[stevesolo]

I have called Creative 2 times today and got 2 different answers to my questions.

Does the Zen 2.0 support Playcenter 3?

Are the Zen drivers the same as JB2?

I already have created an extensive library on Playcenter 3 for my JB2. Now I want to get a new Zen 2.0 and use my installed Playcenter 3 software to transfer all of my existing music in the library to a new Zen 2.0 using auto sync. Is this a problem?

I would assume that the drivers for the Zen are different from the JB2 and I will need to do a custom install to just install the zen drivers. Does this sound right?

Thanks

 

[strohmie]

When you say Zen 2.0, you're referring to Zen USB 2.0 and not the NX, right?

Does the Zen 2.0 support Playcenter 3?
- Considering that it comes packaged with PlayCenter 3, yes.


Are the Zen drivers the same as JB2?
- Yes, I'm pretty sure they are (at least, the ones I have installed are)

 

[stevesolo]

Thats interesting. If the drivers are the same, I dont think I have any set up to do at all. What I am hearing is that all I need to do is to connect the USB cable to the Zen 2.0 and Zen will display on the right side of Playcenter(as where Jukebox does now) and then hit autosync and my entire established library will be transfered to the Zen. Sounds too simply but I love simple

I put a lot of time and energy creating my music library on Playcenter for my 10GB JB2. I have decided I need more capacity so I plan to give the JB2 to a friend loaded up with about 2000 songs, transfer all the existing songs currently on Playcenter with autosync to the Zen and continue building my library and have an extra 10 GB of music to transfer to the Zen.

Its nice that Playcenter 3 supports both the JB2 and the Zen 2.0 and even better if they both use the same drivers.

Can others confirm that my assuptions are correct as I am planning on ordering a new Zen(not NX) tomorrow

The only negative about the Zen 2.0 is the unfriendly battery replacement issue.

 

[GSTom1]

Yeah, since you already have PlayCenter installed, you should be able to plug the Zen into the USB cable and have it recognized.

Then just hit autosync and sit back and wait as the tracks start transferring away.

PS - People have put too much into the Zen's non-replaceable battery. It's really not an issue. It should last a few years and then can be replaced by Creative or a 3rd party. The new Zen NX has a removable battery, but I've read that people are only getting around 7 hours of playing time versus 12-14 hours on the Original Zen (using the same settings and song files). What good is that if you have to buy and carry an extra battery around?

 

[Canman]

I just want to say that I it sucks that the new Zen NX only has half the memory buffer of the original Zen -- 8 MB, compared to 16 MB. This is not a problem for many, but I use mine while on my bike and when listening to WAV's on bumpy roads, 16 MB is already cutting it close as it tends to not track sometimes. I would have gone with an iPod since it has 32 MB memory but hey it costs a lot more.

 

[stevesolo]

Its my understanding that the Zen 2.0 uses a different driver from the Jukebox2 and I will need to do a custom install, installing just the Zen driver and perhaps the tutorial since I already have Playcenter 3 installed.

I am hoping all goes well transfering my library that I built for JB2 to the Zen since Playcenter has already crashed once and I needed to spend hours rebuilding my library. I am expecting the Zen next week.

 

[deejayshakur]

good luck with the zen--i've been having all sorts of trouble with it. well, mostly with transferring the usb 2.0 interface. basically, i'll queue up tracks for importing, and it will start the transfer, but after a few tracks it's no go stating "player is not connected".

the kicker is that it works fine with usb 1.1, albeit at slower rates, which defeats the purpose of buying the zen 2.0.

tried a new usb 2.0 cable--no go.

its not the usb 2.0 card since my friend's archos worked perfectly fine on it.

did scan disk, reset many times, even tried to push the cable in manually while the songs transferred (which works sometimes)...and no, its not my id3 tags cause i take very good care of those. its using the new 1.11 firmware...i've come to the conclusion that its the zen, not my hardware. probably send it back to amazon next week unless it miraculously starts working again.

chris

 

[stevesolo]

I got the impression that most people here were very happy with their Zen's and that they were relatively user friendly, reliable and trouble free. USB 2.0 is not an issue for me in that I have not upgraded my card. I found that although a little slow, it worked very well in transfering about 1500 songs from Playcenter 3 to a Jukebox 2 in about an hour without any snags.

I am planning on receiving 2 Zen 2.0 players next week and transfering through auto sinc my entire Playcenter library, now up to around 1800 songs and giving them as gifts. According to Creative tech support, I need to do a custom install to install just the Zen drivers. I am hoping that I dont have any conflicts with my already installed JB2 drivers and the existing Creative software I installed when I got myJB2 and that everything goes smoothly. If not I will return them. So far I am very happy with my Jukebox 2 except for the 10 GB limitation. I find the sound quality to be very good given that most of the tracks are at 128Kbs. I still have not learned how to use Lame/EAC which I am sure would provide better reproduction.

A question I have is, can I use Lame/EAC on files that I already downloaded from the internet?

Honestly I am a little nervous about the transfer to the Zen's as my Playcenter crashed once, probably my fault and it took hours to rebuild my library.

All this stuff is relatively new to me and I am still learning but I am very appreciative to have found lots of support here

 

[strohmie]

You wouldn't get any improved sound quality from upsampling a 128kbs mp3...what's gone is gone.

 

[ls20]

Quote:

Originally posted by deejayshakur good luck with the zen--i've been having all sorts of trouble with it. well, mostly with transferring the usb 2.0 interface. basically, i'll queue up tracks for importing, and it will start the transfer, but after a few tracks it's no go stating "player is not connected". the kicker is that it works fine with usb 1.1, albeit at slower rates, which defeats the purpose of buying the zen 2.0. tried a new usb 2.0 cable--no go. its not the usb 2.0 card since my friend's archos worked perfectly fine on it. did scan disk, reset many times, even tried to push the cable in manually while the songs transferred (which works sometimes)...and no, its not my id3 tags cause i take very good care of those. its using the new 1.11 firmware...i've come to the conclusion that its the zen, not my hardware. probably send it back to amazon next week unless it miraculously starts working again. chris

its a compatibility problem between the nomad zen and VIA-chipset based USB 2 cards (mostly IOGEAR stuff)

this pattern was picked up on the creative labs newsgroup, but i dont think either creative or via/iogear has addressed the problem

i swapped my via-34 iogear card with an older nec-based iogear usb card and now the transfers are a snap again

 

[deejayshakur]

yay thanks...finally a solution

 

[deejayshakur]

wait...the iogear card i have uses and ALi chipset...same difference?

 

[GSTom1]

I love my Zen and while PlayCenter is no picnic, it gets the job done and plus I'm too cheap to spend another $25 for Notmad Explorer.

I rip all my CDs using EAC and then I encode them using RazorLame (a front end version of the Lame encoder). When transferring files ot the Zen, it will ocasionally crash and give the "player is not connected" message. This usually happens with MP3 files that have a lot of excessive blank space on the end. PlaceCenter must be closed and restarted and I end up re-encoding the faulty file and remove the blank space. I then retransfer the file and all is fine.

All in all, I am quite happy with the Zen and it goes everywhere I go!

 

[stevesolo]

I received my new Zen 2.0 today. I did a custom install, installing just the drivers, the tutorial and getting started manual since I already had Playcenter 3.0 installed from my JB2. Everything went very smoothly. The CD rom that comes with the Zen seems to have the latest drivers for JB2, JB3 and Zen.

I proceeded to transfer my music library of 1800 tracks from my existing Playcenter without any problem. Instead of using auto sync, I transfered the tracks about 100 at a time. It took a while using my 1.1 USB port since I dont have a 2.0 but everything went very smoothly without a hitch. I was planning to upgrade to a USB2.0 card but after hearing about some of the problems with transfering I may just put that on hold and be patient with the 1.1 since after the initial large transfer there will not be so many tracks to transfer at one time.

I find the fidelity and constuction quality of the Zen to be very good. It has a strong amp and a very user friendly music management system. It drives well most any cans I put on it from MX400's, KSC-35's, V-6's to HD600's, although the 600's become more alive and detailed with my Meta-42 in line. The battery life is excellent although I wish it was user replaceable and the case could be of a little better quality. I know that some people prefer Notmad ($25) to Playcenter but so far I have not had any problems with it for organizing and transfering to both a JB2 and the Zen with the exception of it crashing once that I think I caused. Using the headphone out, since there is no line out to either an amp or a home system also seems to work very well.

When you compare the 20GB Zen 2.0 to an Ipod, it seems like an exceptional value. I have not owned an Ipod but it sure seems to me that from listening to a friends, the fidelity does not live up to the Zen. Yes there are some limitations to the Zen and there are sexier players with more features for much more money but for what it is, it works well for me. I would encourage anyone to buy an extended service plan with the player as 90 days seems too limited, its transferable and its cheap enough for a a few years of peace of mind.

What I wonder about is what will happen in the future as the internal batteries of many of the hard drive players reach the end of their life expectancy. Will it be cost effective to have the then older players factory serviced or will it go the throw away route that so many electronic items have?

Can anyone comment on the remote FM contoller for the Nomads?

I wonder does the amp goes through a burn in period. I could sware that my JB2 sounds better after 100 hours of play than it did right out of the box. Maybe its just my imagination and taking pride in my new toys?

 

[deejayshakur]

Quote:

Originally posted by stevesolo ...I may just put that on hold and be patient with the 1.1 since after the initial large transfer there will not be so many tracks to transfer at one time.

see, i had this thought at first, but come on, you bought this $300 toy specifically for the usb 2.0 interface...at least i did. plus, its desginated as the "usb 2.0 version".i agree tho, that after the initial transfer, it's not that bad later on... STILL, having shelled out $260 for it, makes me somewhat disgruntled that the usb2 interface is so fragile....