It's Official * Creative Zen Touch IS the ipod killa * CONFIRMED

[Lonyo]

Add in WMA support (which, IIRC, the IPod doesn't have?)
Useful for the lazy who can't be bothered with EAC/Lame

 

[welst10]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
Add in WMA support (which, IIRC, the IPod doesn't have?)
Useful for the lazy who can't be bothered with EAC/Lame

right. I missed that. thanks.

 

[CVSiN]

Notmad explorer from Red Chair software is mandatory for these.. try it and youll spend the 25 bucks for a lifetime license best software for a jukebox ever..

check it out.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: CVSiN
Notmad explorer from Red Chair software is mandatory for these.. try it and youll spend the 25 bucks for a lifetime license best software for a jukebox ever..

check it out.

:thumbsup:
I use their Rio version for my Karma. Great software, especially since on the fly transcoding has been fixed! Hell, I'd recommend iPod users to give their iPod version a try as well.

 

[welst10]

Originally posted by: CVSiN
Notmad explorer from Red Chair software is mandatory for these.. try it and youll spend the 25 bucks for a lifetime license best software for a jukebox ever..

check it out.

sounds cool. Is that an independent company?

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: welst10

Originally posted by: CVSiN
Notmad explorer from Red Chair software is mandatory for these.. try it and youll spend the 25 bucks for a lifetime license best software for a jukebox ever..

check it out.

sounds cool. Is that an independent company?

Yup, they make versions of their software for just about every popular DAP. Give the trial a try: http://www.redchairsoftware.com/

 

[BDawg]

Originally posted by: welst10


Sound Quality: it sounds great with my Sennheiser 497 headphones. Creative's players have good requtation on sound. They make great sound cards afterall.

You're comparing the sound quality with Sennheisers to Apple's stock phones? Try comparing apples to ... "apples."

Firmware: what can I say, i haven't found a flaw. You can play a specific album, artist, genre, or all tracks, or all tracks random play. You can also create/edit/delete playlists right on the player. You can add a song, album, artist, or a genre to a playlist. There are also common play modes like repeat and shuffle, etc. You can also permenently delete a song from the player without going thru PC.(I use WMP9 instead).

6. Occasional freeze. Several users have mentioned it. I experienced it once in the first hour of use, but none after that. I don't think it's a big issue. Creative is aware of this, hopefully next firmware release will fix it.

I thought you hadn't found a flaw? My iPod is 1st gen 5GB and has yet to freeze in over 2 years.

It's not offical or confirmed. With that freeze problem, it's not ready for prime time IMHO.

 

[ndee]

Originally posted by: welst10

Originally posted by: Lonyo
Add in WMA support (which, IIRC, the IPod doesn't have?)
Useful for the lazy who can't be bothered with EAC/Lame

right. I missed that. thanks.

You can import MP3s perfectly in iTunes, even Loss-less-compression if you want to. WMA isn't a pro IMO.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
ugh...


zen 9.6" cubic inches
ipod 3.6" cubic inches

zens almost 3x larger. it weighs almost twice as much.

i am so not impressed.
course an owner will justify their purchase...

my zen Xtra is NOT 3x as big as the ipod, its margionally bigger, and it works better

i wil be getting a touch soon or mabye an iAudio M3, i have a 30gb zen xtra and dont want to loose 10 gigs

the touch also has the best signal to noise ratio of ANY of the mp3 players, ite even better then teh Zens which was better then the ipods

and seeing as teh SQ of teh Zen was better then the ipod and the the touch is greater then the zen

touch > zen > ipod in termsn of sound quality regardless of headphones

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: ndee

Originally posted by: welst10

Originally posted by: Lonyo
Add in WMA support (which, IIRC, the IPod doesn't have?)
Useful for the lazy who can't be bothered with EAC/Lame

right. I missed that. thanks.

You can import MP3s perfectly in iTunes, even Loss-less-compression if you want to. WMA isn't a pro IMO.

And IMO iTunes is a crappy piece of software and not a Pro for the iPod. We can do this all day, and if (strike that, when) gurck shows up we probably will.

 

[welst10]

Originally posted by: BDawg

Originally posted by: welst10


Sound Quality: it sounds great with my Sennheiser 497 headphones. Creative's players have good requtation on sound. They make great sound cards afterall.

You're comparing the sound quality with Sennheisers to Apple's stock phones? Try comparing apples to ... "apples."

Firmware: what can I say, i haven't found a flaw. You can play a specific album, artist, genre, or all tracks, or all tracks random play. You can also create/edit/delete playlists right on the player. You can add a song, album, artist, or a genre to a playlist. There are also common play modes like repeat and shuffle, etc. You can also permenently delete a song from the player without going thru PC.(I use WMP9 instead).

6. Occasional freeze. Several users have mentioned it. I experienced it once in the first hour of use, but none after that. I don't think it's a big issue. Creative is aware of this, hopefully next firmware release will fix it.

I thought you hadn't found a flaw? My iPod is 1st gen 5GB and has yet to freeze in over 2 years.

It's not offical or confirmed. With that freeze problem, it's not ready for prime time IMHO.

I believe that problem is fixable thru firmware release. But can you fix your ipod battery problems
with a firmware update? No. I guess ipods were never ready for prime time then.

 

[Thraxen]

You can import MP3s perfectly in iTunes, even Loss-less-compression if you want to. WMA isn't a pro IMO.

IMO, any additional support for more formats is always better. Plus, WMA is better than MP3 anyway.

 

[BDawg]

Originally posted by: welst10

Originally posted by: BDawg

Originally posted by: welst10


Sound Quality: it sounds great with my Sennheiser 497 headphones. Creative's players have good requtation on sound. They make great sound cards afterall.

You're comparing the sound quality with Sennheisers to Apple's stock phones? Try comparing apples to ... "apples."

Firmware: what can I say, i haven't found a flaw. You can play a specific album, artist, genre, or all tracks, or all tracks random play. You can also create/edit/delete playlists right on the player. You can add a song, album, artist, or a genre to a playlist. There are also common play modes like repeat and shuffle, etc. You can also permenently delete a song from the player without going thru PC.(I use WMP9 instead).

6. Occasional freeze. Several users have mentioned it. I experienced it once in the first hour of use, but none after that. I don't think it's a big issue. Creative is aware of this, hopefully next firmware release will fix it.

I thought you hadn't found a flaw? My iPod is 1st gen 5GB and has yet to freeze in over 2 years.

It's not offical or confirmed. With that freeze problem, it's not ready for prime time IMHO.

I believe that problem is fixable thru firmware release. But can you fix your ipod battery problems
with a firmware update? No. I guess ipods were never ready for prime time then.

2 years old. 8 hour charge on iPod still. When it gets bad, I have a battery replacement.

The battery problem I experienced (not reading charge correctly -> shutdown) was fixed by a firmware update.

 

[welst10]

Originally posted by: BDawg

Originally posted by: welst10

Originally posted by: BDawg

Originally posted by: welst10


Sound Quality: it sounds great with my Sennheiser 497 headphones. Creative's players have good requtation on sound. They make great sound cards afterall.

You're comparing the sound quality with Sennheisers to Apple's stock phones? Try comparing apples to ... "apples."

Firmware: what can I say, i haven't found a flaw. You can play a specific album, artist, genre, or all tracks, or all tracks random play. You can also create/edit/delete playlists right on the player. You can add a song, album, artist, or a genre to a playlist. There are also common play modes like repeat and shuffle, etc. You can also permenently delete a song from the player without going thru PC.(I use WMP9 instead).

6. Occasional freeze. Several users have mentioned it. I experienced it once in the first hour of use, but none after that. I don't think it's a big issue. Creative is aware of this, hopefully next firmware release will fix it.

I thought you hadn't found a flaw? My iPod is 1st gen 5GB and has yet to freeze in over 2 years.

It's not offical or confirmed. With that freeze problem, it's not ready for prime time IMHO.

I believe that problem is fixable thru firmware release. But can you fix your ipod battery problems
with a firmware update? No. I guess ipods were never ready for prime time then.

2 years old. 8 hour charge on iPod still. When it gets bad, I have a battery replacement.

The battery problem I experienced (not reading charge correctly -> shutdown) was fixed by a firmware update.

2 yrs and you didn't lose any battery life, wow good for you. I bet most ipod users can't claim the same. All rechargable batteries will lose capacity over time.

 

[KeyserSoze]

As far as the software, there are also two other programs that will work, I'm pretty sure. There is an WinAmp Plugin that lets you upload/play files, and there is a program called "NotMad Explorer" (Costs money, I think $50 or so.)

But yeah, I still love my Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra. I do wish I could get this model, but I'm happy with what I have.

IPod's are good, but there are soo many newer players that are building on what the Ipod has, and making them BETTER. But the Ipod is soo part of Pop Culture now, that many people don't know other players exist.





KeyserSoze

 

[welst10]

I just found out that Windows Media Player 10 is released! It supports almost all non-ipod players including the Zen Touch. Going to download it tonight.

WMP 10

 

[straubs]

Originally posted by: KeyserSoze
IPod's are good, but there are soo many newer players that are building on what the Ipod has, and making them BETTER. But the Ipod is soo part of Pop Culture now, that many people don't know other players exist.

It is part of pop culture, but I have yet to see another mp3 player that is anywhere NEAR as simple as the iPod is to navigate. I mean you literally use 1 finger to browse through hundreds of songs and it's easy. There is no learning curve at all. Most other players you have to (at least the first time) hunt around for buttons and look at what they are labeled to figure it out. With the iPod, there is no learning involved.

I do not own any, but I know people with: ipod, zen, dell, and all but the ipod have a learning curve.

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: straubs

Originally posted by: KeyserSoze
IPod's are good, but there are soo many newer players that are building on what the Ipod has, and making them BETTER. But the Ipod is soo part of Pop Culture now, that many people don't know other players exist.

It is part of pop culture, but I have yet to see another mp3 player that is anywhere NEAR as simple as the iPod is to navigate. I mean you literally use 1 finger to browse through hundreds of songs and it's easy. There is no learning curve at all. Most other players you have to (at least the first time) hunt around for buttons and look at what they are labeled to figure it out. With the iPod, there is no learning involved.

I do not own any, but I know people with: ipod, zen, dell, and all but the ipod have a learning curve.

Not true at all. You can browse through all of your mp3s with a single finger using the zen touch.

Just received mine today. This player is sweet! I'm glad I didn't waste my money on an ipod.

 

[Anubis]

ok it takes 2 fingres to use a Zen Xtra, BIG DEAl, there is no learning curve, the Rio Karma can be used with 1 hand just like the ipod and it has no learning curve

and actually I found that the ipod and its silly wheel was harder to navigate then a player with buttons for menu and back and select

 

[Mo0o]

Man that thing is so thick, its like a tank

 

[Anubis]

touch: 4.12" x 2.7" x 0.866"
Zen Xtra: 4.4" x 3" x 0.86"
Dell: 4.1 x 2.7 x .86 inches
Ipod: 20 gb 4.1 by 2.4 by 0.57 inches 40gb 4.1 by 2.4 by 0.69 inches

karma: 2.7"w x 3.0"h x 1.1" d
carbon 2.5?W x 3.3?H x 0.6? D
iAudio M3 20gb 4.08 X 2.39 X 0.56 40gb 4.08 X 2.39 X 0.72

not that big of a diff IMO its teh same sie as teh Zen and the Zen isnt that thick i have one and im looking it it now

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: Thraxen

ugh...
zen 9.633" cubic inches
ipod 3.6" cubic inches

zens almost 3x larger.

But you used the specs for the iPod mini. The 20 GB model (same storage as Zen) is 5.6 cubic inches. Either way, both devices are plenty small enough. Hardly an issue IMO.

I'd pay an extra £100 ($180) at current conversion rates to have my iPod an inch shorter.

But I'm a picky mofo though 😛. I would pay for a smaller size and to be lighter also. But DAM the iPod remote sucks balls compared to the remotes on my MD.

touch > zen > ipod in termsn of sound quality regardless of headphones

This all well and good but if you don't have the quality headphones to use you probably won't tell a difference. Me personally a good pair of Sony in ear headphones for about £50 is about the limit I am willing to pay for in ear headphons. I know that the bigger headphones sound MUCH better, but for my purposes they are too big to have around and on the go like I need them to be. So the sound quality thing isn't such a problem for me and most people I reckon. I do admit the iPod isn't loud enough and it doens't as good as my MD stuff though.

iTunes is nice with it's functions and such. But fvck it hugs resources and lags at times. WTF?!

The 8hr battery life is crappy on my iPod. I'm use to no less then 20hrs solid on the MD and a extra 60 odd hrs with the dry cell attached. But I'll probably replace the iPod in a few years or so.

Still looking fo ra sweet mp3 player. Basically I want something in the form factor of my MD and the remotes 😀 But 20Gb in a thing that small isn't going to be easy!

Koing

 

[theNEOone]

i don't care how much better the Zen is, if their marketing doesn't catch up w/ their product, it will NEVER be an ipod killer.


=|

 

[Mo0o]

I'm leaning towards the iAudio. I actually like the idea of a remote

 

[Anubis]

konig: i have the Sony MDR EX71L canalphones and you can tell the SQ diff with them and they arnt exatly "QUALITY" headphones, they cost like 34$