[jwong]

In my brief listening, I think the HD sounds good, but to me only a little better than my Clip+ if at all. That was with my AD700s and KSC75s. Both sound better than my Touch 2G. I'm very curious about the Touch 3G though.

Love the HD radio. HATE the lack of volume buttons on the Zune HD.

 

[Lil' Knight]

So the HD sounds better than your Touch G2?

 

[blackburn]

Though I haven't really gotten around to playing with it that much...the build quality is really nice. Tegra makes for a really smooth experience. I did an unboxing...review will come soon

YouTube - Microsoft Zune HD 32GB Unboxing and Preview

 

[Joe Average]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackburn /img/forum/go_quote.gif Though I haven't really gotten around to playing with it that much...the build quality is really nice. Tegra makes for a really smooth experience. I did an unboxing...review will come soon YouTube - Microsoft Zune HD 32GB Unboxing and Preview

Not sure if it's just me, but the audio in that video craps out at about 8-9 seconds in and never quite comes back. It's broken, crackling, and just unlistenable overall. I downloaded it directly as well, same problem. The framerate just falls apart also... might consider re-uploading it, as YouTube is known to muck things up considerably sometimes.

 

[alias71]

Engadget did a review of the Zune HD. This is what they said on the sound quality:

Zune players have always been known for their stellar audio, and the Zune HD is no exception. Forget about using the included earbuds -- they're pretty much junk. When we tested with decent in-ear buds, however, we thought the quality was rather excellent. Compared to the touch or iPhone audio, the Zune HD seemed to have a wider stereo field and deeper, more resonant low end. Where other players seem crunchy and muffled, the Zune HD feels expansive and open -- like someone popped the top off of a soda can. It's not such an outrageous difference that most people will notice, but those who listen closely should be able to hear it, and we're certainly not complaining about better audio when it comes to the realm of the digital.

Can anyone confirm that the sound quality of the Zune HD is better than the iPod Touch 2G or 3G?

 

[RagingForces]

In terms of pure sound quality, how does this compare to the little Sansa Clip or Clip+?

 

[Arainach]

Quote:

Can anyone confirm that the sound quality of the Zune HD is better than the iPod Touch 2G or 3G?

Assuming it's similar to the Zune 30G or the Flash Zune 8G, then I'd say yes, I can confirm that. The wider soundstage and deeper bass are general Zune qualities.

 

[blackburn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Average /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not sure if it's just me, but the audio in that video craps out at about 8-9 seconds in and never quite comes back. It's broken, crackling, and just unlistenable overall. I downloaded it directly as well, same problem. The framerate just falls apart also... might consider re-uploading it, as YouTube is known to muck things up considerably sometimes.

Dangit...this is what happens when you try to deal with hd video on youtube...thanks for the heads up Joe!

 

[MCC]

In quick testing my HD sounds identical to the 80 but without the hard drive noises. And it should, it's the same chip.

 

[MadDog]

I thought Zune 120 was boring - SQ wise...guess I am not getting Zune HD.

 

[Joe Average]

Sound quality is an amazingly personal thing, and the only person that can honestly answer how a Zune HD will sound to you just happens to be the best judge of such a thing: you.

Unfortunately, you can't just go demo one in a store someplace and put your own demo material on it for such an audio quality test. Can't hurt to buy one, give it some time, and if it truly sucks anywhere near as much as the mass of haters are trying to make it out to be (highly unlikely given the DAC in it, always considered to be the best or one of the very best available), then take it back.

But reading reviews, even those here at HeadFi, even from people that are generally accepted as "experts" on such things... and taking that as fact without even a dedicated period of time to properly demo the audio quality, well...

That's just doing a disservice to the product (not that some give a damn) and basically just not right to begin with.

Astonishing how quickly word of mouth becomes the accepted fact, and actual personal use doesn't even factor into the equation...

 

[MCC]

It does have an eq if you're interested in that. Oh, and posted from my zune.

 

[f00fighters]

go to your local best buy, and compare the Zune HD with the latest gen iTouch side by side. In terms of SQ, iTouch wins hands down. Obviously you won't be able to play your lossless music, or hook up amps to do a real test at best buy, but from all the research I've gathered, the internal dac of the iTouch, trumps the Zune HD. The only real benefit I see with the Zune HD is the OLED screen. Who cares about the music subscription or the ability to output your HDTV. If you care more about that than SQ, then by all means, the Zune HD is a worthy investment.

 

[alias71]

Quote:

Originally Posted by f00fighters /img/forum/go_quote.gif go to your local best buy, and compare the Zune HD with the latest gen iTouch side by side. In terms of SQ, iTouch wins hands down...

The people at Engadget think differently from you and, at least, describe some characteristics of the sound quality: deeper bass, wider soundstage, etc.
Can you articulate better what are the sound quality characteristics where the iPod Touch wins hands down?

 

[PixelSquish]

Quote:

Originally Posted by f00fighters /img/forum/go_quote.gif go to your local best buy, and compare the Zune HD with the latest gen iTouch side by side. In terms of SQ, iTouch wins hands down. Obviously you won't be able to play your lossless music, or hook up amps to do a real test at best buy, but from all the research I've gathered, the internal dac of the iTouch, trumps the Zune HD. The only real benefit I see with the Zune HD is the OLED screen. Who cares about the music subscription or the ability to output your HDTV. If you care more about that than SQ, then by all means, the Zune HD is a worthy investment.

i am still amazed that people can never understand the appeal of subscription music. while i can understand the POV that one would prefer to OWN every track, there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for the advantags of a subscription service.


for $15 dollars i get to OWN 10 tracks a month, plus have unlimited access to the entire library on 3 portable devices and 3 computers. how can nobody not see the appeal to that?

someone can name me a group, like a coworker did today, Moderat. i didnt have to go pay 10 bucks for the whole album, nor was i stuck trying to judge a whole album by 30 second clips of each song. i simply downloaded the whole thing - if i dont like it, i am not out any money that has only gone to that artist vs a subscription service that i can keep on using to check out a ton of artists.

with the free 10 tracks i get a month, if you go an average of $1 a track, that reallyl means for 5 bucks a month i get to rent a library of millions of songs, which really makes music exploration a real joy.

the biggest downfall to the zune music pass is that vs. rhapsody, the electronic music selection is poor.