Samsung YH-J70 review - iPod/iRiver killer!

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j70_01.jpg


Specifications:

Dimensions: 62 x 99.8 x 16.4 mm
Weight: 135 g
Memory Capacity: 20/30 GB (SB/SW = 20 GB | LB/LW = 30 GB)
Case: Plastic
Battery: 950mAh, prospected runtime @ 25 hours (Li-ion Rechargeable)
File Support:
- Audio: MPEG1/2/3/WMA/ASF/OGG/WAV
- Video: MPEG4 in SVI format (uses XviD as codec)
- Pictures: JPG
Output Frequency Range: 20 Hz~20KHz
Output Power: 20 mW (16 Omh)/CH
SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio): 90 dB
SRS WOW HD
TXT viewer
FM tuner
Recording functionalities:
- Voice recorder
- Line-in encoding
- FM-recording
Connectivity:
- USB host
- USB 2.0
- Removable disk drive (UMS)
Firmware upgradeable
Multi-language support
Intelligent HDD Protection System (detects fast shifts in G-forces and will automaticall stop the hard-drive to prevent bad-sectors)
Games
- Tetris
- Chips
- Clear Screen
- Othello
- Omok

Having used my new Samsung YH-J70 for a while now, I thought Id give a short review!

I used a pair of Westone UM2's IEMs.

Songs were from Classical, Dance to Pop at bitrates from 96kbs - 320 mp3 LAME - WMA upto 355bps and WAV uncompressed.

The player is very very small - as thin as the new ipod video but smaller with wise. It made out of shiny black pastic that is a fingerprint magnet but does not seem to scrach unlike new ipods. The colour screen is bright and vibrant - plays movies to an acceptible standard - but not a fluid as iPod Video.

Navigation - I use file tree thats identical to my iRiver. You can use id3 tag based browsing only if you used Samsung software. The J70 is UMS so you dont have to use any software and is drag and drop! However this methord limits you to file tree only.

The J70 can be used as an USB host. I can grab photos off my nikon 4200 with ease and also plug my SD card into cardreader connected to the J70 - can transfere files to and fro from either device.

The inbuilt amp is powerful and does not seem to have EU volume restictions.

Right on to sound quality! First impressions is this player was very good! In the short shop audition, the Samsung grabbed me and made me take notice – other auditions have been the new iPod range and new Sony players NW-A3000 and A1000.

The J70 has a detailed sound, almost forward in treble, but never harsh or shrill. I could almost say its cold, brittle and a little “pulled out” - distant (like middle of concert hall rather than front few seats). That would make out the player to be poor which it most defiantly is not! It’s also very smooth and non-offensive like my iRiver, but does not suffer from the rather soft muffled-upper-bass-heavy sound the iRiver has. Compared with NW-A3000 it is similar, but the Sony seemed a little softer and less dynamic. The Samsungs bass seemed very strong at first, much more that G5 iPod, iRiver’s and Sony Walkmans. Although its bass is well controlled and large it’s a bit distant, causing it to loose detail. I never hear grit and texture, rather a low end “oompth”. The bass in my opinion goes deeper than iRiver range, but somehow it never engages me. I had a listen to my iPaq 4150 – which to this day I believe to have the best sound of any MP3 player and at once I could hear the difference. The bass was so fast, yet deep and about up to 30% louder than the Samsung’s… It is never boomy – just good quality engaging gritty Bass joy! Dont worry Im being hyper picky, it still has a much better bass response than iPods and new Sony NW-A3000/A1000. Those who want head pounding bass will not be dissapointed!

The J70 also has a 9 band EQ for those that like to mess! There are tones of preset EQs as well as settings/eq for SRS WOW sound.

Actually the SRS EQ’s aint bad at all. I use the “High Definition” SRS HD setting – but in settings, I move the SRS effects slider to nill – don’t like an echo to my sound! The result is a slightly more brilliant sound without the “mush” SRS causes.

Lets see whats under the bonnet! Hopefully one can do some modding :p

The battery seems to be replacable which is good news - seems to be a standard connector. Same goes with HardDrive.

Would be intrested from anyone in the know, if its possible to use a higher capacity Harddrive and battery for this samsung - should be possible. Are most hardrives the same depth? Seems to be standard laptop HD.

I couldnt take off the black strip to see what was writen on battery - it would have ripped it off :(
 
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I believe this Samsung is one of the best players on the market. Many users say that this and the iAudio x5 are very similar players. Those looking at iRivers, Sony’s and iPaq’s will find what they are looking for here.

Samsung YH-J70 Rating 90%
 
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Woo, nice review! That thing looks very interesting. I'm a Iriver H10 owner myself but that looks like some serious competition. Strange that I've never even heard of the thing though. Hopefully they'll become a lot more widespread because it's got some top features there.
 
It's not bad imo, the centre button has a vertical rocker for scrolling and you can adjust the speed in the settings.

My only complaint from a navigational point of view would be that it's very laggy when actually playing music and the file name font is too large (probably a fix for this, but I haven't been bothered looking yet).

Edit. Just to add my only other gripe with the player.....SQ! It's not up there with the best imo, its good but not that amazing. I have no probs with the bass I think thats quite good compaired to most DAP's, my problem is with the mids, they just sound to distant even with EQ tweaking. This means I have to use the players 'HD' setting (the WoW processing thing), being a budding audiophile this goes against everything I stand for....it does sound pretty good with that setting mind but I can detect the slight warbling effect from it.
 
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Bigsy said:
It's not bad imo, the centre button has a vertical rocker for scrolling and you can adjust the speed in the settings.

My only complaint from a navigational point of view would be that it's very laggy when actually playing music and the file name font is too large (probably a fix for this, but I haven't been bothered looking yet).

Edit. Just to add my only other gripe with the player.....SQ! It's not up there with the best imo, its good but not that amazing. I have no probs with the bass I think thats quite good compaired to most DAP's, my problem is with the mids, they just sound to distant even with EQ tweaking. This means I have to use the players 'HD' setting (the WoW processing thing), being a budding audiophile this goes against everything I stand for....it does sound pretty good with that setting mind but I can detect the slight warbling effect from it.
Click to expand...

In HD setting - go to SRS eq and move the "srs" slider to 0-2 and the warbling effect is gone - and better sound IMO
 
Thanks, but its set to 0, maybe 0 doesn't completely turn the srs off?

Not much of an issue as I can only hear it on some female vocals.

As a side note; what the hell is the 'limiter' setting? Maybe my ears are giving up the ghost, but I just can't hear a difference when changing it.
 
I can see why you said it.....but it has a 1>10 scale :confused:

S'pose I could always crack open the manual, theres a first for everything.

EDIT From the manual:

Limiter: Minimizes the sound distortion that is produced during music playback.

Err Great.
 
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ANybody got any idea if samsung will release a version of this mp3 player with more hdd space? I have a sony psp and would like to use the USB-host feature to store video content for the psp as well as my music collection, probably need at least 40gb for the long term. I have been trying to look for any info but cant find any. Thanks if anybody knows, looks like a sweet player anyway!
 
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