Donald Bell,
Senior Editor
August 23, 2007
Say what you will about the bygone days of cassette decks, the medium lent itself extremely well to recording. Whether taping your favorite song off the radio, making a mix for your latest crush, or recording your toddler's musings on Sesame Street characters, recording sounds from the world around you was as simple as pressing a big red button.
These days, it's no easy feat to hunt down a portable music player capable of creating quality recordings with push-button simplicity. This list compiles our favorite MP3 players that produce great results using a standard line input cable. Some of these players, such as the Toshiba Gigabeat U and Cowon iAudio 7, can also detect the silences between songs and automatically split the recording into separate tracks--handy for recording entire albums in one pass.
If you're looking to add recording capability to an iPod, check out the Griffin iTalk Pro.
| Product name | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $132.33 to $139.95 | $69.95 | Check Prices | $139.46 to $144.95 | Check Prices |
| CNET editors' rating | |||||
| Average user rating | |||||
| Review date | July 19, 2007 | August 13, 2007 | June 20, 2006 | February 27, 2007 | June 05, 2006 |
| The Bottom Line | The Cowon iAudio 7 beats the industry heavyweight iPod Nano in price, features, battery life, and sound quality. The user interface could use some refinement, but all-in-all this is a very impressive MP3 player. | The Toshiba Gigabeat U is one tough, classy player that nails all the right features at a great price. | The Creative Zen V Plus is a superb choice for anyone looking for a compact and feature-filled flash MP3 player with great sound quality. If you're looking for a more sophisticated design (or have large thumbs), look elsewhere. | If you can get on board with the Cowon D2's PDA-like touch screen interface, the reward is great-sounding audio, a smorgasbord of features, and a fantastic battery life. | If you're looking for a feature-packed flash player but you don't want to spend a ton to get one, Creative's Zen Nano Plus is the device for you. |
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| Features | |||||
| Battery technology |
Lithium polymer |
Info unavailable |
Lithium ion |
Lithium polymer |
Alkaline |
| Digital player (recorder) |
WMA FLAC ASF WAV Ogg Vorbis MPEG 1 Audio MPEG 2.5 Audio MPEG 2 Audio MP3 |
WMA WAV MP3 |
WMA WAV ADPCM Protected WMA (DRM 9) Audible MP3 |
WMA FLAC WAV Ogg Vorbis MPEG 1 Audio MPEG 2.5 Audio MPEG 2 Audio MP3 |
WMA Protected WMA (DRM) MP3 |
| Digital Player total harmonic distortion | Info unavailable | Info unavailable |
0.05 % |
Info unavailable |
0.1 % |
| Software type |
Cowon jetShell Cowon jetAudio Drivers & Utilities |
Windows Media Player 10 Drivers & Utilities |
Creative ZENcast Organizer Creative Media Explorer Creative MediaSource |
Cowon jetAudio VX Cowon jetShell |
Drivers & Utilities Creative MediaSource |
| Dimensions (WxDxH) |
1.4 in x 0.7 in x 3 in |
1.4 in x 0.4 in x 3 in |
1.7 in x 0.6 in x 2.7 in |
3.1 in x 0.7 in x 2.2 in |
1.3 in x 0.5 in x 2.6 in |
| Color |
Red |
Black |
Blue |
Red |
Info unavailable |
| PC interface(s) supported |
Hi-Speed USB |
USB |
Hi-Speed USB |
Hi-Speed USB |
Hi-Speed USB |
| Mfr estimated battery life |
60 hour(s) |
20 hour(s) |
Info unavailable |
52 hour(s) |
18 hour(s) |
| Flash memory form factor | Info unavailable |
Integrated |
Integrated |
||
