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Audio Ranking Of Several MP3 Players

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Y

yoopoo

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hierarchy-of-audio-quality.jpg



Translated:

-Iriver clix 2 (our test): Exit very clean, very dynamic, personal EQ available
-Sony NWZ-A810 (our test): Very light wind and well balanced, EQ 2 perso available
-Cowon D2 (our test): Gentle breath, her dynamic, good separation of instruments, personal EQ available
-Samsung P2 (our test): Exit clean enough, almost no wind, its dynamics, EQ available Personal
-ZEN (our test): Gentle breath, his balanced and dynamic EQ available Personal
-Microsoft Zune 1 & 2 (our test): Some interference while browsing, short breath and well balanced, no personal EQ
-Sony NWZ-S610 (our test): Gentle breath can be inconvenient at times, good record overall, 2 EQ available Personal
-Cowon iAudio 7 (our test): Souffle, hiss and interference due to the screen, personal EQ available
-Apple iPod classic (our test): Gentle breath, some interference on a break, its not very dynamic, no personal EQ
-Apple iPod nano (our test): Souffle moderate output few powerful, accurate and acute moderately severe pataud, no personal EQ
-Apple iPod touch (our test): More than breath on the iPod classic but not interference, lack of separation of instruments, not specific acute and severe pataud, weak, no EQ
-Archos 105 (our test): Souffle, interference and crackling, the very medium, EQ available Personal
Click to expand...

Pretty much the same as what's been echoed on various forums. (except for iaudio 7)

Reviews and tests http://72.14.203.104/translate_c?hl...-classes-suivant-leur-qualite-sonore-par-gmp3
 
I thought the iAudio 7 had good audio and here I read about interference? someone with some experience with a iaudio wanna say something?
 
I don't get the two sony ones being on different audio levels. Besides the 800 coming with higher quality earbuds, there's no audio quality difference. Maybe they were using the earbuds that came with the 600 series in the test.
 
We desperately need a player that can play .FLAC files. I don't think many people have 20+ GB of legit music in mp3.
 
I have the Zen and I've been very impressed with it so far, though I obviously can't compare it to any of those other players. I guess having Shure SE-210 headphones helps though.

$200 for 16Gb (Amazon)
 
Wow, what a RETARDED article. I had to read the translated version, but...

1) Rating "MP3 audio quality" is silly since MP3 is compressed audio and will cause distortions on its own.

2) Even mentioning EQ settings is highly suspicious since you should be testing the device's flat frequency response.

3) Subjective audio tests are pointless. When they hook line out to an oscilloscope, wake me up.
 
-jinx- said:
Wow, what a RETARDED article. I had to read the translated version, but...

1) Rating "MP3 audio quality" is silly since MP3 is compressed audio and will cause distortions on its own.

2) Even mentioning EQ settings is highly suspicious since you should be testing the device's flat frequency response.

3) Subjective audio tests are pointless. When they hook line out to an oscilloscope, wake me up.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't the first complaint easily be mitigated by merely finding a few extremely high quality mp3, and then using these same mp3s across all the players? I would think that's an easy solution that would avoid the problem you had in #1.
 
Amir0x said:
Wouldn't the first complaint easily be mitigated by merely finding a few extremely high quality mp3, and then using these same mp3s across all the players? I would think that's an easy solution that would avoid the problem you had in #1.
Click to expand...
It depends on how finicky your testing is, since MP3 compression would affect the frequency spectrum. If you wanted to come up with an absolute measure of quality, then that would be bad. If you wanted a relative measure of quality, that would be OK.

The other funny thing about this is that most people don't really care about audio quality or fidelity. They care about whether a player (plus their speakers, amplifier, headphones, etc.) produce a sound that they like. Ever notice how many people buy headphones which exaggerate bass? If that is the metric of "quality," then articles like the one posted are even funnier since people are asking someone else for a subjective judgment.

The best thing to do is to bring your own preferred headphones to the store and try each one yourself.
 
-jinx- said:
3) Subjective audio tests are pointless. When they hook line out to an oscilloscope, wake me up.
Click to expand...


Nothing like an fifty year old man with a beard and an ugly sweater telling you what you should like.

"The frequency response and warm bass tones were especially pleasing while listening to Enya's magnum opus.."
 
-jinx- said:
Wow, what a RETARDED article. I had to read the translated version, but...

1) Rating "MP3 audio quality" is silly since MP3 is compressed audio and will cause distortions on its own.
Click to expand...

It seems to me you're not familiar with the various different MP3 formats. There are different sample rates, there's L.A.M.E. (V0 through V4), there's AAC, and many other codecs. These are all different types of mp3, and the degree of lossiness differs. So of course you can measure MP3 audio quality.
 
perryfarrell said:
It seems to me you're not familiar with the various different MP3 formats. There are different sample rates, there's L.A.M.E. (V0 through V4), there's AAC, and many other codecs. These are all different types of mp3, and the degree of lossiness differs. So of course you can measure MP3 audio quality.
Click to expand...

Senor perryfarrell, I don't think you understood his point.
 
-jinx- said:
The other funny thing about this is that most people don't really care about audio quality or fidelity. They care about whether a player (plus their speakers, amplifier, headphones, etc.) produce a sound that they like. Ever notice how many people buy headphones which exaggerate bass? If that is the metric of "quality," then articles like the one posted are even funnier since people are asking someone else for a subjective judgment.
Click to expand...
I agree with you, but I would say that argument carries little weight in this
case (after all, you could say the exact same thing about video game
reviews, which are in large part GAF's bread and butter).

That said, debating the audio quality of mp3s on portable devices does
seem a bit absurd when there are so many more important factors in
deciding which of these particular players to buy (storage, battery type
and life, playback formats, etc.)

More worrisome is the rise of music distribution in a compressed format
and the loudness war previously discussed here.
 
perryfarrell said:
It seems to me you're not familiar with the various different MP3 formats. There are different sample rates, there's L.A.M.E. (V0 through V4), there's AAC, and many other codecs. These are all different types of mp3, and the degree of lossiness differs. So of course you can measure MP3 audio quality.
Click to expand...

Sorry for being anal, but those aren't MP3 formats. MP3 is short for MPEG 1 Layer 3 audio compression, a very specific type of audio compression, not the term for audio compression in general.

And yeah, you can objectively measure sound "quality" parameters such as SNR and impulse response, but it's pretty academic and not that useful to the average consumer.
 
TheGreatDave said:
Is it worth it? I find that price tag mindblowing.
Click to expand...
Aw hell no, its just a standard mp3 player with nothing extra. It comes with a leather case though, maybe thats where the extra cost goes.

Its only 4 gb, no sd card support :lol
 
Hmm, I might get that YP thing. Could sell my 8 gig nano and just spend the extra 80 or whatever to upgrade
 
Brobzoid said:
I thought the iAudio 7 had good audio and here I read about interference? someone with some experience with a iaudio wanna say something?
Click to expand...

I haven't had any interference problems.
 
I think they're talking about personal EQ as opposed to presets. But yeah.

Incidentally, I just recently found out (after 3 years of owning my Ipod) that I can load my music onto it with whatever preset I see fit just by selecting what music to go with what preset just by synching it. W00t!
 
yoopoo said:
Aw hell no, its just a standard mp3 player with nothing extra. It comes with a leather case though, maybe thats where the extra cost goes.

Its only 4 gb, no sd card support :lol
Click to expand...

I want in on the meeting where that price was decided on.
 
zoku88 said:
They're coming out with a 16GB version.
Click to expand...

Oh indeed I shall wait for that then. 8 gigs just isn't enough. Gotta get all the classic albums on there, and then no space for new and changing stuff.
 
Xeke said:
I'm starting to fill my 30 GB ipod, I don't get how you can live with smaller than that.
Click to expand...
I used to think like that, but then I thought "how much of my music do I really need to listen to when I'm not home?"

The answer is somewhere less than 7 GB, apparently.
 
pfffffft, no Iaudio X5?

On another note, the industry trend of moving away from larger capacity players in favor of flash players is annoying. The success of the iPod created the bulk of the hard drive mp3 player market, now it's stifling it.
 
beermonkey@tehbias said:
Other than the iPods, which ones can play gapless?
Click to expand...

Zune can (since last update). I love the Zune 80GB. As long as you have headphones that don't require an EQ the only niggle about audio quality is some slight HDD noise you can pick up with IEMs. 80GB, great interface, podcast support, friends network, wireless sync. nice screen.
 
Davidion said:
On another note, the industry trend of moving away from larger capacity players in favor of flash players is annoying. The success of the iPod created the bulk of the hard drive mp3 player market, now it's stifling it.
Click to expand...
What? The iPod bought 160 GB to mainstream MP3 players when people were predicting them to stay at 80 GB or go no higher than 120 GB.

The Flash player market was created by consumers when they made the iPod Mini and Nano more popular than the Classic. For some people, the size of the player is most important, and the capacity is good enough, and they like to use them in the gym and when running.

I prefer the largest hard drive possible, but it's not hard to see that consumers aren't all that interested in the iPod Classic other than music fiends. Don't pretend like Apple is forcing something on us that we don't want: they've giving every capacity, size, and price option available.
 
Davidion said:
pfffffft, no Iaudio X5?

On another note, the industry trend of moving away from larger capacity players in favor of flash players is annoying. The success of the iPod created the bulk of the hard drive mp3 player market, now it's stifling it.
Click to expand...

flash MP3 players are cheaper and when you use em while running/working out they are lighter, less bulky, and if they do break at least it wasnt as big of an investment.
 
Zyzyxxz said:
flash MP3 players are cheaper and when you use em while running/working out they are lighter, less bulky, and if they do break at least it wasnt as big of an investment.
Click to expand...

iPod touch not much of an investment?:lol
 
Xeke said:
iPod touch not much of an investment?:lol
Click to expand...

Well, obviously, the iPod touch is practically an entity on its own. Not many other media players can boast the capabilities of the iPod touch.
 
zoku88 said:
I used to think like that, but then I thought "how much of my music do I really need to listen to when I'm not home?"

The answer is somewhere less than 7 GB, apparently.
Click to expand...

I used to think that but then I realized how bummed I get if I want to listen to a song and can't.
 
Brobzoid said:
I thought the iAudio 7 had good audio and here I read about interference? someone with some experience with a iaudio wanna say something?
Click to expand...

My X5 hisses when I use the remote attachment; maybe it's the same with the iaudio 7?
 
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