The best of its kind?
Written: Jun 13 '01 (Updated Jun 13 '01)
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Pros: Plays MP3s, great sound
Cons: Problems with some MP3 files, really bad headphones
The Bottom Line: Overall, a pretty good player despite tracking problems on some songs. Still, I think, the best option for this breed of player.
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| alanr01's Full Review: Aiwa XP-MP3 Personal CD Player |
I recently bought the XP-MP3 after researching the features and prices of portable CD/MP3 players. I do believe that I made the right decision, but that the breed has a long way to go...
The unit looks and feels like a slightly oversized standard portable CD player, and generally operates like one. It includes controls for CD operation as well as buttons to switch between "albums" on a CD of MP3s. When burning a CD, the directories of files you create are treated as albums by this player. This is great if you want to archive your whole Moxy Fruvous collection of albums to one CD; just rip an album to MP3s, rename the files with numbers at the beginning (start the first nine tracks with a "0" or they will be out of order!), and burn them into their own directory. Done!
While the "electronic anti-shock system" only works for CDs, I have not had too much trouble with vibration-induced skips with this player in MP3 mode. Most other features that work for CDs also work for MP3s. My favorite is random play, where you can turn ten hours of your favorite albums/music into the world's longest "mix tape." Great for parties: put it on and forget it!
This player plays most of MP3 files very well, but has occasional trouble with files that no other player complains about. There appears to be on rhyme or reason to this behaviour. I have examples of low bitrate MP3s that fail as well as high bitrate files. When the player fails, it tends to skip around within the track that gives it trouble, and eventually jump to the middle of the next track if you're lucky.
My other complaint about this player is that it comes with exceptionally, horrifically, and unspeakably bad headphones. They appear to be incredibly inefficient; crank up the volume and they'll start crackling before you get uncomfortable. There's *no* bass to speak of, and the high end is tinny and unpleasant. The sound through these phones is reminiscent of the sound from those little, neon-colored AM transistor radios that were so groovy to own during the 70s.
Fortunately, the sound out the headphone jack is just terrific, so playing the unit through a stereo, or through good headphones, is a pleasure. There's no line-level output, so the headphone jack must be used to hook the thing up to a stereo.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 165
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Epinions.com ID:
alanr01
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Member: Alan Rothschild
Location: Boston, MA
Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 2 members
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