[Kelvie1234]

http://www.audiocubes.com/product_in...dee75c8d7def55

Hmm.. what do you guys think?

I would imagine the new iRiver to be rid of that horrid hiss.. and have better features (such as chinese support), VBR.. and probably better navigation (knowing iRiver)..

The Sony has ATRAC though... hmm.

[edit: They would probably cost around the same too..]

 

[terrymx]

iriver all the way, i'll always choose iriver over others cd/mp3 palyers. and beside i bet iriver will have ogg support before sony. and beside iriver have so much more features and better remote control. i think the imp550 will probably be $249 when it come out though

 

[atici]

Get Sony. Its dial is probably infinitely better looking, priced at $199 , has a better skip protection, awesome enginnering and construction. But it won't be upgradeable. I like i-River and competition, future upgradability... But i-River players look like a toy to me and plasticky in feel especially compared to any Sony.

 

[Kelvie1234]

Well.. I've already made my decision: I'm going with the iRiver 550 when it comes out... if it's $200.

VBR... that's a crucial feature to any mp3/cd player I think.

 

[atici]

Definitely. How did you get the impression Sony doesn't support VBR? I am sure it must be.

 

[Kelvie1234]

I emailed Kohn Liu (of audiocubes).. and he said he's pretty sure it doesn't support VBR..

Seeing that a good number of my mp3s are Lame VBR 192s... this is a big kick in the ass...

Anyways.. I hope iRiver will get it right this time.. I am very impressed with my SlimX-350 right now.. except for battery life and hiss... seems to be fixed this version though =]

550 will have a line out... right? I have a META..

 

[atici]

Quote:

Originally posted by Kelvie1234 I emailed Kohn Liu (of audiocubes).. and he said he's pretty sure it doesn't support VBR..

D-CJ01 supports VBR and it's the first CD MP3 player Sony made. So did D-CJ501. D-NE1 is the highest-end of the new generation, and considering that there're some files which the user Joe has are VBR I don't think they'd make the mistake of excluding VBR. If it does have VBR I don't think IRiver is a contender unless Sony unit is buggy...

 

[Kelvie1234]

I think that iRiver will still hold its own against the Sony unit...

First off, it is smaller, and having used iRiver products before, there are many many features in it.

And also... the power of the headphone out?

5mW per channel at 16 ohms is pretty weak, is it not?

 

[atici]

Quote:

Originally posted by Kelvie1234 I think that iRiver will still hold its own against the Sony unit...

I had an older Sony CD portable CD player which I was very happy with. Then I got a SlimX and was disappointed because it was plasticky, hissing and had so low battery life. I don't know how Sony does it, but their battery life for CD MP3 players is unbeatable. I don't believe iRiver anymore about product features too much. Halve the battery life of what they claim and then compare with Sony. Its output might be weak but I'd be much happier with it.

 

[Kelvie1234]

Personal preference then I guess

I'm guessing Lame 192 VBRs would sound better than ATRAC right?

 

[swalker]

Quote:

I don't know how Sony does it, but their battery life for CD MP3 players is unbeatable

Pretty much all the portable players from major Japanese companies have unbelievably long battery life these days - Panasonic, JVC, Aiwa, Sharp, etc. AFAIK, I don't think it's possible for iRiver to match that kind of battery life while retaining the upgradable firmware feature. That optical out feature of 550 is very cool tho.

umm... pretty light..

On the feature side, I was very very disappointed with Sony's first CDP/MP3 player (forgot the model number). I thought it was one of more overpriced/under-featured portable units I'd seen and even the design wasn't that great. And the recent Sony CDP units are, well, not good sounding at all. E1000 was cool looking but its sound was nothing to write home about especially considering the price whereas I was much more impressed with EQed iRiver when I tested them out briefly. Having said that, Sony is still capable of making some awesome looking players and it'll be interesting to see how the portable players from two companies with very different design philosophies fare in the marketplace in the future.

 

[utdeep]

Guys,
Unless something has changed about MP3s since I've been out of the states, all MP3 units support VBR!!!! The only thing some of the older units couldn't do is accurately show the bitrate!!! (some units have the bitrate ie. 128 192 etc. on the display)

My Rio 300 (one of the first mp3 units ever) could play 192 VBRs! Whoever is giving you this "can't play" bs is a monkey. MP3 is a STANDARD. What that means is that any device that can play MP3s can play any TYPE of MP3. VBR is a type of MP3 encoding strategy. Why don't you ask the monkey if the device can play "joint stereo" or "redbook CD"?

I still think the Sony MP3 CD player will suck compared to the iRiver, but not for this lame reason.

Someone else chime in on this...

 

[atici]

AFAIK VBR is not a MP3 standard. That's why i-River doesn't officially support it either (or do they now?). It is not guaranteed that your player won't skip etc. when you play a VBR.

Having said this, I never noticed any problem. I am sure Sony player should support it, and I for one am sure I'd have a more pleasurable experience with a Sony CD MP3 player than a iRiver one. Although I don't like Sony's other business practices in terms of proprietary standards and stance towards music sharing, I think their high end players are a beauty.

 

[Kelvie1234]

If it supports VBR.. then there's a high chance I'm going to get the Sony...

Hmm.. sound quality would be better on the Sony also?

(I do have Audio CDs... but sometimes find it more advantegous to carry 6-8 albums on one CD as Lame 192 VBR, but it is quite easy for me to tell the difference between the two.)

 

[atici]

Quote:

Originally posted by Kelvie1234 Well.. I've already made my decision: I'm going with the iRiver 550 when it comes out... if it's $200.

a couple of days later...

Quote:

If it supports VBR.. then there's a high chance I'm going to get the Sony...

Haha, I thought you already made your decision.

BTW, why are you ordering from AudioCubes if you are planning to do so? You'll have a voltage problem. D-NE1 will be released in U.S. in a couple of weeks, then you can find it cheaper.