CREATIVE LABS Nomad Jukebox Zen vs Apple I-Pod

Rob Babcock · « **on:** 22 Jun 2004, 04:45 am »

Anyone have any opinion on this one? I'm considering buying a 40 GB player, and the front runners are the Zen & the I-Pod. The Ipod gets the nod where ergonomics are concerned, according to a couple reviews I've read. But the Nomad is only about $250 for the largest (40 GB) version, vs maybe $450 or more for the apple one. Is it really twice as nice a player?

Could really use some input here as I know squat about portables. I don't plan on using it for MP3 at all but rather wav files.

sica · « **Reply #1 on:** 22 Jun 2004, 05:18 am »

Hi apple.com has refurbished iPod 40GB's for $379.00.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/72403/wo/2F1ypvJaUPC23lOzwtV1beXixbY/0.0.7.1.0.6.13.0.5.0.0.0.0.3.1.1.0?75,60

TheeeChosenOne · « **Reply #2 on:** 22 Jun 2004, 07:28 am »

The Zen has universally been considered to have the best sound. Ipod may be slightly sleeker, but I assume most on this forum will give up a little aesthetics for better sonics.

Jay S · « **Reply #3 on:** 22 Jun 2004, 08:34 am »

I bought a 15 gb Ipod last weekend. I am quite happy with the ergonomics and capacity. I've loaded the cds I'm interested in from my collection and I've used less than 3 gb of space (AAC format, using high quality sampling rate). I still need to load in CDs from my wife's collection.

The Ipod sounds ok. I enjoy listening to it but it doesn't have silky sweet treble like I'd want from a home system, particularly on cymbals which are a bit tizzy rather than metallic. I can imagine how it would be possible for other players to sound better.

Finally, how important is (small) size to you? The iPod is smaller than the Zen. The iPod mini is much smaller, if you can live with 4 gb. Btw, I heard the day after I got my iPod 15 gb that a new version of the iPod mini with a larger HD is coming out soon....

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #4 on:** 22 Jun 2004, 09:51 am »

Size is utterly irrelevant to me, unless it's bigger than the Wuhrlitzer jukebox at the drive in. My main criterion is S/Q first, price second, & ergonomics third (unless it's a real pig, ergonomically).

I'll confess I don't know what AAC is...if it's lossless I'd try it, but I'm pretty much done with perceptual encoding. At the best VBR bitrates none I've used are transparent enough with acoustic music (although MP3 @ 320 VBR is okay for 90% of the rock I've tried it with).

J&R has the 40 GB Nomad for $249.95, so looks like the mark to beat if the Zen is "all that & a bag of chips."

ton1313 · « **Reply #5 on:** 22 Jun 2004, 10:51 am »

Question

do any of these MP3 players have a digital out, so that you can use it as a transport to your processor?

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #6 on:** 22 Jun 2004, 11:11 am »

Hmmm...I dunno. I know they have USB output, which some DACs & receivers can accept. My concern is portability of my favorite songs- I'm contemplating a move that will necessitate my being away from home for two or three months, and I don't intend to take my valuable CD collection with me, but I'll need tunes.

bob82274 · « **Reply #7 on:** 22 Jun 2004, 11:35 am »

I know its not on your list but I would take a look at the iRiver products. I have their 20 GB jukebox and love it. Same size as the orginal generation of iPod (the new one is a tiny bit smaller) and a lot smaller than the Zen. The battery life is twice as long as the iPod as well. But for me the thing that I like most about it is the fact that it doesn't require drivers if you have a Me/2k/XP machine. Just toss on the MP3s and go. This can be great for stealing a friends MP3s as well.

And I just read some more of the posts... if sound quality is key (which around here shouldn't surprise anyone) then definitely don't get the iPod. The Zen is generally regarded as the best in that department but the iRiver isn't far behind. Also when dealing with different codecs the iRiver is very good. I don't know about the Zen so I can't comment but the iPod isn't very good at all as I think it only supports WAV, MP3 and AAC. There could be others but I am not certain.

brj · « **Reply #8 on:** 22 Jun 2004, 03:54 pm »

I've seen several posts now that say that one unit has better sound than another... how much of this is the unit and how much of it is the stock headphones that ship with the unit?

By the way, why not just avoid the file format issue entirely and simply copy the WAV files directly to the player instead of converting them to a lossy format? The iPod, for example, can play WAV files just fine and 40GB of space will hold quite a few CD's...

Jay S · « **Reply #9 on:** 22 Jun 2004, 04:23 pm »

Good point re headphones. I've used 2 on my iPod -- a set of "high-end" Sony earbuds (MDR-888) and a mid-range Sennheisser full size earphones that cover my ears. Sound is acceptable (but mids are slightly thin and high frequency sometimes tizzy) with the Sony earbuds... but quite smooth, punchy, balanced and refined with the Sennheisers. I need to find a pair of earbuds that sound as nice. Small size is key (earbuds would be perfect) since I don't have much space in my laptop bag. I've heard good things about the Etymotics ER-6 but have not tried them yet.

Also, a friend of mine is very big on the RIO MP3 players which he feels are much better value than the iPod. I chose the iPod since I figured it would be easier to use and it sure does look nice.

JoshK · « **Reply #10 on:** 22 Jun 2004, 04:30 pm »

The only issue I think with not encoding the files is that playing a large WAV file on these portable devices makes the drives work pretty hard, which means they will wear faster and most importantly that the battery won't last as long.

I have the Nomad JBIII which is said to have the best sonics. I haven't compared to others but its sonics are quite good. With my Etymotic 4P earphones it drives them really nice and I ultimately sold my Xin mini amp as it added nothing to the sound that the JBIII didn't already have. I have two batteries for it so it last quite long (more than 20 hours) and the HDs are relatively easy to replace, so upgrading to 80gb would be a lot less expensive than buying another player. Somethings to consider. Of course it is a relative beast compared to other portables but still no larger than a bigger PCDP.

blue · « **Reply #11 on:** 22 Jun 2004, 04:38 pm »

http://www.Headwize.com <--- is a pretty good site to go to regarding headphones. They talk about all kinds. I expect those of you wondering about the best buds for an ipod / player would get some pretty good feedback there.

jgubman · « **Reply #12 on:** 22 Jun 2004, 08:30 pm »

The iPod also supports Apple's new lossless codec, that supposedly is 1/2 the size of a WAV file. Don't know much about it or why it would be better than any of the other lossless codecs, but I'm sure it's been discussed in detail

http://www.apple.com/itunes/import.html

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #13 on:** 22 Jun 2004, 08:56 pm »

Thanks for all the input, guys. I'll have to do a little shopping around. By now I'm leaning towards the Zen, due to reputedly better sound quality & lower price. I don't want to go any smaller than 40 GB, either, since I have no intention of using any lossey codec. It's gonna be wav files or a lossless codec for me.

I would have to buy some good phones- I'll have to do some reading on the Headphone Circle!

droliver · « **Reply #14 on:** 23 Jun 2004, 03:12 am »

Rob,

I've owned them both. I bought the Nomad in November after reading some reviews saying it sounded better & the fact it was 25% cheaper for the same memory size. I was fairly happy with it until it quit working after a few months (after the warranty of course which is 90 days). I took it apart & the soddering @ the headphone jack had lifted of the circuit board.

I then decided I would trash it & bought a 15gb IPOD. The ergonomics b/w the 2 is no contest. Apple is soooo much easier to use & operate & you get a 1 year warranty. I also think the sound is decidely better with the IPOD despite the reviews I saw otherwise. It sounds much nicer when I've either listened thru headphones or when I've used it thru a radio with aux inputs or via my car stereo (with a cassette adapter - the wireless adapters are pretty marginal I think).

I would strongly vote for the IPOD. If you buy it thru the apple store you can get a 10% discount & free engraving of you name via the educational discount section