[evh7]

If the line outs on the iRiver products are poor, does that negate the usefulness of a portable headphone amp? I notice that Headroom's literature doesn't recommend plugging your headphone amp into you headphone jack, but does tell you to do that if you've got no other choice.

And I'm still a bit confused about the Pana SL-SX460 (used to be recommended by Headroom) and the Sony D-FJ401. Would adding an amp to either of these players push them above the 550 in regards to sound quality?

 

[blr]

Quote:

Originally posted by Thasp Get a newer panasonic. I'm getting my SL CT 800 in a few hours(look forward to a iMP-550 i**** vs Panasonic comparison today), and my old $50 panasonic owned.

Am I the only one getting a bit tired of you bashing iRiver? Mine isn't working 100% properly either Instead of using bad language I'll try to get to the problem and hopefully fix it.

To answer you evh7, the added functionality of mp3 playback can be a bonus if you don't wany to keep many CDs with you. In your case since you already have the Archos this is not that much of an issue perhaps. Most of the CD/MP3 players are thought to have bad sound (but so are the CD only portables nowadays). iRiver products stand out with their functionality and better sound, but as you can see from Thasp's frustration there are problems. Iriver iMP550 in particular is known to have problems with audio CDRs, which in your case will be quite bad. Perhaps iMP400 is something for you.
For CD only playback I guess amp is the only way to get a good sound from a portable. In such a case many here believe that Sony players have generally better line outs than Panasonic. I have a couple of years old Sony D-EJ725 and its line out is quite good. Never had a Panasonic so I can't comment on their line outs.
It all depends on how demanding you are of your portable music.

 

[Duncan]

After listening to the IMP550 (or maybe it was the 500 - I forget, although Bangraman can correct me here) and comparing it to the likes of the D777, and D311, it really was a no brainer in terms of sound which way to go...

...The IMP disappointed me to be honest, then again... it is new school, so thats hardly surprising

 

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Quote:

Originally posted by Duncan After listening to the IMP550 (or maybe it was the 500 - I forget, although Bangraman can correct me here) and comparing it to the likes of the D777, and D311, it really was a no brainer in terms of sound which way to go... ...The IMP disappointed me to be honest, then again... it is new school, so thats hardly surprising

Well, I've compared the 550 to D345 also an old school dicman and to be honest it wasn't bad at all. Also I could tweak the sound of the 550.

 

[Duncan]

Quote:

Originally posted by blr Well, I've compared the 550 to D345 also an old school dicman and to be honest it wasn't bad at all. Also I could tweak the sound of the 550.

Hi BLR...

I had the D345 before I bought the D777 in 1995... and i'm not neccsarily going to discredit what you say, but from my memory, the D345 was very muddy when compared to the D777...

...For practical features, there is no denying that the 550 is great, it'd win me over straight away (although I agree wity Bangraman, that the previous generation remote was better)... but for pure sonics, you can get better elsewhere... although, then again, if ultimate portability is your game... again... its probably the 550s realm...

....Its only the sonics that turn me away from it

 

[bangraman]

^
As above.


I want the portability and I want the features. The 550 simply cannot be beaten for the combination of size and key features. Absolute sound quality on the move isn't such a big deal for me for what I had in mind with a portable MP3CD player (and my Clie NZ90 does surprisingly well in this regard) and I did expect relatively poor sound on the 550 even as I was preparing to buy it, going by my experiences with the 400.


So I sacrifice the sound quality for practicality. But I have to say it surprised me how much of a sacrifice I was making compared to the better Old School PCDP's. Frankly, the 550 sounded like **** coming from the other players in the mini meet. But since the 550 isn't too far off from even Sony's current offerings I have to say there is definitely something to be said for owning the older PCDP's especially those with ESP if you want good sounds on the move.