20 Gig NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX
Written: Oct 24 '03 (Updated Nov 01 '03)
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Pros: Loaded with options, sounds great, and holds everything in your collection and more.
Cons: Software needs an update.
The Bottom Line: If you have $249 bucks to spend for some serious portable audio, then get the Zen NX.
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| Chase_E.'s Full Review: Creative Technology Nomad Jukebox Zen NX (20 GB) M... |
My last MP3 player was a RIO volt SP250. It played CDs loaded with MP3 files, but after 2 years of constant use at work, the laser in it died. It was time to get another player. When I saw what Creative had to offer, I liked the idea of not having to burn CDs every time I wanted to listen to something new. So I settled on the Creative NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX. Instead of burning CDs, I just plug it into my USB port. Now I don’t have to keep a stack of CDs at work.
System Requirements:
Windows 98se/ME/2K/XP
Pentium II / 233MHz
64MB RAM
USB Port [1.1 or 2.0]
+30MB Hard-drive space
SoundBlaster Sound card
CD-ROM Drive
What Comes With It:
NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX
Hard cover carry case
Removable Lithium rechargeable battery
Power adapter for recharging the battery
Ear-bud headphones
Software on a CD-ROM
Instruction Manual
What The Zen NX Can Do:
Stores up to 20 Gigabytes of MP3,WMA,WAV files!
Loads through USB connection
Index music by tags, or by play lists
Maintenance free operating system
Locate music by play lists, artist, album or genres
EAX technology custom designed sound presets - very cool!
4-band graphic equalizer
Multiple playback options
Software included manages all file transfers - includes “Auto-Sync”
Battery lasts about 10 hours on a single charge
Recharges fully in only 3 hours
Also can hold other non music file data which you can unload to other computers.
Illuminated screen, adjustable fonts.
Screensavers, sleep timer, alarm clock
How It Works:
Here is a pocket sized MP3 player that can carry everything in your CD music collection, and then some. Imagine carrying all that music around in your pocket, and being able to find and listen to it all in just a few button pushes. Isn't technology grand?
The main controller for navigating through your music and the various options menus in the Zen NX is a scroll wheel located on the right side of the player. Scroll up and down through the menus, and push the wheel in to select options. Think of it as like a mouse pointing device.
The CD-ROM contains the program "Creative MediaSource" with which you load and unload music files to and from the Zen NX. I like how the installation doesn’t put anything in your system tray to hog up your resources. With this program, you can create play lists which you access alphabetically in the Zen NX. You can send music files into the player all by themselves, or send files along with a play list which can be created automatically as the files are transferred into the player. The operating system inside the Zen NX does not use folders to organize files like you would do in Windows Explorer. All files are organized by MP3 tags and play lists only. With my v1.1 USB port, it takes an average of 2 to 3 seconds to transfer each MP3 file.
While you may not have to read the instructions to figure out how to operate the player, you definitely will have to read the instructions to figure out how to operate the "MediaSource" program. You cannot just plug this thing into your USB port and access the player like an external drive in Windows Explorer, as you can do with many digital cameras. All file management must be done through "MediaSource". For the most part, transferring music files into the player goes smoothly. Occasionally though, the program complains and disconnects the file transfer. When that happens, you must restart the player and re-plug the USB plug back into the computer. There is a reset on the Zen NX player itself, should it freeze up. The instructions say that pushing this reset on the player will not erase what you have in it. So far my Zen NX has never needed to be reset. Once in a while, the "MediaSource" crashes altogether. This might be happening because the USB drivers are for v2.0 ports, and mine is v1.1, or it might be the USB drivers just need debugged. USB 2.0 is backwards compatible with older USB connections. I assume these problems will be fixed by a software or firmware update sometime in the future.
I have discovered though that one of the reasons the transfer fails from time to time is because there is something wrong with the file being transfered. I guess sometimes the encoding process for MP3's is a little buggy. You can solve the problem by re-encoding the MP3 file and then try to send it into the Zen NX again. This seems to always solve the problem. Thankfully, "MediaSource" doesn't crash very often - but I still hate it when it does!
How It Sounds:
In a word, the Zen NX sounds absolutely terrific! And it better, seeing how expensive it is. The headphones I use with this player are from Radio Shack - the Titanium Pro 35A's - my personal favorite. Any player you use will sound only as good as the headphones you have. The ear-buds supplied with the Zen NX aren’t all that great.
The Creative EAX features on the Zen NX are accessed through menus on the screen. You can basically make your music sound almost any way you want. The instructions say that using the EAX features will use up more battery power. I have found that the Zen NX will run 8 to 10 hours on a full charge if I use EAX all the time. It is a good idea however to not use the screen backlight - as it will shorten your battery life more than anything. If you don't want to pipe the music through the fully adjustable equalizer - which you adjust yourself with the scroll wheel, there are various presets for "Rock", "Classical", "Jazz" and even "New Age", among others. Or you can choose to play your music through the player's custom "EAX environments". That is, you can select the "Concert Hall" preset, which makes the music sound like it is being played in a real concert hall - with realistic concert hall acoustics. Or, you can select other environments like the "Auditorium", "Opera House", "Garage", or the "Living Room". There are several to choose from. Most of the environments have plenty of echoes and reverbs. Puts a nice spin on listening to your favorite music. Studio recordings can now sound like live performances. The "Bathroom" sounds pretty interesting in a weird kind of way. I have MP3s of various seminars/sermons which sound much better using the "Small Room" environment.
The instructions say you can load up about 8,000 music files if you encode them at 128Kbps. I personally prefer to encode all my music at 192Kbps. I think there is a rather noticeable sound quality loss at 128Kbps. At any rate, however many MP3s you have, it will take quite a long time to fill up the Zen NX.
Pros:
Pocket sized 20 Gigabytes of storage!
Sounds great!
You can make the music sound any way you want it to
Rechargeable battery lasts at least 10 hour
Battery recharges inside the player in only 3 hours
Well designed carrying case holds securely to your belt, protects the player
Cons:
At $249, it’s an investment
The ear-bud headphones that come with it aren’t all that great
Software occasionally crashes, could use an update
Yes, you will have to read the directions
The instructions recommend against jogging with it.
Conclusion:
Even after you have it half full, you still won't be able believe how much music you are carrying around with you. And to boot, the various EAX environments are fun to play around with. If you take music seriously, this is a good investment.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 249.99
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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Epinions.com ID:
Chase_E.
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Reviews written: 25
Trusted by: 6 members
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