Playback quality is good. Playing MP3's back through my
PC's beloved Altec Lansing ACS 54 4-point system sounded just as good as playing
them on the PC, through Winamp on my Soundblaster Live Value. A couple of the 5
preset EQ modes are a bit overdone, but I found one that I liked. One extremely
nice feature, that is now common on most CD players, is ESP, or Electronic Skip
Protection. In standard Audio CD playback mode, it's a meager, if acceptable 5
seconds of skip protection. It was extremely difficult to get the player to skip
in CD Audio mode however, forcing me to sling it around in a manner that no one
would ever do in real life. In MP3 playback mode however, it's a full 60 seconds
of ESP. No need to worry that it's going to skip on you here playing back MP3's.
I tried and tried, and it just wouldn't skip. This is one area where a CD based
player "could" have had a disadvantage to a flash memory based player, but here
this disadvantage has been all but eliminated.
Aesthetically, it's design is solid, and attractive.
"Doing my homework" before the review, I searched the web to see if any other
MP3/CD players have emerged on the market, and one has, and has been shipping
for a while. Sold under many guises (here's
one) as the Genica, MPTrip, and other brand names.
You'll notice the MUCH lower price on the MPTrip in
comparison to this unit. After searching out reviews of this product, it seems
the general consensus of this competing unit is that it's an inferior product.
To be brief (still trying to get a unit to evaluate first hand) it appears that
it is missing many features the Novasonic has. No line-out, no rechargeable
batteries, cannot play files from the root dir, a much lower bitrate ceiling
(160kbps vs 224kbs), no variable bitrate MP3 support, can only playback 2x speed
burns, and a skimpy badly translated 3-page manual seem to be major indicators
as to why this other unit is cheaper, apparently in more ways than one. From
this
page, which is a user FAQ for the MPTrip I quote...
5.) Use the "Open" button with care! Just a
precaution. The Open button is a little shaky and it's not really centered very
well. So in order to preserve it's life, press on it straight down.
Not exactly confidence inspiring.
The Novasonic player is a newer player, built on
different mechanicals obviously, based on it's additional features. Physically
it's reasonably attractive, if you get into that kind of thing. Made out of high
impact plastic it's very sturdy, and doesn't feel like a piece of junk.
Next page:
Conclusions
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