Rockbox started playing audio on the H1xx's back in august (I am pretty sure) and rockbox has still not seen a "final" release for them.
It wil be many months before rockbox produce anything that they consider to be "final." I am not saying that it doesn not work. I have acctually heard great things about how well rockbox runs on the newer iPods, but it will be a while before all the features theat everyone wants will be implemented.
I can deal with UI glitches/omissions, rough edges here and there, etc., but Rockbox on the 5G still sounds like $hit compared to Apple's stock firmware IMO. FLAC support doesn't mean squat to me if my MP3s sound better AND I can use Apple's superior UI. I'll be willing to play as soon as the bedrock issues (read SQ problems) are ironed out, but I think the iPod port of Rockbox has some miles to go yet.
There will never be a 'final' version of Rockbox (well, maybe the Archos are finalized but the iRivers have been around forever).
Right now, the only glitch in Rockbox that's notable to me is skipping during playback. I don't notice any SQ differences, nor do I notice any problems with the UI.
I have been playing Rockbox on my 5G without a single problem for the last few days. All my music files are lossless encoded in Wavepack format; the same wavepack files I play in my iRiver H-120. Rockbox has been very stable, and the playback is smooth.
In a brief comparison, I would consider the SQ in headphone out is slightly better in 5G than iRiver H-120. It's more airy, the highs are crisp and the bass is tight. I will try the line out comparison once my headphone amp is back. By the way, Wavepack is considered more efficiently implemented than FLAC in Rockbox. FLAC still needs some optimization in order to do well.
There are some great themes for 5G posted on the Rockbox forum. I am using the Linart theme on my 5G. It looks great to me.
Here is the link to the Rockbox forum where you can find the theme and many others.
Given enough time, I would expect more useful features will be implemented in 5G and other iPod players. Thanks to the great Rockbox volunteers who have added so much fun and joys to the lives of our music lovers.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greenleaves There are some great themes for 5G posted on the Rockbox forum. I am using the Linart theme on my 5G. It looks great to me.
Here is the link to the Rockbox forum where you can find the theme and many others.
Select the free download, you will be prompted to enter the verification code (in color) in the next page. Then download should start in a few seconds. Good luck.
Select the free download, you will be prompted to enter the verification code (in color) in the next page. Then download should start in a few seconds. Good luck.
Originally Posted by K2Grey There will never be a 'final' version of Rockbox (well, maybe the Archos are finalized but the iRivers have been around forever).
Nope, Rockbox is constantly under development, even for the Archos. Any changes that are made to the code for the iriver, iPod, etc. also apply to the archos models to the extent that the hardware supports it.
Originally Posted by greenleaves By the way, Wavepack is considered more efficiently implemented than FLAC in Rockbox. FLAC still needs some optimization in order to do well.
This is definitely not so, FLAC is very efficient in Rockbox. I don't know about on the iPods, but it's easily the most efficient codec on the Irivers with WavPack being a close second. The other codecs (mpeg, etc.) are a fair amount slower in comparison. I believe I heard that FLAC -q8 was running realtime on the iPods using only a single core underclocked to 35MHz or so.
Originally Posted by RotAtoR This is definitely not so, FLAC is very efficient in Rockbox. I don't know about on the iPods, but it's easily the most efficient codec on the Irivers with WavPack being a close second. The other codecs (mpeg, etc.) are a fair amount slower in comparison. I believe I heard that FLAC -q8 was running realtime on the iPods using only a single core underclocked to 35MHz or so.
Thanks for the information. I checked the current status (Last updated: 29 January 2006) over at Rockbox. Both Wavepack and FLAC runs realtime on iPod and iRiver, except that seeking in FLAC remains partially implemented. Here is the link:
I am no expert in codecs and there are many discussions on this topic over at Hydrogenaudio too. But in my routine CD encoding, I find Wavepack 4.3.1 runs a lot faster than FLAC 1.1.2. There are other features in Wavepack that I like better, such as hydrid encoding etc.. Wavepack is also known for its speed in encoding better than FLAC. FLAC is a very efficient codec and widely supported in many players too. That's a plus. To me, it's rather a personal choice in the end.
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