x5 or J70?

[DaaT]

Hi everyone,

After my Micro went kaput, I've narrowed it down to getting either a Samsung J70SB or the iAudio x5.

I got the J70 today from the shop to try it out and tomorrow I'll get the x5, but I'd like to hear other opinions as well.

SQ they sound very alike to me, but I'm not audiophile, it'll come down to features I guess, so start your engines and comment

Take care.

 

[luuk]

I have the x5, and played with the j70, read some articles and reviews about both. If you want the best player, go for the x5.
not the j70 'cause:
Less sq.
no drag and drop.
scratch easily, fingerprinted easily.
controls are a bit tough to handle/learn.
Doesn't have a such good community as iAudio (www.iaudiophile.net).
If you like the big batterylife of the j70, go for the iaudio x5l.
Check www.dapreview.net and then go to the forums for the endless j70 forums (because of many troubles with the device) or www.iaudiophile.net to ask for advice.
Good luck

 

[DigDub]

Quote:

Originally Posted by luuk I have the x5, and played with the j70, read some articles and reviews about both. If you want the best player, go for the x5. not the j70 'cause: Less sq. no drag and drop. controls are a bit tough to handle/learn.

j70 sounds very good to me. in fact, it has a 9 band EQ compared to the iaudio's 5.
the j70 is drag and drop.
controls are quite ok imo. the thin bar may slip sometimes, but not a deal breaker.

 

[egme]

I would go for the iAudio.. I've listened to both and the iAudio sounds much more natural-- less processed.

 

[egme]

I would go for the iAudio.. I've listened to both and the iAudio sounds much more natural-- less 'processed'. Samsungs always sound like that to me.. particularly with the SRS WOW effect on.

 

[DigDub]

i've not listened to the iaudio before, but i'm sure that sounds nice. for the samsung, the srs wow effect is bad for music. the custom EQ is where it really shines. paired with the er6i, the sound is sweet without a hint of 'fakeness'. in fact, the samsung is probably the most resolving player i've heard so far. the highs sound very crisp and defined, especially the cymbals and hi-hats, where other players sound a tad swishy, the samsung handles it with ease and gets me more involved with the music. when used with the e4c, the sound is not as good.

 

[LFC_SL]

My X5 should come tomorrow or Wednesday...fingers crossed...yes I know, with regard to this thread...

 

[DaaT]

Thanks guys for the reply so far. One thing, is it me or does the x5 screen look bit worse compared to the J70?

One thing as well, Samsung's app converts automatically videos to the player's format, which is a nice touch.

Still undecided

 

[luuk]

@ Digdub:
I'm sorry for my mistake, but I thought you needed some kind of program to put music on your player, before you can play the music?
Anyway the samsungprogram seems to be a bit hard to handle.
About the eq, didn't know that. But if you read some info on dapreview.net you will see that the sq isn't as good as on the x5.
Other things (that I don't know for sure):
j70 has no line-out?
j70 can't play movies?
j70 doesn't need a subpack for charging or usb connection?
j70 has better batterylife(then x5, not the x5l).
j70 has the same screen as the x5.
j70 hasn't got usb-otg?

If the j70 was better then the x5 I surely told you so, but the only benefit of the j70 is the extra batterylife. So the x5 is the better player.

 

[luuk]

Have to correct some things:
it has usb-otg (limited support),
it can play movies,
batterylife isn't that great(12~14 hours),
It has games.
quoted from dapreview:
"As it is, the top of the line MP3 player from Samsung is the YH-J70... which is OK, but leaves a lot to be desired."

 

[DigDub]

battery life is 5hours for movies, 25 hours for music and god knows how many hours for radio. this are from the specs, but i think 12-14 hrs for music is way off.

it has line-out on the cradle. there is no mini-dock. everything is on the cable itself. the usb cable terminates in it own proprietary plug, same for the power adpater.

it is drag and drop. you only need to put them in the correct folders in the player (music -> Music, movies -> videos, text -> Text, etc). the software that is provided allows you to do tag based browsing on the player i believe. if you don't like filetree based browsing, that would be another option. i've never tried that though.

the j70 to me, is anything but 'left a lot to be desired'. in fact, i find it similar to the ipod in some ways. it even has the 'Clicker' sound option found in the ipod.

 

[DaaT]

Ok, so today i'll return the J70 and get the x5 for testing.

The J70 is a nice player, but after listening to it for some hours between yesterday and this morning, it seems the sound leaves a bit to be desired... maybe it was just my settings (I only changed the EQ to a custom one, left SRS alone), or maybe I've been spoiled by my Micro.

Converted a 1h51m film using Samsung's app (which is a nice and simple way of converting then, well done) and it was quite watchable. Plugged my Fuji F10 into the player and it worked like a charm, which was a nice surprise. The player's only Windows XP though, and I use another OS (ZETA) so that's a downside... but will have to see if the x5 works in ZETA as well.

And the player gets "fingerprinted" soooo easy...

All in all, a nice experience, it's a nice player for sure. Now onto the x5!!

 

[Bijl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaaT but will have to see if the x5 works in ZETA as well.

Well since it's drag and drop it will probably work.

 

[DaaT]

Maybe, maybe not Bijl... the J70 is also drag&drop in Win XP. We'll see

One question to those with x5s... I'm now converting a movie (the same I used for the J70) using JetAudio, but the output format is 160x84, not 160x128. Maybe it correctly retains the picture aspect ratio and the Samsung software didn't? Just curious.

 

[DaaT]

And the winner is... *drumroll*... the x5!!!

There was no doubt really, after listening to the x5 for a while, the sound quality is much better than J70's. My camera also worked in USB Host mode and the cherry on top of the cake: it works like a charm in ZETA

(you were right Bijl).

Thanks guys for your input and comments, much appreciated. Now to get a cover

Take care,
DaaT