iAUDIO CW300-256MB (MX400) MP3 Player w/FM und Voice Recorder
[Archived in $100 - $200, Digital Voice Recorders, JetAudio, Inc., Over 65 MB MP3 Players, Products]
Manufacturer: JetAudio, Inc.
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- Includes MP3 player, Sennheiser MX400 earphones, Armband, Armband-case, Belt-clip, Battery, Installation CD (jetAudio, jetShell und jetVoiceMail), Manual and USB Cable
- Very small, lightweight and stylish design with the weight of 1.48 oz and the dimensions of 3.2 X 1.6 X 0.7 inches
- Voice recording capability and FM radio listening/recording function
- Up to 30+ hrs of continuous skp-free playback with one AA battery and top-quality earphones provided
- Fully compatible with World-renouned MP3 software, jetAudio
Product Description:
CW300 is an All-in-One MP3 player with FM Radio and Voice Recorder. Its built-in memory can be 256MB. One AA-type battery can playback up to 30 hours. With all these features, it is very small, lightweight and stylish. It weighs 1.48 oz. and dimensions are 3.2 X 1.6 X 0.7 inches.
Average Customer Rating:
Comment: Review iAUDIO CW300 256MB Rating:
Review iAUDIO CW300 256MB
Quotation iAUDIO manual:
"iAUDIO is a multi-functional portable digital audio device that plays MP3 files, which is a new format of digital compression that reduces the size of files tenfold while maintaining CD-level sound quality. iAUDIO can be used to record lectures or meetings, and also for listening and recording FM radio broadcasts."
This is the description of the player from the manufacturer. It contains the general capabilities of that amazing gadget but of course not all of nice and powerful features.
If you order the iAUDIO player CW300 directly from the JetAudio online store or from a proper reseller, like Amazon or Ebay, the package will arrive with the following components.
~iAUDIO CW300 256MB player (of course ;] )
~Earphones (either Cresyn AXE 599BL or Sennheiser MX 400)
~one AA Battery
~Installation CD (including JetShell / JetVoice Mail / JetAudio)
~Manual
~USB cable
~Pouch
~Neck cord
~Remote Control
At first I will point out some of the PROs and CONs of the CW300.
PROs:
- Superb and unbelievable powerful sound
- Good elaborated and intuitive menu design and also the navigation, with the two jog levers is really convenient
- Upgradeable firmware
- Very customisable regarding album names, equalizer, scrolling speed of track information, display contrast,
adjustable input sensitivity for the microphone and so on
- Really small and efficient design (height 82.5mm x width 40mm x thickness 18.6mm)
- Extremely lightwight (42g without battery)
CONs:
-Low but high frequency sound in tuner mode if the backlight turns on
-Intensity of the display backlight isn't adjustable
-No line in connector
-No support for an alternative format of compressed music files like Ogg Vorbis
-pathetic remote control
Now I will discuss some critical points of the CW300.
Battery flap:
That's a point, which is very often discussed, both in the jetAudio forum and other reviews.
I had never really problems with that part. Of course you have to use it gently and without any force, but in my opinion it is well designed for its functionality.
LCD size:
A bit small, just 128x16 dot wide, but it shows a lot of important information (e.g. battery level, equalizer settings, memory usage, album and track number and time). Furthermore, it includes a scrolling line for track information, like data's saved in ID3 tags.
File support:
That is my pet subject. iAUDIO CW3000 supports the MPEG 1 / 2 layers 2 and 3 and the special format for voice or tuner record SC4. For the MPEG layers, the CW supports all bit rates between 8kbps and 320kbps and also variable bit rate (VBR), like every good player should doing this.
In this case the critical point for me is, there is no support for a proper alternative of MP3, like e.g. Ogg Vorbis.
But I strongly believe in iAUDIO and I hope that the next generation or the generation after next one will support a kind of alternative format.
Remote Control:
The remote control was the biggest frustration of that whole device. Of course, it is doing the job well, but I think it doesn't suit to the great design of the CW. The iAUDIO has a beautiful matt aluminium body and the remote control has a plastic one and all the buttons are jiggle around.
Playback Time:
Is there anybody who can give me the settings for 30 hours of playback? I couldn't find the right one. However, It's a matter of common knowledge that the real playback time is always a bit shorter than the nominal time, doesn't matter what for a brand.
Furthermore, the CW300 comes with the programs JetShell, JetVoice Mail and JetAudio and I'll give you some briefly overviews about the called components.
JetShell:
That is the software what you require to download or upload files. Except the *.mp3 files, they are just downloadable onto your CW.
It is also possible to encode WAV files to MP3 files or the other way around. If you like to encode directly from CD during the download onto your CW you can do it, with JetShell and the Frauenhofer encoder for MP3. For further information have a look in the manual (available on JetAudio webpage) of the CW where you can find some more information about JetShell.
JetVoice Mail:
This tiny program is as smart as small. You can record some sounds with the CW or with the your computer. Then you can change the kind of sound, e.g. into a similar sound like Darth Vader's voice. After that, you are able to attach the file on an email including a tiny player and send it to your friends. If you feel like to read more about JetVoice Mail check the manual.
JetAudio:
JetAudio is the suitable player for your computer. The current version is v5.18 and is available on the www.iaudio.com...for free. If you like to encode your CDs to MP3 or mp3PRO with JetAudio have a look in the online store for JetAudio Plus. For more details about JetAudio check out the manual.
Conclusion:
From my point of view, the iAUDIO CW300 is one of the best player on market and you can enjoy it for a long time (maybe a whole life) with wonderful sound and trustier technology...made in Korea.
The American violinist Yehudi Menuhin (1916-99) said: "I am strongly believe, that music extends your live."
And in my opinion, this is much easier to realize if you are using the iAUDIO CW300, because this precious gadget is really able to enhance your enjoyment of live.
If you feel like to find out more visite the JetAudio forum. We are more than happy to help you!
Comment: great for students Rating:
I've never written a review before, but I was so impressed by this product. As a grad student, I was looking for a good quality voice recorder to record lectures. (The MP3/FM features were an added bonus for me). After reading several reviews, I ordered the iAUDIO CW300-256MB (MX400) MP3 Player. Even after I ordered the product from AMZN, I was still hesitant b/c I didn't know if the voice recording quality would be up to par. After receiving the iAudio, it hasn't failed to impress. The device is so small and compact and the sound quality is awesome. I love the ability to download the voice recordings onto my computer. I sent one of the files to a classmate and she was equally amazed at the quality--it beat her microcassette recorder in quality hands down! I can record approx. 8-9 hours of voice recordings and the battery life is great. Also, this was the first MP3 player that I've used and the software is pretty easy to use. 2 small drawbacks--1) you can't listen to your recordings w/o the headphones, unlike some digital voice recorders 2) the device should give a small beep or some indication when the battery dies.
Comment: Does anyone know?.... Rating:
I just received the CW-300 and we already have an I-Pod so all of our songs are on I-Tunes, however we run a PC (Windows XP)....DOES ANYONE KNOW...how to download to the I-Audio....from I-Tunes.....HELP!!..I like the product but need to figure out how to use it!!!....Thanks, CG
Posted at November 11, 2003 07:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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