Which 20GB HDDP to get.. HD3? HD5? H320? H10?

[everydae]

Hello, guys. I'm looking for a 20GB HDD Player to replay my iAudio 5. IAudio 5 is one of the best players I've ever used, but not enough space for my use

(It might show up on For Sale forum soon, so watch out!

)

I've researched few days, and narrowed my selection to 4: Sony's NW-HD3 and NW-HD5, and Iriver's H10 (20GB ver) and H320. Those four were selected based on my design preference and reviews I could find. Sony's have the advantages of longer playback (quite important to me since I do a lot of long distance travel w/o power source), iRiver's have the advantages of color screen (also important becuz I like it!).

The lowest prices I found so far are:

HD3 - around $ 200
HD5 - around $ 280
H10 - around $ 270
H320 - around $ 290

Thus, HD3 has extreme price advantage of 80~90 bux.

Now, I need a comment from you guys to make a final decision. Sound quality (Mostly rock music. Earbud is E2c), durability, ease of use, portablity, bugs... basically anything.

Hope I can get some good advices. Thanks for reading, dudes!

 

[LFC_SL]

HD3 owner here. I'll just give you a 'quick' rundown

Good - Small. Can reverse display (white font on black - I like it). Gapless playback with Atrac, but is compatible with MP3 natively.
I have music at Atrac 3+ 256 kbps (highest Atrac quality) > SQ is excellent. I could hear the diff over MP3 320 kbps in tests. Just more detail; e.g the cymbals came out clearer. Not surprising really Sony's own proprietory format would sound better on their DAP. oh I've only used low budget 'phones. Senn MX500 + Sony EX71 with it
I have the black one with blue backlight. Seen it in the flesh? Thats why I put it under good

Bad - 8/800 tracks have a slight background hiss. Drowned out by volume. Can only hear during quiet periods of songs
Say once a month freezes on start up walkman logo. Fixable thus far by sliding built in batt switch off then on. In case u didn't know, this switch disconnects batt from unit 4 long periods of dis-use. Presumably to prevent leakage?
No gapless play with MP3

Neutral - Max claimed batt 30 hrs (lowest bitrate, EQ off, backlight off etc u know the drill)

My tests - EQ on, highest Atrac encoding, left alone it lasted 26.5 hrs
As above, but took to college. Messed around, backlight off/on, change track etc: 18.5 hrs. I suppose I can't complain.

Now the HD5. 40 hrs rated batt life. Removable batt. So better? Well larger, clearer screen, so affect batt? Prob not. BUT - there are reports of the buttons cracking - rather the casing under buttons:

http://www.junto.co.uk/Consumer/Sony_NW_HD5.aspx

Do bear in mind this prob is still in minority. Read http://www.avforums.com/forums/showt...0&page=1&pp=15 for some of the 'interesting'/amusing responses from Sony customer support of various countries

Oh, dunno about US, but in UK, Sony have realesed a new DAP in the HDx line every six months. Xmas for HD6?

 

[everydae]

Thanks for the comment, especially about the button cracking issue of HD5.

I usually don't buy just-released product, so I don't think I can wait for HD6 (or 7, maybe?), but I'll keep research about it.

Thanks again

 

[D-EJ915]

Another "minus" of the HD3 (and probably HD5) is that the EQ only works with Atrac files, not on MP3s. I don't mind this and I just ripped everything in Atrac3Plus 256 to load onto it

Anyway, it looks better than the iPod, gets better battery life and is smaller...what's not to like haha

I got mine for 200 and that was an awesome deal.

 

[everydae]

Dealing with ATRAC/Sonicstage is not a problem to me, since I've been dealing with it since back in 2001 (when Sony's Network players first came out), and I can say I'm pretty expert about Sonicstage. (Time taking MP3/WAV -> ATRAC is not a matter either -- that's what my A64 X2 for

)

Anyways, thanks for the input

 

[h-man]

Hi,

Just wondering if you considered the iaudio X5, which is an excellent 20GB player (although no gapless support). If you get the XL version, the battery life is 35hrs.

 

[everydae]

No, I will never consider iAudio due to the lack of ID tag search function (By Artist, By Album, By Gerne...). So, unless I am told that Cowon supports it by firmware update, I won't choose iAudio ever. (But the thing is I am Korean, and I asked Cowon Korea about it. They said they have NO PLAN FOR ID3 TAG SEARCH SUPPORT, at least for soon) As I mentioned in the first post up there, I'm currently using iAudio 5, and that's only reason I'm giving it up.

 

[LFC_SL]

Oh, latest ver of Sonic Stage (Sony software for use with PSP + HDx line), is 3.2. This adds a Atrac 3+ 192 and 320 options. Just to let you know

 

[Ziddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by everydae Dealing with ATRAC/Sonicstage is not a problem to me, since I've been dealing with it since back in 2001 (when Sony's Network players first came out), and I can say I'm pretty expert about Sonicstage. (Time taking MP3/WAV -> ATRAC is not a matter either -- that's what my A64 X2 for ) Anyways, thanks for the input

Transcoding lossy codecs further degrades sound quality...

 

[everydae]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ziddy Transcoding lossy codecs further degrades sound quality...

Yeah, well, I know, but I am not that sound sensitive guy anyway. I'll see how bad it becomes, but I already have experienced NetMD (which is basically MP3 -> ATRAC) and the quality of the ATRAC-132kbps files from MP3 was ok for me -- not wonderful for sure, especially compare to some songs recorded in SP via CDP's optical out, but ok. But I'll keep your word in mind, thanks

 

[epzcaw]

I bought a HD3 in December, and it has died twice since then. The first time it was a manufacturing fault in a particular batch. This time, the hard disk has a fault - it seizes up on certain tracks and won't let me delete. So nul points for reliability.

I don't find it easy to use either. I use it mainly for listening to spoken word which I store in 3-5 minute tracks in a single group. The group function is tricky to set up, and the group icon remians visible even when the gourp function is no longer in operation. Very annoying.

It has now gone off for repair (though I am fighting for a replacement), and I expect it will come back with a blank hard drive. Whether I can then be bothered to restore all the files remains to be seen.

My next player will be an MP3 one, because at least the file format wil allow files to be transferred to a different player.

As it is, I will have to convert all the OMA files to MP3 or something else before I can use them on a different player.

Bah to Sony

 

[PachmanP]

Don't know much about the sony players, but between the h10 and the h320 I'd suggest the h320 because it shows up as a removable hd on your computer and uses a standard mini usb cable, neither of which the h10 do. In the interest of full discloser though, the h320 is a little bit bulky compared to say the ipood and searching and playing via id tags makes you use the database function which add time to the booting. As a added bonus the international and hacked h320's play video.

 

[st5150]

I'm a huge fan of my iRiver H320. It has so many useful features and I love the sound signature. I can't comment on the Sony's sound because I have never heard it. Personally I chose iRiver over Apple/Sony/Rio/Creative because you don't need any proprietory software to access your mp3 player. Windoze, Mac, Linux, etc is just plug'n play with it, and you can even play open source Ogg Vorbis files. Top this off with video playback, FM radio, skins/themes, and USBOTG to make a clear winner in my mind

 

[vova]

I've had an HD3 since November and the thing is rock solid, despite having been dropped a couple of times. No freezups of any kind. Lack of scroll wheel is the biggest negative. Why SOny puts one on MD players but not on HD where it is needed most is a mystery. Color screen I am not sure about - if it is the type that fades out in the sunlight and drains battery then you are better off without it.

 

[Redly Rocket]

Being a proud owner of an iriver (h340) id say go the h320 with out a doubt. you cannot beat the features and sound these things pump out and your being a little bit diffrent than the rest of the crowd. One more thing i can tell you is the software (firmware) is always upgrading with new features. Also when (and if) Rockbox produce their firmware/port for the h300 series they will totally fly!

Checkout http://www.misticriver.net/ for more convincing.