"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
Which brings me to my other question -- Is it just me, or do others
wonder how Stereophile could rave about the iPod? It just doesn't
sound very good, especially in comparison to the two iRiver products
I use. I'm not saying it sounds _bad_, just that it's not that good.

I own the iRiver iHP-120 which, playing WAV files, sounds terrific (at
least
with Sennheiser PX 100 'phones, which I give an unconditional
recommendation).

I have no experience judging MP3 encoding, but I would like to think that
the
"sound" of any particular implementation is determined by the MP3 encoding
itself -- that is, the greatest audible degradation is produced by the
data
reduction, not by the AD and DA "bookends" of the process.

The encoding algorithm is key, but it's still only part of the puzzle. The
analog section of any playback device is still an important contributor to
overall sound quality. It is in this respect that the iPod and the Zen are
a distant second to the iFP-120. In fact, most portable devices I have
tried at many price pints don't drive headphones well. The problem is that
most people don't care, so there is no impetus for the manufacturers to do
anything about it. I have friends who thought I was nuts - "The iPod sounds
great, what are you talking about?" Then I let them listen to the iRiver.
I enjoy watching their eyes go wide.




The Zen sounds just as good for a fraction of the price. The iRiver
sounds
spectacular by comparison - better dynamics, much wider frequency
range -
especially with OGG files. I really wanted to like my iPods (yes,
plural; the
first one was DOA), but the damn thing crashed all the time, the amp had
_no balls_, and, after less than a month of use, the little remote began
to
separate from the wire.

The iHP-120 has about 50% more power than most portable devices. It can
actually
drive Sennheiser 580s to a fairly high level.


It is as small as the iPod, pretty in its own way, sounds way, way,
way better, and has only hiccupped twice; both times on the same
file. I re-encoded the file and no more problems.

Try the EAC (Exact Audio Copy) ripper.


It also is an FM radio that works, albeit not as well as the FM in my
solid-state iRiver (iFP-190?). There is also a voice recorder (I don't
ever foresee using it, but, one never knows, does one?

The FM tuner (which is stereo, though it doesn't say so anywhere on the
box)
sounds Real Good -- clean and effortless.


Point is, since I stopped looking in only the cool places, I have found
really good stuff for not that much money. Koss makes a over the head
'phone for Radio Shack that they sold for 40 bucks that is the best I
have
found for portable use. They just closed them out for 20 bucks -- bought
another set just to have a spare or an easy gift.

Get the Sennheiser PX 100s -- you'll be flabbergasted.

I look forward to trying them. They look very similar to the
koss/radioshack model I wrote of in their construction. What is the
pricepoint? Speaking of flabbergasted, the radioshack 'phone had no
business sounding that good at $40, at $20 they were an absolute steal. I
only tried them beccause I found myself in cvhelsea with my ifp-190 and no
headphones. Being somewhat of a headphone snob, I fully intended to
tolerate them only until I got back to my neighborhood and could return them
at a local radio shack (there are three with in 4 blocks). Uh-uh. Sounded
too good. I had absolutely no idea that the technology of cheap headphones
had advanced so.

I urge you to try the little headphone amp, too. If you thought the 580's
sounded acceptable on the 120, try them with the headphone amp inserted
between the remote and your 580s. Not only "a fairly high level", but very
good, full range, sound quality too. You'll be flabbergasted :^)

jw


These were only $19.95 last month! headphone link:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=33%2D1222

This is the headphone amp I spoke of. You can't beat the price. You won't
believe it is so cheap after you hear them, either.
Link:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=33%2D1109

Get the Sennheiser PX 100s -- you'll be flabbergasted.

I look forward to trying them. They look very similar to the
koss/radioshack model I wrote of in their construction.
What is the pricepoint?

$40 at Costco, with a $5 rebate (that hasn't yet arrived).

Let me put it this way... The PX 100 is one of the very best dynamic headphones
made. Not one of the very best for the price, but one of the very best, period.


I urge you to try the little headphone amp, too. If you thought
the 580 sounded acceptable on the 120, try them with the
headphone amp inserted between the remote and your 580s.
Not only "a fairly high level", but very good, full range, sound
quality too. You'll be flabbergasted :^)

I hope so!

At $22 it's a bagatelle, and I can always return it (if I'm willing to put up
with the surly reaction of the RatShack salesman).

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
However, after a while the in-fidelity rankles too much. I discover the
portable audiophile bargain of the year -- the Radio Shack "3 channel
headphone volume amplifier." What a little amp. Move over AirHead,
there's a new ($21 on sale) sheriff in town! The little Rat-Shack amp
made the Zen sound tolerable, it was just a PITA to carry them together.

This is the 33-1109, right?


http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...t%5Fid=33-1109

That's the one.

"Dave C." wrote in message
...

snip

Thanks!!! Now I know what to buy to use while I'm out walking for
excercise. Like you, I think 128 bitrate sounds like utter crap. I
cringe
when I hear (or read) someone suggest that it is near CD quality. So to
hear someone of the same opinion state that their iRiver sounds
"spectacular" tells me pretty much all I need to know about what I should
be
looking for in a portable audio player. Just curious though, what
specific
iRiver models do you own, in case there is a difference in the iRiver
ine. -Dave
snip

I own the iFP-190TC - solid state 256 meg with tuner
and the iHP-120 - 20 gig hd with tuner, optical and electrical line in and
out, on the fly encoding, fm and voice recording.
I recommend them both.
I bought my wife the iGP-100 it has that little 1.5 gig drive that a lot of
companies are using. It is not as elegant physically as the iFp or the iHP,
but it is round! She likes its unusual form factor. It too has the same
high quality analog section, tuner and multi format support - mp3, wma, asf
and ogg vorbis. She didn't like the way the sennheiser buds fit her ears so
I got her the B&O buds (nice, but over priced - and too hard to fit to my
ears!). She is very happy with her new toys.

hear's a link to their site: http://www.iriveramerica.com/

Hmm, maybe they'll retain me to do street marketing :^)