The Aiwa XP-MP3 is a Portable CD Player that plays MP3 Formats!
Written: Jul 10 '01 (Updated May 24 '02)
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Pros: 10 hours of MP3 music on one CD!
Cons: There is a limit of 512 tracks or files on one CD.
The Bottom Line: This is great if you need something on the go. With 10 hours of music, you will never have to listen to the same song over and over again!
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| surferdude7's Full Review: Aiwa XP-MP3 Personal CD Player |
Now you can listen to your MP3 files or regular music CDs while on the go. With this player you are not limited to just your MP3 files or just your CD music, now you can have both. This player will play MP3 music files on both CDR and CDRW discs.
You can also play recorded .wav files with this player. If you record both .wav files and MP3 files on a CD, it will only pick up the .wav files.
This player weighs less than a pound with the batteries and 10.1 ounces without the batteries. In size it is 5-1/4 inches wide by 1-9/16 inches thick by 5-3/4 inches in length. It is a small, lightweight and good-looking player.
The one I have comes with an AC adaptor, a car kit so you can play it in your automobile and some cheap headphones. Batteries are not included, I’d recommend a rechargeable type so you won’t be buying batteries all the time.
List price for the AIWA XP-MP3 is about $240 and can be found for as low as $169.
It has a one-year warranty on parts and 90 days on labor.
A Little MP3 History on the use!
The MP3 format for music is growing all the time.
Originally MP3 was used to compress the music format so that you can download it in a much smaller size.
With this popped up the software MP3 players that could process the format so you could play it back off your computer. Then some DVD players and AM/FM CD players for the automobiles came out with the capability of playing the MP3 format.
As the MP3 format grew to more popularity it started a new generation of portable music with the portable MP3 players that you could download your MP3 files directly to the player from your computer. The only problem with these players is the amounts of songs are limited to the amount of memory your player holds.
Now with the AIWA XP-MP3 you can record your MP3 files onto a CD and listen to about 10 hours of music on one CD.
MP3 and Bit Rates
The amount of music time will differ depending on what bit rate you have your MP3 files in. The higher the bit rate the more memory it will use. I have a great sound downloading all my files at a 128-bit rate.
There are many bit rate to down load from, here are a few to give you an idea of quality.
A 1411 bit rates is CD quality, with a 56K connection or less it could take you over an hour to down load a song.
192 and 160 bit rates give you perfect CD quality.
128 bit rates give you excellent CD quality.
96 and 112 bit rates give you near CD quality.
A 64-bit rate is considered FM quality.
A 32-bit rate is considered AM quality.
AIWA XP-MP3 Features
It is beautiful in silver with a blue trim and an LCD display that is large enough to read easily.
Now the display will show MP3 ID3 tag information and up to 512 tracks. I don’t know about you but all of my CDs are full with MP3 tracks of 160 to 180 tracks. You can have directories like labeling them by artist and the player will play them. Bit rates can be used from 32k to 320kbps. I use 128 bit rates on all of mine and they have given me no problems.
Now for the regular audio CD you can program it to play however you wish with up to 24 tracks. The MP3 songs do not have this option. With the MP3 songs you can set it on Random and it will pick songs for you.
The E.A.S.S. Plus (Electronic Anti-Shock System) is AWIA’s anti-shock system that works mainly with a regular music CD.
All the controls are easy to use and in easy reach. There is a DSL Bass button for (Dynamic Super Linear) a bass boost, this works differently on each individual MP3 song. Overall the DSL button adds some bass but not like you would find in a home system or your CD player in the car.
Why buy the AIWA XP-MP3!
The biggest reason I would buy the AIWA XP-MP3 is for more music.
If you are into recording your own MP3 files onto a CD, you know that you can get about 10 hours of music on a CD if you leave it in the MP3 format. This makes the AIWA XP-MP3 more versatile than just a MP3 player that you have to down load songs into and are limited by the amount of memory your MP3 player has. With this player you can simply just take out the CD (with the MP3 music) and place in another CD.
This player gives you an unlimited music library by just replacing your CDs.
This player can also play your regular music CDs that an MP3 player cannot.
So for the money this player is a bargain.
Overall
If you get this one, I would first buy some good headphones, the ones that come with it are fair.
When I was playing a regular music CD, I could shake it pretty good before it started to skip. Now a recorded CD with MP3 files are a little more sensitive to shaking, though when jogging and having it strapped to my side, it never skipped any MP3 files. So for all purposes it is a pretty good player.
Now you can get an adaptor to plug into the headphone jack so you can connect it directly to speakers or a receiver. Radio Shack will have the proper adaptor. When connecting through your home receiver, it will give you more control over the music and a louder volume. This is an easy way to add an MP3 player to your home system.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 189
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