harkari
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
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I'm just posting a few comments here, since I don't think anyone else has. For full info, ABI did a very full review.
After reading the ABI review, I thought about picking up a Spark for a workout DAP, to replace my 1GB Clip, but prices are too high ($45@Amazon for the 2GB Spark). But I happened upon one for $20 on a Woot sellout, and went for it. I was attracted to it for the 128x128 color OLED (I dig album art) and the big thumbs up the ABI reviewer gave to SQ, putting it on the same level as the Clip. That alone intrigued me.
Now, I have 42yo not-so-golden ears, but I A-B'd the Spark with three other DAPs using Denon AH-C551s and JBL 220 Pros. I'd rate their sound quality as: ipod touch 3g = Sansa Clip > Sony NWZ-S736 > Philips Spark. I can hardly tell my touch and Clip apart. Both sound phenomenal. My Sony is also very, very good. A little different signature (I've always thought a bit warmer), but about as good in soundstage and detail.
The Spark comes in last, but it too is very good. I find it a little less detailed and maybe a little mid-rangy. Just not quite as sweet. But its SQ is still very good, light years beyond my ipod 5.5g and other older players. Also, unlike my Sansa e250 and older ipods, zero background noise. It might not be the first player I would grab for detailed listening, but if it's all I had, I would in no way be disappointed. For a matchbox-sized gym player, no complaints at all. And yeah, I dig the album art and, compared to the Clip, gloriously large UI and big buttons (the whole thing is one big button).
I few little knocks. First, the screen, especially for an OLED, is not nearly as bright as I expected. In the ABI review video it looks really punchy, but its actually not that bright at all, nothing like the Clip or even the LEDs on my other players. This probably contributes to its great battery life (27hrs stated), but still, I'm disappointed. Also, it apparently ships with "FullSound" on, which just adds a lot of muddy boom-boom. This is a disservice to users, who may not all know to check EQ settings and just assume its bass is dialed to 11.
Finally, when you first boot it up, it gives you a language menu. A single misplaced mash of the giant d-pad set my player to Greek. Trying to navigate Greek menus and set it to English was a little bit a panic. Glad it wasn't Chinese.
After reading the ABI review, I thought about picking up a Spark for a workout DAP, to replace my 1GB Clip, but prices are too high ($45@Amazon for the 2GB Spark). But I happened upon one for $20 on a Woot sellout, and went for it. I was attracted to it for the 128x128 color OLED (I dig album art) and the big thumbs up the ABI reviewer gave to SQ, putting it on the same level as the Clip. That alone intrigued me.
Now, I have 42yo not-so-golden ears, but I A-B'd the Spark with three other DAPs using Denon AH-C551s and JBL 220 Pros. I'd rate their sound quality as: ipod touch 3g = Sansa Clip > Sony NWZ-S736 > Philips Spark. I can hardly tell my touch and Clip apart. Both sound phenomenal. My Sony is also very, very good. A little different signature (I've always thought a bit warmer), but about as good in soundstage and detail.
The Spark comes in last, but it too is very good. I find it a little less detailed and maybe a little mid-rangy. Just not quite as sweet. But its SQ is still very good, light years beyond my ipod 5.5g and other older players. Also, unlike my Sansa e250 and older ipods, zero background noise. It might not be the first player I would grab for detailed listening, but if it's all I had, I would in no way be disappointed. For a matchbox-sized gym player, no complaints at all. And yeah, I dig the album art and, compared to the Clip, gloriously large UI and big buttons (the whole thing is one big button).
I few little knocks. First, the screen, especially for an OLED, is not nearly as bright as I expected. In the ABI review video it looks really punchy, but its actually not that bright at all, nothing like the Clip or even the LEDs on my other players. This probably contributes to its great battery life (27hrs stated), but still, I'm disappointed. Also, it apparently ships with "FullSound" on, which just adds a lot of muddy boom-boom. This is a disservice to users, who may not all know to check EQ settings and just assume its bass is dialed to 11.
Finally, when you first boot it up, it gives you a language menu. A single misplaced mash of the giant d-pad set my player to Greek. Trying to navigate Greek menus and set it to English was a little bit a panic. Glad it wasn't Chinese.
