[abitdeef]

Well this will be very short and sweet. I got a chance to spend some quality time with a zune 80 the other day, so I have some quick impressions.

The software install was a big mess with xp service pack 2, and I'm not real fond of the zune software, why you can't use wmp 11 is just plain well, dumb.

I found the screen and gui pretty awesome and liked the controls , I could live with these. After seeing the touch and samsung p2's screen the resolution looks a little rough, but still nice colour saturation and brightness.

Anyways, the sound really suprised me, this thing is really clean sounding. No hiss with the E500's, and the denon AH-C700 sounded pristine! The soundstage and detail- instrument seperation is amazing. I have a classic and 5.5 and my sony 818 to compare it with and it sounded better than both ipods and gave the sony a run for the money- the zune had more detail- space, but the sony had better low end and dynamics. Not that I would call the zune cold, it seems really balanced, it's just the highs are so damn clear yet smooth. I'm missing the sound already ( I only had it for a day

), I might just pick one up despite the software and screen. I though it sounded that good. It really did satisfy, just like them corn chex

 

[tstarn06]

Having both the Sony A816 and the Zune80 has turned out to be the perfect DAP combo, big and small, and I completely agree with your assessment. And both machines mix with my headphone collection very well. I do need an amp for the 716s, but I don't mind. Agree on the stupid Zune software (it keeps loading the same song onto the Zune over and over, and I had to get a piece of software to make the HD accessible via Windows explorer to clean off the tracks. And for no rhyme or reason (I suspect bad tags, but who knows). I digress. Most of all with the Zune, I don't miss EQ much at all.

 

[Hanafuda]

Gotta agree, great player from top to bottom. I bought a Z30 and ATH-ES7's 6 months ago and have been so happy with them I hardly ever come here anymore. But my 15 year old took some of his Christmas money and bought himself the 80, and now dad's green with envy. (I'm sure that was at least part of the reason he bought it.) I'm not gonna say I hear better sound quality from the headphone jack with the 80 vs. the 30, but I'm 40y.o. and was in a few bands in my 20s, so what do I know. They both sound about the same to me. But the 80 is definitely the better design.

As for the Zune software, I only do manual syncing with it so it doesn't bother me much. I convert everything in EAC, prep album art in photoshop, and tag with an app called Tagscanner (but there's bunches of other similar tagging apps). Then I just drop the album into the Zune software, manually sync it to the Zune, and that's it. It's tedious, but I control everything and it works 100% of the time. I visit a Zune board where they're always complaining about album art problems, songs being duplicated, etc. The solution is to minimize reliance on the Zune software.

Now if they would just add gapless support.

 

[tstarn06]

I may have to try that pre-prep strategy with the Zune80. Oddly, some songs duplicate, then I remove them using that keen software (which gives me access to the HD via Windows Explorer) and add them again later (its the only way to get them off. Sometimes there are 8-9 copies of the song on the Zune, but not showing up when you access the Zune via the software), and no duplication. I don't do anything differently. I'm hoping they will update the Zune software and firmware again soon. Meantime, I don't care about album art at all. I think it's funny to see Williie Nelson's mug on a Roots song. Kind of a fun game. But it drives my daughter nuts when she sees it.

 

[Night Surfer]

Agreed....very clean "true to the music" sound.
No problems with the software either, but I always use MP3Tag to make sure my tags are correct every time I get new music.

 

[evilking]

Is it really clean? With classical and ambient music? With UM2s and Livewires?



Thanks
EK

 

[Night Surfer]

Affirmative on Ambient and classical.
Don't know about the UM2's or Livewires though.
Very clean w/ my Atrios.

 

[abitdeef]

Quote:

Originally Posted by evilking /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it really clean? With classical and ambient music? With UM2s and Livewires? Thanks EK

Didn't try any classical with it, but ambient sounds amazing. E500's are really sensitive and it was really clean with those. So I imagine it would be the same with UM2 AND Livewires?

 

[shigzeo]

the um2 are more sensitive than the e500 but... i would imagine it not too much a difference. i do not care much for hd players though. i wish someone put up some information on the flash zune. flash for some reason seams impossible to be rid of hiss.

 

[sinner6]

The duplicate syncing issue is due to mis-formatted tags, try retagging the tracks with Media Monkey and make sure no track number, album, artist, or title is missing.

Search "duplicate sysnc" over at the zune.net forums.

Once you get your tags in order, the Zune experience is actually very good.

 

[tstarn06]

Thanks. I am going to try and do that for the problem files. I have MediaMonkey installed now.

 

[mrdeadfolx]

I have seen like 200 of these DAP/SQ threads every day for the last 6 months, I have my hearing checked regularly, as far as I know its perfect, and I can never hear what anyone is talking about when they talk about SQ differences between players. The differences to my ears are so tiny they are not worth mentioning or making a thread over.

 

[PouncePony]

You can't hear the difference, so you wouldn't start a thread about it. A lot of other people can hear the difference and have.

Thanks for a meaningless post.

-Pony

 

[MarcusL]

Thanks for sharing your impressions, Ihatepopupads. As I read more and more about the zune80 here, it definitely may be my next DAP, unless some good hard-drive based portable (smaller than a PMP though) with decent screen will show up at CES.

Anyway, having no EQ, bass issue (or lack thereof), can anyone make a good guess what would synergize well with the Zune80? Triple-fi, or would the cheaper AH-C700 synergize better? Will the Zune80 be powerful enough for a PK1 sans amp? I'm really wondering how the Triple-fi would sound paired with the 'clean' Zune80.

 

[sinner6]

I use the c700 (generally considered to have strong bass) with the Z80 and it's just fine without EQ, a well matched pairing. Under no circumstances will a digital EQ do good things to a signal. Even a good analog EQ adds phase distortion (this is how EQ works) so imagine what a low-CPU emulated EQ is doing. This is a tangent, but it bewilders me that folks would want to use EQ when getting a rig that produces the desired results without EQ will sound better every time. Get gear to match your preferences. That said, the C700's are truly a great set of phones that work extremely well with the Zune 80 and the Sony 818. I will replace both those players, probably many times, before I find another set of phones I like this much.