iHP-120 by Sweet Spot
Ok kids, gather round by the campfire with your marsh mellows, gram crackers and chocolate bars….Uncle Dougie is gonna tell you all a story !
Let me just say in advance that this is by no means a full length review. Only when I’ve had and used the unit extensively, shall I do that…which I think is the only way to really review any product unless it has so many inherant flaws that no further dissection is necessary. I will walk through each and every part of which experiences I can recall while using the IHP-120 either in my home, or on the go.
There are still things that I have yet to experiment with or test, so if anything seems left out, it is. And purposely so. I like to be thorough, but I find that there are never enough hours in a given day to do all the things I’d like. Not to mention that I can be very lazy too !
Let’s begin with the basics shall we ?
Taking it out of the package:
You just can’t rip those things open fast enough..and without almost stabbing yourself with that d**ned sharp hardened plastic molding ! All the contents are stowed away very neatly, making for a very pleasing aesthetic experience. The bundled stuff is very impressive, considering the options you have to choose from which include the :
1) LCD remote control
2) AC adapter
3) Installation CD for the Data Base if you should choose
4) Line In/Out connection Cable
5) Earphone extention cable (needed in some cases)
6) USB Cable
7) External Mic (Should you choose to not use the internal)
Real Leather Carrying Case
9) Ear Buds (which I must say, are not half bad considering…)
In The Eye Of The Beholder ?
This is of course, a purely subjective critique. For no two people on this earth always think alike, so as the title says… IMHO, I love the way the IHP-120 looks. I’ve actually given it a name, which I believe is suitable. I’ve named it “Nooch”. If anyone can figure out how I came to name it this, you get mad props. Continuing on….
I think the IHP has a certain “sex appeal” if you will. It’s style is certainly different from the iPod, but I’m not here to do comparisons______yet. The only thing I’ll say about that is that it is the “Anti-iPod” ! A girl on the train today was looking at it on my hip, and asked me about it..she thought it was “hot” and “unique” looking. Though of course her initial words were..”Is that a new iPod ?” “No my dear, it’s not. Here, take a closer look”. “Wow..that’s really, um…hot ! Very unique looking “. So already, this thing is getting the attention of hot females..woo hoo !”
The Travel Case
Not much to say here. A very well built, rugged yet cushy item which does a great job at protecting your baby. I do have one complaint about it though, and no…it’s not what you guys may think. I have no problem with the belt sleeve…I actually like it now. The problem isnt’ even in the design of the case, it’s more the fault of the design of the player. Every time I want to remove the IHP from the case, the jog lever gets caught in the hole which allow the lever to stick out. This is pretty annoying at times. Also, the flap to snap the cover shut, covers the line in/line out ports. I guess some may consider this a good thing…but personally I feel, this is sort of half assed. The entire top of the player should be covered with individual open holes for the ports, just as it is on the bottom of it. Oh well..minor flaw
Build Quality/Construction
Aside from one itsy-bitsy flaw, (which could very well be my device only, and I’ll get into it in a minute) this thing is built to last. The great thing about the IHP-120, is that it is extremely light. It is also extremely compact/thin. It’s outer shell seems to be very durable, and could probably take its share of knocks without being damaged. However, the one thing that I CAN forsee as being a problem, is this: The jog handle, if subjected to misuse or lack or care such as a long hard drop onto a hard floor, may be the first thing to be destroyed. (or the LCD, but this would be the same for any player with an LCD). I’ve even taken the protective case into consideration. Even though the player is covered, the jog lever is still popping out of the case hole. .
This was not the flaw I was speaking of, so I guess make that 2 things. What I was refering to, is the hold mechanism on the player. I can’t speak for any of you, but on MY IHP-120, the hold slider, seems to be very loose and sort of flimsy. I dont’ like the feel of it at all. It’s as if it will fall off at the slightest deviation from normal touch. If it does break, I guess I’ll have to ship it back for a replacement. But I’m careful, so we’ll see.
Portability/Pocketability/Holdability
Whether in its travel case or not, the IHP is extremely small and thin, just like the iPod. Sure the case bulks it up a notch, but it still rests easily in the palm of my hand, just reaching my finger joints. If I wanted, I could easily put it in either my front of back pant pockets without feeling as if I’m being weighed down or uncomfortable. The carpenters jeans I’m wearing now are perfect, as they have a pocket on the right femur side which is just the right depth for it. I give it an A++ for portability. For arguments sake, let’s say I lost the remote, or it broke, or that the IHP never came with one at all. How much of a pain would it be to have to hold the thing for the sake of functionality on the go ? No hassle at all. I would usually never operate such a thing without a remote because I’m a bit paranoid, but for testing sake, I did it. (Ya see what I do for you people ?! ) This naturally brings me to :
Ease Of Navigation/ Control and Mechanism Larnability
For some people, this may be an issue open for debate. However, my point of view is NOT open for such a thing because it is JUST my OPINION. Before I even get into comparing the two most talked about navigational menues, let me say this: I’ve owned an IMP-350 for 2 years, which means that I’m already familiar and comfortable with how it functions. Essentially, the IMP’s remote, displays the same file structure and operates the same way as the IHP’s main unit and ITS remote. This does NOT…however, mean that I am biased towards Irivers products. I fully appreciate any wonderfully functional HD player or otherwise. I’m a gadget guy. To be honest, There’s only one thing that prevents me from fully liking the IHP’s navigational method when compared to the iPods, and that’s the jog lever compared to iPods “wheel”.
Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing really difficult about using the jog lever..it’s just not as convenient or fluid as the iPod’s wheel.Plus I’ll also give it to the iPod that one less moving part is one less headache in the long run. But this is where the comparisons end. If you set the aesthetics of them aside, the nav controls basically act in the same fashion. You of course have to set the OS and GUI aside and just look at how things are viewed and gotten to. There is one thing I must say about why having such a jog lever device along with some other buttons which “multi-task” is an integral part of the IHP’s system. But let me start by quoting a post I saw on that iPod forum…it’s actually a post from Gary Sheehan, who is also a member of this forum. (Heya Gary ! hope you dont’ mind me using your words here).
Quote:
Here’s a point the ipodders will appreciate. The instructions for the iHP-120 are fairly in-depth. They tell you how to do just about everything the iHP-120 does. Then I thought about it a bit and realized I NEVER even looked at the instructions for the ipod. The ipod is so intuitive that a newbie can use just about all the features without ever referencing the manual. The iHP-120 takes some learning, because most of the buttons have multiple functions depending on how long you hold them down. Since you can’t have writing all over the case to explain everything, you have to learn it.
Now, I’m only assuming that Gary thinks having to learn how to use a HD player is a bad thing, becasue he says the “iPodders will appreciate” this fact. I could be wrong though. Here’s what I think: If Iriver or any other company were to design their HD player in the fashion of the iPod, lawsuits would most likely ensue. Therefore, these companies have to put their own unique spin upon these devices (unless they decide to go the generic route such as simple volume, Play, stop, foward and back buttons). With that said, one must consider all of the features which are native to the IHP=1**. How these features are accessed on the player, is actually quite easy, and I believe that the design team did a great job in making sure that the average joe, with a little fiddling here and there, could easily find his/her way around the menu, and its core navigational commands.
Yes, there are functions which one would need to look towards the instruction manual for. But this is very understandable. One good example is the recording function.If not for the instruction manual, I’d have been cursing my brains out for a good while. This is definetely attributed to the GUI/OS of the IHP, but as said before, if Iriver were to clone the iPods’ GUI..there’d be trouble. But again, these things are by no means difficult to learn after having glanced at the instructions just once. I originally was going to say that the iPod is easier to navigate becasue there aren’t as many functions to control, but thinking about it, this probably isnt’ true either. Truth is, that if the iPod had the same features, the navigation would be the same, and finding it’s features would be just as easy becasue its not button based while the IHP series is. This opens an interesting availability for the IHP though…If any of you know how the Rio Karma functions, you know that there are certain buttons which are user programmable.
Apparently we’re limited to 10,000 Characters per post, so I got cut off. Continuing on, the last thing I said was :
If any of you know how the Rio Karma functions, you know that there are certain buttons which are user programmable. This is a concept which if incorportated into the IHP, probably wouldn’t be seen as having been a stolen function. This would be cool. I’m going to leave this here: While the IHP is operationally different fromt the iPod, it is just as easy to use, even if not as convenient. It’s even possible that some may prefer the IHP’s navigational method over the iPods’, but I for one would rather use the latter for this category.
LCD Remote Control
One of the IHP’s big selling points for me was its remote control. As I’ve said before, I’m very familiar with it because I own the IMP-350. To me, a remote is as essential for a HD player as any other part of it. I do not like holding my audio players in my hand out of fear of dropping, banging or scratching it. Also, after having seen many iPodders looking like targets for a mugging, I like to keep my goods out of sight. (hey…NYC ya know ? : Since all of the IHP’s functions are able to be operated via the remote, it’s a joy to use it. It’s rediculously easy to use and makes the portability factor even greater. I could throw the IHP into my backpack, and never think twice about it. I love that.
BUT…the honeymoon is over. There is one increadibly unforgiveable flaw (to me) concerning the remote control. I find the design to be utterly retarded. Now, I dont’ mean the way it actually looks, or where the buttons are, but where the actual headphone jack and the remote cord are positioned in conjunction with the alligator clip. I’m the type of person who is anal about dangeling wires and cords. I hate excess wireage if it’s not necessary. I tuck everything in my shirt or coat..nothing showing on the outside.
UPDATE
I JUST tried fitting the remote with a button down shirt. This was fine. The remote can either be clipped to the shirt pocket, or to the shirt its self with a bit of minor cable bending (which I don’t really like to do). In anycase, I’ll reserver further judgement about the design of the remote for another couple days. Until then, let me get to the last part of the mini-review for this evening. It’s 12:30 and I must get up early for work. So please stay tuned, and look for more of this review tomorrow night. The first thing I shall get into, and where I shall continue is:
SOUND QUALITY
Also, I want you all to know, that when I say this is a mini-review, I’m not basing that on how many words are used ..but by how indepth I get with the technical data and many of the intracate details. These things shall eventually be hit upon, and I’m sure I won’t be the only one to do it.
Well, it’s been a couple weeks now, and I’d like to finish my review. That is if anyone still cares….By now I’m sure that most of you have come to the same conclusions that I have in regards to the IHP’s sound quality, and I’ll talk about that as I said I would. However, I’d like to get into a couple other things before that (I know I said I’d do sound first, sorry. ) With that said, I shall continue:
There are so many things about the IHP-120 which make it a fantastic HD player, and this is why it’s such a shame that a few minor flaws are keeping it from being an almost perfect player IMHO. For me , the most aggravating flaw, and my personal worst pet peeve of the IHP’s is the :Remote. I’ve posted my feelings about it over at the Rio Karma forum, so I’ll just quote it here :
Quote:
Who ever is in charge of the design dept. at Iriver, needs to be fired ! This remote is of the most retarded designs I’ve ever seen and had the displeasure of using. I highly recommend taking a look at it, so that Rio doesn’t go down the same road.
I know that Rio will be turning to a third party vendor to get these made, but please…if you guys have any say in its design…be very careful. For one, take into consideration all of the ways in which one may want clip it onto their person. The biggest flaw of the IHP’s remote, is that because of where the headphone and remote cables positions are, it’s impossible to bag the unit and not have a wirey mess or strangle yourself ! The way it is now, you have to actually turn the remote right side up to read it, but when doing so, you’re twisting the cables in a very un-natural way, and at the same time pulling more remote cable slack out of your bag, thereby making an even bigger mess of yourself. By the time you’re done, you look like a bloody idiot, and wish that you’d just thrown the remote out a window !
Now, I’ve experimented with the remote by placing it in various places, and I continue to stick by what I’ve said. If only the clip were reversed, meaning that if the direction in which the clip opens/closes, were the opposite of the cords flow, the remote would be much better. There are other things, but it’s too late to do anything about this so I’ll just go on record to say that the current remote design takes points away from the IHP’s overall score (out of 10 I guess) becasue when talking about convenience/ultra portability, a remote is key. And in this case, the remote only makes things more complicated unless the IHP is fastened to your belt. But even then, there’s still a mess because the freegin’ remote wire is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. AND, as we all know…not everyone uses a belt.
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With that major flaw aside, let me get to bugs/gripes which can and should be fixed with a firmware upgrade. Most if not all of you already know about the bugs I’m going to mention, so this is really for any new visitor wanting to read the review section only. Should these things be fixed, I of course will edit this post accordingly.
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So far, I’ve only ever stored files/folders via the file tree method. I don’t use the DB because I don’t see the need to as of yet, and hopefully I won’t ever…But I’ve thought about it, and perhaps I might one day. It obviously makes searching for specific things easier/less time consuming.
Anyway, one of the IHP’s less subtle bugs is the way it goes about choosing which folders it’s going to play. For the most part, files and folders are played in chronological order, except of course when you choose to use the “shuffle” mode(s). But for this, I find playlists more of a useful feature, because it also preserves the battery life as well as playing random tunes. Anyhoo….the problem is apparent when wanting to play folders of various depth, from the very first of your folders, to the last. for those of you who have no idea of what I’m talking about, it goes something like this:
Depending upon which of your folders you’ve chosen to start playing songs from, the IHP, upon completion of the last song IN that folder, will automatically go a folder of equal depth. Meaning that if the folder you start off with only contains songs, and not sub folders with songs as well
(Example : Radiohead>Albums>B Sides> Acoustic Sessions>Concerts; and each of those sub folders contain songs of course)
it will go to the next folder which contains only songs and NOT sub folders. This also works in the exact opposite way. Start playing from a folder which contains any amount of sub folders, and upon completion of the last song in that bunch of sub folders, the IHP automatically goes to the next available folder which contains any amount of sub folders. This was also a bug which was addressed on the IMP series MP3/CD players. A firmware upgrade has enabled users to choose how they want their folders played. I suspect that this will also be the case when Iriver fixes the IHP’s problem. Some people may say that this isn’t the biggest deal in the world, because you can just manually play the bypassed folders as soon as all the others are done, which is true…but think about battery consumption. It’s more than just an annoyance, it’s a legitimate complaint.
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Okeee..Next: The infamous bug which I have aptly named the “Lazy Iriver programmer bug” > This is one that is just totally unnecessary, and could have been prevented if the Iriver programmers were awake when coding. The bug I’m referring to is the “random shuffle” option. In fact, there is absolutely nothing “random” about it. It seems as though the Iriver people wanted to take the easy way out, and make it so instead of there actually being a true random shuffle mode, there is actually a precise order in which your files are played when IN shuffle mode. This is JUST A LAME ASS THING. SHAME ON YOU IRIVER.
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Neeeext ! This is probably my last serious qualm, whereas any other qualms are pretty much things I think would further enhance the quality and functionality of the IHP, but nothing if not ever had, that would make the IHP a bad player :
GAPPLESS PLAYBACK FOR Ogg AND CROSSFADE FUNCTIONALITY IN GENERAL. WAKE UP IRIVER ! HELLLOOOOOO! IMHO, gapless play should be a pre-requisite for any player capable of Ogg playback. It is afterall, one of Ogg’s claims to fame within the lossless community. Not only because Ogg is capable, but mostly because there are music formats which this relies on. I have 3 examples.
1)Live music/Concerts.
2)Concept albums
3)The biggest and best example here….Classical music. Last night I used EAC to make an image of a Stravinsky piece (Rite of Spring). Of course being that it’s an image, there are no gaps. But the problem with this is, what if I wanted to skip to another track ? I can’t. I’m not saying that a less than a second gap is horrible, but it still defeats the purpose of using Ogg. Apparently the Rio Karma team understands this, and have implemented a working gapless play feature with crossfade features in their newest firmware. More power to em’. Now come on Iriver…..(ha..as if they’re ever going to read this. Feh)
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Lastly, as I said before, there are things which if implemented in a firmware upgrade, would significantly improve the IHP, but at the same time are not deal breakers if absent. Although I do believe that if the iPod and Karma can have them, the IHP should as well. (Lest Iriver admits to having inferior software programmers on their team) This includes but is not limited to:
Smart playlist capabilities
On the fly playlist
Editing features ON the unit (such as delete, tagging, file placement etc)
Record Level Meter
Line-Level Line Out (hardware requirement I believe)
option for unlimited recording
I’m sure there are more but…I’m just reaching for the sky here ;D
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[green]OK ! TIME FOR THE GOOD STUFF NOW !!![/green]
After having used the IHP for a couple of weeks now, I can honestly say the following:
The sound quality is absolutely fan-freegin-tastic ! If you’re the type of person who is anal about how you encode your files, you can also expect the IHP to faithfully playback your songs the way you intended on hearing them. I’m not one to mess around with gain settings or EQ (much) so a lot of what your sound quality is going to depend on, is the quality of your headphones.
Now of course, what one person may find fantastic, another may find only decent, or completely the opposite. Subjectivity is the key here. But since I’m the one reviewing, and seeing as how I’ve heard other players, I can make a somewhat objective comparison. I’ve compared it to the iPod, and to my IMP-350. Compared to both, the IHP sounds cleaner, and much more detailed. I prefer the iPods sound to my IMP 350 where warmth and overall power is concerned. The IHP is capable of producing enough volume to satisfy anyone who isn’t deaf, and without distortion at that.
This is a nice thing to experience. I rarely have to put the volume over 15-16 under normal street circumstances, and when the streets are full of traffic, or loud vehicles, I usually only have to set it to around 20 (out of 40). Now of course, this is due mostly to my headphones, as they’re sort of closed in nature. For outdoor use, I take my Sennheiser PX 200’s when it’s nice outside. When it’s cold, or when I’m indoors, I’ll use my Koss KSC 35’s. (35’s when cold because they fit underneath my hat )
I’LL HAVE TO CONTINUE THIS ON ANOTHER POST… I HAVE REACHED THE MAXIMUM CHARACTER LIMIT. ….
Either way, using a good set of cans lets the IHP shine. I have yet to use an amp, portable or otherwise. But I intend on getting a macro-mini eventually, from www.fixup.net . I haven’t one complaint with the IHP where sound is concerned. I don’t even know what else to say about its quality other than it’s stellar, with any genre of music you throw at it. Oh, I guess I should say though, I wish that there was a better EQ. Even though i rarely use it, there are times when some of my older files (ones I didn’t encode) really show their inferior quality, and I do EQ them. The bass on the eq is pretty tight, definitely sufficient, but I wish that the treble extension was higher. I’m not a bass-head obviously. I prefer nuterality if possible.
I guess I should get into the SRS/WOW effects. There’s no need to get into detail here. These features are pretty stupid, and really add nothing in order to enhance my listening experience. I find these things to be a cheap, gimmicky add on which should have been omitted. I dunno, perhaps there’s a use for it, but I just haven’t found out what yet. (Psychedelic groove salad perhaps ? I’d need to smoke somethin’ for that one.. )
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General observations/comments :
Man, this thing is an absolute pleasure to have. Keeping it in my jacket pocket while on the go is actually pretty good for me. I’d obviously rather keep it stowed away in my backpack, but you already know how I feel about the remote. Anyway, the IHP is light and not too bulky, yet it’s built like a brick. It once fell off of my couch on to my hard wood floors (thought I was going to have a heart attack !) and I was worried about the HD, but lemmie tell ya…( I don’t think it was in the case either) not a scratch on it, and not one problem.
I’ve not run into one single hardware/software glitch ever, *knocks on head for luck* and I use it ALOT. The battery has been great, no complaints there either. I’ve used the recording feature on the job (great for blackmail ! :-X) and it has served me well so far. I only wish there were no time limit restrictions where that’s concerned.
Overall, I’m very happy with the IHP. This is a solid piece of hardware, which seems to be overlooked by the masses. Especially by the tech reviewers. IMHO, if it had all of the quirks worked out, and perhaps a couple of the wish list features (which are ENTIRELY POSSIBLE ) it would be THE perfect player.
Regards,
S.S.
Added: Monday, February 02, 2004
Reviewer: Sweet Spot
