Creative NOMAD Jukebox Digital Audio Player Review- X-bit labs
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`Creative NOMAD Jukebox Digital Audio Player
`Review
`[11/07/2000 12:00 AM I Multimedia]
`[<EJ COMMENTS
`by Ilya Gavrichenkov
`(9) ]
`This is an MP3 player of a totally new generation. Due to a 6GB hard disk drive, it is capable of storing up to
`100 hoursof music. EAX support it features, should satisfy even the most pretentious listener.
`
`~ ~ PRINT
`[a sHARE ~ ~ m 1
`
`~ boa
`
`Table of Contents
`
`OThe Good
`OThe Bad
`0 Conclusions
`
`Top Stories ] Commented'][Fea'tured]
`
`Pages [ 1 ]
`
`MP3 players will hardly surprise anyone
`today. After the legendary Diamond Rio
`300, which has become a kind of pioneer
`in this very popular field, the market of
`MP3 devices and the like started growing
`incredibly fast. Every time a manufacturer
`introduced a new MP3 player, he claimed
`that only his new device was the one to
`represent a new generation of MP3
`players. However, most enhancements
`dealt with adding new features such as
`microphone recording or a built-in
`electronic organizer. The major component of the player, the storage unit, remained unchanged.
`Usually it was the Flash memory of difference size. However, taking into account the price-to(cid:173)
`performance ratio, Flash memory appeared a pretty expensive thing, even today its cost is quite high.
`That's why it's been really hard to provide an MP3 player with a large amount of Flash memory. At the
`same time, the memory size turned into the main bottleneck of all MP3 players, because it didn't allow
`storing enough MP3 music. This is one of the reasons, which pushed the developers towards CO(cid:173)
`players capable of playing CD disks with MP3 files. But it isn't our today's topic.
`
`The hero of our today's discussion is a new MP3 player from Creative, NOMAD Jukebox (D.A.P.
`Jukebox for Europe), which deserves being called a new generation MP3 payer. The feature that
`distinguishes this product from all the other PM3 players is a HOD used for files storing. Due to this
`fact as well as to a number of other exclusive cool features, NOMAD Jukebox can become a very
`popular digital audio-player. Especially since it looks much more attractive from some viewpoints than
`its existing mini-disk and CD brothers. However, very often a brilliant idea can be brought down to
`naught by inaccurate implementation and hence lose all its unique advantages. So, we decided to take
`a closer look at NOMAD Jukebox to find out what it was worth.
`
`Creative NOMAD Jukebox specifications look as follows:
`
`• 6GB hard disk drive capable of storing up to 100 hours of CO-quality sound;
`• EAX technology support;
`• Equalizers;
`• Surround sound via headphones;
`• Adjustable play speed;
`• Four-channel line Out;
`• Re-programmable firmware, which allows adding new functions and new formats support;
`• Stereo line In;
`• USB interface;
`• Large memory buffer for 5-minute shock protection;
`• Connector for the external power supply;
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`Creative NOMAD Jukebox Digital Audio Player Review- X-bit labs
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`• WAV and MP3 support;
`• Large LCD display (134x64 pixels);
`• 4 AA batteries;
`• Signal-to-Noise ratio: >90dB;
`• Maximum output: 1 OOmW;
`• Frequency response: 20Hz-20KHz;
`• Weight: 400g;
`• Dimensions: 12x12x3cm.
`
`The package includes the following stuff:
`
`• Creative NOMAD Jukebox player;
`• USB cable to connect the player to the PC;
`• Power supply unit;
`• 1 4-pack AA NiMH rechargeable batteries and 1 spare 4-pack AA NiMH rechargeable
`batteries;
`• Stereo headphones;
`• Carrying pouch;
`•
`Installation CD and manual.
`
`And now let's take a closer look at this product, at its advantages and drawbacks.
`
`The Good
`
`Creative NOMAD Jukebox looks just like an ordinary CD player and is of nearly the same size.
`
`However, this is just the exterior looks. And inside hides the major advantage of NOMAD Jukebox over
`other MP3 players- a hard disk drive. The today's Jukebox features a 6GB ATA/66 Fujitsu
`MHK2060A T HOD, just the same as you can see in some notebooks.
`
`The HOD of high capacity like that allows storing up to 100 hours of music in MP3-files recorded with
`CD quality (at the bitrate of 128Kbit/s, or 50 hours at 256Kbit/s, which is now getting more and more
`popular).
`
`As a result, Jukebox can become a portable music library, where you store not only your favorite music
`tracks, but just everything you may ever need. In other words, once uploaded to Jukebox, the MP3
`files do not need to be removed every time you wish to upload something new. And this is an
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`Creative NOMAD Jukebox Digital Audio Player Review- X-bit labs
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`indisputable advantage of this player compared to other MP3 players featuring little memory. By other
`players you have to upload the album anew if you want to listen to it, since most of them do not have
`enough room to store all your favorites. As for Jukebox, you can have over a hundred of albums
`stored and hence have a really rich choice. So, with the entire music collection on a single player, you
`will connect it to the PC not too often, only if your favorite singer records a new track or launches a
`new album.
`
`The files are uploaded to the Jukebox via the USB bus. No wonder, since this is the today's fastest bus
`for external devices. Moreover, it's a really hard task to stuff 6GB of your Jukebox memory with music.
`The data is transferred from the PC to the player at approximately 500KB/sec.
`
`To upload the files you can use a special utility from Creative, PlayCenter 2.0, which allows uploading
`ready files from the PC hard disk drive as well as grabbing the tracks directly from the CD disk inserted
`into the CD ROM drive of your PC. It takes about 10 minutes to read, encode and upload to the
`Jukebox an average CD with music.
`
`The interface of Creative PlayCenter 2.0 is very simple: two clicks are more than enough to move the
`files from the PC to the player.
`
`Since one day your Jukebox may be filled with over 1000 tracks, the classification issue appears quite
`acute. We have to admit that the developers coped with this task really well. Even though the file
`system of the Jukebox is not hierarchical, there are three main criteria for sorting the tracks: albums,
`artists and genre. Creative PlayCenter 2.0 borrows these data from the CD Internet database, CDDB2.
`If you like, you may fill in the necessary infos manually, no problem. Besides, the player also allows
`searching the tracks simply by name. All in all, you will hardly get lost in the bunch of files you have in
`your Jukebox.
`
`The player has all the required controls, which are pretty cleverly implemented. The only thing it lacks
`is the possibility to rewind fast the track being played. All the info about the player status, hints and
`system notifications are shown on a seven-string LCD-display. Even at night you will be able to see
`what is going on there, because the display is provided with the backlight.
`
`As far as the playback and decoding quality are concerned, Jukebox surely proves not bad at all.
`However, some of you may be not very happy with the MP3 algorithm and the files compressed
`following this method. If you are that hard to please, Jukebox can offer you the ordinary WAV format.
`With the 6GB HOD you will be able to store over 10 COs in this primitive format. The same Creative
`PlayCenter 2.0 utility can also grab CO-tracks in WAV format.
`
`One of the coolest advantages of the first MP3 players was the absence of moving parts in the player
`construction, which allowed giving up shock protection issue. As for Jukebox, it cannot boast the same
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`Creative NOMAD Jukebox Digital Audio Player Review- X-bit labs
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`thing. Even though its HOD can stand the shock of 150G, shock protection is badly needed. So, the
`manufacturer had to provide Jukebox with the appropriate memory resources, namely with an 8MB
`DRAM buffer, which prevents the playback from interruption in any situation. This buffer is more than
`enough not only when listening to MP3 files, but also when playing the WAV-files.
`
`We have to point out that even compared to CD and MD players, Jukebox still appears more
`attractive. The thing is that this player is also equipped with a digital signal processor (DSP), which
`allows adding sound effects in real time. First of all, we should mention the equalizer used to change
`the level of high, medium and low frequencies separately within the interval from -12dB to +12dB.
`Secondly, the player features surround sound option. Thirdly, you can adjust the play speed (note that
`this function is typical only of professional dictaphones). And finally, we should also mention Creative
`brand feature: changing environmental settings like by Sound Blaster Live! sound cards (EAX).
`
`However, when designing its Jukebox, Creative didn't want to offer the world just a primitive player, but
`aimed at creating an additional MP3 device for your home stereo system. That's why Jukebox is
`provided with a four-channel line Out, so that you could connect it to five- or six-piece acoustic
`systems. Besides, NOMAD Jukebox also has a line-ln. With the help of this Input port you can save
`incoming sound signals in WAV format to your Jukebox player. There is also an infra-red port, which
`isn't used now. However, Creative promises to design a remote control unit for this player, so the infra(cid:173)
`red port got involved. As for headphones supplied together with the player, they are definitely of much
`higher quality than those accompanying other MP3 players.
`
`An important peculiarity of NOMAD Jukebox is the possibility to update the player firmware. So,
`Creative has the chance not only to eliminate errors ifthere are any, but also to add some extra
`features and EAX effects.
`
`The Bad
`
`Unfortunately, Jukebox is not ideal and it also has its disadvantages. The major drawback of this
`device is the increased power consumption because of the HOD used in it. That's why 4 AA batteries
`will last Jukebox only an hour listening at the most. Therefore, Creative accompanies its offspring with
`two sets of high capacity AA rechargeable batteries, which last the player up to 4 hours. At first sight
`the problem seems to be solved, but... After about 40 minutes playing the batteries lose so much
`power that the player stops responding adequately to the external impacts, in particular it stops
`responding to button pressing though the music keeps playing fine. That's why it is a really difficult task
`to stop the player after 1.5-2 hours of continuous playback: all the buttons as well as the volume
`regulator stop working. The only thing that can help in this case is the "reset" button, which we were
`lucky to find on the player. Fortunately, there are no problems like that when using the player
`connected to the AC.
`
`Although the DSP used in Jukebox allows implementing a number of interesting effects, it causes
`noticeable volume decrease if activated, i.e. if you activate the equalizer, surround sound or
`environmental audio extensions. As a result, you can listen to the sound with some effects applied to it
`only via the external speakers or audio system. To our great disappointment with the headphones on
`we could listen to music only in a quiet room in this case, and as for listening to music outdoors or in a
`bus, it appeared absolutely impossible because of the extremely low volume.
`
`Since Creative NOMAD Jukebox isn't just a consumer electronic appliance, but a mini -computer, it can
`boast its own operation system. Although, this system is quite a slow one: it takes the player a bit long
`to respond to button pressing, and it takes the system about 15-20 second to load completely.
`Besides, the developers also remembered about such an important thing for systems with a HOD, as
`file defragmenting. So, with the time your Jukebox threatens to become as slow as a snail.
`
`Moreover, Jukebox doesn't allow downloading the files from the player HOD back to your PC. Of
`course, the developers intended to eliminate the problem of music copyright violation. However, as a
`result your player turns out unable to serve as a removable storage unit which appears a definite
`drawback for it, since it has a 6GB HOD.
`
`Though the previous Creative player, NOMAD II, featured a built-in FM-tuner, NOMAD Jukebox cannot
`boast this attractive trifle. The developers probably thought that 100 hours of music could replace the
`radio completely.
`
`Certainly, we can't disregard the poor info displayed on the LCD-panel during the music playback.
`Jukebox doesn't show the bitrate, track format and the current bpm, while a lot of MP3 players from
`other manufacturers do provide this info.
`
`The only thing that can justify this decision, is the possibility to update the player firmware. So, this
`gives us some hope that the drawbacks will be eliminated in the nearest future.
`
`In conclusion we would like to touch upon the price issue. The recommended price for Creative
`NOMAD Jukebox makes $500, while the players with 64MB memory cost $200 at the most. We doubt
`
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`Creative NOMAD Jukebox Digital Audio Player Review- X-bit labs
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`that Jukebox owes this huge price difference to the DSP and HOD. The most logical explanation here
`is Creative's ambitions. So, we think that the price should undoubtedly drop in the nearest future, when
`the company skims the first sales.
`
`Conclusions
`
`All in all, Creative NOMAD Jukebox is a very interesting and original device. However, unfortunately,
`this beautiful idea wasn't put into practice that beautifully and the player has a lot of significant
`drawbacks, which prevent you from enjoying it as a portable device. As for the stationary usage,
`Jukebox proves really cool.
`
`Nevertheless, EAX support, huge storage capacity (up to 100 hours of music) and some other
`interesting features, make Jukebox an important stage in the development of digital audio players.
`That's why we really hope that new firmware versions will help remove some of the drawbacks and
`Jukebox wins the hearts of numerous MP3 fans.
`I Table of contents
`
`Pages [ 1 ]
`
`D ~n o
`
`Discussion
`Comments currently: 9
`Discussion started: 10/12/04 08:06:29 AM
`Latest comment: 12/16/15 10:44:38 PM
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