[AdamWill]

I thought there might be some interest in this. The Neuros open source page, http://open.neurosaudio.com/ , carries Joe Born's blog, and he's announced that the developer board for the next generation of Neuros players (the new 442 and the Neuros III) is going into early production:

http://open.neurosaudio.com/node/140#comment-128

Most interestingly the post provides the board specs; it really looks like they've followed through on the plan to make it a great player for audiophiles. Burr-Brown ADC and DAC (24/96 and 24/192 respectively), low jitter clock, a true line-out and SP/DIF out as well as amplified headphone out (and the design specs suggest the headphone out will be turned off whenever possible to improve battery life; I hope it will be possible to disable it from the firmware if you're using an external amp through the line-out). Looks like it's shaping up to be a great player. Now if only I can hold out until it's released without giving in and buying an X5...

 

[boschtb]

The clarification on the true analog line-out (i.e., not through the headphone out), is good news. That was my only remaining concern about this player. It will be a pretty long wait, so let's hope it ends up being worth it.

 

[AdamWill]

I forgot to mention, both the hardware-revised 442 and the Neuros III will be based on this same basic developer board. So if you can't wait for the III to find out how it sounds, you can buy a revised 442 when they come out; obviously there's a tradeoff in that it's a PMP with PMP price, size and firmware, but it should have the same sound characteristics as the Neuros III, and will be released earlier. I'm going to do my best to hold out for the III, though

 

[AdamWill]

Does anyone know anything about the specific DAC model they've chosen? Is it used in any other players?

 

[digitalcat]

The spec looks great and it seems to have everything people asked for... BUT the question is: how big will this thing be with all the ports(digital out, sd/mmc extension, lineout, headphone out...)? It won't sell if it's a brick.l

 

[adam917]

Quote:

Originally Posted by digitalcat The spec looks great and it seems to have everything people asked for... BUT the question is: how big will this thing be with all the ports(digital out, sd/mmc extension, lineout, headphone out...)? It won't sell if it's a brick.l

I don't think it will be too big. It's not hard to put a decent amount of ports around one side of the device. Just look at what iRiver did with their H-series when it was out...

 

[AdamWill]

I dunno if they've set the size yet, but I know it's at least intended to be smaller than the Neuros I.

 

[YamiTenshi]

Seeing how some people around here don't mind carrying about a DAC, an amp and a fullsize pair of headphones, there will be a market for this player unless it literally is the size of a brick.

I never saw the Neuros I, but I assume the Neuros III will be no bigger then my Entempo Spirit (at least I hope

).

So what are we about 6 months from the release date? There are so many DAPs out right now that I want to buy, but must resist... Maybe I'll just get another pair of headphones instead.

 

[AdamWill]

No-one's got an exact release date, six months sounds like a reasonable guess for it to be on the market, you could probably get a beta / gamma version before that if you get in the testing program. (Neuros do public beta / gamma tests for their units, just like software companies do with software).

The Neuros I is pretty damn big - 5.3" x 3.1" x 1.3", 9.4 oz. Mine just about fits in my pants pocket, but you can't get a lot else in with it. It uses a 2.5" hard disk (same size laptops use, which means you can buy them off the shelf and upgrade your Neuros yourself; handy!) and has a two-piece, modular design, which adds to the size. The III is slated to use a 1.8" disk (like the iPod) and it's one-piece, which makes for a big reduction in size right away.

I'm planning on having a Neuros III, a Xin Supermini or Supermicro, and some nice high-end closed phones, maybe something Audio Technica...ahhh, can't wait...

 

[RnB180]

As soon as it goes on sale, it will replace my iriver.

 

[adam917]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamWill No-one's got an exact release date, six months sounds like a reasonable guess for it to be on the market, you could probably get a beta / gamma version before that if you get in the testing program. (Neuros do public beta / gamma tests for their units, just like software companies do with software). The Neuros I is pretty damn big - 5.3" x 3.1" x 1.3", 9.4 oz. Mine just about fits in my pants pocket, but you can't get a lot else in with it. It uses a 2.5" hard disk (same size laptops use, which means you can buy them off the shelf and upgrade your Neuros yourself; handy!) and has a two-piece, modular design, which adds to the size. The III is slated to use a 1.8" disk (like the iPod) and it's one-piece, which makes for a big reduction in size right away. I'm planning on having a Neuros III, a Xin Supermini or Supermicro, and some nice high-end closed phones, maybe something Audio Technica...ahhh, can't wait...

I guess I'm going to hold out on getting any HDD DAP if this thing is _really_ a year or less away. I really don't know how much I would spend on a dream device like this, but I and I bet plenty of others do have a maximum. If it really will be possible to buy any 1.8" HDD and install yourself, I think it's really worth it, as when new drives come out or if your current one fails, you can replace it with a newer, better, and maybe even faster one.

I really hope they do not scrap the idea of an in-line remote, as I'm used to iRiver's offerings and I never keep my actual equipment showing off when I'm outside (due to obvious things like protection against accidental drops, and theft protection).

My current CD player (iRiver iMP-550) is in a player case (nice & slim, made by Case Logic, has two belt loops on the back and a buckle to go through one of those things you put your belt through) with 3 CDs, strapped onto my belt. I exclusively use the remote now, even on a player that does have a screen on the main unit.

I hope they provide the ability to search/seek/FF\REW/jump through long files easily, as I & perhaps plenty of us have 'album-length' (40+-minute) files, like concert recordings, DJ mixes, audio books, radio broadcast recordings, etc and would rather have an easier method of navigation than holding a rewind or fast forward button down for over 1.5 minutes sometimes. Cuesheet (.cue file) support would be very nice too...

 

[adam917]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamWill I dunno if they've set the size yet, but I know it's at least intended to be smaller than the Neuros I.

How big is the Neuros I?

 

[craiglester]

Quote:

Originally Posted by adam917 How big is the Neuros I?

The HDD Neuros isn't exactly svelte.. it's

5.3" x 3.1" x 1.3", 9.4 oz - which is about as tall and wide as a Coke can, and almost as heavy.

That said, its a great player.. for it's time

I have a Neuros Flash version, which isn't much smaller, but a lot lighter.. I'm keeping it only to see if I get a trade in against the N3

Y

 

[adam917]

Quote:

Originally Posted by craiglester The HDD Neuros isn't exactly svelte.. it's 5.3" x 3.1" x 1.3", 9.4 oz - which is about as tall and wide as a Coke can, and almost as heavy. That said, its a great player.. for it's time I have a Neuros Flash version, which isn't much smaller, but a lot lighter.. I'm keeping it only to see if I get a trade in against the N3 Y

Which flash player is this? Does it do CF/SD?

 

[craiglester]

No, this was the flash memory backpack for the neuros 1, has a mighty 128 MB of flash memory built in with no way to expand it.