Rio Eigen
Written: Dec 18 '03
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Pros: Size, sound, 1.5GB capacity
Cons: Software can be confusing, ergonomics
The Bottom Line: If you value portability and sizable capacity, this player is hard to beat.
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| dkhong88's Full Review: Rio Eigen Executive (1.5 GB) MP3 Player |
This is just a quick look at the Eigen, as I've only had a day to play with it.
Overview:
For those familiar with the Nitrus, the Eigen introduces nothing radically different, except for its more boxy design and a more conservative look generally. If you like the Nitrus for what it is (1.5GB, compact frame and footprint, lightweight), but would prefer a more conservatively designed player, Eigen is your digitial music player.
Look:
As most of you probably know already, the volume control is comprised of two keys on the left of the player. On top, there is a headphone jack, DC inlet, USB connection, and a reset hole. On the right side of the player is the job dial, which, to my great chagrin, does not control volume during playback. The menu button is also found in the right side, and the controls roundout with the joystick in the dab center of th player, right beneath the large, clear, backlit and readable LCD. The most striking element of the Eigen is its size. It is only slightly larger and heavier that most of the 512MB flash memory based players, and is much smaller than the non-1.5GB HDD players, like the iPOD, iRiver, and Samsung Napster players.
Software:
I still have to get acclimated with the Rio Manager, but my initial verdict is that I think I can live with it. My main source of compliant is that when I initially designated my music folder in the PC as the primary folder for music, the Rio Manager displayed all of the music in such folder TWICE, requiring me to tediously scroll down and manually delete all double entries. Creating playlists on the PC is very simple, however. One of the other problems that I noticed is that once you download a playlist on the PC into the Eigen, even though all music files in the playlist are downloaded, the playlist itself does not download, requiring the user to manually create a playlist on the Eigen.
Downloading speed:
The downloading speed to the Eigen is respectable, if not blazingly fast, with USB 1.0. I have not had an opportunity to try out the USB 2.0 connection yet.
Sound:
The equilizer is very resepctable, each presetting making quite a difference on the overall sound of the music. I still have not had a chance to download and listen to my reference MP3, Janos Starker cello sonatas, so I cannot comment on how the Eigen does with classical music, but it has thus far handled pop MP3s just fine. I have not noticed any hisses or distortions, even at the player's highest volume levels (which tops off at "30"). The player's volume output is high enough to satisfy my tastes. In the NYC subways, even with the included Sennheiser MX300 headphones, (which permeates too much ambient noises), I was able to drown out all but the loudest of the subway noises. For my uses (read: subways, commuting, and working out the gym), I surmise that the volume levels would not pose any problems. I am not a big fan of blowing my eardrums anyway.
Compared to NexII (my old player) and Sony MiniDisc players, I would say that Eigen sounds superior to the NexII and on par with the Sony MiniDisc player. I do think that iRivers line-up sounds more full and encompassing, but that may be a factor of the iRiver's music processor. In terms of overall pure sound output, I think Eigen is admirable.
Battery Life:
Have not tested yet to comment.
Installation:
Painless and easy (other than prying open the very difficult to open outside plastic packaging).
Ergonomics:
The complaints that apply to the Nitrus applies with the Eigen. I wish that the Rio designers would make available a firmware that would allow the jog dial to be used for volume control during playback. The navigation is not as easy or as intuitive as the iPod, but the iPod is truly a gold standard in this regard, and any comparison against it would be almost unfair. At any rate, with more practice, I think I would able to negotiate the 1.5GB of songs with aplomb.
Conclusion:
Even though my use of the player has yet to reach 24 hours, I am very happy with the player in general and satified with the software. I hope to post a follow to this first take after severl more months of usage.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 189
Recommended for: Beginners - Easy Enough for Tech Newbies
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Epinions.com ID:
dkhong88
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Reviews written: 1
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