OT (kinda): iRiver iHP-120

Azalin · Post by **Azalin** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 1:21 pm

Lemme tell you, I'm now conviced that for musicians who want to record live music, nothing beats the iRiver, compared with equivalent units. The mic preamp is good enough, the encoding is great and the record button/features are very easy to use, I don't think it's being matched by any other device from any other company. I recently look at new Creative Labs hard drive MP3 players... they're great, but not for recording live music, even their "voice" recording is hardcoded to a mono .WAV 8bits format.

Jens_Hoppe · Post by **Jens_Hoppe** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 4:26 am

The old H1xx models are getting harder to find in Denmark and the new H3xx models are almost as cheap anyway. Does anyone know of any reason not to go for the H3xx series if one were to buy an iRiver recording device these days?

Cheers,
Jens

Azalin · Post by **Azalin** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 9:56 am

Jens,

The problem with comparing MP3 players is that most people out there use them to listen to MP3s or encode MP3s from CDs. It's impossible to find reviews from musicians or people who are actually interested in the recording feature with the external microphone. So there might be subtle differences in the way both iRiver (older and newer models) handle external microphone recordings, but I think there's really only two ways to know.

1) Read the online manuals, and compare both of them, in details
2) Pray and buy it, this is what I did with my iRiver

WhistlingGypsy · Post by **WhistlingGypsy** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 9:30 am

spittle wrote:Just checking in here to see if people are still happy w/their HP120's. I was ready to pull the trigger on one then noticed dramtically reduced invetories due the release of the new, color-screen H320 (w/bmp and jpg picture storage/viewing) for the same price. Actually it's less than the HP120 was when it first came out, so I went ahead and got that one.

Honestly I could do w/out the color display and image capability to keep it small, but this unit still seems the best combination Personal Music DB/MP3 recorder for the ametuer musician/avid listener.

I'll report experience after I get a chance to use it for a bit.

Cheers,
- r

Has anyone done a comparison of the HP120 and the H320? I'm looking at buying one of these and as I can get them both for around the same price on EBay(H320 is a liitle cheaper), I was wondering if there was any real advantages for one over the other.

Basically I need it for external recording of sessions and live music in general, but will obviously use it as an MP3 player and store all of my music on it.

As an aside - I have to back up my computer at home as I need to clean it off and reconfigure (restore) it. Could I use the iRiver as my back-up drive? I assume I can but am not sure.

Azalin · Post by **Azalin** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:29 am

Yep, the iRiver is an external hard drive, so you can put whatever you want on it. As for H320 (or whatever) vs H120, well logic says that H320 is better for the value. There's a color screen, and in theory you can use it to download data from other devices like digital cameras while you're traveling. That's in theory, not sure if it really works on many devices. Anyway, the H320 also recharges with USB, the H120 doesnt. H320 has an external battery pack (AA batteries) you can use to power the device when the internal rechargable battery is gone, useful when you run out of internal power.

I recently upgraded the firmware for beloved H120 and it's so cool, they added lotsa features. One of them is "language study", which allows you to use the track forward or track backward button to actually jump lapses of time instead. So I can configure it to jump 5 seconds, and when I press the next or previous button, it will go back 5 seconds or forward 5 seconds. That, combined with the A-B button, which allows you to setup a "loop", is amazing for tune learning. I don't think there will ever be something as good, for me anyway, as the H120 (or H320?) for session recording. It's small and it has 20GIG or 40GIG, it will take a while until those flash devices can match this.

(okay iRiver, send me your check now!)

WhistlingGypsy · Post by **WhistlingGypsy** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 1:22 pm

Azalin wrote:Yep, the iRiver is an external hard drive, so you can put whatever you want on it. As for H320 (or whatever) vs H120, well logic says that H320 is better for the value. There's a color screen, and in theory you can use it to download data from other devices like digital cameras while you're traveling. That's in theory, not sure if it really works on many devices. Anyway, the H320 also recharges with USB, the H120 doesnt. H320 has an external battery pack (AA batteries) you can use to power the device when the internal rechargable battery is gone, useful when you run out of internal power.

I recently upgraded the firmware for beloved H120 and it's so cool, they added lotsa features. One of them is "language study", which allows you to use the track forward or track backward button to actually jump lapses of time instead. So I can configure it to jump 5 seconds, and when I press the next or previous button, it will go back 5 seconds or forward 5 seconds. That, combined with the A-B button, which allows you to setup a "loop", is amazing for tune learning. I don't think there will ever be something as good, for me anyway, as the H120 (or H320?) for session recording. It's small and it has 20GIG or 40GIG, it will take a while until those flash devices can match this.

(okay iRiver, send me your check now!)

Thanks a lot. I have already bought the HP120 on EBay (just haven't rec'd it yet), but am tempted to pick up the H320 also and then resell the one that I don't want. I just missed out on one at $300 Cdn - great price since they are around $499 + tax in the store.

Anyhow thanks again.

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 9:18 pm

Does anyone have one of the flash-memory IRiver units? How do these do recording? The flash units are coming way down in price and will probably dip even more now that Apple has a flash based unit. For many even $300 CDN is well beyond consideration. Flash based units are also more reliable and smaller and lighter.
+ Bill

Jens_Hoppe · Post by **Jens_Hoppe** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 2:27 am

There's a bit of discussion of iRiver flash devices on pages 5 and 6 of this thread. Check it out, if you haven't already!

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 9:10 pm

Jens_Hoppe wrote:There's a bit of discussion of iRiver flash devices on pages 5 and 6 of this thread. Check it out, if you haven't already!

I found one positive from an owner, and one negative based on hearsay. I would like to hear from more owners of flash based units if there are any. I have seen IRiver flash units as low as $60 USD after rebate and that was before the Ipod mini launch at $99 USD. I am not really in the market, because I like my Sony voice recorder, but with prices dropping so low, I am sure many would consider the trade offs. Especially if people with similar applications reported positive results.
+ Bill

WhistlingGypsy · Post by **WhistlingGypsy** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 1:59 pm

Caj wrote: For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to DELETE a track after recording it. That was a colossal pain in the keisteroo: even a cheapo tape recorder lets you tape OVER something. And of course, an MD recorder lets you slice & dice tracks, rename and reorder them, etc.

I notice that this has been resolved with a firmware update:

H100 Series 1.60 firmware release notes:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Added features:
1. Delete On-The-Fly - Files can be deleted from the player when not connected to a computer.
a. Stop playback
b. Press the Navi button
c. Locate a file to delete
d. Press the REC button (left side of the player)
e. Select Yes to confirm delete and press in on the Navi button to execute the delete.

Scott McCallister · Post by **Scott McCallister** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 2:29 am

I should be receiving an H340 in the next day or two. I'll post a brief review of the sound quality of the recording as compared to a MD recorder and a nice PC based HD recording system.

I did a lot of shopping for this type of unit and settled on the iRiver product due to the large amount of great feedback from other users regarding its sound quality. Currently I am using a pretty old MD recorder to capture concerts or sessions and the results have been good, but it is an older model with only one compression ratio on external recording so I have to change the disc every 1:15 in order to keep going. This new player, from what I under stand has a maximum recording file size of over 200 MB which should give me something on the order of 3+ hours of continuous recording with out having to restart the record process.

Then of course there is the fact that you can then transfer the 200mb MP3 to your computer via USB2 instead of realtime like with the MD. I am really looking forward to that!

Stay tuned! I'll have a synopsis as soon as I can play with it for a day or so.

WhistlingGypsy · Post by **WhistlingGypsy** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 1:18 pm

Does anyone have a suggestion for a good quality set of speakers that I can use with my iRiver IHP 120? They need to be small enough to travel with (ie not take up too much room in a suitcase) and produce good quality (amplified) sound.

Thanks

Scott McCallister · Post by **Scott McCallister** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 9:45 pm

WhistlingGypsy wrote:Does anyone have a suggestion for a good quality set of speakers that I can use with my iRiver IHP 120? They need to be small enough to travel with (ie not take up too much room in a suitcase) and produce good quality (amplified) sound.

Thanks

I went shopping for a nice set of speakers and got what I thought were good sounding -- in the store they were, on my desk, not so much. They came with a sub woofer and L&R speakers. There was absolutely no mid tones at all. Just tinny highs and a muddled woooooofy bass. Surprising because the woofer was a brick about 6x8x7. Just little as woofers go.

I picked these up after taking the first set back. They are compact, have great frequency response, (nice mids and tight bass)volume and tone controls on the front, and my H340 drives them beautifully.

Scott McCallister · Post by **Scott McCallister** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 10:57 pm

Sorry about resurrecting an old threat that is semi OT, Not sure if this should be rerouted to the pub or not. I was asked by another member to follow up with the comparisons between my Sony MD recorder and the iRiver H340. (the MD recorder is about 7 years old. Model # MZ-R30)

I own the H340. It is a 40GB multi codec juke box (marketing lingo for big-bad-MP3-player). Basically this supports MP3, WMA, OGG, ASF, JPG, BMP, and TXT files. Yes it can display brilliant color pictures and text files. (the first night I had it I loaded the entire text of Robert Lewis Stevenson's Kidnapped) The unit is firmware upgradeable allowing it to play video as well and become USBOTG (USB on the go) enabled. So you can dump your digital camera pics direct to the unit without the aid of a computer. (neato-keen!

) Loading and unloading files to the unit is as simple as drag-and-drop. No special software needed. Plug it in, turn it on, and it is recognized by Windows as an external drive. Just drag, copy/paste, cut/paste, create new, etc... just as you would any other folder or drive on your computer.

The feature set is astonishing when realizing what you get for about the same $$ as an iPod. (I got mine for $360)

The recording quality is good enough for heavy pro-sumer/light professional use. I have been paid by our local community symphony orchestra to render their concerts to disc. I use this device and a Sony ECM-MS907 stereo mic (I got the mic when I bought the original Mini Disc). I have achieved great results. The most impressive thing about its recording capabilities, and there are many, is its dynamic response. The softs are really soft, with an even lower floor noise and the louds, are loud and punchy without clipping. The h340 also gives you a much broader control with the manual record settings than my old minidisc did. And it allows you to record in much higher resolution than the 128Kbps standard that is the "CD quality" MP3. Up to 500 Kbps in OGG mode.

The H340 comes with an internal mic that for my tastes is too sensitive (and it is only a mono mic) You get lots of room noise when using the internal mic. Will it pick up a session or a tune from a lesson? You betcha! But for cleaner recordings, use an external mic. And since you can transfer HUGE files from this thing incredibly fast via its handy USB2 port,(like 300MB in 22 seconds or roughly 3 hours 38 mins and 24sec of music [sampled at 44.1khs/192Kbps-- so better than the "CD quality standard"]) it is a simple issue to jam it into winamp or media player and slow it down for practice purposes.

A great buy for the money, if you're into this kind of thing.

anton · Post by **anton** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 6:43 am

I have a 20 gig iRiver and i think its great. Easy to record, good sound quality, and most of all, easy to tranfer files over to your computer. I use mine at work, at the session, and to occasionally backup files or take files over to a friend's place.

What mic are you all using with the iRiver. I have just been using the included lapel mic with a home made stand made out of a bent coat hanger. I got one of those stereo sony mini disc mics, the one that takes the AA battery, but the signal going into the iRiver was not very strong, even with the gain set on max. The lapel mic actually works better, i just wish i could devise a better stand for it.

anton