Best MP3 Player >40GB?

Jimbo Mahoney · 14 Jan 2006 at 18:41

Hey guys,

Currently have a 40GB Creative Zen Xtra. It's great, but I'll be running out of space in the not-too-distant future.

I would LOVE to have a recharge from USB facility and for it to act as a removeable drive, neither of which the Zen does.

All my collection is VBR MP3 if that makes any difference.

Physical size of device not an issue. Battery life and sound quality would be.

Anything fit the bill?

benjo plz. · 14 Jan 2006 at 18:50

Only a couple of bigger drives, theres the iPod Video 60GB, the Toshiba Gigabeat 60gb, and the Creative Zen 60gb.

Jimbo Mahoney · 14 Jan 2006 at 18:55

Shouldn't they be bringing out an 80GB MP3 player soon?

Having said that, 60GB should do me for AGES, unless I reencode all my stuff @ higher bitrate, which I don't see myself doing!

I'll look into them (the 60GB ones you mention).

Stellios · 14 Jan 2006 at 19:28

COWON iAudio also come in 60GB IIRC. Might be worth looking into.

benjo plz. · 14 Jan 2006 at 19:29

Stellios said:
COWON iAudio also come in 60GB IIRC. Might be worth looking into.

I knew there was another one, couldn't remember though, yep they do.

Jimbo Mahoney · 15 Jan 2006 at 19:06

Reading around, it seems the iPod is great in terms of ease of use, but mediochre in terms of sound quality and makes massive use of playlists?

Certainly, the sound quaity issue is off-putting. I'd have to try one out with some of my MP3s really.

Do I need to create playlists to load them on to it, as I just have a massive library of MP3s, organised like this:

Artist as directory, Album as directory,

filename is Artist - Album - Track No. - Track Title

File also has ID3V2 tag made from the filename.

Could I just whack them straight on the iPod like that? Works fine for my Creative Zen...

Stellios · 15 Jan 2006 at 22:58

I know a few peopel with a ipod video, and it is a nice unit, but i dont find the high ends of the music are not as good as my H10, the mids and lowers are OK though.

Sparky191 · 16 Jan 2006 at 04:30

The 5G (5th Generation) is meant to be pretty for sound quality. All previous versions aren't that great. Cowon X5, iPod 5th Gen and iRiver H140/H340 are all on a par. If anything the Zen would sound slightly better. Creative players having excellent SQ. Of course it depends what earphones/buds you are using. Lots of Debates on the portable forums over on Head Fi over the various DAP's.

Jimbo Mahoney · 16 Jan 2006 at 08:44

I'm using Sennheiser HD25SPs.

I've just bought a Chu Moy amp too, if only to extend the battery life of my Zen Xtra.

benjo plz. · 16 Jan 2006 at 16:34

Cowon X5, iPod 5th Gen and iRiver H140/H340 are all on a par. If anything the Zen would sound slightly better. Creative players having excellent SQ.

I doubt it. The H140 has a far better line out than the iPod 5G or the Cowon x5 (the x5 isn't bad, but the line out is a bit muddy). I'm not so sure about the zen though.

Sparky191 · 16 Jan 2006 at 18:45

Phnom_Penh said:
I doubt it. The H140 has a far better line out than the iPod 5G or the Cowon x5 (the x5 isn't bad, but the line out is a bit muddy). I'm not so sure about the zen though.

Line outs should all be pretty close really, since theres no EQ or volume to effect the. However I don't own them all.

So I'm only repeating what I've read about the line out. (mainly on Head Fi TBH

)I've heard all of them via the earphone out though. The analog line out (via a dock) on all the iPods is reckoned to be very good, on a par if not better than all the other DAPs. The advantage the H140 has is it also has an optical out. The line out on the iRivers is effected by volume control, but it seems this doesn't effect the SQ. The Cowon's is sub par and the Creatives simply don't have it. Though full volume on a creative player into an amp is pretty darn good. Incidentally the previous generations of iPods don't come close the creatives in sound quality.

Personally I don't like the interface of the creatives, or their larger players. However the the difference between the iRivers/Cowon and iPod is primarily one of filetree nav vs itunes/tagging. Thats where the main difference is. If you want radio or other features then its split decision between the iRiver and the Cowon.

Theres also Rockbox mod for both the iRivers and Cowon players. Since the Cowon has a better remote, I think I'd go with the Cowon. Comes down to how you think you'll use it.

Phnom_Penh - could be right and the iRiver sounds better via line out. I've never done a back to back comparision. Probably one might sound better subjectively to different people.