ 3.1dB to 15KHz
Apple iPOD 20GB.... 0.2dB/ 8.2dB/ NA
Creative Jukebox3.. 0.6dB/ 6.0dB/ 1.0dB to 15KHz
Creative Zen NX.... 0.2dB/ 4.1dB/ NA
Philips HDD 100.... 0.2dB/ 3.7dB/ 2.6dB to 15KHz
MPIO HD-100........ 0.1dB/ 2.3dB/ NA
*External Amp, meaning that the portable was connected to an external system to rate the quality of the signal itself. It is not clear if line-out was used wherever possible (but it's assumed).
The above values corrolate to some freq. graphs that show Bass roll-off. Most notably (as paraphrased from the author, Reinhard Paprotka), the iPOD'S HP-out has terrible measurments however the line-out is very good. iHP-100 scores top-honors in both (
)
As for recording which is limited to half of the listed players, (I assume) based on the above figures that the Jukebox3 takes the honor.
btw, The "Headphone test" was performed with a simulated 27-Ohm load. While the shootout saw fit to rate (in points) the subjective sound test with the provided HPs (what were they thinking...) they at least performed the same (subjective) tests with a pair of Koss Portapros. Hence, their verdict of the iHP having excellent HP-out quality was based on the Portapros & measurements. The iPod got slapped around a lot in this category....
Battery Tests (using 128Kbps MP3s, h:m)
iRiver iHP-100..... 12:20
Apple iPOD 20GB.... 08:00
Creative Jukebox3.. 10:00
Creative Zen NX.... 13:00
Philips HDD 100.... 12:30
MPIO HD-100........ 10:30
The NX is king of the hill (& with a replaceble batt. too!)
As usual, the review must be taken with a grain of salt but having noted their use of Portapros, not to mention the measurements, it is reasonable to conclude that they put some effort into the review.
I did a search for reviews, but found no mention of the following, even though the magazine article discussed below will be considered "outdated" in this business...
I am currently situated in Vienna (AUT) and forced to resort to German mags (sniff) for my [offline] reading pleasure. I picked up a copy of PC Welt - Digital.World, issue 1/04. The publication hit the stands beginning Dec. and thus the info is stoneage-old and the article must have been turned in by the author sometime in Oct.-Nov.
None the less, I think the shootout was interesting & can offer a bit of news. There were 10 candidates, but I will only list those that were in the top, particularly in audio reproduction which is more important to me.
Overall Score (1-10, based on the usual stuff - audio quality, build, functionality (weighting N/A):
iRiver iHP-100...... 9.0 (Shootout Winner
Apple iPOD 20GB*.... 7.6
Creative Jukebox3... 7.6
Creative Zen NX..... 7.2
Philips HDD 100..... 7.5
MPIO HD-100......... 7.3
*Note, the article labled the iPOD as "2nd generation". I'm not sure how to tell the difference between 2G & 3G iPODs, but find it difficult to believe considering the 3G's been out for a while now! The pics show the current-style body (4 buttons) & a docking station.
Frequency roll-off tests for ext-amp*, HP-out & recording:
iRiver iHP-100..... 0.1dB/ 0.1dB/ 3.1dB to 15KHz
Apple iPOD 20GB.... 0.2dB/ 8.2dB/ NA
Creative Jukebox3.. 0.6dB/ 6.0dB/ 1.0dB to 15KHz
Creative Zen NX.... 0.2dB/ 4.1dB/ NA
Philips HDD 100.... 0.2dB/ 3.7dB/ 2.6dB to 15KHz
MPIO HD-100........ 0.1dB/ 2.3dB/ NA
*External Amp, meaning that the portable was connected to an external system to rate the quality of the signal itself. It is not clear if line-out was used wherever possible (but it's assumed).
The above values corrolate to some freq. graphs that show Bass roll-off. Most notably (as paraphrased from the author, Reinhard Paprotka), the iPOD'S HP-out has terrible measurments however the line-out is very good. iHP-100 scores top-honors in both (
As for recording which is limited to half of the listed players, (I assume) based on the above figures that the Jukebox3 takes the honor.
btw, The "Headphone test" was performed with a simulated 27-Ohm load. While the shootout saw fit to rate (in points) the subjective sound test with the provided HPs (what were they thinking...) they at least performed the same (subjective) tests with a pair of Koss Portapros. Hence, their verdict of the iHP having excellent HP-out quality was based on the Portapros & measurements. The iPod got slapped around a lot in this category....
Battery Tests (using 128Kbps MP3s, h:m)
iRiver iHP-100..... 12:20
Apple iPOD 20GB.... 08:00
Creative Jukebox3.. 10:00
Creative Zen NX.... 13:00
Philips HDD 100.... 12:30
MPIO HD-100........ 10:30
The NX is king of the hill (& with a replaceble batt. too!)
As usual, the review must be taken with a grain of salt but having noted their use of Portapros, not to mention the measurements, it is reasonable to conclude that they put some effort into the review.
