[cisforchooch]

My G4 iPod finally croaked (I think the drive went kaput... I tried both reformatting as well the lesser-known throw-your-iPod-against-the-wall-to-free-the-drive-head method, but to no avail).

So I took this as an opportunity to get a new DAP.

Turns out I got myself TWO new DAPs.

The Zune and the Gigabeat S (MES30VW). The gigabeat I found as an open-box item at Fry's (actually I bought two of these.. if anyone is interested in an open-box Gigabeat S, please PM me).

I'm a noob, and I think I read somewhere that the Zune is actually a dressed-up Gigabeat? Well if so, it's hard to tell, since it's a bit larger (including screen size), and it sounds BETTER than the Gigabeat. The controls are different also. The Gigabeat has a number of buttons placed on it's side.

Most notably, the firmware is vastly different. Gigabeat is running PMC while the Zune is running (most likely) a variation of PMC which is exclusive for the Zune device. (I tried connecting my Gigabeat and couldn't get the Zune software to recognize it as a device.)

The Zune doesn't play WMA lossless natively, but the Gigabeat does. So I was surprised to hear the Zune with its compressed files sounding a whole lot better than the Gigabeat playing lossless. Specifically, the Zune is quieter, while the Gigabeat had noticeable amounts of hiss, even at lower volume levels. Also, the bass sounds a whole lot better (it's just more THERE, while it was largely missing from the Gigabeat). The Gigabeat sounds thin.

Oh, and I had both DAPs plugged into my main system (Rotel Amp/Preamp, PSB Image T60 speakers, Monster mini-to-RCA interconnect, Blue Jean/Belden interconnects).

Pictures and more impressions to come...

 

[Ricardo Dawkins]

You got two nice players there. Both are quite good from my short view.
The Zune advantage is a bit more than those since it is getting regular but slow and minimum updates. This is best than nothing.

 

[rockin_amigo14]

i really wanted to like the Gigabeat S, but after hearing all the horror stories about the player randomly formatting itself and the abysmal battery, I decided to steer clear.

 

[Hardwired]

After reading somewhere that the Gigabyte S was the same as a Zune only Microsoft didn't get any of my money from the sale

and based on people saying the SQ of the Zune is good and the Gigabyte should be the same, I got one. The SQ doesn't suck, but it certainly doesn't have any punch to the lows or highs, even playing WMA lossless files. Glad to hear the Zune sounds better because I've been questioning some folks' credibility.

 

[Dragon Rider]

Love your identity pick; but, it leads me to believe we need more girls on this forum with picks from their side > that would be some fun, or perhaps embarressment

 

[Rossy836]

Yeah common consensus (especially on regular review sites) had the Gigabeat having only mediocre sound.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cisforchooch /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm a noob, and I think I read somewhere that the Zune is actually a dressed-up Gigabeat?

Yep.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabeat
Quote:

Gigabeat S The Gigabeat S was released in Japan in April 2006 and in the United States on the last day of May 2006. The player was first presented at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2006 in Las Vegas by Bill Gates in his keynote speech. It uses version 2 of the Portable Media Center interface by Microsoft and the device closely integrates with Windows Media Player 11 and the Xbox 360. The player has 12-hour battery life for audio and plays video for up to 2.5 hours. The player offers a 2.4-inch, 16-bit TFT LCD display with a QVGA resolution and storage capacities of 30GB or 60GB. It also has a built-in FM tuner and audio support for MP3, WAV, WMA (both lossy and lossless), while the player natively supports WMV. Other video formats such as MPEG-4, AVI and QuickTime are only supported through transcoding. The device is also Playsforsure-certified, which means that it is compatible with online stores like Napster To Go. The Gigabeat S also has a USB Host for downloading images directly off digital cameras without the need of a computer, while connecting the player to a TV needs an optional composite TV-out cable. [edit] Criticism Some users have encountered a problem when the player deletes all media on its hard drive after being disconnected from USB sync with a computer.[1][2] Although Microsoft's Zune is based on the hardware of this player, it is not affected due to a different firmware. This problem has been left unresolved; there has been no firmware updates since the release of the Gigabeat S.