portable hd-source?

[faustian bargin]

that's good information, thanks Benjlv!

i found the review of the jukebox 3 here.

it seems to performs a little better than the 'zen' on their tests. unfortunately they didn't test the Line Out, which i expect would measure better than the headphone out.

the other unfortunate thing is, the same 'rightmark' tests done on the iPod used MP3 format instead of WAV (as was apparently used on the JB3), so it's impossible to compare. the MP3 results were pretty poor compared to the WAV ones.

---

dave - i don't know if creative's player can play AIFF files. i know it can play uncompressed WAV files though. i agree with you, i'd prefer to avoid mp3's altogether. 40GB (or 60!) is enough space not to need compression.

[faustian bargin]

found a 'rightmark' test of the iPod (gen1) using lossless AIFF:

here.

AFAICT there isn't a sound quality difference between lossless WAV and AIFF formats.

/andrew

[faustian bargin]

...and i finally found the threads on headwize.com about the mp3 player project:

here

and

here.

...looks like the postings tapered off in august 03 though.

btw the guy who was doing the project has a website, it is

here.

[harba68]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Benjlv
[B]while the ipod and creative zen are very nice products I dont think they are quite what he is looking for. They are meant to play mp3s at a respectable sound quality. They arent what i would call a high definition source.

exactly! the amp&the dac already exist, and theyre both on a much, much higher level than the dac&amp of iPod or any other hd-player out there. therefore i'm asking about a source to match the level of the amp&dac. the playback capabilities of the iPod is decent, but the dac&amp i don't need, and it don't have digital out, so it's out of the question...

just to clear things up!

[Benjlv]

in that case i would look at modifying this project
http://www.myplace.nu/mp3/index2.htm

I would ask in the forum on that site to see if the micro controller can handle the bandwidth of a wav file. If it can then all you will need to do is change the software to recognize wav files and to interface with a different decoder....so on so forth. not simple...but doable.

anyways good luck...i hope this idea goes places.

[dhaen]

Originally posted by faustian bargin
snip.
.

AFAICT there isn't a sound quality difference between lossless WAV and AIFF formats.

/andrew

When you convert from WAV to AIFF (or vice versa), the file size remains the same*. So I would expect the same sonics.

*Assuming no metadata... but that'll be another thread: coming soon

[faustian bargin]

Benjlv: another awesome link. i think i'll bookmark that one.

in terms of players on the market, i have learned that the iRiver iHP-120 has an optical line-out. (and optical line-in, pretty neat.) so i guess it could be used with external DAC and amp. i'm actually starting to consider this one for myself as opposed to the iPod. it's gotten excellent reviews as to sound quality (incl. really flat frequency response, low distortion), and the next version (iHP-140) is coming out, with 40gb capacity.

[rfbrw]

For those with deep pockets. http://www.aaton.com/products/sound/cantar/index.php

[CurrentFeedback]

Hi All

I recently got an iHP-120 and have been doing some tests on it. I bought mine mainly for listening, but also to use as a portable digital _recorder_ with an external micpre and ADC. Here is what I found.

1. it plays and records uncompressed WAV files at 44 or 48kHz 16 bit, as well as MP3 at 64 to 320k.

2. when recording a wav file from the optical in, the file comes out as an exact digital copy of the input. No AGC, digital recording level, etc. Good

3. when playing files to the optical out, again, the output is bit-for-bit the same as the file. Volume control and EQ settings have no effect on it. Good But if you turn on the SRS sound enhancement it goes a bit funny.

4. The quality of the optical signal seems to be ok, but if you hate jitter you'll probably want to reclock it anyway. I think pretty much all optical receivers introduce jitter of their own.

5. The builtin headphone amp actually sounds all right and the quality with 256k MP3 is good enough for everyday listening.

6. The user interface is pretty fiddly to work, all the buttons are multifunction, e.g. half the time I end up turning it to FM radio mode when I meant to turn it off.

7. It also has analog line ins/outs. The line in can be configured as a mic in. I never measured THD and SNR for the line in, and I only listened to the line out. It sounds good with just a little hiss and no audible tones like some soundcards have.

So I would give it 4 smilies out of 5 overall. It would have been 5 except for the user interface.