New Creative Zen Micro
Nov 11, 2004 at 11:13 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 7
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Has anybody tried the new Creative Zen Micro? Does it have enough power? It is listed as having only 7 milliwatts per channel. My MuVo2 has 30 milliwats per channel. Any opinions on Creative reliability and customer service? Thanks, Arrowmark
 
Nov 12, 2004 at 2:51 AM Post #2 of 7
Creative makes a good product. My Muvo NX 256 is awesome. I was surprised to see the new Zen Micro is only rated at 5-7 mW per channel - same as my Muvo NX. Especially when the Muvo II supposedly delivers 30 mW per channel. iPod Mini was specifically designed to produce same punch as full-sized iPod, 30 mW per channel and it shows. The new Zen Micro will drive my UM2s with no problem, but what about my Ety ER4s? Not without my Xin amps (SuperMono, SuperDual). But my interest in the Micro is in minimalism and thus defeats the purpose.
 
Nov 12, 2004 at 4:39 PM Post #5 of 7
Quote:

Originally Posted by arrowmark
Several times I have asked Creative why the Micro only has 7 miliwatts ,but they have not replied yet.


Yeah, there's a thread I started at Nomadness.net about that. I noticed the Creative Labs guy who answers a lot of the questions over there was silent about that particular issue. Apparently Creative doesn't believe the Zen Micro will be used by consumers who listen to any difficult-to-drive cans, and thus doesn't need the additional power. I love my Muvo NX, especially when I'm in a minimalistic mood. But the tiny size is a trade-off because it doesn't hold much music and can't drive my high impedance phones. The Micro isn't that tiny, in fact it looks bigger than the Muvo2.

As far as E5s, obviously their sensitivity makes it easy for nearly any player to get them going. Same goes for my UM2s. My Ety's are another matter.
 
Nov 12, 2004 at 5:51 PM Post #6 of 7
I was reading the threads on nomadness.net regarding the new MuVo Micro and came across this response from Mr. Harvey Fong in answer to a similar question regarding the output of the MuVo Micro:

"I don't have a power rating either, but it's not all power that determines the volume. The power game has been used far too often over the past 40-50 years to sell hi-fi equipment wih most people not having the slightest idea as to what it really represents, most presume more power, more louder. And of course the industry just keeps the myth going and everyone is trying to figure out a different way to lie about the actual power level, like it makes some sort of difference. (sorry, this one gets me ranting, and I'm old enough to remember when it first got started).

For audio equipment it is SPL (Sound Pressure Level) that determines how loud an it is expressed in decibels, not watts.

Anyway, on to your question. You're more likely to encounter a noticable difference if happen to load the limited output from the European firmware instead of the firmware that is shipped to the rest of the world. You shouldn't notice too much of a difference between the individual products."

________________
Harvey Fong
Technical Marketing Specialist
Audio, Speakers, Personal Digital Entertainment
Creative Labs Inc. - USA
 
Nov 12, 2004 at 5:59 PM Post #7 of 7
J & R Music World in NYC had a Zen Micro launch party yesterday. I tested out the Zen Micro with my Sony EX-71s. I'm not sure what bitrate they encoded their files at, but the Elton John song I was listening to was crisp, clear and plenty loud. I had the volume at 17 out of 25 and it was quite loud in my ears.

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