[Imyourzero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krishna Iaudio is Korean based company actually. I don't have one but from what I have read the control is fairly good, not great, but the remote only operation can get annoying. Also it has nearly gapless playback, but not gapless. Finally is supposedly sounds extremely good, like Karma/Zen good. They are coming out with with two new models in the coming months, the M5L and the X5. Both have screens on the unit, but the X5 has color one, and the M5L has a proposed 36hr battery life. These are both on the top of my list for my next DAP.

Any clue about the MSRP on any of the M3/M5 models?

Also, all those features will mean very little to us if the sound quality isn't great. It's gotta be at least up to the level of an iPod, if not better.

 

[Thisp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aman Don't forget to mention multiple codec playback! One thing that bugged me for a LONG time was that none of these mainstream HD MP3 Players had support for Ogg Vorbis accept for the iRiver, but I feel that it was a bit too big for my tastes.

Same here. I demanded my player have support for Vorbis. When I heard the Karma had Vorbis support, I jumped for it. It wasn't so much the cocec support as much as the principal - I wanted a player that was moving forward with promising, quality technology instead of waiting for it to become a standard. I bought, and got what I expected, a product that embraces new technology - gapless playback, parametric EQs, play stats for auto-playlisting...

My ideal player would be the Rio Karma with a much better hard drive(for active use like a flash player), a seperate hold button for the buttons and the wheel, a user replaceable battery, a much slimmer chassis, a line out on the player, and a much better headphone amp built in for no rolloffs.

Perfect is a relative term, but I think that'd be getting there.

 

[viator122]

Apple really hit the nail on the head with iTunes. It makes owning/managing/updating not only the music on your player, but the all the music on your HDD a snap. The integration is fantastic. Add on iTMS (which I don't really use) and you've got a really great combination. The other manufacturers, even those in the best position to do it (*cough* Sony *cough*) haven't created a software package to properly integrate their players with the home PC. I really feel that this is a very important feature. Yes, you can live without it, but it's so nice to have. To me, it's in my top 3 list of important features and I think that Apple's competitors missed the boat on this one.

Of course, I don't see why the iPod couldn't have FM radio. Some of their other decisions seem to be influenced by the iTMS i.e. lack of broad codec support, or just financial, such as the lack of a user-replaceable battery.

 

[raymondlin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easypeasy Except the small flip screen, iRiver's already plays movies with a firmware upgrade. This is surely amazing

at 10fps???????????????? 25fps is minimum really.

 

[Guust-Fi]

Which player comes most close to having it all iyo? Keeping price to a minimum of course. Although, most higher end players are still pretty expensive of course.

 

[BigFil]

Quote:

Originally Posted by viator122 such as the lack of a user-replaceable battery.

The lack of user replaceble battery? There are a number of companies selling replacements batteries for iPods and i'm sure other companies built in batteries. IMO if you can navigate yourself to Head-Fi than you can replace the battery in the iPod. It's not hard, in fact I ordered a high capacity one online for a buddies 1G that just died. I figured i'd have to do it for him since he's never opened up a computer or any other electronic device. Since I couldn't make it to his house for a couple of days, he went ahead and read the directions and did it himself. My grandma might not be able to do it but then again she wouldn't even have a DAP to start off with.

 

[viator122]

Yeah, but if I open up my iPod I lose my warranty.

 

[BigFil]

If your battery dies under warranty they replace it.

 

[Krishna]

Edit- Double Post

 

[Krishna]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imyourzero Any clue about the MSRP on any of the M3/M5 models? Also, all those features will mean very little to us if the sound quality isn't great. It's gotta be at least up to the level of an iPod, if not better.

The M3 is already out- Here and costs about $250-289 if you look around. Unfortunately it seems that they have stopped making 40gb versions, most likely because they are introducing the M5/X5.

The M5 will out soon and will cost $300-400 supposedly.

It is often said that the Rio Karma or the Zen have the best sound, and when people have compared the Iaudio to these they often say it sounds as good as them.

Oh and Iaudio frequently updates their firmware (almost every month atleast), unlike some companies we know (Iriver)

 

[viator122]

Fine, but you know as well as I do that having a second battery available to charge and swap in when needed (like the Touch) is different from ordering a 3rd party battery, cracking your $300 DAP open with a screwdriver, replacing the battery, squeezing the thing back together again and praying that it all works in the end.

 

[BigFil]

viator- I agree with you in that usage of it.

 

[phyrefly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krishna The M3 is already out- Here and costs about $250-289 if you look around.

Could you tell me where (I searched, lowest I could find was $275).

Thanks

 

[Krishna]

I've seen the M3 go for aroun $250 on Ebay.

The price will drop even lower once the new players are out (Feb-April)

 

[dosun]

Quote:

The lack of user replaceble battery? There are a number of companies selling replacements batteries for iPods and i'm sure other companies built in batteries. IMO if you can navigate yourself to Head-Fi than you can replace the battery in the iPod. It's not hard, in fact I ordered a high capacity one online for a buddies 1G that just died. I figured i'd have to do it for him since he's never opened up a computer or any other electronic device. Since I couldn't make it to his house for a couple of days, he went ahead and read the directions and did it himself. My grandma might not be able to do it but then again she wouldn't even have a DAP to start off with.

I don't think that counts as user replacable. When they say user replacable it means that most people can replace it with little chance of damaging the item when they replace it. Snap in, snap out. I've seen the diagrams on opening up the ipod and you can very very easily break something when you are opening it up. Just because they sell the part on the market doesn't mean its user replaceable.