[Jmmmmm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by t10 Thanks for the quick reply! Hmmm, seems Karma comes close to what I want from the SQ point of view, but RioMusicManager, how bad is it on bloatware? Does it add any start-up services to the PC? Or is it non-existant untill I launch the app, and ceases to exist when I close the app?

I'm a big fan of RMM. I never even figured out how to use creative's software (luckily i didnt have to after they added MTP), but RMM is well laid out, simple, and small.

 

[Zappa74]

I am still surprised at how great the Rio Music Manager software is.

Absolutely idiot proof and not even close to being considered bloatware like Creative's junk. Love the interface on the Karma too. Such a nice, easy to use player. Just gotta hope it holds up

 

[benjamind]

Seems a lot of people are tossing up between the Rio, iAudio and iRiver players as the best ones to get.

I have one guy in Australia who thinks the iRiver H320 are hands down the best, apparently the iRiver offers the best bass (low-end) of all DAPs.

Not sure if I'd agree on that entirely, but going by the good reviews I've been reading about the H320, it's hard to prove otherwise.

The H320 has superior sound quality over most DAPs, the iAudio M3 supposedly comes in equal first, along with the Rio Karma. Well, that's what I've been working out from all my reading.

 

[Necros]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmmmmm irivers are great, great sound quality and solidly built. the things usually discussed as negatives: -the line-out is not a "true" line-out. What this means i'm not positive, if you do a search i'm sure you'll find out. -UI is not very intuitive; you can get used to it, but it's not as good as some other DAPs -not as small/light as the ipod or gmini; not sure about compared to the karma, but i think the iriver might be heavier. -menu system doesn't play albums in order - you have to change the names to say a1-, b2- or something like that to get it to play in the correct order -expensive; this is what prevented me from getting one. they just cost more -hard to find now; i think you might have to get some of them on ebay only i'm sure there are more positives and negatives

1) Yeah the H140 lineout is not fixed, it's variable through the volume. However it does have optical out, this offers best sound quality for home use.
2) Granted UI is a little bit tricky, especially the remote. But not exactly much harder, and hopefully Rockbox will sort that.
3) Differences between normal ipod is negliable. It has a higher capacity battery, that's why it's heavier
4) Easily done in Godfather, just do a batch re-name of all files. Not really worth using that as a minus point.
5) Cheaper than a full-sized ipod, and you get more for your money.

Filetree arrangement and ability to use with the PC with no drivers or third party software to upload (just copy and paste) like a normal HD is a major plus.

 

[Vashin]

Quote:

-menu system doesn't play albums in order - you have to change the names to say a1-, b2- or something like that to get it to play in the correct order

my file names are named 01 - , 02 - , 03 - , and it does play in album order. As long as you rip with a track number leading the file it'll play in album order. The a1-, a2, only affects the h10.

 

[breez]

What relation does a volume control have to bypassing an amplifier? Every DAP has a digital volume control. It is done before any amplifying stage (analog).

Therefore I think the ability to attenuate the level of the line-out in a player is a feature and a fixed level would just be a restriction. Of course for the best noise levels the output should be kept as high as possible which equals to setting the volume to maximum in the players with the feature.

 

[Necros]

Yeah you've got a point there..my Hi-Fi CD player has variable level from the analogue L/R RCA outputs. It is still line level of course.

Some people plug their CD player directly into poweramps, using the variable line level out as the volume control. Not a good idea if you switch the CD player off then on as it reverts back to 100%

So perhaps if these line-level out is not too bad, not going via op-amps it's just that the CPU adjusts the output?

 

[Jmmmmm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by benjamind I have one guy in Australia who thinks the iRiver H320 are hands down the best, apparently the iRiver offers the best bass (low-end) of all DAPs.

I havent heard the 320, but my iriver flash player definitely have the most powerful low end of any player ive heard (these being ipod/mini, karma, micro, carbon, h10, mpio, and probably a few others). If you want ear-shattering bass, my iriver has it. If the 320 sounds the same as that, then I understand where he's coming from. However, I don't know if that means it's the 'best bass'. It's a colored sound and I don't know if i'd consider it the most accurate sound. But, I really enjoy it. If i had to choose which one I liked listening to better, it would be a tough choice between my karma and my iriver - i think i would choose the iriver with rap and things like that, and the karma with most other things. I think the karma does a slightly better job with that. Of course, both have a customizable EQ, so you can tailor the sound. Either way, they both sound great, imo.

 

[TooNice]

After more price hunting, I find that the XS200 can be found a tiny bit cheaper than the Karma not counting ebay.

Ebay seems to be my best bet for finding something close to a bargain.
That said, I wonder why so many Karma's on Ebay are refurb (one shape or another) with limited warranty. Did that many Karma fail for the number of refurb to be that high?

... but seriously...

 

[bigshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necros Yeah you've got a point there..my Hi-Fi CD player has variable level from the analogue L/R RCA outputs. It is still line level of course.

If the volume of the RCA output is variable, it isn't line level output. If it's possible to bypass that volume pot by disabling it and bypassing it, that would be line level. In theory, there would be a difference in the sound quality having two volume pots instead of one, but in practice, on a home stereo componant, the difference would be very tiny.

See ya
Steve

 

[Necros]

The RCA output is controlled by the remote. It's a Marantz CD-63SE. So I can only assume the RCA output is adjusted digitally.

I don't use the analogue outputs now anyway

 

[Naybor]

I'm delighted with the Sony NW-HD1 I got last summer. It is tiny for a 20 gig player and sounds great. The battery life is so good, I don't bother taking a charger unless I am travelling more than a week or two.

 

[dommica]

Hi all

I've been reading through this thread hoping for answers... but i've just seemed to of got more confused

I need a player that's not too big, pretty nice looking, and its got to have half decent sound quality. I'll be using it walking to school everyday, listening to it home a bit and taking it on holidays too. The rio karma looked like a serious option until i started reading about it jolting when keeping it in your pocket and hard drive problems etc.

The best option looks like the iaudio m3 or the ipod (ouch), but does anybody have anyother suggestions?

Cheers,
Dom

 

[YamiTenshi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dommica Hi all I've been reading through this thread hoping for answers... but i've just seemed to of got more confused I need a player that's not too big, pretty nice looking, and its got to have half decent sound quality. I'll be using it walking to school everyday, listening to it home a bit and taking it on holidays too. The rio karma looked like a serious option until i started reading about it jolting when keeping it in your pocket and hard drive problems etc. The best option looks like the iaudio m3 or the ipod (ouch), but does anybody have anyother suggestions? Cheers, Dom

Price? I'm guessing you're not going to be using an amp.

You can look at iRiver, Creative, Sony or Archos... there's probably some more I forgot to mention.

 

[dommica]

Quote:

Originally Posted by YamiTenshi Price? I'm guessing you're not going to be using an amp. You can look at iRiver, Creative, Sony or Archos... there's probably some more I forgot to mention.

erm i'd say no more than £220ish, i've just looked at a review on the m3... and you can't browse by the id3 tag (genre, artist etc)!

Another problem is that sonicstage refuses to work on my computer, even though i would love an hd1

Is it really that hard to create the perfect mp3 player!?

Dom