Ranking the Top 4 HD-DAP : iPod, Karma, iHP-120, Xtra

[austonia]

These are the top 4 hard-drive based DAP (IMO) :
Apple iPod, Rio Karma, iRiver iHP-120, Creative Nomad Xtra

Each is stronger points in some areas and weaker in others...

Features :
1) Karma, iHP-120
2) Xtra
3) iPod

Sound quality :
1) Xtra
2) iPod, Karma
3) iHP-120

Ouput Power :
1) Xtra
2) Karma, iPod
3) iHP-100

Design :
1) iPod
2) Karma
3) Xrta, iHP-120

Value :
1) Karma
2) Xtra
3) iHP-100
4) iPod

Storage Capacity :
1) Xtra
2) iPOd
3) Karma, iHP-120

Ease of use :
1) iPod
2) Karma
3) iHP-100
4) Xtra

Portability (size, weight) :
1) iPod
2) Karma, iHP-100
3) Xtra

Accessories :
1) iPod
2) Xtra
3) iHP-100
4) Karma

Playtime :
1) Karma; iHP-100
2) Xtra
3) iPod

Continued firmware development :
1) iHP-120
2) Karma
3) Xtra, iPod

Long-term durability :
1) Extra
2) Karma, iHP-120
3) iPod

OVERALL
Gold - Karma
Silver - iHP-120
Bronze - Xtra


Agree? disagree? List how you would rank them...

 

[blessingx]

Austonia, great post. Not many have had the opportunity to have a taste of all the players and this helps.

Since you asked for feedback...

How do we know (since the player is new and under a new company's umbrella) what Rio's continued firmware development will be?

In the the durability arena is it the legendary scratch problems that sink the iPod? Ask since I've dropped mine a couple times and this tightly built player seems pretty well built.

Also, since the iPod and Karma share many of the same components in the signal path from HD to jack, but the Karma has the much better EQ, does this tip the Karma slightly above the iPod?

 

[bootman]

Just based on your individual rankings,
I see xtra #1
Karma/Ipod tied for 2nd
Iriver bringing up the rear.

I tallied up the score this way:
1st place 4 points
2nd 3 points
3rd 2 points
4th 1 point.

If there is a tie then both get the higher points.
example:

Features :
1) Karma, iHP-120 (4 points each)
2) Xtra (3 points)
3) iPod (2 points)

Value :
1) Karma (4 points)
2) Xtra (3 points)
3) iHP-100 (2 points)
4) iPod (1 point)

I came up with a quick total of ...

Xtra 34 points
karma/ipod 33 points
iriver 28 points.

I did it quick so someone else could check my totals.

 

[blessingx]

I'm not sure each category should be given equal points.

 

[ezra2323]

I agree the Xtra is number one judging by the raking in the categories. Excellent job Austonia.

While not all categories should be equal, sound quality must be rated as the highest and its here the Xtra shines.

 

[Flasken]

- yet bad ease of use and bad portability rules out the Xtra for alot of people, regardless of its good sound quality.

Excellent post, btw

 

[jpburton5150]

yeah nice comparison. but my personal differences are... i think the karmas hella ugly, and i like the ihps looks more than the ipod (I saw 'em all lined up next to each other at CompUSA, but thats just my opinion.) Also I'm curious about what accesories the Xtra has? I know it has an fm remote w/ voice recorder but so does the iHP (well it already has an fm recorder built in and a voice recorder but it has a better remote)... also the iHP has a case and a extra battery pack can be built. does the Xtra have one (i dont know)? Thanks.

 

[john_jcb]

Quote:

Originally posted by austonia Sound quality : 1) Xtra 2) iPod, Karma 3) iHP-120 Ease of use : 1) iPod 2) Karma 3) iHP-100 4) Xtra

First off I must admit I know virtually nothing about any of these units. Austonia, could you attempt to quantify how much difference there is between the top and bottom in the above categories?

Secondly, if sound quality, storage capacity and playtime were my top 3 criteria which one would you pick? The difference in price does not mean that much to me. I just would like to have a lot of high quality music to listen to on the road. To give you some idea my current on the road setup is Ety 4S, Panasonic CT570 CDP and a Cosmic. Thanks

 

[austonia]

Quote:

Originally posted by blessingx How do we know (since the player is new and under a new company's umbrella) what Rio's continued firmware development will be?

There are several Rio Engineers that are active members at Riovolution.com forums. They appear to be geniunely interested in listening to Karma owners, responding to problems, and improving the product through new firmware.

Quote:

In the the durability arena is it the legendary scratch problems that sink the iPod? Ask since I've dropped mine a couple times and this tightly built player seems pretty well built.

Yes, in part. it's not that any of them are really fragile, they are in fact all pretty durable. I was ranking based on expected battery life, scratch-resistance, stregth of case material, overall fit n finish, number of defect reports, etc. Obviously this partly subjective and based on reports from other people in forums relating to these players.. would be hard to more quantitatively detail why

Quote:

Also, since the iPod and Karma share many of the same components in the signal path from HD to jack, but the Karma has the much better EQ, does this tip the Karma slightly above the iPod?

Yes. Many components are the same but iPod EQ is very poor.

 

[SpoonMan]

Quote:

Storage Capacity : 1) Xtra 2) Karma, Xtra, iHP-120

Xtra has 60 gigs, iPod has up to 40, and the iHP / Karma are (for the time being) limited to 20, so I'm a bit confused by this ranking.

As far as ranking the players is concearned...I don't think there's really any clear cut way of doing this...I owned a Zen 2.0, and my 3G iPod fits into my lifestyle much better...I'm definitally interested in trying out the karma (though a little thick for my liking) and iHP, unfortunatly the crappy canadian retailers don't seem to stock them.

 

[austonia]

Quote:

Originally posted by SpoonMan Xtra has 60 gigs, iPod has up to 40, and the iHP / Karma are (for the time being) limited to 20, so I'm a bit confused by this ranking.

You are correct! I made typo and just corrected it. Thanks

 

[austonia]

Quote:

Originally posted by blessingx I'm not sure each category should be given equal points.

This is exactley the case. Each catagory I would NOT rank in equal importance. And what is important to me may very well not be as important to the next person. For instance, I am much less concerned with the slight differences in sound quality that people report between the players, I think they all sound good, and would not pick my player weighted on this catagory... wheres many people here would list this as thier top proirity!

 

[SpoonMan]

Quote:

Yes, in part. it's not that any of them are really fragile, they are in fact all pretty durable. I was ranking based on expected battery life, scratch-resistance, stregth of case material, overall fit n finish, number of defect reports, etc. Obviously this partly subjective and based on reports from other people in forums relating to these players.. would be hard to more quantitatively detail why

What's battery life have to do with durability?...as far as defect reports are concearned, you should take into consideration that there have been many more iPods sold then Karma's or iHP's, and aside from that...90% of the defect reports have to do with hard drives failing rather then the iPod's circuitry, and I'm pretty sure all 3 of these players (karma, iHP, iPod) use the same types of HD's.

 

[ProFingerSk8er]

Quote:

Ease of use : 1) iPod 2) Karma 3) iHP-100 4) Xtra

can you possible be more detailed about this?
most of the reviews iv read on the karma question rio's way of control layout..

i think adding an "extra freatures" would also be nice..

very nicely done austonia! i believe this thread should be a sticky after few more inputs from each players' owners

 

[SpoonMan]

Quote:

This is exactley the case. Each catagory I would NOT rank in equal importance. And what is important to me may very well not be as important to the next person.

Isn't this the reason you should rate each category with the same importance? since you don't know what each person may be looking for...otherwise your rankings will be weighted towards your personal bias, and thus...useless