 "I've never used this CD player, so ignore my review.." | 2006-08-23 |
| - Reviewed By riseofthethorax |
I was going to explain the logic behind Skip-protection on these CD players. The "45 second" skip protection is really 45 seconds of buffer memory. If it says 45 seconds for a regular CD, you can figure out how much memory the buffer is. For a regular CD, a second is 16-bits times 44100 sample/sec, divided by 8-bits (per byte), per channel. So 88200 bytes times two channels (left/right), which comes to ~172Kilobytes per second. If you have 45 seconds of buffer memory, that is approximately 8 megabytes.
Translated, for your mp3 files:
Take you bit rate, divide it by 8, to get the rate in kilobytes,
then divide 8 megabytes by that.
So 128Kbit = 16Kilobytes, 8000KB / 16KB per sec = 500 seconds of anti-skip protection. It's possible (and I don't know) that that's for just one channel, so at least it's half that, but at most its 8.3 minutes. Half, sounds about right.
So if you are playing mp3 files, you will get better anti-shock protection.
Another side effect of mp3 players is that the decoding process takes less power than spinning the disk. IF the CD only needs to spin the disk every 4 to 8 minutes, your batteries will last longer with mp3's than with regular CD's.
The downside is that all mp3's are of lesser quality, encode at 160Kbit (Dual-Stereo, VBR). Don't do Joint-Stereo it sucks. I don't know if with many mp3 encoders there is that choice anymore. VBR = Variable Bit Rate, it means the audio converter balances quality with bit-rate over the CD, so where bits would be do nothing for some quiet areas on the disk, they go further toward the areas where there is audio. CBR encoded mp3 applies the same number of bits per frame, so every second has the same amount of sound quality (sound loss), but there are times when VBR can sound better than CBR, because savings in one area can be applied to make a higher quality in another area. Other formats like WMA and Sony's ATRAC, have different ways of storing the information, and may compress the audio much better with higher quality. Note that some companies hold patents of encoding processes, MPEG was the only one that was available in "Open Source".. MP3 was a off-shoot that deals with low-bit rates,
generally not what you encode CD audio to. Audio books require WMA DRM, because its a patented process that is illegal to circumvent (if not impossible). But anyone can decode mp3's, not everyone can decode WMA DRM, except Microsoft.
Oh another quality of mp3 files, each second of a mp3 file is split into chunks, each chunk has a 4 byte header that specifies the encoding of the chunk (I'm writing a mp3 utility), anyhow, if you seperate the ID3v2 header from the front and the 128 byte V1 header from the back, all that is left is these "frames", which supposedly can be mixed, cut, spliced, all without re-encoding the files. In the encoding process it's very easy to equalize the audio because its stored in a frequency/time format rather than amplitude/time. So all one needs to do is filter out the frequencies before they are converted back to waveforms. Also the length of the audio can be increased, decreased, and the pitch can be changed, independent of each other. This is just something you get for free with the mp3 format.. |
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 "Reliable basic player" | 2004-09-19 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2QIB13E4TR50S |
I have used this player for more than a year. The only thing that has broken is the little window showing the disk turning. This can be pushed in relatively easily, so I had to super glue it in. Other than that, everything still works properly.
I only play Mp3 CDs on this. Sound is good. I got a car kit to play in cassette players and in the car. The bass boost needs to be turned off to do this or it will distort. No equalizer, but my experiences with other players are that the preset equalizers are pretty much useless- they only degrade the sound in slightly different ways. The bass boost really makes a difference.
I almost always use the random play mode only, which works well (a truly random mix that doesn't repeat the same songs). Otherwise, navigation is confusing- I can never remember what sequence to punch the buttons, which aren't labeled very well for this. I just memorized the sequence for random play. The ID3 tag information scrolls as the song plays.
It will sometimes skip when bumped hard, but does not skip when just sitting still, which I've found some other players do. That's a plus for this player.
It has a hold switch (called Lock), no resume feature. No backlight, which is a drawback if you listen in the dark and punch in songs a lot. It has no belt clip- why don't they put removable belt clips on any of these things? They're supposed to be "portable," right?
All in all, a good player but a bit difficult to navigate. |
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 "Made in China, and it shows" | 2003-10-30 |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
| What is wrong with this player: The volume control knob is messed up, right channel comes on before left. Line-Out refuses to work No remote, and it would be easy to put one in This player feels like it's going to split in two. $.01 per unit and the screen could be back-lit Navigating your songs is next to impossible if they are not in folders, and it only plays
in the order they were burned (leading zeros are required) High bit-rate (160kbps) reduces the anti-skip to around 50 seconds, down from 120. If it's moving when it gets more MP3 data, it will skip and pop (loudly) Adjustable EQ is a bass boost switch, sounds like you're listening through a blanket Eats batteries as a light snack, no matter the type Good luck with tech support, it's outsourced to India, they have thick accents and are clueless, and the number is a long-distance call! Do not buy this player! |
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| "Can't beat the price" | 2003-08-15 |
| - Reviewed By jesusballesteros |
| I bought the SP50 for [cheap] after mail in rebate. It plays any mp3 disc i throw at it. The only thing is the headphones just plain [horrible]. But for the price get some better ones. |
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| "Cheap and it works" | 2003-08-04 |
| - Reviewed By klopefam |
OK, a few things that the description for the SP50 lies about:
1. The display is not backlit.
2. You can not add a remote.
3. There is no EQ.
4. It does not come with burning software, but you can use anything that can burn a MP3 CD (most any good burning software).That aside, this is a good, cheap player. Navigation is a little sketchy, you have to select a track in a folder to jump to that folder, but the manual doesn't tell you this. The CD comes to a complete stop during MP3 playback, and spins back up every 120 seconds to save batteries. If it's not spinning, you have to wait about 3 seconds for it to spin up and get data. Most players do this, even the iPod does it (it has a hard drive so it kind of has to). Throw away the included earbuds, they [are poor quality], which is typical. If you need a cheap player that you don't care if it gets dropped/smashed/soaked in napalm and set ablaze, and can play MP3's, get this player. It even comes wih batteries. |
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| "possibly the largest waste of money" | 2003-06-19 |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
| This CD player is horrible, go with the iriver. Mine broke the first week i had it and support is so horrible that you cannot get any help. Iriver is a much better company, better support, and better quality. |
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| "Good for the price" | 2003-05-02 |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
| This player is great for the price. It is one of the cheapest CD/MP3 players available, but like the cheapest of anything, it has some flaws. First the positives PROS
+ Decent sound quality
+ Connectable to external stereo with decent sound quality
+ Clear ID3 Screen
+ Plays most files CONS
- 2 Setting EQ is either too little, or too much bass
- ID3 screen not backlit
- Gets only about 10 hours on 2 AA batteries
- Some songs sound bad when played off MP3 CD-RW
- Weak amplifier causes distortion (Not headphones)
- Included earbud headphones just plain [stink]
- Menu system takes some getting used to. It works fine for what I generally use it for. My main complaint is the poor quality whe using CD-RW MP3s. When I play them on other sources, they sound fine, but on this player, or at least mine, I get many electronic bleeps. In the next model, I hope they add a better EQ, maybe with a Low, Med, High Bass setting, and not just too little, or too much. The styling isn't the best, but it doesn't feel or look real cheap. All in all, for the price, it's good. But if you use it a lot and have extra money to spend, it may be worth moving up to a RioVolt SP 90, or something similar to that. By the way, I hate ear buds, so I immediately bought Sony wrap-arounds as a replacement, and they work well with this player. |
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| "Excellent for the price" | 2003-01-13 |
| - Reviewed By ronaldgiuntini |
I got [another] version... Look around. They are going [for less].
It has been dropped about three times, and still plays like a champ. It does what is says, and I am pleased. For what I paid, I am VERY pleased. I would not, however, pay full price for it.
Regrets;
Can't FF to a spot in the file. I listen to thirty minute old time radio programs, and unless I pause the program, I have to start from the beginning each time. Can't RESUME when I shut it off. Have to step thru to the file you want to hear. Oh yea. It EATS batteries. But mine came with a car adapter kit, which is a cig liter plug and cassette insert thing. Plus I get free AA batteries where I work. (I know, a tremendous perk.) But this thing goes thru two AAs a day if I am using it much. I don't know where the power goes, since MP3s are hardly spinning the disk at all. But the batteries get down to 1.35 volts, and the thing shuts off. The batteries are still good for a Minimag flashlite when I take them out, but won't run the player. I think they should have run it off of three AA's and got more life out of them. (A simple voltage regulator IC added to the circuit would allow for this.) Other than that, it is OK. |
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| "An above-average MP3 CD Player" | 2002-11-23 |
| - Reviewed By william209 |
| This unit actually gives great sound, if you get your own headset. The cheap one comes with the unit doesn't do it justice. Here are things you need to know: 1) When in MP3 mode and the unit is advance reading the data into the "anti-skip" buffer, if the unit is bumped or moved, the "skip" will be read into the buffer memory. There is NO error-correction for reading or buffering. 2) A big battery drainer, a freshly charged 1600mAh NiMH batteries only last about 5-6 hours, so I know it can't reach the claimed 10 hours with regular alkaline batteries. 3) In MP3 modes, there is a long gap (silence) between tracks. The unit doesn't advance read or buffer read until the current track comes to a dead end. It then spin up and buffer read, which creates a long delay between tracks. Overall, it read all kinds of burned MP3 CDs I threw at it, and the sound quality is amazing, especially with the bass turned on. |
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 "You get what U pay for" | 2002-11-18 |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
... the SP50 is a really good (though not great) player for the price (after rebate)
Pros:
-really has 120 second anti shock for mp3 playback and 45 sec for regular cd(only when ESP button enabled and not flashing) and with really strong batteries. Shook the thing like a earthquake, did'nt skip a beat.
-Played just about every thing i've put in it. MP3 recored at various rates up to 320kb worked fine.( used Nero-burnig ROM)
-Displays ID3 tag info (scroll)
-easily navigate folders. Displays folder names too.-Seperate audio line out.something more expensive players don't have. -Has a lot of standard features packed into it. (read the manual!) Cons:
-Player feels light and fragile. Afraid to drop it.
-ear buds are poor and should be thrown away for better headphones immediately.
-No Back light. problem in poorly lit areas and at night.
-Sound quality is average.
-Equalizer button only increases volume nothing more. Bottom Line:
If you're looking for an inexpensive MP3 player that does the basic job of playing MP3 and standard cd's has good features, with relatively average to good sound quality then this this is the right thing for you. But if you need more than an introduction to the world of MP3 players and have the cash to dash then look else where. This is not the luxury car of portable mp3 players but it will get you to where your going. |
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