I have a Creative Zen 20gig player and to be honest I find the sound quality
cold and sterile, even when it goes through my amp (I'm told that the Zen
actually has better quality than the Ipod!). If I play the same file through
my PC and Hi FI while switching with my mixer and the Zen, I can hear the difference.
When I start to crank up the EQ and other audio fx on my PC then it really is
a sad state of affairs for the portable player.
Is it the lame DA converters, or the signal to noise ratio ? I also found that the
EQ setting on the Zen a total joke, with many presets simply distorting the sound
because of bad interpolation and subsequent clipping.
However if I get a top of the line portable CD player at a moderate price, I know that
it is going to sound better than what I have heard so far from portable players. They
even have nice bass boast functions, EQ, spatialisation functions , which are hardly
comparable to the Zen.
I'm quite fed up with reading reviews by unqualified writers, both in the popular PC press and internet. They are more interested in interface, size and functionality.
So which is the best portable player for sound quality, with good audio fx also ?
Thanks.
Bluey.