[kramer5150]

I'm willing to bet the cnet reviewer evaluated the sound quality using the OEM junk-buds.

e2cs sound conjested and muddy through most unamped portable MP3 players. They need outboard amplification most of the time to get the most out of them, and even then they are mildly conjested at best. The 16 ohm load is murder on most portable devices, and super difficult to drive cleanly. Quick, sure fix is to add low gain amplification, preferably socketed OP amps so the sound can be fine-tuned to taste.

Alternate solution is to get an impedence adapter, but that'll also attenuate some of the sound.

I would still consider a player like this for cheap tunes on the go.

 

[saturnine]

Mine arrived Monday, and it worked.. for 15min

The sound was on par with a $25 Emerson PCDP (pretty bad, but not terrible), and it was fairly easy to use compared to the iPod or Dell DJ.

I was listening to Tool's 10,000 Days for a couple tracks (ripped to 192 to save space), and the thing just stopped playing. It would no longer communicate with my laptop (XP Pro) or play anything. I ended up giving it to a friend along with a 64mb flash card, hopefully he can get it running again.

It would be an great unit for $9, if it worked well.

 

[classicalguy]

Saturnine: Sorry to hear you got a bad one. Are you sure it wasn't a dead battery?

The build quality of the $15 one I got from LEDShoppe is much improved over the $9 one from Newegg. The plastic case is rubberized rather than hard plastic. Buttons are more functional and less squishy. In addition to working with folders, sound quality seems a little bit improved, and there is no noise when changing tracks. Looks better, works better, sounds better. Worth the extra $6 imo.

 

[evh7]

Does this neat little player play anything besides mp3 files? Like Audible audiobooks, for example?

 

[saturnine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by classicalguy Are you sure it wasn't a dead battery?

Yep, I tried swapping batteries, still wouldn't work.

 

[vyhuygb]

in my country LIKE $9 MP3 erverywhere

 

[MrSlacker]

I think I might get one of these for my mom. I have a 512mb flash card that I dont use, so all I need is the player and some better headphones. Got some MX300s somewhere so should be decent for my mom heh

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSlacker I think I might get one of these for my mom. I have a 512mb flash card that I dont use, so all I need is the player and some better headphones. Got some MX300s somewhere so should be decent for my mom heh

Naaah.... get her KSC75s or a sportapro