iShuffle

Posted by Chris Sun 8 Apr 01:13 Purchases, Reviews 210 Views

No I'm not going mad, I didn't really purchase an iPod Shuffle it was a "free" gift from audible.com when I joined for 12 months.

Now as you may or may not know, I'm not an apple fan. Why? Because I'm governed by sense and people with sense don't buy Apple products, people with more money than sense do Cheeky

. Although the hardware is very good and certainly well styled it's worth more than it's values at and I never pay for brands or a flashy design, I leave that to the folly. Not that I'm against anyone who has an Apple product! just those that have them for the Apple brand or because said product "looks nice" but each to his/her own eh?

Anyway here is a mini write-up of the iPod shuffle which I will call the iShuffle as it little resembles an iPod anyway.

First things first, packaging very nice, very smart. The device? Looks really nice, very practical size, nice little docking station, solid design, feels very well made.

Now the important stuff. The sound? Quite pleasing actually, ear phones are surprisingly quite good (but from excellent), iShuffle has a good reproduction of high and mid range though I felt the bass to be a bit lacking. This was especially evident when communing as background noise washes out the already low amount of bass.

Aside from the bass issue, a fairly loud hiss is present when the device is switched on, headphones mask this but the supplied ear buds don't. Unbelievably stupid method for music transfer. Having to use a special app to transfer music because the device is too stupid to operate without a database. I gather this is standard operation for iPod, thank goodness I never bought one. Where is the sense in this? Think of the easy of dragging files across to the mass storage device, oh wait that wouldn't help tie the device to iTunes so well. Since I use Linux GTKPod was used instead of iTunes but still, no database should be needed.

Another major problem is lack of OGG support or some codec that's better than MP3 or AAC. I did give AAC a go but was very disappointed, didn't really seem much, if any better than MP3 could be due to the encode though. MP3 is awful, I don't care what bit-rate it's at somehow music sounds "muddied". I pity all who use it unless of course, they don't care or can't tell the difference anyway. MP3 is bearable at 256KBps VBR. OGG is perfect (as in you can tell the difference but you have to really listen for it) at Q5 (160Kbps VBR) the result in filesize is huge and for a 1GB device makes all the difference. I am displeased with Apple for not implementing a superior and patent free audio format, but Apple aren't here to make a great device for their customers but a great impression on their bank account which means they wont go to any lengths to make something better unless it puts money in their pocket.

An obvious problem is no screen so no song selection however this can be seen as a plus. Never again would I have to choose which album to listen to, but then again why not activate the shuffle mode on my iRiver? Then there's song storage, Apple like to pretend you can fit 240 songs on, you can of course if you are partially deaf and don't mind 128Kbps MP3. However for the connoisseur of audio quality at least 192, preferably 256KBPs VBR MP3 is a more likely choice resulting in a mere 130 songs. A far cry from the thousands I have on my iRiver but for a device that is built to shuffle through a selection of your favourite tracks, quite adequate. Also the lack of screen means no equaliser, a customary bass boot button could have been added but wasn't.

But lets not kid ourself! This device actually has little purpose as a standalone music player, many people carry mobile phones on their person. Many mobile phone can play MP3, for Ł35 you can get a 2GB memory card. So already you have twice the storage size for half the price with no need to use a stupid database managing program. If my mobile phone could play OGG and had a 20GB hard drive I would not care for my iRiver but phones don't do such things... yet. I have isolated three instances where this device actually has a use however! Firstly, jogging, a small lightweight player is essential providing you don't already take your phone with you when you jog. Secondly, audio books. If you use the device for audio books solely it will remember the place you were last at in the book and continue playing from there on. Thirdly it makes an excellent backup device. Supposing your real audio player's batteries had died or you were late and couldn't find it but needed to rush out. Sadly those are the only examples I can see it being of any use. Of course when it can hold 20GB, has a screen and plays OGG it will be a marvellous device! Well providing it had an equaliser and you plug some decent headphones into it Smileing

One thing I must rant about before the review is over is Apple's stupid marketing of this device. Apple would like you to wear this device as a "badge to show your musical devotion" or better still a device that can "make your musical fashion statement". Where do I keep mine? In my pocket, why? Well firstly because it's the sensible thing to do as there are many evil minded people in the West Midlands, UK who would not hesitate to steal the iShuffle if you advertise it like this and secondly because I don't want to make a musical fashion statement, my intellect is not so low nor my personality so dull that I need to gain self worth from showing off an Apple product or any other gadget to be fair.

To conclude I have trialled this little device and for all it's flaws, I can't help but like it purely because of it's ease of charging (just drop it back in it's docking station) and of course very portable size. It's nice to keep around in case of emergencies (forgetting to charge iRiver batteries, breaking headphones and so on). So there you have it, a mini review from a person who dislikes Apple as a company but realises they produce great hardware. I have tried to be unbiased and analyse what I regard as the faults and have certainly not been kind to the device solely based on it's nice design and/or Apple brand name Cheeky

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