Audio Reviews

the frame is kind of robust.
Sound is OK.
However, small lcd does not give me enough info at a glance.

Just got this for birthday. A few things I'd like to share with.
The firmware it comes with is very basic and I got a little dissapointed at first. DO UPGRADE THE FIRMWARE at the first opportunity because of the following reasons. Number one: if you turn the player off and on again it will play the last track you listened to from very beginning, NOT where you left off. This is a huge inconvenience for adudio books listeners. Number two: fast forward/rewind is quite slow. It took a few minutes to get back to the point in the audio book file where I left off.
Number three: the original firmware did not support folders function, I was not able to categorize or sort my files into different folders in the memory. THE LATEST FIRMWARE DOWNLOADED OFF WWW.MPIO.COM FIXED ALL OF THE ABOVE. That I was very pleased to discover. The only down side of the new firmware is that it has reduced display contrast and I know of no way to increase it. All on-display information now is very bleak and difficult to read unless you touch any of the controls (buttons) and thus activate the display's back-light. A minor thing for me, but some folks may be quite irritaded by this. The software, MPIO manager, that comes with the unit is also outdated. Don't bother installing it. Download MPIO manager 2 off the same site. The new manager supports folder function as well as firmware upgrades. In fact, come to think of it, you won't be able to upgrade the firmware unless you use the newer MPIO manager. Otherwise it's a great player. I like it. Price is good. Sound is good. Construction is sturdy and appealing.

This is a discontinued item that now sells at a fraction of its original cost. I've had it for about a month and couldn't be more pleased. With a Viking smart memory card, it holds about 75 songs. The sound quality with the provided earbuds is first rate. The construction is solid and I have no problem with reading the LCD. Although the MPIO website is close to worthless, their 800# service center (once you get through) is very helpful. Highly recommended.

If you plan to tune in an AM or FM station with this unit on a Greyhound bus, the driver may ask you to turn it off, because it beeps every time a button is pressed. A large red LED eyeball light also stays on all the time, draining battery power unnecessarily, unless you want to show it off. It looks like a miniature aluminum slipstream housetrailer without wheels, kinda flashy, but not for engineer types.

All of the usual features with two particularly fine points. A "hold" button keeps whatever mode you have chosen from changing even through vigorous exercise. And, happily, it lacks an automatic turn over feature so old tapes that stick do not get flipped to the other side long before they are done.

this is a classic Walkman.I still listen to tapes alot on walks&things&this is a solid sounding system.especially the Bass.a great added Bonus.great price great fit for Grooving.

Really wicked amp for the price, great sound but it runs a little warm so I don't stack anything on it that doesn't provide space between for air circulation. I paired this amp with a set of Reference audio R82T floor model speakers, cranked up the Sepultura and now my neighbours have a reason to officially hate me.

Loud and clear.

Bought this to replace an aging Yamaha stereo receiver and move up to a home theater receiver. First things first, you cannot beat the price! This sounds really good for home theater, it weighs a ton, it runs real hot. However, if you listen to music mostly, I'd stick with Yamaha or Onkyo. For some reason I can't get this to crank out like my Yamaha could. Four stars for a good receiver at a great price. But like with most everything you get what you pay for.

I bought the Panasonic SA-HE75 receiver after trying out another one. I'm very impressed with this unit. I've connected an equalizer to it to draw that extra punch.
The first(and only) sound test was the T-Rex scene from "Jurassic Park", I was blown away. Enuff said.
I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good/solid receiver @ a budget. And for any tech. related questions, Panasonic.com is a great help. Enjoy!!!!

I have owned the VT-2's for four years and still have not heard any speaker anywere near the same price perform as well. Where most misinterpert the sound of this speaker is in its totally neutral sound. If you have a poor source the NHT VT-2 will let you know in spades. Likewise if you have mid to top line equipment you can approach near audiophile quality sound for a fraction of the price. It's not Wilson Puppy analog type sound, but for about 98% of the listners out there they would be hard pressed to "hear" the difference at normal volumes. I have seen these speakers sell used in the $500.00 to $750.00 range usally due to the sellers dislike of the sound based on inferior amplification equipment being used. Mid' are sharp, highs are crystal clear, and the bottom end is good, unbelievable if bi-amped. These speakers also excell as a good base for a home theater, and you can shake the windows if you so choose if you power the subs. If you can find them, buy them, you won't be disappointed.

System configeration: Shearwood Newcastle 9080R-Pre-amp, Sherbourn 5/1500A Amp, Adcom GFA555 Subs, MIT HT4S Main speaker cables, Sony SADC/DVD NHT VT2 Fronts Center, Klipsch CF2's for the rear

I've had the VT2/VT2center/HDP2 surrounds for a year now I assure you they are worth the price if you have it! Mine are connected to a Sony ES receiver 120W/channel and I have biamped the subs on the VT2s using NHTs sub amplifier. These bad boys require serious power to drive them. Once you get a lot of clean amps into them they sound fantastic. I would also warn you that these are acurate speakers. If you have low quality source components you will hear every hiss. If you have a great system you'll hear every whisper!

These are top notch speakers and it is good to see that amazon are improving their audio section ( about time). But I am upset at the cost. Amazons Dvds are very cheap and the reviews are excellent. Here the speakers are not discounted enough and the reviews are lacking.5 stars for the speaker/ 2 stars for the almost list price

I thought this would be the end-all, be-all solution to my microcassette needs, which include field recordings, music ideas, dictation and lecture. It's not...I tried three models, thinking each time it was just a bad model, but each one had an enourmous amount of flutter on playback, as if everything recorded was being twanged with a whammy bar. Too large and bulky for standard dictation needs as well, you can do better for dication with a smaller one.

In the hunt for something to help me with my college studies, I decided to grab this particular microcassette recorder/player to tape my instructors' class lectures. So far, I've found it to be a pretty good study aid. Although the recording quality still isn't as top-notch as I'd hoped it'd be, it's still a bit better than many mid-to-lower-end recorders I've used and tried out.

The lecture setting is good if you're in a class where the instructor just gives his spiel, and doesn't field that many student questions. Unfortunately, this setting features a bit more background white noise than the other two modes, so it's best to have this device within a close proximity to the subject doing the lecturing, about seven feet or less. It's also best to have a clear line-of-sight from the microphone to the speaker, without any obstructions in the way.

I've found the meeting setting to be the best for classes where student views and participation is encouraged. It doesn't have quite as much background noise as the lecture setting, but it also doesn't quite have the recording range, either. I try to get the player about five feet away or closer from the instructor when I set it to the meeting mode.

The dictation setting's perfect for those times I've got a few thoughts and words off the top of my head regarding a product offered on Amazon I'm going to review (like this one, f'rinstance). It's an especially good thing to have when you come up with a thought or idea, and you want to record it before it disappears on you. You know, like when you walk to another room in your house to get a particular thing, but when you get there, you've forgotten the reason why you went there in the first place. This setting offers the least background noise, but unfortunately it also has the shortest recording range, which doesn't make it a very good mode for recording my class instructors' lectures. But for some reason it records my voice a bit deeper than it actually is. I listen to the playback of my spoken thoughts, and I end up sounding a little like Mister Sulu from classic Star Trek. Oh my!

PROS:
I've discovered that the playback is a bit clearer sounding if you listen to it through earphones. I would, however, recommend you listen to it through a comfy pair of headphones, rather than the earbud that's included with the machine. You can even listen to whatever you're recording through the player itself as it's taping, and you'll have some idea of what the tape will end up sounding like, background noise and all. Also, don't put the earbud too close to the mike, or you'll cause some uncomfortably high-pitched feedback!

I'm always losing the battery covers to my little electronic gadgets, so I was happy to see that the battery cover slides open, and stays attached to the player.

The foam wind guard seen in the product picture is an attachment that can be removed or added if needed or desired. I found this add-on a bit funny-looking, and I'm happy to see that it's not permanently mounted to the player.

CONS:
I'm not too hip with the cue/review (aka fast-forward/rewind) feature. Both selections are on either end of a three-way slide switch, rather than push-down buttons like the play, record, and stop/eject buttons. Also, when the tape reaches the end (or beginning), the switch doesn't automatically click off; you've got to slide it to 'off' yourself.

I've also discovered that the voice-only recording feature isn't as sensitive as it should be. It doesn't need the subject to be very loud when it's activated and recording, but a fairly high decibel level is required for the VOR to re-activate and resume taping. Unfortunately, I've found this to be the case with every other minitaper that has this feature, so it's not like this particular model is a unique case.

A Con that became sort of a Pro:
I haven't found the fast-playback feature to be all that useful. It plays back my lecture recordings a bit too quickly for me to comprehend what's being said. It does have one good point, though: if you want to fast-forward or rewind your tape a little faster, click the fast-playback switch on (along with the 2.4 cm tape speed setting) and it'll get to the end or beginning a bit sooner than with the rewind/review switch by itself.

'Late

Best micro recorder I've ever had. And I've one througt a number of them with all the dictating I do in a day.
This is a well made machine, with a good mic.

I purchased this system for my mother who is 70 years old.

It worked well for a few months and then would stop automatically after only playing a few minutes. It was sent in for repair and when returned it still had the same problem. However, after a few days it began working okay but then the same problem reappeared. If you hit the machine it will work okay for a little while but you have to keep slapping it every once in a while.

I purchased a Panasonic system for her to replace this system -- I am very disappointed in SONY and would not recommend this system for anybody....or their mother.

this mini system has amazing sound compared to the other systems i looked at. the only down side for me is that the AUX Input is on the front.

I shopped around for two weeks in search of a stereo that featured superior sound and lots of features. This stereo delivers...big time. The control interface is easy to use and the ability to over dub music with video games or other sound systems is awesome. The speakers are clear and precise sounds stream forth from their sonic circles. I love this stereo and would recommend it to anyone. You can hook-up your TV and/or
computer and it serves as an excellent surround sound system. For the price, you can not find a better system with as many features and 240 watts of power. I could on and on but you get the picture. Lastly, Tech For Less is a great company and promptly delivered the stereo and even sent me an email that allowed me to track the package as it left Colorado.

Panasonic would have you believe that the SVAS-10 plays MP3, WMA and AAC music files, but after buying one of the units I was dismayed to find it doesn't. To copy music onto the SVAS-10 you can ONLY use the SD Jukebox software (supplied with the unit) The software encrypts your music before sending it to the unit, making it a very slow process. Even worse, you can never again rename, copy, move or edit music files on your computer, as the player will refuse to play them again. Worse still, if you encounter a problem that requires you to reload Windows on your computer, you can't listen you your music files on the player again - instead you have to delete all the files, and copy them from their origional CD's again. So if for example you have coppied your old records and cassettes onto your computer, and then thrown the originals away, you will only be able to listen to them on that computer - if you later buy a new computer, and copy your files accross to it, you cant listen to your music on the SVAS-10.

All the other features on the unit are fine, and the device does look great - but if you want to listen to music, dont bother with the SVAS-10

it's a good deal especially for the beginner.
but dont put too much expectation on it. it's so tough to use the jukebox software to transfer data. i cant figure it out until now.
pls help me up email me at jeffsun1008@hotmail.com

You will surely need one as a gift.
It's a very, very nice camera... it is my first Digital CamCoder, and I'm trully satisfied. Panasonic has made an outstanding job with this.
Small, fancy, good resoluntion, lots of accessories. Just enough for me... I have to say that is a camera for traveling (not for a proffessional), also usable as MP3 player... really cool if you dont need more than 2MP.
Amazing.

A little pricy but your only option. It is kond of deciving it only holds about 27 minutes in MP3 format, yet the advertise it as 1HR in WMA(Windows Media Format). I haven't figured how to convert to WMA, but the program it comes with doesn't do it.

ok first off this is a great product it is great if you think that about an hour of memory isnt enough (like i do...

Too much is never enough. That's the rule for memory in computers, PDAs, and now MP3 players. I love my Rio Diamond 600, but its built-in 32mb of memory is too anemic to suit my daily commuting needs. That's why I had to get the 32mb backpack that doubled the memory of my 600. It slides easily and quickly onto the back of your 600 (or 800) and includes a rechargeable battery and power cord that helps you save AAs. Installation is smoothly and easily supported on my iMac.

A small complaint: the backpack ships with virtually no instructions except a sticker on the bag the backpack came in, with essential info on how to upgrade the firmware of your player. Don't throw away that bag, pay close attention and follow these instructions. I hate the recent trend of no instruction manual included with computer hardware, but this is a ridiculous extreme.

Don't let that scare you, however: this add-on is pricey but absolutely essential for expanding the memory of your 600/800. I'm hoping that the market for Rio MP3 players is strong enough that they eventually release the long-promised *320*mb backpack.

Sound quality okay; generally clean good for background music and ambient audio when hooked up to video system. Power good, but lack of decent tone controls limits musical enjoyment, however. Typical of many new-age units, the lack of [meaningful] bass/treble controls make it hard to tailor the sound to any environment. There are only five settings each, and they provide minimum boost over a very limited spectrum. This is why they invented equalizers.

This Amplifier is worth the $100. Although the specs claim to have 5 Audio Inputs...Including a TV/AUX, You will need to Purchase a Pre-Amplifier if you plan to use a TurnTable.
The Amp I was replacing was OLD...Before Remotes...and had a Max Output of 50 Watts Per Channel...But the Phonograph was Plug and Play. In today's world, CD's have virtually replaced Albumns, so it is no longer necessary to have a pre-amp for the majority of purchasers...but if Customer Service had informed me when I called for advise, I would not have waited 2 weeks thinking I had an Unreturnable(Received for Christmas...30 Day Return Policy...Mother purchased in Nov.)Unit which would not serve my needs.
The Pre-Amp is available from Phonopreamps.com for about $27.00.
After all was said and Done I had around over $150.00 invested.
Also, like the new Gasolines...I don't think Watts are graded the same today because it seems the 50 WPC unit I replaced had more BOTTOM than this Unit.
Adult Child Of the 70's...Vinyl Forever!!!

Excellent, better then the JVC and Pioneer I had before and less money too. Buy this one.

This is the second in the row Sony ES product I buy that does not survive more than 2 months. The first one luckily broke 5 days after the purchase and I was able to return it and get a refund. I was so dissapointed that I did not want to buy another Sony ES product for a number of years. Finally I was convinced to buy this brand new Sony ES 555 receiver. I am not even going to talk about the remote control - it is useless and I had to use my Mitsubishi universal remote but the quality! Just when it was a little over a month old, my wife was watching a DVD movie when she heard a loud pop and smoke - the digital side of the receiver when out. Unfortunately I could not return it as it was over 30 days old so I had to take it to Sony center for repair. During the 5 minutes that I was there filling up the paperwork, I saw another two guys with 555s picking them p and bringing them in for repair. Anyway, 2 weeks 7 man-hours later (moving furniture, disconnecting and reconnecting) I got it back fixed. Sony center had replaced 3 blown resistors. I still have it but hope to sell it soon and get an Onkyo or something similar that has better component quality.

This is a great receiver. Excellent sound and lots of features. The remote control was the biggest disappointment. It requires two hands to use and the power button is located on the side where you are most likely to power off the receiver in the middle of a movie or song. The LCD display will power off after 10 seconds to conserve battery. This is annoying since accomplishing most tasks takes more than 10 seconds. There is no adjustment for this time-out. The most practical feature of this remote is powering the receiver off/on or adjusting the volume. Forget about using this remote with any Sony multiple CD/DVD changer. It only recognizes one disk. If you want to change disks you will need a different remote. Overall the remote is excellent for controlling volume and power but nothing else. It does look good on a coffee table and its futuristic appearnce will make a great conversation piece.

This thing sounds great, I am constantly impressed with the sound quality and surround sound effects. The "concert hall" and "live" music settings are very realistic, unlike many I have heard. I wish there was some way to turn all those glaring LED's off so it's not so bright and distracting when watching movies in the dark. Also, some kind of "midnight" mode, automatic loudness -inhibiting function would keep my roommates in the next room from having to listen to all the cool explosion scenes with me in the middle of the night. The "universal" remote will not recognize my JVC television, but it does turn on my Sony shelf system every time I use the main power button to turn the reciever off! But it's worth a minor inconvenience to experience such wonderful sound quality.