Jun
06

Best Sounding PMP Tall Claim

June 6, 2009 · Filed Under Gadgets, Music, Technology, Videos · Comment  · 891 views

As I was researching for the “Best-sounding” Portable Music Player which I will also categorize with PMP (Portable Media Player), since the top two with my extensive testing and research are all PMP’s anyway.

Prior to this review, I already mentioned the second best which is the Cowon I-audio D2, basically all Cowon prior to the D2 will fall on the top 5 of the SQ (Sound Quality) scale on Gee Please. Generally though, across the line of Cowon branded music players, the SQ of the higher model Cowons is comparatively similar or a little better. If I base this average to other music player brands like I-River, you wouldn’t be disappointed with either those two.

Before I mention what The Best* is based on GP reviews SQ scale, let me just say that if you are looking for a music player brand that sounds superb whichever model you choose, go for either a Sony, I-River and Creative in that order after the top two I already mentioned.

If you are on the nit-picky side but do not have the deep-pockets, go for the Cowon branded music players.

* I put an asterisk to The Best because my opinion as with GP reviews is not to generalize which one is actually the best. This is only based on my personal taste and my measuring methods. Let your ears judge if my review is to the point.

Now to lay it all on the line, the best-sounding music player based on my test is…

But first, let me explain why it is the best. My test included all the brands I previously mentioned albeit not all models for their respective brands. The choices I made include the select few I feel should be chosen as a baseline for their respective brands. I used measuring equipments for frequency monitoring, used some level meters, attached it a loudspeaker with an amplifier, basic head/ear phones, and the higher-end cans.

I also did a blind-test peer review, where the testers listened to the same music of different genres played on these different players all set to default with no sound-processing or modified EQ (equalizer) settings. They don’t know which particular brand is being used for playback so there is no bias. They then rank the SQ based on a 10 point scale on separate occasions.

Now enough of my rant, if you need the low-down, stop reading at this point and go get this music player brand… Kenwood Media Keg Series.

Kenwood Media Keg HD30GB9

Kenwood Media Keg HD30GB9

Yes I know “Media Keg” sounds like the brand managers and marketing directors who named Kenwoods new portable player line are college jocks after a party or an alcoholic drinking binge, but don’t let the name fool you, the Kenwood Media Keg series hit’s a serious punch and let me boldly say the best-sounding PMP hands down, ‘nough said.

Ok if it wasn’t enough, I need to add that this brand previously produced amplifiers for automobiles, head-units, CD-Players, Car Stereo sets and the like. They have just currently entered the HDD(Hard Disk Drives) and solid state music player market. Kenwood is an Asian brand, it is thus hard to get a hold of their player overseas. You need to import it from Korea, Japan or Hongkong just to get one.

If you need to know more about the Kenwood Media Keg series of players, go search for it on Google or something, I don’t need to explain further about it. I just need to get some beer and go sound-trippin’ with my all new Kenny…

Kenwood Media Keg the cheaper model

Kenwood Media Keg the cheaper model

* I borrowed an image on pocketables.net for the 1st photo. You can visit them for their particular review of the product above. Kenwood Media Keg HD30GB9 Review.

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Jun
03

2nd Best Sounding PMP

June 3, 2009 · Filed Under Gadgets, Music, Technology · 1 Comment  · 2,476 views

You may have been wondering why there’s a void in the updates of my post. I have been having my scheduled check-up to the doctor regarding my previous medical incident. Anyway, most of my time was also taken by developing and designing several logos and brands and an organizations website which I will share with you all soon.

Now on to what this site is about, affordable yet quality items on review.

I spent the last few days looking for an mp3 player, being also an audiophile added to one of the list I am described about, like techie, geek, computer addict, blogger, gearhead (I like tinkering with engines too) and all other labels like freakishly handsome, lol!. So anyway, this week, my audiophile alter-ego kicked-in. I owned several mp3’s before even “ipod” ever became a word and a product. I thought it’s time for an update.

I already gave my ipod several generations ago to my niece, only went up to 2nd generation and I stopped even getting the popular white music player. Not that it is a bad gadget, it is a really well-designed, quality piece of electronic device. My qualms with it? The ipod hardly sounded good even amplified or with a professional set of ear/in-ear/head phones.

So my criteria was Best-Sounding mp3 player under USD200. To my surprise what I found is the best-sounding on any price range. However, remember my title? This is the 2nd best, so what is the best-sounding mp3 player? I can confirm it’s existence, but I am reserving it for a personal review. So the under USD200 criteria still stands on this review.

Cowon iAudio D2

Cowon iAudio D2

The 2nd best mp3 player is priced at under USD200, as the best-sounding I found is above that price range but under 500USD. The 2nd best-sounding mp3 player i found, not only plays mp3’s but other formats as well. It is actually a PMP (Portable Media Player), Media meaning, music, pictures and videos. I won’t explain the technical details to this as I already found a blog that reviews this product as I would have reviewed it, so I’ll just share the link instead.

Now why do you say this mp3 player sounds best? Because I have a frequency meter, some amplifiers and testing equipment, I also had tested an archos, a creative and the ipod on my system, and prior to this one, only creative labs set of mp3 players sounded good to me. The fact is, what is currently attached to my car audio system is a creative branded head unit.

Not until I plugged this mp3 player I noticed that it sounded much better. This is the Cowon iaudio D2. Now go here to read a review of the Cowon iaudio D2 as I would have reviewed it. I’ll post what I found is the best mp3 player next time, as I haven’t had the chance to put my hands on to it. But why am I so confident it is the best-sounding mp3 player? At the moment, the specs says it all.

Now, if your a real audiophile, you would have noticed I said best mp3 player, because an audiophile would not use an mp3 as a file format, they would have used other lossless music formats. Now the best mp3 player I am still keeping a secret is also the best in playing lossless formats, so wait for it.

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Sep
15

Archos: Where are you?

September 15, 2008 · Filed Under Gadgets, Web · 1 Comment  · 555 views

I have been a fan of the Archos Media players. Although out-shined by the ever popular iPod series, I still love the way Archos Innovates. Much as equally loved as Creative Labs Media Players, Archos Media players also have killer feature sets. And since it seem to be a trend to have touch-screen, internet-ready all-in-one media machines, Archos introduced their own: The Archos 5. They also started naming their products by the number, as in Archos 5, Archos 7 and the like.

Archos 5

Ultimate Portable Media Device

Their catch phrases found on their site at www.archos.com are the simplified way of showing what it can do. Uncompromised web surfing in the Palm of your hands. (If there is such a word as Uncompromised). Your entire digital library in a thin handheld tablet. (Meaning it is a tablet, which means it has touch-screen and the entire digital library means Music, Photos, Videos and all data files). The ultimate TV experience at home or on the go. (So you can plug it in your TV to watch, and plug in to your Cable box to record movies and schedule them like TiVo when you want to watch your favorite channel programs later at 720p which is technically HD). You can get more details of the Archos 5 on the Official site.

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Sep
07

Nokia Clone Wars

September 7, 2008 · Filed Under Gadgets, Mobile Phones, Technology · Comment  · 510 views

Much like Jango Fett being cloned in the Star Wars saga, it wouldn’t take long from the copy masters from China to copy our favorite gadgets and things. They have cloned Nike shoes, which looks like “real” nike’s. They have cloned bags from prada to dolce, hopefully they haven’t cloned Yao Ming yet.

This is a testament to their craftsmanship, attention to details, intricacy, concentration and discipline. They also need their economy to work, so a bunch of cloning (used loosely, means copying too) shops and factories has sprouted all over China. Before they made crappy copies, and now you can’t even distinguish the Authentic from the clone.

Their next project is due to the ever increasing need for the Techie crowd to always be on top of the Gadget list. So they started to clone electronic gadgets as well. From all types of iPods, iPhones and all types of mobile phones. I recently purchased a Nokia 5310 clone just to give a quality review to the Chinese manufacturing and cloning prowess.

Star Wars Clone Wars

Jango Fett in a Million

First off, Side by side the original 5310 (I borrowed an original from a friend) it looks exactly the same. The paint job, the plastic’s color, the plastics design and even intricate details like the rain-drop style design on the battery cover is to the point, exact. Dimensions are also the same, I didn’t notice a difference in their weight nor the display quality. There is one problem on my clones software version, it was on the cheeky side with custom cutesy icons and I can’t use an mp3 as an alert tone, although it plays mp3’s. I changed my unit with the more standard version of the clone which has the exact software as the original. It even has a memory card slot and it comes packed with a 256Mb microSD. The only thing I noticed that was off is the Nokia logo itself. On the clone version, it was Nckia, with the letter “C” more like an “O” but with a little stripe in the supposed open end of the letter “C”.

Nokia 5310

I was Cloned!

A tell-tale sign for these cloned gadgets is more commonly on the feature set, like most early April release of the cloned Nokia phones has the same default tones and most can’t use mp3’s as message alerts. The batteries are also different on their models. On iPod clones, the screen is a bit murky and the tactile response of the touch-screen is a bit off. So better check your gadgets before you buy them, you might be paying a higher price for a cloned product which is priced two to four times less than the original price of the authentic.

Using the cloned phone for a couple of days, it feels and functions like the original, no hiccups and been solid for a week now. Dropped it twice already and it’s still functioning with not a single glitch. Been playing it’s mp3 a lot on the bus since it’s built-in speaker are much louder compared to it’s authentic counterpart.

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Sep
03

X-Mini: Max Sound

September 3, 2008 · Filed Under Gadgets, Music · Comment  · 1,063 views

Was browsing one of my favorite tech blog for overseas stuff one day and I saw one Advertisement that caught my eye. The Blog was at yugatech. I was curious what this capsule like product is so I decided to click. Then it sent me to it’s homepage where I was presented with two models. One a monaural (mono) version and the other stereo. Mono is where in you only hear one unique sound source while stereo is where you hear two distinct sound source. Currently they don’t have a 5.1 or 7.1 versions. (which defeats the element of portability). It’s pretty small and sleek, although color option for the mono version is available, the stereo version only comes in black. The mono version they call X-Mini Capsule Speakers and the Stereo one X-Minimax. Both boast of their BXS system which is basically the structural bass-boosting effect of their accordion type folding body.

X-Mini

X-Mini as One...

The Stereo version is much more practical, since you can convert each detachable part as a mono version. They are both carry-along because of their individual internal rechargeable batteries, which I guess is Li-ion and not user replaceable. What you see above is the single mono function and it’s accordion bass magnifying body extended a little. Below is when they are attached to each other.

X-Minimax

X-Mini as Two

They are fastened by a magnetized bottom and they have line-in attachments and usb line for charging and attaching to an audio source. It’s a good replacement for other mini speakers out there for your mp3 players like creative, zune, ipod and the likes. You can also make it your PC/Mac speakers for your desktop computers and Notebook Computers.

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