S$11? Incredulous ain't it?

Great value. Great sound.

Android ready? Hell yes

The model that started it all

Expensive? Damn right. Great sound quality though.

After taking yet another one year break, what's new in personal audio? Guess what - the outlook is very much the same as in 2008. There are yet even more convergent devices than ever before. It is almost unthinkable to not own a music phone these days. While mid-range and higher-end cell phone models include this function, we notice that even many budget models include music playback.

One major difference is the emergence of touchscreen phones that were close to non-existent prior to the iPhone's launch. Two years after its June 2007 launch, we see many such models like the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music and the Samsung OMNIA make their presence felt. It's a great time to be a consumer as manufacturers continually try to outmuscle one another to increase their market share.


With so many different products in the market sporting increasingly similar features, it is almost imperative to differentiate one product from another. We do feel there is one aspect that is bound to sway consumers more than other features.

d. Design

Yes. Design is of utmost importance. When all other factors are generally the same, design is probably the single most important factor that can make or break a product. Let's talk about music players first. I don't have to bring out white papers or statistics to prove this. Let's look at the iPod as an example. Apple's industrial design team generally focuses on simple and streamlined hardware designs as can be seen from the Macintosh Classic and PowerBooks. The iPod is no different.
In 2001, MP3 players were not very prevalent. There was the Diamond Rio 500 and Creative NOMAD Jukebox. Both ideas were great. The Rio's small form factor was a great selling point and the NOMAD's 6GB hard drive could store lots of songs. The problem was that there was no middle ground for both products. The Rio had a meagre 64MB flash capacity with little space for songs and the NOMAD had a bulky form factor that required 4 AA batteries to power up. The original 2001 iPod managed to bring the best of both worlds together by coming up with a 5GB capacity in a relatively small form factor.

While you may say, hey isn't the Sony Walkman NW-HD3 even more gorgeous than the iPod? Well, I can't disagree with that but note my comment 'when all other factors are generally the same'. For music players, factors are simply not the same. If Sony's SonicStage software supported the MP3 format natively and did away with the needless conversion to its proprietary ATRAC3, who knows what might have happened?
Let's look beyond music players and let's have a look at netbooks. The manufacturer that gave birth to netbooks is ASUS and it has come up with many different product iterations of Eee PCs. Lenovo has come up with a single model so far and has not had a netbook refresh since its IdeaPad s10. Again, we can attribute the reason to product design.

The Eee PC 901 and 1000 series have a somewhat bulky form factor relative to their screen sizes (1.1kg for 9-inch screen and 1.45kg for 10-inch screen).

By contrast the IdeaPad s10 comes in a svelte 1.2kg for a 10-inch screen.
To prove the point, as of this post, ASUS has just released the Eee PC 1008HA (about 2 weeks back) with a much improved design. It still has a 10-inch screen but with a much lighter 1.1kg weight.

That said, if any manufacturers are listening, please please plonk more dough into your industrial design teams. They could make that much of a difference to your product's success.

Now it's time for a list of the players I've ever owned/tried (and when I mean 'tried', it's not just fiddling with it at a shop or show. It's actually bringing it home for a few days). I guess I'll have to seperate them by type 'cos there's simply too many to list down in one shot. I'll skip CD players 'cos I never really bothered to use them. I jumped straight from using my prized Walkman - the WM-FX50, straight to MD technology. I haven't regretted the decision at all :)

The talk of the town these days is of course MP3 players, but this is slowly veering towards MP3 phones. Its most prominent form are Sony Ericsson's line of Walkman phones. Watch out - convergence is here to stay!


MP3 Players

1. Sony Ericsson W800i
2. iPod nano (2nd gen)
3. Microsoft Zune
   
4. Creative Zen V Plus
   
5. iPod (5th gen)
6. Sony NW-S705F
   
7. Creative Zen Vision:M
   
8. Transcend T.sonic 620
9. Creative Zen Microphoto
   
10. Creative MuVo V200
    
11. iPod mini (2nd gen)
12. Creative Zen Micro
    
13. MPIO FL300
    
14. Sony NW-E70
    
15. Creative MuVo² FM
16. D Cube NMP-612T
    
17. Elson EM-250H
    

MD Players

1. Sony MZ-NH1
2. Sharp MD-MT877
3. Sony MZ-E90
   
4. Sharp MD-SR50
   
5. Sharp MD-MT831
6. Sharp MD-MS721
   

To showcase the qualities of the audio players, I'll break them down into
a. Audio Quality
b. User Interface
c. Battery Life
d. Design
e. Other Features

I'll talk more about point a. first. We'll look at b. to e. in some later posts.


a. Audio Quality
Assuming that the earphones are the same for all the players, then the only item that is variable is the format. For the MP3 players, let's take the default audio format to be .mp3 128 kbps and for MD players, the default is ATRAC3 SP mode.

It is certainly possible to compare the Sony MZ-NH1 to several of the MP3 players due to its MP3 playback ability and the Sony MP3 players to the MD players due to their ATRAC3 support. Unfortunately, I no longer have the Sony MD/MP3 players in my possession so we shall limit the comparison to .mp3 for MP3 players and ATRAC3 SP for MD players.

If you are wondering how ATRAC3 and .mp3 square up, we'll leave that to a later date where we will compare the formats. Right now, we will focus solely on the players.

MP3 players do not disappoint in the audio department. Apple iPods and Creative Zen players are solid units with good all-rounded sound. iPods have one major issue - the lack of an equalizer and this lack of customization is a minus point. The Dance EQ setting tends to distort the audio too. The 5-band equalizer in Creative Zens are appreciated. Similar to iPod's Dance EQ setting, Creative players have a Bass Boost setting which should be disactivated at all costs. Most of the other MP3 players did fine though the Sony Ericsson W800i does have an obvious background hiss when the earphones are plugged to the ears.

MD players are pretty powerful in terms of audio, especially if you were to choose a Sharp.

The initial Sharp units have 3 levels of bass settings (excluding default) - the 3rd level is rock solid for dance music as the bass reverberates strongly in the eardrum. This changed with the MD-DR480 where we saw 5 levels of treble setting included and more importantly, a 1-bit digital amplifier supported with a 4-pole earphone plug/jack. While this unit was supposedly one of the best MD units in terms of sound quality, unfortunately I did not get my hands on this unit to have a go.

Sonys tend not to have bass that isn't so strong but are good in terms of overall performance in the frequency spectrum. The older Sonys have 2 bass levels (excluding default) while the later models like the MZ-NH1 impress with a 6-band equalizer and 'Virtual Surround'.

Ok, I'll delve into all the earphones I've ever owned or tried out and guess what, I'll put them in chronological order, newest first. Here goes:

1. Creative Zen Aurvana DJ
   
2. Razer Pro|Tone m100
3. Sony Ericsson HPM-70
4. Etymotic ER-6i
   
5. Apple iPod earphones (1st gen)
6. Sony MDR-E888LP
7. Sennheiser PX-100
8. Sennheiser MX-400
9. Creative EP-480
10. Aiwa HP-V161
11. Sony MDR-G82SL
12. Sharp earphones (bundled with Sharp MD-MT877)
    
13. Sony MDR-E837A/L
14. Sony MDR-1122
15. Sony MDR-E515

All the others not mentioned are not really worthy of mention as they are cheap OEM earphones. If there's anything significant I've missed, I'll be adding it in.

To break them down, I'll split them into 3 categories where b. and c. are purchased seperately (ie. non-supplied):
a. Supplied Earphones
b. Good Earphones
c. Others

a. Supplied Earphones:

• Sony Ericsson HPM-70 (with Sony Ericsson W800i)
  
• Apple iPod earphones (1st gen - with iPod mini)
  
• Creative EP-480 (with Creative Zen Micro)
  
• Sharp earphones (with Sharp MD-MT877)

As mentioned, supplied earphones are usually horrible. This is the case for the HPM-70s with muffled audio and the iPod earphones which does a poor job for the Red Hot Chili Pepper's Dani California where the vocals and guitars are muddled and very indistinct when 'California, rest in peace' are rammed in to the listener. However, the exception to the rule appears to be the Sharp earphones which do a fine job in splitting the bass and the vocals pretty well. The treble tends to be a little chirpy at times though.
b. Good Earphones

• Etymotic ER-6i
  
• Sony MDR-E888LP
• Sennheiser PX-100
• Sharp earphones (with Sharp MD-MT877)

When there is bad, there is good. These are among the better ones I've used. Now before I go on, let's put a disclaimer that sound quality is subjective. It always has been and always will be. Now, when I mention these earphones are good, I'm comparing based on:

1. Price-point ie. bang for the buck
2. Comparisons with earphones of similar type

There is absolutely no way you can compare normal earphones like the Sony MDR-E888LP with full-grade headphones like the Grado SR60 in terms of price, bass/treble response hence they have to be gauged with their peers. In-ears are compared with in-ears. Headphones with headphones. You get the idea.


I'll give some in-depth reviews over the next few postings. For now, to explain their 'good' status, take the Sony MDR-E888LP. These are Sony's top earphones and when I'm talking about earphones, I'm not talking about in-ears or headphone types. The bass and the treble are clear and resonant. No doubt it has a 16mm diameter driver which produces great sound. I'd have to say its only failing is when it's used on the train - I only hear the treble, the bass is pretty weak. However in a quiet environment, I'd give my thumbs up.

The Sharp earphones I listed are bound to cause certain consternation among audiophiles. For one obvious reason, these are supplied earphones! Then again, I state - based on price point (being bundled is already a bonus for users) and compared with its peers, these are solid earpieces. I just chose to close my eyes and listen. For a simple earphone comparison, this gives the Sennheiser MX-400 a good run for its money and totally blasts the Sony MDR-E515 away and I did pay for the E515s.


c. Others
The 'others' are the earphones apart from the 4 I listed under b. Special mention goes out to the Aiwa HP-V161 and the Sony MDR-G82SL.

The Aiwas are interesting because they have a silicon bubble that is meant as a cushion within your ears and what's more, they are pretty affordable too! Sound quality is decent...as long as it remains in your ear properly. While some users say it provides a perfect fit where sound actually doesn't leak, my experience says otherwise. The diameter is pretty small. As such, only when I stuff the earpieces into the ear, then I get pretty good bass. Since I bought them in 2002, the cables frayed and one side became mute so I placed them aside.

The Sony MDR-G82SL are around-the-neck headphones. These were pretty expensive and not really worth it. The sound quality is indeed isolated as your ears fit into the cups. Once in, the experience is kinda forgettable. The treble and bass aren't too distinct though the emphasis is more on the bass. As one of its redeeming factors was its excellent industrial design, I managed to get a buyer for this model.