This is my latest MP3 player , bought originally y as a voice recorder , after the collapse of my previous DE808A bought from Degen HK [pdf report here] two years ago. As far as I suppose the Degen player has been damaged due to a strong audio recorded in a previous concert in LItohoron [please seethe photo bunch here] After starting it up, the Degen player
I have bought it as with the previous from a local chain store [Multirama ] , at a rebate piece of €50 instead of €70. It was an offer for Easter.
Opening its box , there is als a thick booklet with instructions in 14 [!!] languages for Europe , something other players lack or just have in leaflet format and just in English.
It has a nice design with minimal buttons :
- a start , shut off button on the main window and a very small microphone located above the Zen letteres
- a dedicated set of volume buttons in the middle of its side at right together with a multi use rolling knob
- and a line in , and USB socket on its bottom with locked cover
**This is the first time I find a model that uses line in instead of mic-in. However this socket utilizes a special sized 1.9mm plug , included by the player’s package as standard 3.9 to 1.9 mm male adaptor **
Now about its abilities and my tests together :
- Plays OK wma and MP3 together as well as the Sandisk E130 player, which in contrast the Degen and the other players shown in my reviews part of this blog could not do .
Gap between the tested noise files [wma and mp3 ] is 0,5 secs
Gap between mp3 songs is nearly the same, as far as I tested .
Listening in a very quiet room, you can hear some clicks in between the ends of the previous and the next song
There are 25 volume steps. The lowest [1] is still high in a quiet environment , corresponding to the middle volume point of the Sandisk player
- file mp3 of 256 kbps sampling linear with slight increase above 16 kHz [for samples about 25 secs]
- file wma of 96 kbps sampling is nearly linear [+/- 0.4 db ] -3db above 18 kHz ,-6 above 20kHz
The means in practice that both modes offer a linear [want you listen is identical to the original file audio] output, of course providing that the quality of the headphones has linear specifications . This goes to nearly same with the very cheap models shown in my reviews part.
And really its audio is impressive. It is like hearing to a good HiFi stereo system. Especially for the MP3 files, ripped from CDs , offer a very crisp drum sound
- FM radio and recording ability: radio has about 30 memories and a ability for auto scanning and recording .
It is relatively insensitive radio with stereo mode working only on very strong or nearby signals and with fair [not good ]audio quality.
The scanning step is 50 Hz , with he ability to fast scan , ie seek stations and stop in the next frequency, Once it finds the next station it checks 1-2 steps above and then retunes for the center of signal
Thee is also a FM recording facility. The resulted audio is not so clear as the radio’s audio with a bandwidth only 8KHz stereo in wav mode . This makes me the impression of ‘crippled audio’
- Microphone recording : There is a very small microphone on the front side of the player. The resulted audio is just ‘fair’ but not as the Degen’s which offered 4 levels of bandwidth 8,16,22 and 32 kHz and two modes of recording . Zen use a 8 kHz mode wth 16 kb rate and a supposed 4Khz bandwith tghat in reality is below 2 kHz [totally telephonic ]
- external recording with or without syncing using the supplied plug adaptor.. I used so far with my ICOM R75 and Lowe HF150 shortwave receivers together with a mono to stereo adaptor giving also good results, though audio is nearly telephonic.
This facility offers very good audio particular to the external device. Tested with a Degen 1103 world radio with good FM audio and its line out and served good audio
.
It can also be used with cassette players to transfer songs from singer albums provided that audio is correctly adjusted against overloading before the “real recording” is made , or crackles and hisses are produced destroying the recording . In this case the synching option can be used in order to make instant song separations , provided that there is some space at least 1 second between tracks. This is for me one a very innovatory idea
Once recording is started it shows a bar with the recorded vs. the empty space and the estimated remain time. At the end it show the encoded file
There are three compression options : 96 128 and 160 kb
- a nice collection for settings :
equalizer of 3 modes : pop jazz classical and one custom with 5 bands
File delete option
LCD orientation : this can make the LCD to be shown from the left side , ideal dor the left handed people as noticed in the web page on the end
contrast
backlight
idle shutdown: 2 5 10 and 30 minutes
6 languages to choose from English, French , Dansk , Finnish , Chinese – orig and new- , Japanese Korean and more
Lock option - I dislike this option to be included inside a menu !
And something about the playback
I found a total playback of ca 12 hours on MP3 files and on a 1000 mAh NiMH battery and volume set to 1 and random play enabled . This can be lowered to ca 8 hours or less with WMA files on 48 kB [with its provided battery ], or even 4 hours of test recording
It playback is based on file name sorting
Here are what I liked:
It’s audio : it is the best audio I ever heard for a mp3 player
The line-in recording
The ability to synch recording
The longest playing I found so far . Although mine seems to play at less time then other’s reviews it is still the losge
And here are what I did not liked :
The more than 10 seconds startup with the ‘please wait’ that happens once a new adjustment is made in the settings menu
Its earphones are bad , making me to use my Degen or even the Philips earphones, see my older reviews postings. They eat some treble though they have a little higher audio output
Once connected via the USB in a wall adaptor , it does not operate ! [except that it starts and shows a blank screen ]
And here are several interesting links for this player .
http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/creative-zen-nano-plus/4514-6490_7-31398481.html?tag=tool
http://www.pcreview.co.uk/reviews/Audio/Creative_Zen_Nano_Plus/
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1822521,00.asp
http://reviews.digitaltrends.com/review_printerfriendly2921.html
http://reviews.digitaltrends.com/review_printerfriendly2921.html
http://www.dvhardware.net/review88_zennanoplus.html
it is a 4 page report written by a computer geek and with many pictures
