Digital-Audio Reviews

Do not bother with this program the same program different name.I would highly suggest this if you do not have Acid Music 3.0.One of the most stable music programs around.Alot better then any Magix program I have used. The publishing to the net is unbeatable and a great file rendering program too boot.

It's great software at a great price. I bought the program so I could rip and burn CD's but soon found that using the ACid program (2 software apps come in the box- Acid and Siren...I think these are the Sonic Foundry engines)I could also add a soundtrack to my home movies. The box also came with audio clips that I used to sequence a Blues song and that was fun too.

Creating music has never been easier. The interface is very clean and easy to follow. This is a great product if you want to make music. The editing tools are great. This program even comes with some cool loops to get one started. Check this product out!

Excellent recorder with every desirable feature and ease of use. Included software is outstanding!!!

I have 2 recorders ICD-MS1. Sound quality is very good for such device. Microphone quality is much better than PC's or headset's mics. VOR works instantly. Control buttons are easy to use. Though I extended recording button with epoxy (it was too tiny and I use it a lot). Battery life is short and I bought 3 sets of rechargable batteries (no problem then). Software is very easy to use (drag and drop) and install. Big plus that it can convert files to .wav format and back. PC memory stick adaptor is not included. When you will buy adaptor, make sure it works with your PC and OS at Sony's website.
I had to send to repair one of recorders 3 times (!). Memory stick lost contact every minute. On 3rd time they replaced it with new one. I bought extra memory stick 64MB, but it takes more time to save or erase message and I use 16MB now. 16MB can fit 63 minutes with best quality.

If you're serious enough about digital voice recorders to spend $250 or more, this is the one you should spend it on. I think Olympus beats Sony hands down in the ANALOG (microcassette) recorder department, but when it comes to digital, the exact opposite is true. I bought the MS1 (the one that is sold without the voice recognition software, for $50 less) after returning an Olympus DS2000, which cost the same. The DS was noisy, and the speaker was weak. The MS1 is strong and very clear in its output and has a surprisingly powerful speaker. In short it makes the DS2000 seem like a $30 cassette recorder, no kidding.
The MS1 also feels sturdy and well made, has a backlit display and easy to understand controls (at least to me, but then I'm a gadget nut).
There are two things, however, that can be considered shortcomings. One is that there is no way to directly connect this unit to a PC. That's understandable though, because with the memory stick, I'm sure Sony would rather sell me a reader to interface with a PC. Still, I wish they had made that capability. Two, this unit eats batteries like they're bonbons! This is probably due to the powerful speaker and the backlit display, but still, I'd highly recommend rechargeable batteries.
Overall, I don't think you can spend a better $250 on a digital recorder.

Your old CDs and those HDCDs never sounded so good. Throw in the new DVD-A format ... and you have a winner.

Buy This Player !

This is absolutely the best player out there. It plays everything that I've got- DVD, VCD, and CD. It have a very crisp look and feel to it.

Recommendation: Strong Buy

I love this machine. It looks great. The slide down display that conceals the tray. The simple facia and clean lines make it stand out in my rack. But most importantly, the quality. The picture is brilliant. Rich deep colors and no obvious digital artifacts as seen in earlier players. Sound quality is second to none. I now us the Toshiba as my CD player. It's that good!!! The sound from both DVD-A & CD's is excellent. You would have to spend a lot more money than what is being asked here to improve on this unit. My only complaint is with the remote control. It could have been laid out better and include built in backlighting. But my universal remote solved that problem. I would recommend the Toshiba to anyone looking for a 1st rate DVD player & the capability to play all current CD formats including MP3's with the same, if not better, quality of other flagship models.

I bought the HDV420 to go with a new 30", 16x9,HDTV , Toshiba 30HF83. I bought the inexpensive Zenith antenna, the Silver Sensor. The system work VERY GOOD. From my house, the indoor antenna/receiver combo gives me Washington and BAltimore station: ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, WB.

Back to the unit:
1) Previous reviewer correction - the output resolution cannot be controlled by the remote, but directly on the front panel. This is a small (-).
2) Signal strength meter very nice and handy when directing the small indoor antenna.
3) Nice squelch action. DTV signal is either ON or OFF.
4) Remote cannot control my Samsung DVD, but can do the Toshiba TV. Likewise, my Toshiba TV remote cannot control the Zenith STB, but can control the DVD!
5) 10dB attenuator. You use this in series with the antenna (F) input when scanning for channels. I tried the scan with and without the attenuator. With the attenuator, I got 11 channels, 10 without.

I bought my unit "new" on EBAY. However, the supplied A/V cables and component cables were cheap. I bought new ones (not Monster) for the unit.

You can operate this unit without a remote. What you lose is password access to program V-chip menues. Everything else can be done via the front panel. I don't know if a cheap universal remote can change these channels on the HDV420 unit. After set up, all you need the remote for are channels, and maybe aspect changes. To change the output format, you are on your feet and pushing buttons, and can do the aspect there too.

Let me tell you, DTV 480p is like good cable that kicks 480i OTA (booty). DTV 720p and 1081i is HDTV kicking 480p butt. Get an HDTV monitor, and a HDTV receiver. For me, it is now ALL FREE!

I purchased this unit used just in time for the Superbowl and was blown away. The unit picked up 6 of 10 local channels witha cheapie indoor antenna. I upgraded to the Zenith/Gemini Silver Sensor antenna and got 9 of 10 channels, all with good signal quality. Reception with these is highly dependent on location so your antenna requirements may vary. The HDV420 is easy to setup and easy to use. Unlike many other units, you can change the resolution from the remote. Also, the unit has both optical and coaxial digital out which allows for flexibility. The only down side, no DVI out. Most probably won't care but if you absolutely must have DVI, look elsewhere.

I just upgraded to this HDTV receiver from a Samsung. Before Samsung I used an RCA receiver. I was going to get another Samsung but I figured for [$] more this one was worth it. This receiver blows both of my old ones away. It was child's play to set up. It scanned for all of the channels and got every channel automatically. The menu is very well laid out. The exterior looks very modern and high tech with the reflective panel and the brushed metal. It also has coaxial and optical digital output so that I can now watch TV in Dolby Digital (when the program is in DD). It has component out for HDTV. It also has 15-pin computer VGA out. I hooked it up to my regular 15-inch computer monitor and the picture was too small. However, it looked even better than my TV! The remote is very simple. I like it that way but that's a matter of choice. The best feature is that you can change the display format just by the push of the button. Next I am going to buy a wireless transmitter to send the HDTV channels to the rest of my TV's in the house through the analog out. I highly recommend this. ...

I am very happy with the product tp-MI30 That i bought atAmazon.com What took me by supprise was How easy and how fast It wasto do this. Keep up the good work and i will be back to buy more products

I can't believe nobody did'nt have anything to say about this recorder. it's great & the price is too for a good product like this one, i thought it would be a bit pricey it was'nt. it's got cute features that are soo cool , for instant it's got a switch on the side that you can use your voice to actived the tape to start rolling , but if you stop talking after a couple of seconds it stops & it's also got a second jack on the unit to dub off your mini tape to a big tape. i can't say enough good things about this product so i'll stop now.

The sound produced by the Cirrus Logic Crystal 192KHz/24-bit digital-analog converters (DACs) is spectacular. The amplification is both powerful and low noise. I've never heard this degree of clarity before. This Harman Kardon is replacing a very nice Linn CD player and amp with 24-bit Burr-Brown DACs that sounded warmer than the Harman Kardon.

I bought this unit for its DACs and the number of digital inputs it accepted, its video switching capability, and its low distortion amplification. I might get around to buying surround or a subwoofer, but I'd prefer a unit with 1/4 of the electronics and a simpler interface; they're simply not available. I do appreciate the number of audio inputs. I'm plugging in optical input from a Turtle Beach Audiotron, S/PDIF input from a DVD/CD player, S/PDIF input from my workstation/home theater, and plan to plug in an optical input from a Sony Playstation 2. After all that, the input cables and a single stereo pair of speaker cables look lonely among the dozens of back-panel inputs.

I wanted this kind of processing for my home theater PC and my computer-based CD collection. The Audiotron is a wonderful device that allows MP3s or full CD-resolution WAV files to be read from a network and piped into a home-theater receiver like this one; CDs sound the same ripped to disk full resolution and played back through the Audiotron as they do from the DVD player or computer's digital inputs. My computer provides S/PDIF output, so DVD soundtracks (or CD audio) can be passed to the receiver for decoding the same way as they can be passed from the DVD player.

The downside to this receiver is that it is absolutely impossible to set up without (a) the manual, (b) the remote, and (c) an S-video monitor to display the menus you're navigating. Some understanding of surround sound and digital music encoding formats, crossovers, and room acoustics will help in deciphering the configuration menus. I haven't read the documentation on the remote, so most of the buttons and markings are meaningless to me. On the positive side, it's easy to switch sources once they're set up and there's a nice big volume knob, albeit one that requires a lot of spinning to move the volume significantly. I haven't tried other models, so these comments shouldn't be read comparitively; configuring a home theater is a difficult task to pack into a front panel and remote. And if that wasn't enough complexity, this receiver also features video switching, which I am using to route a DVD player, VCR, and soon, the PlayStation2 into my monitor.

In the end, the amazing sound and number of inputs won me over in the face of an extremely challenging interface.

One of the best receivers for the price you could buy.
Configuration:
AVR 325
HK CD Player
Toshiba DVD
JBL S312 fronts
JBL center channel
JBL S26 surrounds
Sound:
Sound is crystal clear. Best sound i have heard. Make sure you setup the channels right and the speaker to large if you have towers. This receiver gives you very precise control. EZ setup takes all the guesswork out but I prefer to do it manually.
I have a digital connect running from the CD player to the AMP, sound is perfect with a lot of depth.
Make sure you have in the least a 12 gauge wire to the speakers this receiver can drive 35 amps. Power is more than enough at 55 Watts X 7 channels. I only use 5, hope to use 7 soon. I cannot drive the volume even half way without the whole room starting to move. So these watts are high AMP watts and again no distortion, does not matter what volume level it is at.
Looks, build and functionality:
This puppy is very sturdy and looks are beautiful, you need a big transformer to be able to pump out those AMPS. You get what you pay for if you buy those toys from other companies which offer sleek models. There are plenty of ports at the back for all sorts of connections. A lot of modes and options.
One tip to consider when buying a receiver is the THD value, the lower it is the better. The receiver has a THD of 0.07% . Most cheap receivers will above .5% . Also consider there are 7 channels in this puppy.

Overall I just cannot get over the fact how clean and powerfull the sound is. Worth every penny if you ask me.

The sound quality is the best I've ever heard from any piece of audio equipment. That's saying alot since the unit weighs less than the AA battery that powers it. With half a gig of space, this thing stores about 16 hours of CD quality music or 32 hours of radio quality music, in something roughly the size of a lighter. Being flash memory based, it won't skip like a CD player or Ipod. It needs better earphones though and the armstrap, although of high quality, only fits women (I can't even get it over my forearm, let alone my bicep *flex* One thing not mentioned anywhere is the microphone is extremely good. The unit will record about 33 hours of high quality sound, making it perfect for students who like to record lectures (the unit has a mode specifically designed for this). Again, this is amazing, considering the size and cost of the unit.

I was willing to pay extra for extra features w/ this player and those extras are worthwhile. What the descriptions and iriver site doesn't tell you that this player has a clock and timer.

Joystick does not look like the picture on Amazon or iRiver's US site. It looks like the iRiver North European site: irivernordic.com You can also get a USB Mass Storage (UMS) firmware from that site but I haven't tried it yet.

Alarm function just plays the last played MP3. The timed radio recordings work great but I don't know how to stop it, yet. Look at the manual from iriver's website and see the features for your self as I'm limited to 1,000 words on this review. Sound quality is great and volume even greater. Can go up to 40 but plays loud enough at 20 setting. EQ settings and 3D settings sound really nice, even on the included headphones. The headphones don't have too much bass so I used different ones. Can also adjust battery display setting for alkaline or rechargeable. I hated how previous players displayed inaccurate battery life because they base it on alkaline batteries.

Line-in and radio recordings sound great because I am able to record up to 320bps compared to others like the Samsung that can only go up to 128bps. Recordings are in *.rec format that the included windows utility can convert. The windows utility shouldn't be taken lightly. You can enter,label,& save all your radio station presets from it to save time. The radio reception is alright but what do you expect from such a small device? PLL? I use my home stereo which gets great reception from a Cable TV adapter and use the line-in recording.

The supplied armband is very well made and looks nice. People w/ humangus muscles or just fat arms can't get it around their arms though.

The only cons I see are:
If hold is not in place it is easy to accidently delete radio station presets and other settings. Once you set it don't forget to lock it as there are many options to change.

Can't copy songs from player to computer w/ the included software since there is no official US UMS support. Their version of DRM?

I purchased this receiver to complement my recent purchase of a JVC XV-FA900BK 7-disc DVD player, an older model 200-CD player, a 6-CD player, a VCR and a WEBTV browser. At the time I bought these 2 new JVC items, the reviews for the 7-disc DVD player were 2 stars out of 5, based on only 6 reviews (a bad choice if you believe reviews), and 5 stars out of 5 (based on only 1 review) for the receiver (again, not something on which to base a purchase). I opted, however, to base my choice on my past experience with the JVC brand, rather than on the small number of reviews which made up these ratings. The consistency of quality of JVC products has proven itself to me on at least 5 separate occasions in the past, so I followed my instincts. This proved to be the right decision. The capabilities and versatility of both the 7-disc DVD player and this receiver, especially considering the price tags, is nothing less than astounding! The receiver can be fine tuned, through it's multitude of internal adjustments, to perform and sound fantastic, in any size or shape of room and any furnishings (excluding, of course, a large auditorium). These internal adjustments cover an entire array of up to 5 separate speaker stations-- or as few as 2-- and also are adjustable with respect to speaker size and distance of separation as well as tonality and crossover. WOW! For the price, I'm certain I've not heard a better audio/video receiver-- not one! Enough said. Both units get the top rating from me!!!

Awesome sound, this system is as loud as u need if u get a decent set of speakers and and good 100 watt sub to go with it youll have enough sound to have huge loud parties or play Opera cds with persices and exact sound

There are a couple of key features that really make this unit stand out:

1) It has more inputs than you can shake a stick at, and once you have the thing configured properly, everything works just like you'd expect.

Most notably, it does audio *and* video source switching. All your video devices send their signals to the amplifier, and a single video out cable is run to the monitor. So when you switch inputs on the amp, the appropriate video source is automatually routed to the monitor for you.

It has 1 digital co-ax connection (RCA jack) and 4 fiber-optic digital inputs, and they can be assigned to different sources. In my case, I used a digital cable box as the co-ax source, my JVC cd changer as optical 1, and my JVC DVD player as optical source 2.

Not only does this provide an all-digital input path for these digital sources, but it greatly cleans up the wiring at the back of the unit.

And it still has inputs for 2 VCRs, a tape player, a turntable, a video camera (front inputs) a CDR/minidisc player, and a USB audio connection!

2) If you have other JVC components, the Compu-Link interconnection is a godsend, especially the Text-Compu-Link output from the CD changer. This allows the CD changer to export its displays (normally confined to the little LED readout on the changer) to the TV, via the amp. Search for disks/tacks/artists on the TV screen! This revolutionized the use of the CD changer.

All the amplifier features can be accessed this way as well.

3) Performance is very good. This is a very clean and crisp amplifier - perhaps not audiophile-quality, but there is no noise or distortion that I could detect at reasonable volume levels. The surround processor automatically recognises Pro-Logic, Dolby Digital, and DTS input streams and does the appropriate thing with them. I moved up from a basic Pro-Logic (RF, Cen, LF, Rear) amplifier, and the difference in sound dynamics was amazing.

The only beefs I have are minor:

1) The remote is poorly designed. Prior JVC remotes have been ergonomically designed, with common fucntions (volume, channel, DVD cursor) larger and located in such a way as they could be operated by feel. This remote is a plain rectangular grid with all the buttons the same size. Luckily, JVC seems to have kept the same IR codes for the last 10 years, so older remotes with better ergonomics can still be used with this unit.

2) Setting the unit up can take some patience. the manual isn't bad, but it takes dilligence to get all the inputs assigned and working correctly, especially the digital inputs. Some behavior was not initially obvious - but it IS all documented, if you take the time to _carefully_ read the manual.

Highly recommended!

DG

This is one of the best receivers I have ever owned. This model has all the features you are looking for at a reasonable price.

I was thinking it won't work in my Pentax Optio 330GS digital camera, but it work, I ordered all the way to colombia trough my suite in Miami, works perfect

I bought this adapter to accompany my new Olympus digital camera because it was much less expensive than the Olympus brand adapter.

This adapter is versatile; it comes with 4 different plug-ins to fit an assortment of devices.

I have had no problems using the adapter and highly recommend it!