New Generation of MP3 Players, New Features 406
i4u writes "We got our hands on new Flash MP3 Players from two Korean Manufactures. Both players feature audio functions not seen in MP3 Player before, like SRS, WOW and TruBass. The Muzio JM-200 uses a two color OLED display. The Eratech EMP-100 is betting on small size with measurements of only 30x75x16mm." The larger (and stranger looking) JM-200 also lists ogg playback as a feature.
The US always the last to get cool stuff (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is it that when it comes to tech like this, or cell phones or cool laptops that we always have to wait years???
Re:The US always the last to get cool stuff (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:The US always the last to get cool stuff (Score:2)
It is my understanding that we have more restrictive standards for these types of devices than other countries... (While they have more restrictive ones for industrial control equipment (CENELEC, BASEFA, etc...))
or redesigned so they are compatible with a different electricity distribution system.
In the general case this is probably true, however in this particular instance the EMP-100 is recharged via USB...
Re:The US always the last to get cool stuff (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:The US always the last to get cool stuff (Score:3, Informative)
Electricity for domestic use is supplied at 100 volts, 60 cycles AC in west Japan (Osaka) and at 100 volts, 50 cycles AC in east Japan (Tokyo).
But those are Korean products we're talking about here.
Re:The US always the last to get cool stuff (Score:5, Funny)
Why is it that when we have tech like proportionally spaced fonts some people refuse to use it, even after it has been around for years?
Re:The US always the last to get cool stuff (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: The US always the last to get cool stuff (Score:3, Insightful)
And lastly, coding in a proportional-width font makes for ugly code that no one wants to read. Mono-spaced fonts make for much neater-looking, more aesthetically-pleasing code. Code blocks are far easier to define, and outputs are far easier to construct. I prefer Courier (not Courier New) myself.
Re:The US always the last to get cool stuff (Score:5, Interesting)
UL stress testing replicates a lot of the unimaginably stupid things users do to their devices.
Re:The US always the last to get cool stuff (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:The US always the last to get cool stuff (Score:3, Informative)
Cool laptops (Score:2, Funny)
Only bollock burner specials these days.
Here's the real answer (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The US always the last to get cool stuff (Score:4, Interesting)
"Waiting for the cool (technological) stuff" is one of a number of signs that the U. S. may be at about the peak of its power and influence, and a slight decline may have already started.
Computer technology is not a secret, and all the manufacturing is now being done overseas. We should not be surprised that the U.S. is no longer the dominant innovator.
The U. S. is no longer the dominant winner of Nobel prices in the sciences, either.
I am starting to see signs of Japanese cultural influence in the U. S. "Hello Kitty" merchandise, anime, etc. After years in which the rest of the world bought Jordache blue jeans and watched "I Love Lucy" and "Miami Vice," I think the tide is starting to turn there, too.
Re:The US always the last to get cool stuff (Score:4, Informative)
Re:The US always the last to get cool stuff (Score:4, Insightful)
I am starting to see signs of Italian cultural influence in the U. S. "Sopranos" merchandise, pizza, etc.
I am starting to see signs of Mexican cultural influence in the U. S. Latin pop music, tex-mex restaraunts, etc.
Etc.
The problem, of course, is that as a so-called melting pot -- how much things "melt" is debatable, and maybe "tossed salad" is a better metaphor, but whatever -- the U.S. exhibits lots of non-local cultural influences.
The thing is, these influences may or may not have any bearing on how dominant the amalgamated American culture is in other places.
A better indicator would be how American vs. [other] cultural artifacts are being adopted in other parts of the world. For examples, what movies were biggers hits in Jakarta, Nairobi, Lagos, Lima, Buenos Aires, etc: Lord of the Rings & Finding Nemo, or Shaolin Soccer & Spirited Away? What ethnic foods are more popular -- hamburgers or sushi? What languages are more popular in schools?
You'll learn far more about which culture is more popular by looking abroad than you will by looking at what is happening in the USA.
USB speeds? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:USB speeds? (Score:5, Insightful)
TruBass not seen before on an MP3 player, though? I'm pretty sure I've got it on my (ogg-playing, DRM-unencumbered, fully Slashdot-politically-correct) iHP-140...
Re:USB speeds? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:USB speeds? (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm going to have to get hold of a copy of 'The Antisocial Urban Driver's Handbook on Making your Car into a Bloody Great Boom-Box' to make best use of this thing.
Note: I an entirely unaffiliated with iRiver, but they do make some damn fine mp3 players.
Re:USB speeds? (Score:5, Informative)
But using things like TruBass is basically worthless. Your car's stereo system is probably fine. The DSP that TruBass does just happens to introduce a ton of artifacts into the sound that may or may not be perceptible, depending on what kind of music it is. For example, try listening to piano music with TruBass or Circle-SRS. It'll sound awful.
Just stick with 2-channel stereo and mirror the front two channels to the back two in your car. You'll have a much fuller sound field, and you won't be fucking with the original sound any.
Re:USB speeds? (Score:2)
WOW? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:WOW? (Score:5, Funny)
flash MP3 players? (Score:5, Interesting)
seriously though anecdotal evidence suggests that the new HD-based devices are fine even for jogging. I guess the only niche left after that is if you need something even smaller than an IPod Mini...
Re:flash MP3 players? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:flash MP3 players? (Score:2)
Re:flash MP3 players? (Score:5, Funny)
Yep, I need something smaller than an iPod Mini. In fact, I had something smaller than an iPod Mini, that cost $60, 128M, MP3 playback, looked like a disk drive to the computer, my daughter broke the USB connection too many times until I couldn't fix it... I've been looking for a replacement since.
Good luck on finding your new daughter.
As an aside, my father used to tell me that he could 'take me out' and make another one that looks just like me.
Re:flash MP3 players? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:flash MP3 players? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:flash MP3 players? (Score:2)
My flash-based wishlist (Score:3, Interesting)
(To be fair, flash cards are not essential. If they designed a 2 GB fixed flash player, I'd probably be happy with that as well. But HD is still too heavy and not rugged enough for serious exercise).
----
Hi. I'm writing to answer the question posed in your June 24 artic
Re:My flash-based wishlist (Score:3, Informative)
Loading up music (Score:3, Insightful)
Agreed, that is the part I like the least. I use the ifp-driver, so I think the best way, if you want to switch up music often, is to write a simple script to take off every file and upload a random set from a hard disk directory. That way you just plug it in and run one script. Of course having it all on the player would be most convenient, but a script might not be so bad.
Re:Loading up music (Score:3, Interesting)
Pretty funny though, a actual example of where Linux's driver support is superior to Windows when using a just-released multimedia gadget!
Re:flash MP3 players? (Score:2, Interesting)
My nex-II + a 256 meg card can hold enough for a run and I dont care if I break it/lose it or intentionally smash it.
Hell a total of $75.00 for a 256meg mp3 player with no DRM and easily swap to more music by swapping to another dirt cheap card.
Oh, and 12 months down the road I dont have to throw my mp3 player away like Ipod owners do because the battery died and CAN NOT be replaced.
a pair of AA batteries last me a week of daily use.
Re:flash MP3 players? (Score:3, Insightful)
Too late now, but FWIW, you might check out the Muvo2 next time - 4GB, $199 flash-based player that also runs forever and doubles as a portable USB 2.0 hard drive. I used to own a NexII with 256mb until I gave it to Mom after ordering the Muvo2.
Re:flash MP3 players? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:flash MP3 players? (Score:3, Interesting)
It has no moving parts, hence its still perfect condition. It is smaller and weights less than an iPod and uses a normal AA (replaceable) battery.
I do not think that a HD based player would have survived more than a year with the abuse my Rio has gone through.
Now all they need to do... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Now all they need to do... (Score:2)
Re:Now all they need to do... (Score:2)
Re:Now all they need to do... (Score:2, Funny)
Wait a second (Score:5, Funny)
They don't even have apples DRM nor work with iTunes.
So why is this on slashdot?
Re:Wait a second (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Wait a second (Score:3, Interesting)
And there's no need to use that kind of language.
And we should get excited why...? (Score:5, Insightful)
Besides, these "innovative" new features aren't really all that innovative. So there.
Re:And we should get excited why...? (Score:5, Insightful)
They want an affordable digital alternative to a walkman, that doesn't skip when they're jogging. They don't care if it can store 2 jillion hours of music. They just want their favorite workout tunes on it, or something to listen to riding the bus, etc.
That's an enormous market, and IMO Apple is positively stupid to ignore it. If they released an iPod that was under 100 bucks, that had say 64-256megs of flash, it'd sell like hotcakes and they'd increase the amount of iTunes customers 10 fold.
As a comparison, there is a niche market for those 100 disc DVD jukeboxes. But there's a much larger market for regular $50 DVD players for folks who maybe rent a movie a few times a month.
Re:And we should get excited why...? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:And we should get excited why...? (Score:3, Insightful)
They want an affordable digital alternative to a walkman, that doesn't skip when they're jogging. They don't care if it can store 2 jillion hours of music. They just want their favorite workout tunes on it, or something to listen to riding the bus, etc.
I have an Ipod Mini- doesen't skip while I'm jogging (and I've taken it on a 50 minute run many times). Even though it has a 4 GB capacity, I only store around 400 MB of music on it, because that's all I care to listen to.
But w
Re:And we should get excited why...? (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple does not traditionally target the ultra low-end market for a couple of reasons. For one, they're not big enough. I believe this came up in a discussion comparing Dell and Apple, and cheap PCs. Dell has the manufacturing facilities and [vastly superior] distribution channels to handle a high-volume low-margin market. Apple does not. Just look at the problems they're having churning out enough $249 iPod Minis for the U.S. market (btw, because of production problems, us chaps in Canada still can't buy iPod minis; they're only coming out Jul 24 over here).
Second, Apple has a reputation of making innovative products. It charges a premium for it. It just doesn't do assembly like Dell does; it also does industrial design. That's why iPods are well-liked and perceived to be cool. When it comes down to it, it's just a digital music player with really good design. Someone had to pay for the industrial design and marketing (not free, you know).
In short, Apple just doesn't seem like that kind of company that thrives on products that just barely breaking even. It can't survive in that market.
p.s. Steve Jobs has said that they're working to make cheaper iPods. But don't expect any $100 ones any time soon.
Those features (Score:5, Funny)
SRS - "Small rectangular sticker". This is a small sticker in a rectangular shape with the letters "SRS" on it.
WOW - "Works Over Water". this has been especially designed so that if you try to use it over a body of water it will still work.
TruBass - Much like TruCalling; If the bass dies it repeats the following day.
The moral - don't be fooled by marketing hype.
Re:Those features (Score:4, Funny)
TruBass - that fishy smell isn't artificial!
Useless features? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why waste 300 on some new gadget which will work pretty much identical to the old ones when the global standard isn't changing much (global standard for MP3s will always just be the old MP3 untill replaced for example).
Re:Useless features? (Score:2)
Re:Useless features? (Score:3, Interesting)
For a 4 hour road trip on the long weekend I copied over my Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio plays and had a nice alternative to radio for the weekend. The transmitter worked flawlessly, and it saved me time and $ from burning my own CDs for the trip.
I
Re:Useless features? (Score:3, Insightful)
Apple on Top.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Apple on Top.. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Apple on Top.. (Score:2)
Eratech's older model [iocombo.com] is pretty close, and pretty cheap.
I just see crappy iPod interfaces (Score:5, Interesting)
Ogg support (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Ogg support (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Ogg support (Score:4, Informative)
But open source software is a problem. It is illegal to distribute an mp3 encoder without paying the licence fees, which makes it impossible to have a legal open source mp3 encoder (or DVD players, or anything else that is patented) because to be open the licence must allow anyone to redistribute it without restriction. The way that LAME gets around that issue is that "LAME Ain't an MP3 Encoder" - it is a reference implementation for educational use only. This doesn't really solve the problem, it just makes the users criminals instead of the developers and distributers.
So we don't like patented formats for that reason - because it is illegal for us to use those formats on our open source systems, and if we are restricted to use open formats on our computer, it would be really nice to use them on our handheld music players as well, which fortunately is a very viable option, contrary to what the whiners here say, and thanks to some cool hardware companies.
Re:Ogg support (Score:3, Informative)
Unless FHG changed the rules in the past couple of months, the license-fee structure is something like this:
Re:I just see crappy iPod interfaces (Score:2)
Sir, you have offended the honor of OGG. I challenge you to a duel, lossy compression formats at dawn, tomorrow. Either accept, or never show your face on Slashdot again.
Re:I just see crappy iPod interfaces (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I just see crappy iPod interfaces (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I just see crappy iPod interfaces (Score:3, Insightful)
I have an 80G portable so I can compress my music however I'd like to...
Some of us use Ogg (note that it is not an acronym) Vorbis for our music collections on our computer and don't want to re-encode everything for our portables (especially when you start getting into the 300+ disc range as I have).
Re:I just see crappy iPod interfaces (Score:2)
Geez... (Score:4, Funny)
"...with measurements of only 30x75x16mm"
Great...I already can't find my keys half the time as it is.
Clapping (Score:2)
iPod (Score:5, Insightful)
If these gadgets aren't half the price of an iPod mini, I have no reason to consider them. There's no mention of disk space on the JM-200, but I want GB's, not MB's.
Re:iPod (Score:5, Insightful)
Myself, I couldn't imagine there's 20gigs of compressed music out there that I'd want to listen to. I'm a creature of habit, when I listen to recorded music, it's the same dozen punk and metal albums. Y'know, the ones with about 10 2 minute songs.
I don't enjoy recorded music, it's merely a distraction while I'm on the plane. In the car, I'd rather listen to the radio. I prefer live music, I'd rather listen to some local band jamming at the bar on friday than stay up late buying songs on iTunes to fill up a big HDD with RIAA horseshit. I'd rather hear some small band doing Rolling Stones covers for free beer, because they enjoy playing, than to own the entire Stones' discography.
To each their own. There's a huge market made up of people just like me. Not everyone has, or aspires to have, a 90000000 CD collection.
So, how about a compromise. You buy what you want to buy, I'll buy what I want to buy.
Re:iPod (Score:3, Funny)
Everytime I'm at a bar, and some caterwauling douchebag with a Heineken, Leathers, and a Michael Bolton haircut steps onto the "stage" and says, "thank you! we're 'turbo brush fire!'", I sigh to myself, die a little inside and wonder, "Who actually enjoys this shit?"
Now I know. God bless you.
--Don't take it personally. Tis but a joke. Back to my nsync cd's.
Ogg Vorbis Support (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually..... (Score:2, Informative)
Info (Score:5, Informative)
The EPM-100 has 512M flash, a very small 3-line display, and is about the size of a thumbdrive. I found it selling for $220.
The JM200 has 256M flash (unknown if upgradeable via cards), includes a FM tuner, and looks downright funky. It doesn't seem to be available for purchase yet.
It Might Just Be Me (Score:2)
Might just be me though... Excuse the troll.
Not seen before? (Score:4, Informative)
Both players feature audio functions not seen in MP3 Player before, like SRS, WOW and TruBass.
At last check, my iRiver iHP-120 [iriveramerica.com] supports SRS, WOW, and TruBass in amongst its EQ settings. Don't know about their Flash-based players, but it would be surprising if some of them didn't.
Re:Not seen before? (Score:2)
Looks like both /.'d (Score:2)
Re:Looks like both /.'d (Score:2)
More details of the Eratech (Score:2, Informative)
Grab it while you can.
This is timely for me (Score:4, Interesting)
Flash-based: she's a runner, so I don't believe the HD based ones could last
FM Tuner
USB 2.0
Voice Recording
256 MB internal, with the ability to expand via a card slot (SD preferable, but others would be considered)
Act as pen drive (in Windows) without additional drivers or the need for a cable.
It seems like relatively simple and low-end requirements, but I can't seem to find a device that fulfills all these. If you know of one specifically, I would appreciate feedback.
Coolest feature about these MP3 players: (Score:4, Insightful)
Why is this great, "in quantity"? Well, I know plenty of unsigned artists whose mp3's are floating around the internet, promoting them, who can now offer "Albums" on these MP3 devices, custom-like, to their loyal fans.
Mark my words: CD's are dead. Static MP3's are dead.
Long-live the value-added MP3-player-bundled-with-new-tracks website freelance musician upsell!
Audiobook Player (Score:3, Insightful)
But the one feature I've never been able to find in an MP3 player that would be perfect for listening to audiobooks is variable speed playback.
Many audiobooks you could speed up the playback by 20% - 50% and still understand it and comprehend it. In many cases you retain more because your mind doesn't have time to drift off.
Very useful, but I haven't been able to find a player (or even software on a PC) that will do it on the fly, so each file has to be transcoded, which is time consuming.
I think you need to speed up the silences... (Score:4, Informative)
Many audiobooks you could speed up the playback by 20% - 50% and still understand it and comprehend it. In many cases you retain more because your mind doesn't have time to drift off.
Apparently a better thing to do is to reduce the length of silences between words etc. I remember seeing research (perhaps 20years ago!) into a variable speed tape recorder/player which would reduce silences in speech but leave the words at the normal rate.
That way you don't have to listen to mickey mouse or the chipmunks yet still save time and maintain comprehension.
Re:I think you need to speed up the silences... (Score:3, Insightful)
I've found I can trim about 7 hours off each season by watching it at a faster bit rate, and really the only thing I ever lose are dramatic pauses.
Would love to see this feature added to my iRiver, slow as they are, it's nice they actually do update firmware on occassion so maybe I'll get lucky.
In the meantime, does anyone know
I was really impressed untill... (Score:5, Insightful)
The USB 1.1 isn't a deal breaker, but if i can't easily get to that li-polymer battery... It'd be the whole iPod story again. This time with an overseas manufacturer.
Compact Flash Damnit!!!! (Score:4, Insightful)
Lots of people have compact flash media why not make a model of your wonder device that supports compact flash? The semi-competant guys at Frontier Labs do (albeit the firmware from there products is less than perfect).
SD/MMC cards are useless because they are too fragile (physically and electromagically) so much so you can't just put one in your wallet and just carry it around for a week without the card dying.
Please support CF in your future products OK PLZ TKS.
--
Null
Jm-200 look like a real skined player (Score:3, Informative)
i want one. Period. here the texts
A new Muzio from Korean manufacturer Jungsoft (promoting the hot new band, "Man and His Cymbals"), this one called the JM-200. Besides being sort of ugly, which is probably not a bullet-point feature, the Muzio supports USB Host functionality, SRS (some sort of surround sound magic?), OGG Vorbis support, FM radio, aluminum body, and recharging via USB. Plus, it has a two-color OLED screen, which probably isn't too much to get worked up over, but there you have it. I4U has some information, and apparently a test model, so expect a proper review in the next few days.
My solution (Score:3, Interesting)
Also, for me, it just feels a lot more like a music player, then those memory stick or built in hard drive players. Something about putting disks into it just make it seem more fun.
The perfect mp3 player (Score:4, Interesting)
1] A cell phone with bluetooth capability.
2] A bluetooth enabled headset.
3] All major music formats including ogg.
4] A "bookmark" feature (useful for book on tape or book on mp3).
5] Stopwatch with lap timing and counters. (For those of us who exercise)
6] FM tuner.
7] XM or Syrius Tuner.
8] Uses standard flash ram cards for expansion.
9] USB 2.0 at minimum.
10] Rechargable battery and docking station.
11] Garage door opener (for those who exercise and need a way to get into the house without lugging your keys around)
That's my wish list. To date, nobody has even come close.
nobody has come close... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:The perfect mp3 player (Score:3, Informative)
Flash players work better for the Korean market (Score:3, Informative)
In the States where the people use it in the car or perhaps in their work places, the capacity of the storage is a big deal since they may use it for up to 8 hours continuously.
That's certainly not the case for the people here. The average time spent in a bus or the subways is around 30min~1hr, and you don't need anything over a gig for that.
When you don't need the storage, wouldn't you want a flash player that you can put in your pocket along with your cellphone?
I think the US slashdotters would understand the reason behind the development of the new mp3 players when they understand the culture here better.
What these do: (Score:5, Informative)
This is all my opinion, more or less. Quotes from SRS are found here: http://www.srslabs.com/ConsumerTechMonoStereo.asp
SRS - Sound Retrieval System
Claims to be able to "retrieve the spatial information that is lost during ordinary audio compression from any stereo recording and restores the original three-dimensional sound field." Also claims to be able to eliminate the "sweet spot" and "isolate and restore the spatial cues and place them in the proper space relative to the direct sounds, such as a soloist or dialogue."
What it really does, as far as I can tell: It uses an algorithim to isolate the audio into various sets of frequencies, which it then amplifies on various speakers and introduces a slight time delay. The effect of this is to give a slight emphasis to various parts of the sound. In a 5.1 surround system, this will make it seem as if the various chunks of frequencies are coming from more specific parts of the room. This is a neat effect, but the truth of the matter is that you can't restore what isn't there. Not really. It's a trick that lets there appear to be spatial orientation on the sound, but the spatial orientation it gives is entirely made up. It's not really what it is supposed to sound like, and it's not "much closer to what the artist originally intended" as they claim. You think artists don't listen to their own work and talk to their sound engineers? The original source material you have in the player is what the artist intended because it's what you actually got from them. SRS is a neat trick, but not actually any better. It'll work on headphones, but works best in a 5.1 surround situation. On a 2 speaker scenario, the artifical delays it introduces really hurt the sound noticably.
WOW
WOW claims to "dramatically improves the quality, dynamics, image field size and bass tones of digitally compressed audio file formats including WMA, WAV, MP3 files."
What it really does, as far as I can tell: It enhances a small band on the high end of the frequency spectrum, compresses the low end, then sticks the whole thing through a phaser to make it sound kinda deep and slightly echo-y (a phaser, for those not into audio, basically eliminates very specific frequencies.. whatever ones you have it set to... you can do all sorts of weird things with a programmable one, but it creates a pretty distinctive type of sound). On cheap ass speakers, this sort of thing can make it sound like your speakers are bigger, but the actual bass output suffers horribly on good speakers, and the echo type of effect is annoying as hell once you notice it.
TruBass
TruBass claims to "produce the perception of lower bass tones and deeper, richer bass from products that contain small, medium or large size speakers."
What it really does, as far as I can tell: Basically it increases the Bass. What? You have a bass control? Well, TruBass does it better. Oh wait, no, it doesn't. It's using some kind of tricky harmonics deal to enhance the low end of the audio to make it seem louder without actually making it louder. In other words, TruBass will increase the *perception* of the bass without actually increasing the amount of bass there. The human ear is better at certain frequencies than others, and TruBass adds harmonics to the bass that increase those frequency ranges, increasing the amount of bass you hear. But it will not increase the amount of bass that you *feel*, which to me, is kinda the whole point of bass. TruBass will work best on small crappy speakers, in other words, where you don't expect to feel any bass anyway. And the distortion on the bass is pretty severe, if you have a song with good bass to begin with.
New Features? (Score:4, Informative)
My player is just slightly larger than an ipod. It lasts twice as long. It handles the Ogg format. I could keep going but I should get back to work.
Zarnce
OLED lifetime issue? (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't OLEDs still have a shorter lifespan than standard LCDs?
Considering how often an mp3 player is using the display when running, song info - etc., would the shorter lifespan of the OLEDs make a difference?