06-19-2004, 11:46 AM
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#12 (permalink)
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Psycho
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Quote:
Let me begin my stating that the iRiver hardware is simply top-notch. The device itself is compact, the battery life is great, the sound quality is superb (assuming you aren't using the included earbuds), the full function backlit 4-line LCD in-line remote is a godsend, the player can be accessed simply as a hard drive, it plays a large number of file formats, etc.
However, I am regrettably returning this thing to the store. Why? Because iRiver simply makes it too damn hard to get music onto the device from my CD collection.
1) There is NO included ripping/organizing software. Zilch. Nada. What you get on CD is drivers so a Win98 box can talk to it, and a small program to create the database file so your player can access the music by Artist or Genre or Album or Track Name. (Without the database, you navigate your songs solely with a directory tree.)
2) While you can easily download software that will perform what I am complaining about in 1), no one package will do it all for you. To rip a CD, you have to do the following: (using programs you scrounge up from the internet yourself. iRiver is no help)
a) Rip the CD with the program of your choice. This program will also need to sort them into sane directories, for when the database doesn't work.
b) Run another program to make sure that no filenames are longer than 48 characters. Why? Because the database function won't work otherwise. (With pop music, this isn't a problem, but it sure is with classical music. For example, from Hilary Hahn's Bach Concerto's CD, CDDB returns the following track name: "10 - Concerto for obe, violin, strings & continuo in c minor, bwv 1060 #1: Allegro")
c) Run a third program to sync up your directory tree w/ the iRiver. If you just drag 'n drop, it takes a lot longer.
d) Run a fourth program to build the iRiver's internal database.
3) The filename MUST start with the track name. If it doesn't, the player sorts the files in an album in alphabetical order. (Which is a big no-no for lots of classical music, along with musicals, and classic albums that were simply meant to be played in the right order, like the Greatful Dead.) Too bad this makes the search by track function completely useless. The player is too stupid to use the track number tag in most music files.
4) re: That silly 48 character limit I mentioned earlier. A program that simply truncates the filename isn't gonna work. The track name that CDDB returned really IS the title of the piece. I could abbreviate, but I really don't feel like doing that BY HAND for every CD that needs it.
5) Scrolling: Scrolling through a long list of anything on this device is SLOW. A progressive scroll speed, ala Creative would work wonders.
6) on-the-fly playlists: I used this function w/ my dearly departed Creative Nomad Jukebox 2. All I want to do is queue up several tracks and/or Artists and/or Albums to play. Nope, can't do it. This feature is promised by iRiver "Real Soon Now" via a firmware upgrade, but I'm not holding my breath.
I am a geek for a living, but my time is more valuable than spending hours fighting with my consumer electronics.
If you already have a pile of neatly sorted MP3's (with short filenames, and tagged with track numbers) on your computer, then this player is great. Simply drag your music collection onto the player and you are good to go. If you have an extensive CD collection you need to rip, you could have a problem
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a review i found... |
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