[trever]

Hey guys (and girls),

This is my first post here, so take it easy on me.. But, this is also more of a 2-in-1 post about player/earbuds combo. I've read into many threads here on everyone's opinion on their favorite player and their favorite buds. Currently, I have a 40GB 3G Ipod with crappy Ipod buds, which I'm looking to give to my girlfriend since she wants an mp3 player. So here's what I'm looking for:

HDD size: 40GB+ (most of my music is 224kbit mp3, but I'm willing to re-rip at higher bitrate, or possibly switch to OGG format if supported by player).
USB/FireWire Mass Storage: would be a nice feature, especially without having to install 3rd party software on PC. if this is possible with tweaking/hacking the player as well, would be a major plus. I'm also looking into using it as an external HDD (with CF USB host card) for use with my Pocket PC to store movies while my IBM ThinkPad is not with me.
Size/weight: anything somewhat close the the 40GB 3G Ipod size and weight.
Sound: quality!
EQ: user customizable 5-band or better (unlike mediocre Ipod EQ).
Formats supported: mp3 and WMA, possibly OGG and lossless formats.
Interface: USB 2.0, or USB 2.0 and FireWire.
Display: Should be >= Ipod display size, bigger is a plus though. Color display is not necessary.
Firmware/software: preferably updateable if company is known for bugs. i'd prefer the player software to be somewhat user-friendly.
3rd party support: would also be nice if the player was supported by 3rd party software as well (players/management/etc.) although I realize this is up to the 3rd parties.
Battery Life: atleast 12+ hours of continuous playback.
Earbuds: probably gonna go with the Shure E3C's (for in-ear and isolation).
Price: no price limit.

I'm mostly into Industrial, EBM, and Ambient music, so some bass (possibly the Shure E3C buds may play a roll?) may be required (without ext. AMP).

The players I'm interested in are as follows:
Creative Zen Touch (40GB): $250.
Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra (60GB): $265.
iRiver H340 (40GB): $350.

I'm not interested in another Ipod, but I am possibly open to other suggestions as long as the above criteria matches. Currently it looks like the H340 is the way to go...

Any thoughts, opinions, cold-hard-facts on these players or other ones not listed? Your help would be greatly appreciated! I'd also like to know if the Shure E3C's sound nice on these players as well...

 

[nickd75]

IMHO, ditch the Zen Xtra straight off. Although I haven't had hands on experience of it, everything I've heard and read suggests that the Zen Touch does most things better, and the build quality is incomparable.

I think one you haven't considered but perhaps should is the Cowon iAudio M3 (40GB). Although it doesn't have an on-body screen, it makes up for it with a large(ish) screen on the remote. In addition, it works as a drag and drop drive (for all files, not just non-music files).

To be completely honest, AFAIK, most of the other features are available on all three players. All three update their firmware from time to time (some more often than others) and all three support most music formats (not sure about iriver and ogg). It seems to me that mp3 HDD players are converging, in a way. After Apple set the standard, manufacturers like Creative realised that they simply couldn't get away with HDD players the size of a CD discman. And UI's have progressed so far in the last couple of years.

So, in summary, this post isn't much help at all.... Creative are known for good sound quality (signal to noise, anyway), and the iAudio M3 gets rave reivews for its sound in this forum. With the exception of the Zen Xtra they all have good build quality, reasonable UI and various functions. Um.... yeah.

Sorry - would love to be more helpful, but not sure how...

Nick

 

[MartinJ]

iAudio m3 has no ID3 DB. This means that you will only be able to sort your music in one way and only be able to browse your mp3s after file system and file names.

h340 is a great choice. I am personally using the iPod photo 60. I used before the Rio Karma (Amazing UI and great music file format support but no drag and drop as external hdd. Only buy if you get a good warranty) Also used before the iAudio m3, the lcd remote is a good lcd remote but not a good replacement of a bigger lcd screen.

 

[DLP]

Where do you find the Zen Touch 40GB for $250?

 

[gradeo]

I love my Zen Xtra, but it only gets about 10-12 hours per charge. Also, the Xtra is a bit large when in its thick leather case. If you want a line out, neither the Xtra, nor the Touch has one. If those things don't matter to you, I highly recommend the Xtra, as it is cheap, the sound quality is great, and easy to operate.

 

[trever]

Zen Touch 40GB is $279.99 - $30.00 Mail-In rebate here: http://www.compuplus.com/i/MP3/MP3-P...k=searchViewed

 

[DJ e]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gradeo I love my Zen Xtra, but it only gets about 10-12 hours per charge. Also, the Xtra is a bit large when in its thick leather case. If you want a line out, neither the Xtra, nor the Touch has one. If those things don't matter to you, I highly recommend the Xtra, as it is cheap, the sound quality is great, and easy to operate.

I second that.

 

[a1leyez0nm3]

what do you like about your xtras? know any secrest or links or anything? mine is frustrating me

. i turn the bass +12 and it distorts like crazy, etc...

 

[JJ15k]

The Iriver has tons more features than the Zens, I happen to own one and it is great. USB host, native windows support, ogg support, a little thick but hell....

 

[mkozlows]

If you're seriously considering the iRiver, do read this review: http://www.shahine.com/omar/iRiverH320VsIPod.aspx

My wife owns an H320, and Shahine is, if anything, too kind to the player. It is ridiculously unusable. He didn't even address how amazingly opaque the buttons are (I had to read the manual twice to figure out how to do some things -- "Oh, of course, to change the EQ, you have to hold down (as opposed to pressing) the A->B button while on the Now Playing screen! Totally clear!") and how difficult it is to scroll through large lists with the stiff, small, tightly-packed buttons.

 

[Mr Iriver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkozlows If you're seriously considering the iRiver, do read this review: http://www.shahine.com/omar/iRiverH320VsIPod.aspx My wife owns an H320, and Shahine is, if anything, too kind to the player. It is ridiculously unusable. He didn't even address how amazingly opaque the buttons are (I had to read the manual twice to figure out how to do some things -- "Oh, of course, to change the EQ, you have to hold down (as opposed to pressing) the A->B button while on the Now Playing screen! Totally clear!") and how difficult it is to scroll through large lists with the stiff, small, tightly-packed buttons.

For how long have you borrowed it and used it? The players only fault is it's learning curve, but read the manual, and you'll learn to use everything in less than an hour. If you can't learn how to use it in less than that you have to be really stupid, as the interface I think is actually pretty simple afterwards. In the iRiver for example, to change the EQ you can just hold A-b, on other players on the other hand, you have to scroll and go to the menu to change the equalizer. On the ipods and most players also to change the shuffle/repeat mode you have to also have to go to a menu, and change whatever mode the player is set at. On the iRiver on the other hand you change this simply by pressing the REC button without needing to go to any menus. With that said once, you learn to use the iRiver it is actually much more usable than most players, unless your music organization is a mess. If you music is organizaed well into folders, this player is great. Great sound, bunch of features, good equalizer, Learning curve, but once learned very simple to use interface, very good FM reception.


Also check out the Iaudio X5. That also looks like a very cool player.

 

[halcyon]

I'm an owner of H340 and I think it's on par with Toshiba Gigabeat (also at my house for testing right now) in it's interface stupidity.

Both were designed by people with absolutely no skill in interaction or interface design. And it shows.

"Modal hell" is an apt phrase for both interface for those who know what it means.

Otherwise I like H340 a lot. I just wish it was smaller and had a 60GB hard drive (like the Gigabeat).