Customer Reviews

Go Video Rave-MP AMP512 512 MB MP3 Player

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

These aren't Apple iPod Shuffles or Creative Muvos, so if you need something high-end and maybe more reliable in quality control, this isn't your best pick. For me, this is along the lines of cheap sunglasses you keep in your car: they aren't Oakleys but they get the job done and I won't cry if I lose them.

This is an MP3 player that does what it should: plays MP3s. It'll handle an SD or MMC card up to 1Gb without too much trouble (haven't tested 2Gb), which is why I like these AMP256/512 players. I can effectively listen to 1.5Gb of music, which translates to nearly 400 songs since I encode my MP3s to 256k. The sound is very good, and I'll admit I'm not an audiophile so mileage varies.

Couple nice facts:
-everything is flash-based so no skipping, even if you tape it to a paint can and run it through a Home Depot mixer;
-you can swap cards in and out so your music supply is effectively limitless;
-attached with a USB cable, this becomes external storage in Windows, and a cheap card reader to boot (very cool). Who says you have to store MP3s on it? Not AMP.

The FM radio is a nice bonus, so mornings I can catch Howard Stern or even tune into Bally's FM retransmits of whatever the TVs are showing (it makes the stationary bike a little more palatable in the off-season). The best part of these AMP players is the single AAA battery use. Cheap, easy to replace, and with rechargables you're WAY ahead of the game when compared to LiOn snobs.

Again, there ARE better players for audio quality, features, size. There are probably no better players at this price, for the features included, and the risk involved in trying one.

Fred

As an former pro musician and sound engineer, I must say that I always have resisted the urge to "downrez" my music. And no, I don't believe that digital music is inferior sounding to analogue or vica-versa. Both have their positive attributes.
Where digital's portability is clearly the hands down winner (anyone miss rewinding tapes, deguassing, cleaning heads etc, not me)in this category, convenience here on this scale is afforded at the price of fidelity.
Not that the device has much to do with it. I see that the mp3s I had on my laptop (now,mind you, to listen to through laptop speakers they were tolerable at those low volumes)that were encoded at 320 kbs were crunched down to half of that. So it's not the players fault that it sometimes sounds harsh.
Here's the short list:
Pro- Cheap. All the (albeit also cheap)accessories you need. Has some cruddy EQ settings but also a user controlled 5 band EQ! that can help out with some judicious use. Also acts as a hard drive/flash card reader. Volume is adequate because you wouldn't want to listen to music at these bitrates at anything louder than this. Menus are intuitive and respond well.
Cons- Cheap. Build quality is ok but the player sometimes feels like you'll break it extricating it from the very secure spring steel-type belt clip. The display MAY scratch easy and if you cant read the display you will be fubar'd. Who knows how long it will last?
Referring to my title, what is the price of convenience? If it lasts 2 months, in this case, it costs about a dollar a day. Period.

PS.... This added a few days after my initial review. I WAS able to drag and drop MP3 files encoded @ 320 kbs into the player and they played fine. I also jammed a 1gb stick into the sd slot and it recognized all the available memory on the card even though the manufacturers website says only supports an additional 512 mb card. So for a $60 player and a $60 sd card you wind up with some pretty good storage on the cheap. Without the worries of a portable HD based system.
Please be aware though this player has not yet been dropped or taken outside to mow the lawn so longevity is still untested.

I'm not sure why people complain about a MP3 player that does everything a MP3 player is supposed to do- play music. It stored around 90 songs in MP3 format with out using the expansion slot. It takes 512 SD cards but that would still give you around 180 songs. It allows you to scroll through your music and choose what you want to hear and what you don't. Yea - it's not a IPOD but for the price it's better- Affordable and it's a small device that straps to your arm or to your belt as it has a belt clip you can use. It uses a triple A battery that can be a rechargable - Another words Cheap... way more affordable and easier to use on your computer setting up your songs then an IPOD. Nothing wrong with this MP3player except people want name brand and this is not a namebrand.

Other reviewer was right. Product keeps quitting--and you have to pop out battery to restart it. This doesn't help me when I use product as a voice recorder--which was the main reason I bought it.

Sound quality was better than OK, though. Plus earbuds were a (literal) pain to wear. Special over-the-ear bud hangers were impossible for me. I think you need Lyndon Johnson ears for these.

Yes, it's only a hundred bucks, but I expect the thing to at least power up when I turn it on!

The player quits workng often and requires you to remove and reinstall the battery before it will turn back on. It is junk - do not buy.

Christmas present for daughter. After 2 days, when you turn it on it cycles non stop between Rave flash screen and turning off. This will continue until you take out battery and put back in. Updated the firmware from website, fixed problem for 2 more days. Now it will not turn on at all. First several attempts at their service number resulted in a message in Spanish followed by a hangup. Daughter saud, "You should have bought an IPod." Thanks Rave. DO. NOT. BUY. THIS.