[king896]

My nomad 3's headphone out broke today so I am left in an unexpected situation. I tried to read up on all the new players on the market today and I narrowed done my search to a couple of players, but I have questions about each.

IHP-140-
I own shure e5's, and I was wondering a couple of things about the remote. I remember reading about a problem with the plug fitting into the remotes headphone out jack, is it true?
Also does the sound quality decrease when using the remote compared to directly plugging it in to the player?

Zen xtra-
I just want to know if it has a similar sound signature to the nomad 3, because I highly enjoyed the sound from it and the Zen is a lot cheaper.

Also if anyone has any good deals to report about any of the major players (any IHP, Zen, or Karma) leave a link, Thanks

 

[TeRrAPh0eNiX]

Look into the Rio Karma. FLAC and Ogg Vorbis support.

 

[gloco]

Is getting the headphone hack fixed out of the question?

 

[king896]

It’s a year old, so I am not sure if it is still valid under the warranty. I have also heard stories over at nomadness about the services down at creative where it takes forever to get something done and I need a portable desperately for school.
I plan to use the nomad has a home rig and get an amp for it so I don't even have to use the headphone out, but that is down the road.

also if anyone can explain to me the IHP's no on the fly playlisting, does this mean that I can not put together a mix on the fly and can only play albums or does it mean I can not save a playlist for later use?

 

[Oddball]

Anyone more knowledgeable, feel free to correct me.

Quote:

Originally posted by king896 I remember reading about a problem with the plug fitting into the remotes headphone out jack, is it true?

I don't own it, but I remember that there's a small extention cord you can use to make the plug fit.

Quote:

Zen xtra- I just want to know if it has a similar sound signature to the nomad 3, because I highly enjoyed the sound from it and the Zen is a lot cheaper.

The oracles seem to say yes.

Quote:

also if anyone can explain to me the IHP's no on the fly playlisting, does this mean that I can not put together a mix on the fly and can only play albums or does it mean I can not save a playlist for later use?

First is correct. Playlists can only be created on the PC and put on the iHP.

 

[DragonFly]

I've had an Xtra since November. It's my best buddy. My wife is jealous but trust me, she coverts it really. But then she has got that sexy little iRiver number. .

 

[pookster]

If headphone jack problems are a worry, I'd be careful about the zen xtra. It's got a big problem there.
check the nomadness.net forum, and search for headphonejack
problems.

 

[4P4me]

I agree about the fragility of the Xtra, but if you could get it somewhere with an extended warranty (Circuit City, Best Buy, etc.) I'd recommend that. Sound signature is the same as the NJB3.

The E5's don't fit in the remote headphone jack of the IHP, but they suppply you with a cable to elminate that issue. Not a huge deal.

It's a good player (not better than the NJB3 to me), but has a drastically different sonic signature, and will surely sound different with the E5's than the Nomad. Whether it matters to you or not only you could know.

 

[king896]

Over the last day I spent my time looking at the karma, and it might be the player for me. It seems to have good sound from what others have said and it has some features that intrigue me. The only gripe I have with it is the hard drive size, if it was 40 gigs it would be a no brainier for me (I have 60 gigs of music). It is now down to either the karma or the 40 gig Zen xtra, and I am leaning towards the karma.

 

[AndyH]

Quote:

Originally posted by king896 Over the last day I spent my time looking at the karma, and it might be the player for me. It seems to have good sound from what others have said and it has some features that intrigue me. The only gripe I have with it is the hard drive size, if it was 40 gigs it would be a no brainier for me (I have 60 gigs of music). It is now down to either the karma or the 40 gig Zen xtra, and I am leaning towards the karma.

Make sure you get yourself an extended warranty as the Karma seems to have more than it's share of harddrive issues.