Audio Reviews

This may be the best boombox you can buy. It's the only one I've ever found that has an auxiliary line-in jack, and the separate woofer adds real depth to the sound. The backlit LCD display is an excellent touch.

My only criticisms are the lack of real tone controls (but those seem to have disappeared from boomboxes years ago) and the mechanical (as opposed to soft-touch) cassette controls. Oh, and it's a bit unattractive, unless you don't mind a boombox that looks like a nuclear submarine.

My kids keep trying to steal this from me, which is the ultimate compliment.

I got this boom box for Christmas and it has very good sound. The power drive woofer makes all the difference by providing deep bass. If you don't want deep bass you can turn it off. The high frequencies are clear as well as the vocals. The sound only distorts at top volume which is extremely loud. This is the best sounding boom box I have ever heard. I have no complaints and recommend this boom box. It is a good value for the money.

I ve bought many boomboxes over the years but none sounds as good as this one.The woofer and the sound equalizer does the trick. I ve bought a few Aiwas with their Q sound and surround, but all were lacking in that great bass. This unit seems to have a built in surround sound. I just bought it the other day and I ve encountered no problems. It is a bit on the cumbersome side and like most cassette recorders does not record wellon High bias tapes.Unfortunatly thats all I have,The line in feature is great. I ve been using it to play my portable DVD player. The sound is awesome. If only it wasnt so heavy..and thats notincluding the 8 D batteries to power it. Allin all for $100 its a great machine. I would imagine only the Bose radio is more powerful, but with a CD player and cassette recorder builtin to this unit...its a great buy.

At first I was impressed with my AV380, but then I realized my battery life was defective - approximately 90 minutes on a full charge. My AV380 is still under warranty, and Archos doesn't return my emails, and doesn't even have a telephone support line, so I'm at a loss how to get help!! I can not reach anyone at Archos, and my warranty is running out.
Before buying mine, my friend had warned me, and I had read reviews before that Archos customer support is known for being the worst in the business. But I figured I would take my chances - I did - and now I'm paying for it!
Incredible that this company is still doing business here in America... I understand they are based out of France.... Maybe that explains the lack of customer service... Buy at your own risk - Peeved in Hawaii!

This thing is exactly what I was looking for to take on long trips. First, it replaced a portable DVD player and the need to take all my movies on DVD disks with me. Next, it replaced an electronic film vault as I can load JPEGs in from my CF cards, and the screen is much better to share photos with friends. And the size and weight of the AV380 compared to lugging around a laptop is pure joy!

I was concerned that movies would be "jerky" or "pixilated", but nothing could be further from the truth. Maybe it's not DVD quality, but it's so close I can't tell the difference.

This product is going to turn heads wherever you go. I see that Archos is releasing the AV400, which has CF built in, but it's not hard to do with this unit. Synchs right up to Win XP, and the USB 2.0 is great for moving files around.

Anything I don't like? I believe we'll see these PVPs really take off in the next year. On my wish list would be removable battery packs, a speaker, and a built in CF reader (all now available on the new AV400 which should be shipping soon, and more file acceptance TIFF, PDF, etc. A flip cover for the screen would also be nice, as the unit doesn't come with a case. Recording movies into the unit is a snap, but the process of doing file conversions on movies I've made with Pinnacle was more daunting than I was prepared for (no, I didn't major in computer science). Much easier to just output to disk or camcorder and then re-record into the AV380.

All in all, the coolest product I've bought since the first portable DVD players came out a few years back.

The archos AV300 series is a portable computer in addition to an awesome personal video player. All you need to do is install windows to a partition you make on the hard drive and you can run your computer from anywhere where there is a USB connection and a monitor. The simplicity and speed of the file transfer method is un-matched unless you need to install an upgraded USB hub. All you do is drag and drop. Immediately upon plugging in the Archos to a computer it recognises it as a USB mass storage device and you are ready to do your bidding. And get these while you can. The main problem is that battery life is less than 4 hours when watching videos. And since the battery is a proprietary non-removable Li-Ion battery, you can't just pop out the old battery and put in a new one. The unit does have a ability to turn off the LCD backlight while operating each time you skip a song or mistakenly press a button in your pocket. It has an excellent record timer, A nice surprise,so you can record a weeks worth of your favorite reruns. It is easy enough to get video recorded into it with the provided cables and DVR attachment, and easy to connect to your TV for playback. If you read the specs and don't have a problem with the size and other features, you will be very satified. Don't expect DVD quality playback on your TV. It has the wonderful AV recorder which comes inside the pack, makes video recording very easy. you wont need a video anymore. connects easily to the TV or VCR, but you should be careful of the cables connecting the AV380 because they turn out to be too plenty. The remote control (wireless) is excellent and makes life easier when placing the AV380 away from you. Finally, Archos gets it!! With this model, Archos has addressed most of the drawbacks of previous models. This product is actually in a class of its own! It does everything it claims to do, and does it well! The interface has also been drastically improved, though it is not obvious how to use the 3 "soft" buttons at first since the buttons are aligned vertcally at the right while the functions are listed horizontally at the bottom of the screen. However, a quick glance at the button descriptions in the quick-start guide is all you need to understand how everything works. Yes there is actually a quick start guide in addition to the well-written manual. The interface is much improved by the addition of a joystick. Also, the Operating System now allows file-handling functions such as rename, delete, etc to be done right on the jukebox, whereas a PC was required before. Also as with previous models, the jukebox looks like a hard-disk when connected to the PC which means transferring files back and forth is as easy as drag-and-drop (as opposed to using proprietary programs). The USB 2.0 connection is extremely fast and definitely a plus. The audio input jack doubles as line-in and mic-in. Live recording is now very clean with no hard-disk noise, even when using the internal mic. This model adds official support for playing WMA files. The latest OS update (free on their website) adds support for playing AND recording in WAV format (in addition to the MP3 format. You now have a full blown DAT recorder in your pocket! This update also allows you to do some basic audio and video editing on the unit itself. Video looks very good indeed on the large 3.8" LCD screen. May not exactly be DVD-quality as they claim, but its close! The included DVR module allows you to record MP4 video on the fly or you can convert videos to MP4 on your PC and transfer them to the unit. Pictures look great! The unit supports both JPEG (non-progrssive) and BMP. You can use the optional memory card readers to upload directly into the jukebox bypassing your PC, or you can download pictures from your PC. Also for the hefty price tag, Archos should have included the optional wired remote that adds FM Radio support. The lack of an included carrying case is puzzling especially since the cheaper Archos models all came with cases. Go out and buy a case right away to protect that huge LCD screen.
The Arcos is quality is miles ahead of any other competetors products.
Recommendation:If you like having alot of movies on hand, alot of photos on hand and the ability to play hundreds of song, then this is for you. I am a chauffeur for a living and this definately kills the sit and wait time assosciated with my job. Excellent for long trip, plug into the vehicle dvd player or music into the tape deck. Makes for a shorter trip.

Well im going to keep the review short and only list what i found deficient in the product since everyone is raving about how good it is. The sound system did a good job for a 5.1 speaker set however the sound seemed very hollow and overdriven in the low end. I had to turn the bass down completely so the neighbors(apartment) would stop comming over to pester me. Furthe,r my sound card didn't allow preprocessing of the trebble therefore the only adjustment availiable was on the the megaworks and it wasn't sufficient. For music the sound was muddy and no adjustment could make it sound better. After messing with the system for a couple of months I feel that it is a great game and movie system but just doesn't cut it for music. Make you own choice however i feel that the 2 way sets (gigaworks) that they have come out with will probably give the spaciousness and the extension of the high end that is needed. I hope this helps you in making your decision.

I previously owned the...4.1 Videologic Sirocco Crossfire's recommended in [a] review...The highs were unbelievable but the bass was lacking a whole lot. After reading that the Megaworks 510D replaced the the favorite as editors choice..., I decided to pick up the THX version which had some improvements over the previous model. These can compare considerably to Hifi setups costing up to 3x as much. I was amazed at the warm and natural sounding tones the 550THX produced, the overall soundstage it reproduced did not seem exaggerated but was rather accurate. The strong points of the system are the physical build quailty which are vast improvement over any of Creative's other speaker line, the mid range and BASS. This has very punchy and accurate bass. A in depth review of the three systems I mentioned in this review can be found [online] including real world, frequency and sound meter testing for loudness, bass and overall sound reproduction. I was deciding between the Klipsch 5.1 (more expensive), the Logitech Z680's (bass too boomy, not punchy enough and there was a hissing issue with the satellites) and the Megaworks 550 THX.

The Megaworks makes a very suitable all in one home theater package for your PC if you are on a tight budget. At this price, you definitely will not be disappointed...As stated above, the Megaworks performs at a more neutral level, mantaining its quality throughout all pieces of material whether it be a DVD or fragging on a FPS. I wanted to add a little more detail as why I chose this set out of the three mentioned.

1. Logitech specializes in computer mice, thats all Im gonna comment on that. I admit theyre price points are VERY attractive but are really as dedicated in audio comparing to the other two brands. If you dont know the difference between a tweeter and a sub, then by all means you can pick these speakers and you wouldnt be able to tell any difference.
2. Klipsch has a excellent line of high end speakers and have been around since the 1940's, so looking at their history and dedication, you can already guess how well even their multimedia sets perform, of course you are also paying somewhat for the name so they aint cheap.
3. Cambridge Soundworks have been around since the 1980's and founded by Henry Kloss who is also the founder of Acoustic Research. Cambridge is best known for producing great high end speakers but rivaling other company's price points in all aspects of performance levels whether it be in the mid or high end range.

Meaning, Cambridge might not produce the best of the best at the high end level but you get the best bang for your buck and their quality certainly cannot be denied. The other plus about the Megaworks are if you feel in the future they are inadequate, you can always upgrade them as they are the same satellites and sub from the Newton series that Cambridge produces. You will in no way be sacrificing any quality or overall look (if that is an issue) as the satellites are intended to match the supplied sub. The supplied satellites (MC50) contains only a 3.5inch driver and already sound spectacular but I can only imagine how much better the overall system would sound if you added a 1 inch silk tweeter and better frequency response such as those in the MC200's - MC500's. One last tip, looking at Cambridge Soundworks website states that the MC50 satellites can extend well below the 150hz mark. If you own a Audigy*2 or Extigy, you can adjust the crossover (default at 150hz) where the sub takes over at 100hz enchancing the midrange of the satellites more and only letting the sub handle the extreme lower end frequencies. This dramatically enhances the stereo imaging. Again getting back to Andrew's review, if you lack a physical decoder or are more into gaming, the Logitech is a another option at this price point but personally I would pay more and go for the better quality Klipsch. But if music is your thing (which is significantly harder to reproduce), the Megaworks will deliver and then some.

wow these speakers are amazing, creative also has awsome tech support, these speakers perform flawlessly in lows, highs, mids. the bass is incridiable, u cannot notice where its comming from, really smooth, and the controller is nifty, gives you options for rear, master, center, bass, trible, and mute. at 80% the speakers are unbarable, saying its really clean and undistorted at 80% but its way tooo loud for me. 60% is sometimes pushing it, 40% is my usual casual listen level, these speakers sure do have a lot of power. the package it came with was quite well done. a lot bigger then i expected for the size of the satillites and the sub but thats a good thing:), setup is quite easy to do, but do make sure you do have a compatiable 5.1 sound card. the rear speakers cables are quite long, long enough to get to the rear for my room. hear things i never heard on my old logitech z 640 speakers, awsome job creative!:)! defently a good buy! no tweeter who cares if its able to produce such good sound, and if you have issues with any parts u can call creative and they will replace it (like i think my remote is messed up), i asked them if i need to send in the product or pay anything they said no to both, awsome tech support! go creative!

ok review add on after a few months of experience.
awsome still, no issues at all, creative have excellent tech support if anyone ever needs it. some of the best midrange and low range sounds out there. considering the fact that these are 3.5 inch drivers in the satillites it should be able to do well, and combine it with a 8 inch downfiring sub, highs are half decent but can be better:).

this personal stereo cassette is wonderfull,in fact it has great sound and sounds just like a full size stereo to your ears.i am so thankfull my husband bought it for me.iam very picky on sound quality and believe me you will feel like you have rich sound in your ears.if you want rich loud sound in your ears than get this portable cassette player.

This portable stereo cassette player has outstanding sound. A great buy at any price ! Especially incredible is the fact that it is all done with only ONE battery AND, the battery lasts almost 28 hours of tape playtime. Even longer on radio. The controls take a little time to learn but, a small price to pay.

If the "ShockWave" feature is not your cup of tea you can always use your own headset (as I do) and still get solid bass.

if you want to enjoy your music while feeling the bass in your neck .... This walkman is super! I checked it out and I never want another walkman anymore, I love it

this personal stereo cassette is wonderfull,in fact it has great sound and sounds just like a full size stereo to your ears.i am so thankfull my husband bought it for me.iam very picky on sound quality and believe me you will feel like you have rich sound in your ears.if you want rich loud sound in your ears than get this portable cassette player.

This portable stereo cassette player has outstanding sound. A great buy at any price ! Especially incredible is the fact that it is all done with only ONE battery AND, the battery lasts almost 28 hours of tape playtime. Even longer on radio. The controls take a little time to learn but, a small price to pay.

If the "ShockWave" feature is not your cup of tea you can always use your own headset (as I do) and still get solid bass.

if you want to enjoy your music while feeling the bass in your neck .... This walkman is super! I checked it out and I never want another walkman anymore, I love it

I am a techno-geek. My wife is not.

She just doesn't like seeing a coffee table with four remote controls (TV, Cable Box, DVD player, TV) on it. She loves to watch movies on the home theater, but there is no way she can ever set it up to work correctly, and so if I don't do it, it doesn't happen.

This device is unbelievable! It took me about half an hour to gather the names and model numbers of all the various components of the home theater, and then enter them into the website of the manufacurer (go to harmonyremote.com to see exactly how easy the setup is). Then, the remote is updated by the USB cable (included) you connect from the remote to your internet-connected PC. All the settings of your components and the remote-control language that came with each component is updated into your new all-in-one remote. The update is done in a matter of 45 seconds (cable internet connection), and then it's ready to go.

It is organized by activity rather than by device. This means there is an actual button that says "Watch a movie", another that says "Listen to CD", etc. It can even control things like minidisk players, DAT playes, CD jukeboxes, satellite boxes, etc. If you have more than one music source, you can control multiples. And if you have both cable and satellite, you can make a "Watch Cable" and a "Watch Satellite", for example. It can even control projectors, combination devices (TV/VCR, DVD/VCR's, for example), switching devices, and even your room lighting or fireplace(if they have an infrared control)!

When you pick "Watch a movie", for example, it will turn on your TV, set it to the proper video input or tune the correct channel, turn on VCR, turn on receiver and set signal source to VCR, and change the remote control keypad to a VCR controller. If this sounds like gibberish (and to my wife, it does) get this device.

The setup is so easy, she could have done it herself (but she was afraid to try because the thought it would be too hard). It was absolutely painless.

Summary: If I could give more than 5 stars, I would.

I have to say that I have used now about 3 universal remotes and was about to give up and continue to use the 4 that I ordinarily need until I read about this one. The 659 is in one word - Spectacular!!!

I am an average computer user and bought this remote online about 3 weeks ago. All I can say is that it took me 15 minutes to set up out of the box FULLY PROGRAMMED!!! That to me is unheard of instead of programming and reprogramming silly numberic values to a remote which would take me days to figure out - I was again up and running with the Harmony in 10 minutes.

The remote is completely user friendly and intuitive here are my pros/cons on the remote:

Pros: 2 things set this remote apart:
(1) Great, Web-based configuration with a vast database of electronics devices. Forget about punching in obscure codes into your remote -- just select the Manufacturer and Model of your device, and you're off to the races.
(2) Activity Keys -- the simplicity of just pressing "Watch TV" or "Watch Movie" cannot be underestimated. No more powering up components, switching inputs on the A/V receiver and the TV. Just press one button, and you are doing what you're supposed to be doing: using your gear. The Harmony Remote was designed simplicity and a great experience for the end user -- not the techno geek. I bought one for my brother and brother in-law this week as gifts!!!!

Cons: I have used it for 3 weeks and have yet to find a fault with this remote.

For those who write negative comments - my only guess is that they are not computer frinedly at all b/c all you need to do is install the software and follow the prompts and you are done!! Truely a great experience in a market that is full of disappointment.

I just purchased this remote last week. So far I cannot find any problems. The remote operated all of my devices right after the initial programming. I went from 6 remotes to 1 in about 2 hours. One of these devices was my Linksys media adapter which remote I never thought I would be able to eliminate.

It did require some tweaking through the help menus on the remote and through the online programming. After about an hour I was able to get my most used buttons and commands available and up front on the main screens. Once I got used to the online programing the process became easy.

I have not tried any command-learning because all of my devices worked. Which I found to be amazing because even the odd and seldom used commands for my Onkyo reciever and Linksys adapter were pre-programed.

I am working with Tech Support to fix problem with the Media function that lets you see what TV Shows are on. Tech support has always responded within 24 hours and we seem to be progressing towards a resolution. The problem is software related not hardware.

Beware where you purchase this device: Not all online retailers are authorized retailers and if they are not authorized then you have no warranty. I bought mine through JR's electronics who is an authorized retailer.

I was looking for something small I could carry in a pack or a pocket. This gadget fits the bill. It's so tiny and cool to use, people are always astonished when they see it. It's useful for taking quick pictures and short videos (the resolution isn't great but it's good enough for email and web pix). The MP3 player is a great bonus. I use it to listen to audiobooks. I would highly reccommend it for anyone looking for a small multi-use gadget. It will never replace my Canon digital camera but it's a nice extra.

This has been a perfect buy for my wife and I. She wanted an easy-to-use, easy-to-carry digital camera. Well, I found exactly what she wanted, plus a digital camcorder (it records/plays MPEG4 clips), an audio recorder, and a MP3 player --all for the price of an entry-level digital camera!!

The video editing software that comes with this baby is not ideal, but it handles the basic tasks of viewing and deleting files. I also wish I could use the device as a webcam. But other than that, I've had so much fun with it, including recording instructions for my wife on how to use it!

this is the coolest thing you get four great things in one, although i cant print out the pictures because my mom lost the product key

a retard could figure this out it's so easy,but if you are going to buy this buy an extra card for recording because they dont hold very much. well, you should still buy this because instead of buying those expensive video camera, or mp3 players, or digital cameras it's all in one and VERY COOL

I wanted just a CD player for some extensive lesson material in the new (to me) MP3 format. It was necessary that the player be able to stop and restart ("resume") within any location in that material. This unit would not do it. And the "technical data" info was lacking in this information. This unit still did an acceptable job in playing the data, music too, but not with the level of control that I needed.

Pros: Many features for the money (AM/FM, Plays CDs, MP3s, WMAs, etc). Displays the most information about the MP3 song on the 4x16 character display for a BoomBox I've seen advertised. With the remote it is easy to navigate and pick the songs you want. It appears you can make playlists using MultiAudio Track Lists.

Cons: Onboard buttons feel cheap and you have to steady the unit to push them without moving the unit backwards. Sounds poor without using the various equalizer options (I have to experiment for each environment - loud, soft, far, near, etc). The thump between songs is annoying when playing music softly. Seems to be sensitive to CD-R quality and skips when moved.

MP3 Tech: In File/Folder mode it displays the 1st 15 characters of the file/folder name to allow song selection. When playing a song it displays 32 characters (scrolling) of the filename and 16 characters each of Artist and Album from the ID3V1 tags. Never displays ID3V1 Title tag content just the filename without ".mp3". In "SmartTrax" mode it displays the information the MusicMatch software places in ".mau" playlist files for Artist, Title, Album, and Genre. ...

As a collector of Old time Radio shows in mp3 format, I am always looking for new products that will accomodate the 32kbps mono format that has become the standard for OTR. At that bitrate, we can fit 100+ 30 minute programs on a single CD. I am happy to report that this unit (RCD128) will indeed read and play 32kbps files with no problem. The acceptable range listed in the manual is 32-320 kbps. SOUND QUALITY is quite good for OTR considering the original recordings are not always that great to begin with. Voice reproduction is accurate and well-defined. Music lovers may find the bass thin, but this is a plus for OTR, allowing the actors dialog to come through clearly. For under $50, this is a good economical choice for OTR fans.

I'll just cut to the chase:
Pros: Cheap; great audio quality; the easiest search song functions; the random function is in deed an ALL song random function; includes AC/DC adapter (not everyone does, watchout).
Cons: Lousy headphones (comfort & audio quality); ESP (Antiskip) works only in regular CD's (not MP3's); if your MP3 CD surpasses 130 songs it won't read the 131 and so on; the open/close device is very insecure, for it can be opened very easily during playback if you're not cautious.

The veredict: Worth for the money you pay. It does the task. It won't dissapoint you.

I have a problem with this cd player. The problem its that my cd player "burns" battery literally. I put a pair of "AA" battery and in a half of hour it appears "Low Battery". Why???, and also I was searching for how much time does the battery offers and I couldn't find anything...

This mp3 player is excellent for anyone who wants to listen to their entire music collection on just a few simply made CD's. When you create an Mp3 disc RecordNow is an great for making the mp3 format discs. After you have selected every song on your computer, just burn them to the CDR and whalllaaahhh.

Good Quality Mp3's have a filesize of about 1.0 megabytes per minute of music. An mp3 cd that I made for my friend had 275 songs which was about 680 minutes of music.

Here's how you can calculate how many regular Cd's you can fit on an mp3 formated disc:

Number of minutes of music on a regular CD X 1 = space in MB taken up on the CD

So if your average Cd is 50 minutes long you can fit 13 of your reugalar CD's onto one disc to play forever on this player.
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Bottom LINE 680-700 minutes of music on one disc
Equivalent to 11 hours of music Yeaaaaaahhhhhh

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I bought this product in June 2003. It stopped working 3 months later.
First it turned itself off abruptly with NO REASONS. - 1st month
Then strange characters start showing up. - 2nd month
Then nothing showed up on LED and no key works. - 3rd month
I don't think a 128MB MP3 player is supposed only to work for 3 months.
Be cautious of this product.

Major stuff: BIG ole sound, even at 64 WMA
SMALL little box, expensive feel.
Really good battery life.
Expandable. Although I have already put
a lot of songs on it and still have memory
left.
Buttons nice and easy to click.

Minor stuff: Earphones about 2 inches too short for
walking with player in jacket waist pocket,
although not jacket vest pocket

Arm band not made for bigger biceps. Could not
get used to wearing player on my wrist.

Bottom line: Small mp3/wma player, wma recorder from voice or
line-in CD player input. VERY few players will copy
your collection of CD's right from your CD player.
Really good sound quality at 64 bit rate WMA. Go
to 128 if you want to.

This player is superbad!! I ordered another for my
son.

Before I rave on about how great this product, let me just say up front that it is not the best mp3/wma player, nor is it the best recorder... but it is the best for doing both. I purchased the player because I wanted to listen to my digital music away from home. I purchased the Ripflash DX because I wanted to make digital recordings of the high school choirs that I teach. Because the DX records in WMA format, it is able to compress near-CD quality sound and transfer it to my computer without sending it through my sound card using a LINE IN or MIC port. With the ability to change the recording bitrate and the option for another 128MB, the recording options are near limitless.