[cupckae]

Firstly, I must say that I'm surprised that this browser, while getting a zero on acid3, could just as easily as my desktop, log on to these forums, and add a new thread. This on-screen keyboard feels quite comfortable, so oodles of kudos and congrats for the neat and satisfying portable web experience, Microsoft!

And now, for the newbie review. Last week, I purchased a black Zune 32HD a few hours after it was finally released on ZuneOriginals. Yesterday afternoon, I picked up my new baby. It took my other computer, simply because it sucks, three restarts to sneak a few drivers under my nose. I slapped a few ( like, twenty ) albums in it, and I've been in bliss since.

I won't outright say this player is the "best thing ever," but it is, in my opinion, wonderful. It certainly sounds great, and it has undeniable loads of potential. I'll try to answer any questions as this thread moves along, and maybe give a more in-depth review on the sound.

Posted from my Zune HD.

 

[lamewing]

Loved the Zune HD, but returned it to order a Zune Originals and then kinda of lost interest...as I am trying to cut down on the number of players I have. I found the Zune HD keyboard to be very difficult to use due to my large fingertips. The keyboard on the iPhone is easier for me to use, but it still isn't something I like to use. Loved the Zune sound as well. If it has been $50.00 cheaper, I would have reordered it immediately.

 

[Malakai]

They are very asthetically pleasing. My boss has an Ipod touch, Zune HD, and iPod nano g4 and g5, oh and he had a creative something (X-FI maybe?) for a week till he returned it.

All of them look great, and have all kinds of fancy features, the video cam on the g5 nano is cool, ect ect.

However I myself would never buy any of them. The sansa clip/fuze sounds better than all of them, and the clip is practically free, while the fuze still costs half or less than any of the others (and has a SDHC slot so it can rival much much more expensive players in memory capacity post-SDHC card upgrade).

SQ-wise, the only player I would buy other than a sansa fuze is a cowon D2 or iAudio. They are also not that expensive, and you can buy them cheaply directly from Cowons ebay store.

Amp3 or whatever is supposed to sound the best, but I do not actually know anyone that has one, nor have I ever seen one in a local store anywhere.

As far as I am concerned. unless you need fancy video features, there are only 3 mp3 players on the market. Cowon D3/iAudio*(most expensive); Sansa Fuze(cheap-midrange). or Sansa Clip(budget dirt cheap).
Fancy features are nice, but sound quality should and is the #1 feature of an AUDIO PLAYER.

IMO ofc

 

[kite7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malakai /img/forum/go_quote.gif They are very asthetically pleasing. My boss has an Ipod touch, Zune HD, and iPod nano g4 and g5, oh and he had a creative something (X-FI maybe?) for a week till he returned it. The sansa clip/fuze sounds better than all of them...

I have a clip and a Zune HD and I will tell you the Zune HD sounds equally as good as the clip through my UM3X

 

[dippyboy_87]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kite7 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a clip and a Zune HD and I will tell you the Zune HD sounds equally as good as the clip through my UM3X

Then its clip for me

..

 

[Booda]

Clip get the right way for music lovers. With the moderate price and above average sound quality. IPOD should be shame compare to Clip.

 

[abellaw]

I really like my zunehd i think it was a good purchase. The keyboard on it was kinda hard to use at first because i have big fingers too. But after 2 weeks i am finally starting to get used to it. I like the way the zunehd sounds i think it has really good synergy with my sr-80s but then again almost all my daps do.

As far as SQ alone i will admit my amp3 murders the zune. But in UI and ease of use the zune wins hands down.

cupckae what do you think of the UI, at first i found it quite tricky but now i am really enjoying it. Especially the second main menu which has the pins and history menus.

 

[Aaron5604]

Anyone know how this player fairs w/ a pair of Shure SE530 phones?

(In Particular)

- Does it create any noticeable hiss?
- Is there an adjustable EQ to help balance out the higher frequencies, or lack the lack of?

Plus:

Anyone know for sure, whether there's any rolled off bass w/ this DAC?

Thanx

 

[cupckae]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kite7 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a clip and a Zune HD and I will tell you the Zune HD sounds equally as good as the clip through my UM3X

I wish I could attest to this. However, I only have a pair of Sony's MDR-EX300/BLK.. I'll get to my opinion on the sound in a moment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by abellaw /img/forum/go_quote.gif I really like my zunehd i think it was a good purchase. The keyboard on it was kinda hard to use at first because i have big fingers too. But after 2 weeks i am finally starting to get used to it. I like the way the zunehd sounds i think it has really good synergy with my sr-80s but then again almost all my daps do. As far as SQ alone i will admit my amp3 murders the zune. But in UI and ease of use the zune wins hands down. cupckae what do you think of the UI, at first i found it quite tricky but now i am really enjoying it. Especially the second main menu which has the pins and history menus.

I think the UI is absolutely amazing, and somewhat like mixing the best of Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player into Windows CE,
giving it a fantastic suite of touch functionality, and blessing it with Tegra. Having the second menu is great for quick access to 'Playing,'
and side-swiping through the several views in the music tab is far more intuitive than the linear menus of a more traditional iPod.

It was very easy for me to acclimate to the Zune HD; not because I'm familiar with other touch-based products
[ I've only fiddled with an iTouch once before ], but because the desktop software is the best thing I have ever used.

I can't believe just how simple it is to add an Album to your 'collection,' change it's tags accordingly, find album info, and sync it with my Zune HD.
After managing all of my music so perfectly on my desktop, finding and playing it on my Zune was a no-brainer. Flicking through the bells and whistles was just icing on the cake!

As for the sound, my earphones simply do not do this player justice. I hear a quiet sizzle during a zero'd track, and the mid-bass is almost non-existent,
while at the same time I hear excessive sibilance in the vocals. I seriously wish I had the money for some balanced armatures!

Now, I have a few cons. First, it's extremely difficult to convert videos to the three only supported codecs.
No matter how long I've fiddled with SUPER© or MediaCoder, no dice. It might just be my desktop.
Second, the javascript support is awful in the browser. The acid3 test score is proof.
Third, you must know of alternative ways to edit tags, either in Windows Explorer, or third-party software, because if you don't,
you'll inevitably encounter the 'can't update' bug, and won't know how to sort media into their respective albums.
This last issue is simple to get used to.

So, in retrospect, I love this thing. I believe that with better headphones, and possibly even the sold-separately dock, you would find some world class audio.
I'm even ecstatic to see what the video games will turn out to be like.

Also, Aaron5604, there doesn't appear to be any significant amount of rolled off bass [ I'm sure playing a sine wave quietly would prove this ],
there is hiss when I use it with my Sony earbuds [ YMMV ], and there is an EQ [ just a few presets ].

 

[lamewing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Booda /img/forum/go_quote.gif Clip get the right way for music lovers. With the moderate price and above average sound quality. IPOD should be shame compare to Clip.

If only Sansa would pay the 75 cent licencing fee per player to allow AAC files to be supported. I would have kept the Clip+ if it supported AAC. Converting files was out of the question. Otherwise, the Clip+ is a nice little player.

 

[lmf22]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cupckae /img/forum/go_quote.gif Now, I have a few cons. First, it's extremely difficult to convert videos to the three only supported codecs. No matter how long I've fiddled with SUPER© or MediaCoder, no dice. It might just be my desktop.

I found that the best converter to use is Format Factory. It's free and you can download it here: Format Factory - Free media file format converter
I use it to convert videos to Zune HD and iPod Touch with excellent results.

Use the following settings for the Zune HD (see screenshot below):

 

[Hoeboe2k]

Does this work with mkvs?

 

[tds101]

oops, sorry

 

[cupckae]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmf22 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I found that the best converter to use is Format Factory. It's free and you can download it here: Format Factory - Free media file format converter I use it to convert videos to Zune HD and iPod Touch with excellent results.

I agree. This is the last program I tried, and though it disliked not having the customized functionality of SUPER©, it worked.

Yay!

 

[lmf22]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoeboe2k /img/forum/go_quote.gif Does this work with mkvs?

Format Factory can convert MKVs. After conversion, it plays fine on the Zune HD.