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MP3
PLAYER/SOFTWARE ROUNDUP – ISSUE 5
IOMEGA HIP-ZIP
The thing about
most personal MP3 players is that there are no moving parts so unlike tape and
disc players they won’t skip when you bounce boogie or bop to the music. That
also means there’s less to go wrong or wear out, they’re robust and cheaper to
make, which brings us to the Iomega HipZip…
HipZip is
basically a wearable miniature floppy disc drive that uses Iomega’s cute little
40Mb PocketZip discs. In other words it’s mechanically complex with lots of
moving parts. The discs are fragile --
compared with memory cards -- and it’s pricey, but we think its really rather
good!
The main
advantage is that PocketZip discs are less than a fifth of the price of memory
cards of equivalent capacity; 40Mb discs sell for between £8 and £12.50 each
(they’re sold in packs – two for £25, four for £50 or ten for £80). Whilst the
discs are not quite cheap enough to start building a collection, it does mean
less faffing around, trying to manage a large collection of tracks on a limited
amount of solid-state memory. There’s a lot more besides to like about the
player. The smart two-tone dark grey/purple case is not much bigger than a tape
cassette storage box and it feels quite substantial. It’s powered by
rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries which take around 2 hours to top up and will
run the unit for up to 12 hours – so Iomega claim… The best we got was just
over nine and a half hours between charges, which is still pretty good though.
There are few
controls to worry about with play/pause/stop skip and fast wind on the front;
volume and menu select on the side. Discs fit into a slot on the top, protected
by a hinged cover that’s doomed to be broken off if it catches on the wearer’s
clothing. On the front there is a big backlit display, the viewing angle is
quite shallow but catch it in the right light and it’s readable and packed with
information, including track, title and artist, time and mode. It has a simple
to use menu control system with all of the usual replay options (repeat
one/all, random, skip, fast wind/rewind), plus independent bass and treble and
three equaliser presets (rock classical jazz).
MP3 track
transfers (or any other sub 40Mb files you care to copy across) are via a USB
link to the PC. This benefits from being fast and (usually) very easy to
configure, and as an added bonus Iomega has included file manager software for
Macs. Unfortunately we had a lot of trouble with the installation. It doesn’t
seem to be compatible with Windows ME; it completely trashed the Registry on
our test PC, (fortunately ME is easy to recover). Installation on Windows 98
was very slow a couple of times we thought it had frozen. The Iomega
installation program didn’t get on with the CleanSweep monitoring program on
one of our PCs. In short we were not impressed, it all felt a bit flaky and we
hope newer versions will have the bugs ironed out. The only good thing to say
about it is that you get a fully licensed copy of the constantly improving Music
Match jukebox/CD ripper software.
The earphones
supplied with the player are a reasonable quality with soft rubber hooks to
stop them falling off. They are tolerably comfortable and with a bit of
fiddling around, produce a quite decent sound, though bass tends to be a bit
thin. General sound quality (monitored through pukka headphones) is good with
no significant processing noise and lower then average levels of hiss.
Mechanical stability is excellent and it never missed a beat during a prolonged
and vigorous shaking session.
HipZip makes an
agreeable enough sound but you’d be hard pressed to tell it apart from the
better memory card models in the same price band, or even cheaper players heard
through good quality headphones. The real bottom line is HipZip’s lower running
cost and convenience; memory cards are still quite pricey and if you have a lot
of tracks you want to listen to then it’s going to get expensive, or
cumbersome, as you have to keep swapping files on the PC. PocketZip discs are
only a little larger than memory cards, they need to be looked after a bit more
carefully and probably won’t last as long but they work at least as well and
are a whole lot cheaper. Definitely an interesting and innovative alternative
to a conventional player, hopefully the iffy software will improve, if so, and
you have a big collection of tracks, then it’s well worth thinking about!
Typical price £290
Media PocketZip
Memory
(int/sup) 2 x 40Mb discs
Memory (max) n/a
Formats MP3
& Windows media
PC min sys Pentium
or higher/63Mb/30Mb free/Windows 95/98, Mac OS 8.6/9, 20Mb free disc space
PC I/O USB
Software IomegaWare
file Manager, MusicMatch Jukebox, CD ripper
Phones ‘sports’
type in-ear
Power /life lithium ion rechargeable/9.5 hours
Size 110
x 68 x 28mm
Weight 200g
Features repeat
one/all, random, play list edit, track skip, fast wind, manual bass/treble
& 3-mode equaliser, track/title/artist/time display
Contact www.iomega.com/europe
Ease of use 8
Features 8
Performance 8
PINE D’MUSIC
SM-200C
Pine was one of
the very first companies to sell a personal MP3 player in the UK and to date it
has produced some well-specified memory card models. The recently launched
SM-200C shows the company is staying in touch with developments; it’s a
personal CD player that plays MP3 tracks on CD-R/RW discs, one of several we’ve
seen recently, but this one is a bit different.
To begin with
it doesn’t look like an old off-the-shelf personal CD player that’s been
tweaked to play MP3 tracks. The styling is imaginative and it has a decent
sized LCD that shows track and title info. Pine recognises that personal CD
players are likely to be used on the move and it has a 10 second anti-shock
memory, plus it comes with a carry case, two sets of earphones (in-ear and back
loop) and a set of rechargeable batteries. It will play just about any MP3
file, up to and including recordings with bit rates of 320kbps and it comes
with some useful PC software in the shape of a full version of Music Match
jukebox and CD ripper.
Disc playback
facilities are brief and to the point – there’s no track program option – but it does have the usual repeat and
random play and intro scan. There’s also a five mode equaliser but for some
reason this only works on MP3 tracks.
It’s just as well
that it has the anti-shock facility since it is very touchy with it switched
off. The back loop headphones produce a wispy and unsatisfying sound; the
in-earphones are much better with a quite reasonable bass response that gives
audio CDs some depth but the lead is way too short. MP3 playback is okay but
even high bit rate tracks sound cramped and the equaliser function does little
to help.
A touch pricey
but audio CD playback is not too bad at all. The anti-shock system works –
provided you don’t take it jogging – and it’s a capable, if uninspiring MP3
performer. If you’ve got a PC with a CD burner it’s worth short listing.
Typical price £180
Media Audio
CD, CD-R, CD-RW
Memory
(int/sup) n/a
Memory (max) n/a
Formats MP3,
audio CD
PC min sys n/a
PC I/O n/a
Software sampler
album, MusicMatch jukebox/CD Ripper/CD-R burn
Phones back
loop headphones & in-ear phones
Power /life 2 x AA rechargeable/3-hours
Size 130
x 142 x 30mm
Weight 280g
Features repeat
one/all, random play, intro scan, track/title/time display, anti-shock memory,
5-mode equaliser, supports variable bit rates up to 320kbps, carry pouch
Contact Pine,
01908 218243, www.pineuk.com
Ease of use 8
Features 7
Performance 8
MICROBOSS ROCK
MP3
Bizarre just
about sums up this very strange device! We’re still not exactly sure what it’s
all about, but rather than confuse matters further lets see what it can do.
It’s housed in a mini hi-fi system sized box and the main feature appears to be
Video CD playback. The Video CD format emerged briefly a couple of years before
DVD and promptly bombed. Picture quality was only slightly better than VHS and
most movies had to be spread across two discs. Video CD lives on in the Far
East but here discs are scarce; you might come across some in a junk shop or at
a car boot sale.
Of more
immediate interest to us is the fact that it plays MP3 files on CD-R/RW discs
and there’s a useful spin off from the VCD facilities in that deck mode, status
and track titles are displayed on the TV to which it is connected. The on-screen display also comes in handy
for audio CD replay and is used to program track replay and access the players
many and various functions. They include a karaoke with twin microphone inputs,
variable echo and a pitch control function that works on all disc formats. It
changes vocals, making them sound slow and bassy, or like you’ve just swallowed
a balloon-full of helium.
All of this
would be mildly interesting and novel, but for the fact that sound quality is
spectacularly bad! The compression on MP3 tracks is evident at the best of
times but on this player they sound as though they’re coming at you through a
baked bean tin. Audio CD quality is awful with no bass or treble content to
speak of, far too much hiss and processing noises and the player is really
sensitive to dirty or grubby discs. The only thing is does half well is Video
CD playback; picture quality is about as good as it gets and the soundtrack is
liveable. Quite honestly we can’t think of any reason to buy one! If you want
to watch Video CDs, play MP3 tracks and listen to audio CDs then there are
several DVD players that do the job much, much better, and still cost less than
the Microboss.
Typical price £175
Media Audio
CD, CD-R/RW, VCD
Memory
(int/sup) n/a
Memory (max) n/a
Formats MP3,
audio CD, VCD
PC min sys n/a
PC I/O n/a
Software 50
track sampler
Phones none
Power /life AC mains
Size 220
x 75 300mm
Weight 2.8kg
Features Video
CD replay (PAL & NTSC): picture search, slomo & zoom, intro scan.
AudioMP3 replay: repeat one/all, program play, karaoke facility with echo,
pitch control, vocal cut, remote control
Contact
Ease of use 7
Features 5
Performance 2
WEB ROME 2
The last time
we looked at a tape cassette shaped MP3 player (Web Rome 1, WMP3 issue 2,
July/August 2000) we hinted that an improved Mk II version was in the pipeline
that might answer some of our criticisms with a proper display and upgradeable
memory. Well, here it is, the Web Rome 2, and it really is a big improvement.
In addition to the display – fitted to an in-line remote module – and MMC
memory card slot it also has a USB port and a completely redesigned control
layout.
All of the most
useful features have been retained though, including the one responsible for it
being cassette shaped. Just slot Web Rome 2 into a tape deck and you can replay
the MP3 tracks on its internal 32Mb memory or an MMC card. Sensors in the unit
monitor movement of the tape decks hub spindles to control play and track skip
functions, clever huh? Power comes from a nickel metal hydride rechargeable
battery; this typically lasts for around five to six hours.
The in-line
remote is a bit twee with a graphic of a little man flapping his arms to
indicate play mode; the controls are also quite fiddly with one button on the
side that seems to do half a dozen different things, with accompanying bleeps
that are supposed to make it easier to use… It works fine, though and sound
quality from the in-ear phones is fine. The only thing to watch out for is the
lead, which has a springy bit in the middle that keeps getting in the way.
Playback on a cassette deck works well though treble response – already stilted
on some low to mid bit rate files MP3 tracks – can suffer further clipping. The
Rome Master file manager/jukebox program is okay – as far as it goes --and the
USB connection makes file transfer a doddle. If you’re still wedded to tape
you’re going to like the Web Rome 2
Typical price £159
Media MMC
Memory
(int/sup) 32Mb
Memory (max) 64Mb
Formats MP3
PC min sys Pentium
or higher/16Mb/16Mb free/Windows 98/ME/2000
PC I/O USB
Software Rome
Master file manager/jukebox
Phones in-ear
Power /life NiMh rechargeable/6-hours
Size 63
x 102 x 11mm
Weight 68g
Features repeat
one/all, A-B repeat, 4-mode equaliser, in-line remote control, cassette drive
replay
Contact Webtronic Warehouse 01753 741090, www.webtronicwarehouse.com
Ease of use 8
Features 8
Performance 8
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Ó R. Maybury 2000, 2605
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