austonia
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2002
- Posts
- 3,392
- Likes
- 16
Even with all the new models and brands of hard-drive based DAP hitting the market, the Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 still retains some _unique_ features.
1) encodes (up to) 320kbit MP3 or WAV, optical or analog
2) holds 2 removeable batteries
3) 2 line-out ports on the player itself
4) Can send files from NJB3 to NJB3 over firewire without need of a PC
5) optional IR remote
6) Firewire AND USB1.1 interface
7) strongest headphone amp available (50mw/ch)
Even the newest toys, iRiver iHP-100, Rio Karma, and Phillips HDD100, Nomad Zen NX, etc.. don't offer the above features.
It's not quite pocket size, but its the same size as a typical PCDP, easy enough to tote around in a backpack. Part of the size is used to house the two lithium batteries which give it 20+ hours of use between charges. It's not much to look at, no shiney stuff. But, it has tons of features, and it's CHEAP compared to most other DAPs.
Some other strong features :
- easily upgradable. I upped mine to 60gb.
- good sound quality
- On-the-fly playlist is integral to OS
- priced very reasonable (typically ~ $200)
- Music database from ID3 tags : list by Artist, Album, Title, Genre, Playlist
- Search function : Alphanumeric search by Artist, Album, Title, etc
- Onboard file management. Delete Artist, Album, Title, etc
- EAX Timescale : speed up or slow down a track by 50% without pitch distortion
- EAX Normalization - if many of your tracks vary wildly in volume this will correct
- Bookmark a stopping place in any track.
- many dedicated buttons
- True OFF mode (as opposed to iPod)
- speed sensitive scroller controller
- when browsing a list of Artist, Album, Titles, A and Z are wrapped so you from top of the list directly to bottom and vice versa (NOT SO ON iPOD)
- Creative Playcenter looks ugly, but works well enough. Drag and Drop loading onto the program.
- Third party software available if you want (Notmad)
What I don't like
- Titles that go offscreen do not scroll
- the selector controller could be larger and placed on the face of the unit instead of the side (IMO)
- Menu system is sometimes cumbersome and is not customizable
- Requires Creative software and drivers to load music and files. Newer players are able to act as removeable drives with drag n drop loading, and still offer an ID3 tag music database by scanning the music files from the player itself.
- the NJB3 to NJB3 transfer function is limited to sending one file at a time. So you can't batch send a whole album or artist catalogue so easy.
Also, as a side note, the headroom tote bag is a perfect match for the NJB3. It has a pouch on top that holds my Porta Corda 2 and a small hole at the bottom of the pouch for routing a mini cable to line-out jack of the NJB3.
I don't sell the NJB3 or anything, but I'm a happy owner, and thought it deserves a little attention among the newer, sexier DAPs
1) encodes (up to) 320kbit MP3 or WAV, optical or analog
2) holds 2 removeable batteries
3) 2 line-out ports on the player itself
4) Can send files from NJB3 to NJB3 over firewire without need of a PC
5) optional IR remote
6) Firewire AND USB1.1 interface
7) strongest headphone amp available (50mw/ch)
Even the newest toys, iRiver iHP-100, Rio Karma, and Phillips HDD100, Nomad Zen NX, etc.. don't offer the above features.
It's not quite pocket size, but its the same size as a typical PCDP, easy enough to tote around in a backpack. Part of the size is used to house the two lithium batteries which give it 20+ hours of use between charges. It's not much to look at, no shiney stuff. But, it has tons of features, and it's CHEAP compared to most other DAPs.
Some other strong features :
- easily upgradable. I upped mine to 60gb.
- good sound quality
- On-the-fly playlist is integral to OS
- priced very reasonable (typically ~ $200)
- Music database from ID3 tags : list by Artist, Album, Title, Genre, Playlist
- Search function : Alphanumeric search by Artist, Album, Title, etc
- Onboard file management. Delete Artist, Album, Title, etc
- EAX Timescale : speed up or slow down a track by 50% without pitch distortion
- EAX Normalization - if many of your tracks vary wildly in volume this will correct
- Bookmark a stopping place in any track.
- many dedicated buttons
- True OFF mode (as opposed to iPod)
- speed sensitive scroller controller
- when browsing a list of Artist, Album, Titles, A and Z are wrapped so you from top of the list directly to bottom and vice versa (NOT SO ON iPOD)
- Creative Playcenter looks ugly, but works well enough. Drag and Drop loading onto the program.
- Third party software available if you want (Notmad)
What I don't like
- Titles that go offscreen do not scroll
- the selector controller could be larger and placed on the face of the unit instead of the side (IMO)
- Menu system is sometimes cumbersome and is not customizable
- Requires Creative software and drivers to load music and files. Newer players are able to act as removeable drives with drag n drop loading, and still offer an ID3 tag music database by scanning the music files from the player itself.
- the NJB3 to NJB3 transfer function is limited to sending one file at a time. So you can't batch send a whole album or artist catalogue so easy.
Also, as a side note, the headroom tote bag is a perfect match for the NJB3. It has a pouch on top that holds my Porta Corda 2 and a small hole at the bottom of the pouch for routing a mini cable to line-out jack of the NJB3.
I don't sell the NJB3 or anything, but I'm a happy owner, and thought it deserves a little attention among the newer, sexier DAPs
