If the Zune had these two features I would buy one now...EQ
I used to be exactly like you, thinking that an MP3 player need an EQ, and a custom one at that, or it sucked. Much to my surprise, the second-generation Zune sounds really good with every type of music I throw at it. So I personally don't think I need an EQ any longer. Have you tried the Zune, and determined its default EQ setting to me unsatisfactory?
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I used to be exactly like you, thinking that an MP3 player need an EQ, and a custom one at that, or it sucked. Much to my surprise, the second-generation Zune sounds really good with every type of music I throw at it. So I personally don't think I need an EQ any longer. Have you tried the Zune, and determined its default EQ setting to me unsatisfactory?
I agree that the Zune has a nuetral sound quality about it. However sound itself is a subjective quality. Not all ears/all headphones are created equal. Ear plug phone frequency response is largely affected by the various ear canal size and shapes we folks have. Some people have hearing problems that can be allowed for with EQ. Some headhones are a little bright or bassy and need toning down etc. Also, many older recordings benefit from EQ. The problem with adding EQ is that it may affect battery time, so it would be nice if one could disable it. The lack of simple EQ is one of Zune's biggest failings (along with bookmarks).
Some headhones are a little bright or bassy and need toning down etc.
Thanks for explaining your point of view Paul, I appreciate it. What we've been told is that the current generation Zune hardware can't have an EQ because it's somehow incompatible with the DSP they're using. I don't know exactly how or why, but that's what we've been told. I'll continue to ask for an EQ though!
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Perfect, that's exactly what I needed to know. I've emailed two members about this specific issue using your text as a quote. I'll try to move the needle a bit on your behalf.
I used to be exactly like you, thinking that an MP3 player need an EQ, and a custom one at that, or it sucked. Much to my surprise, the second-generation Zune sounds really good with every type of music I throw at it. So I personally don't think I need an EQ any longer. Have you tried the Zune, and determined its default EQ setting to me unsatisfactory?
No I haven't. However, I sometimes like to listen to music with different EQ settings, depending on the type of music. You might also have a bass-heavy, or bass-light pair of earphones. Some of the music or voice I listen to hasn't been recorded well. It's not the player itself you need to compensate for, but the tastes of the listener, the output device, and the source.
I pretty much replaced my old 2gb Cowan iAudio 5 with a Zune 80 when the Zune 80 first arrived. The first month I could not use the Zune because the software would not install. I spent hours on the phone trying to get this resolved. I found a work around, on my own, which finally got things going, which I shared with MS. Many others had the same problem. In my many years of computer use the Zune software is the only software I've ever used that refused to install.
My simple obsolete Cowan had bookmarks, FM, recording of voice and FM, EQ, OGG and a simple AAA battery that lasted 12 or more hours. It also had more gain/power and it's fidelity was/is superior to the Zune using the OGG codec. It played audiobooks (including DRM) and podcast fine and remembered it's position in the file when turned off. The firmware was updatedable and it did not need proprietary software to transfer files. It also allowed for selectable 5, 10, 30sec FF/RR or continious. I could go on...
That particular iAudio did not support video, album art, social, jpegs, marketplace...stuff that is nice but not real important to an audio guy. It does have a clunky interface. The new ones are much better and support video.
Now here's the rub....If a small S. Korean company can get it right over 4 years ago, why can't MS do better sooner.
All that said, I still like my Zune but I prefer the sound and audio features of my old iAudio.
It saddens me to hear that MS "chose" to dumb down the Zune. I thought they would do better. Unbelievable.
Hi there...New Zune 80 owner here. I also have other DAP's such as the Vision:M, Sony NWZ-a728 and several Hi-MD/MD players. I am enjoying my Zune very much and would rank it first on ease of use and convenience and a very close second to MD sound quality wise.
I would echo the thoughts on more audio codecs...especially FLAC. I would also like to see the Zune to ba able to display the codec and bit rate like the others can. For example, it would be great to see "MP3 256k VBR" displayed somehow while listening to that...
i've personally taken more than 40 ppl to brick & mortars to help them decide which dap to buy....from chicago to kansas city to memphis, centering in st. louis and towns in between that aren't on most maps.
i know why you can't sell this product to the masses, much less the i-sheep you claim you want to sell to.
out of the countless (50+) salespersons i've quizzed for my friends (and their neighbor's) only 1 was able to tell me ANYTHING about the zune.
as long as every salesperson from walmart to the exclusive hi-fi equipment store can tell you anything and everything about an i-pod and nothing about your product you will never get out of the deep hole you've dug for yourself (most of which was made before you ever released zune).
when potential customers see confusion on the face of the one who is supposed to know, they feel they are left no choice.
few of the salesman made statements about your product that were completely untrue, even while holding thier own personal notes. to make matters worse, they hold your product like a cracked egg shell that could explode.
i may post later and tell you a few reasons you had better put the eq back and include the clock....points on which ppl in forums may not be considering and are costing you more customers than you can count.
btw, arguements about how this comparison or that comparison not being fair are moot, your product WILL be compared to every i-touch and archos 605 wifi no matter how unfair it is.
love the product, but still can't force myself to buy one. you are closer than every other unit on the market really, but you have alot of work to do if you really really want to woo these i-sheep.
Last edited by grantpet; 09-08-2008 at 06:53 PM..
Reason: toned it down a little
Audio ramblings
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