Customer Reviews

irock! 530 Digital Audio Player (128 MB)

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

 

 

I wanted a small, light, inexpensive, Mac-compatible MP3 player.

I didn't want an iPod b/c it is too expensive, too big, too heavy and complete overkill for my needs.

Another factor was that if it had a SmartMedia slot, that would be preferable since I have a 128 MB card from my digital camera that's just laying around...

I first ended up with a Samsung Yepp YP-300S (or something like that). It fit all of my prerequisites above except that it was a bit larger and heavier than what I was looking for..., used it on one trip to Florida and then promptly returned it when I got back home.

After doing some more research, I ended up with an iRock! 530 and I just wanted to tell you guys about it because it was quite difficult to find much information on it online (whereas there was a plethora of information on the iRock 300W FM transmitter).

Anyway, I have to say that I'm extremely pleased with this little gadget! First, it is quite small and quite light. I don't really know what to compare it to, but suffice it to say that it could be placed in your shirt pocket without weighing the shirt down.

It comes with 128 MB flash memory and an open SmartMedia slot. I popped my 128 MB card in, giving it a whopping total of 256 MB. That's more than enough memory for an average of about 50 songs at 128kbps (which is, btw, considered CD-quality sound).

It also comes with two sets of headphones: the earbud type and a behind-the-head version.

I run OS X full time and was happy to find an iTunes plug-in on the included CD-ROM (they give you an OS 9 version and an OS X version). I just dragged the plug-in to my iTunes plug-in folder and the player was recognized immediately when I plugged it into my iMac using the supplied USB cable.

In the iTunes window, it shows the built-in flash memory as well as the SmartMedia card separately. Also, when plugged into the iMac, a new button appears at the bottom of the iTunes window which will erase and reformat the internal memory or SmartMedia card when you click on it.

The display on the player gives you basic information, meaning track number and song length and whether the track is on the built-in memory or on the SmartMedia card. It does not list track names, artists, etc. However, this was/is not an issue for me. There is an equalizer for normal, rock, classic and jazz settings as well as a bass boost option.

One thing I do miss is a backlight.

There is a "jog dial" on the right of the player that turns the player on, plays, pauses, goes forward and goes backward. Also on this side of the player a two button volume control.

The left side of the player has the mode button to access the equalizer, bass boost, repeat functions, etc. and the USB port.

The back of the player contains the SmartMedia slot, the eject button for the SmartMedia card and the battery compartment (one AAA battery supplied).

The top of the player has the headphones jack as well as a "hold" button to prevent unwanted pushing of the buttons.

The sound quality is excellent. As mentioned above, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between listening to an actual CD or to the iRock with songs encoded at 128kbps.

All in all, I can't believe that this little MP3 player hasn't gotten more publicity, especially in the Mac community where it's hard to find Mac compatible MP3 players other than the iPod and those put out by a few other companies.

If you're not into needing "thousands" of songs, can do without the extra size and weight of other players, and don't need track information with you when you're on the go, I highly recommend the iRock! 530. There's a 64 MB version for a bit cheaper, but spring for the 128 MB one...it's worth the extra [money].

If you are ready to buy an MP3 player but reluctant to make a commitment, the iRock 530 may be the choice for you. The iRock is very small, extremely light-weight and offers as much storage capability as you can expect at this price.

I was very interested in purchasing an MP3 player but wanted to try one out first before spending too much money. I shopped around and found that the iRock offered me the most storage capability at the lowest price. My next choice was the Nomad IIc but it was just a few dollars more at the time.

Although I had researched players extensively, I was still surprised at how small and light-weight the iRock was. (Bordering on "flimsy"?) No matter where you put it, shirt pocket, pants pocket, carry bag, if it were not for the good quality sound coming out of it, you wouldn't even know it was there. I am very careful with all of my gear but I suspect one good drop and the player will be history.

The software it came with is easy to install. I installed it on two machines, a laptop running MS Windows 2000 Professional and a desktop running XP Home. In both cases the software loaded without a hitch in a matter of seconds.

To load MP3s on the iRock you can use either the iRock Download Manager or MusicMatch software. Both come on the included CD ROM. I found the iRock Download Manager easier to use than the MusicMatch software for putting files on the player but the MusicMatch software is better for organizing your songs.

Also, included on the CD is a user's manual but it is difficult to read on-screen and you probably don't want to print out 20 pages of information that really isn't necessary. Although there were one or two things I ended up trying to find in the manual, for the most part it was superfluous.

Features included in the player are four pre-set EQ settings, bass boost and random play options. The EQ setting are Normal (I actaully don't really consider this a setting), Jazz, Classical and Rock. Each one slightly, except Normal, modified either the bass and/or the treble. Obviously, the ability to tweak the individual frequencies would be preferable but considering the size and price of the unit, the settings are adequate.

Bass boost works well at lower volumes but can be overwhelming at higher levels. You can try it in combination with an EQ setting like Classical which actually lowers bass response a little, so as to try and tweak the sound to your liking

There are also a couple of play modes, such as repeat and random play. There is also an "A-B" mode in which you can set two points on a song and the player will keep repeating that section over and over again. I'm not quite sure what you would ever use that for but I guess if you were trying to learn a guitar solo or practice a vocal part, it might be useful.

The display is small but displays all the settings in a readable fashion. However, it is not backlit and does not support any tags.

You can move between songs with a little jog switch, which can also be used to search through songs, pause the machine and turn it on and off. However, one other minor complaint is that pause does not stay on for very long. After a minute the unit shuts itself off. This is good for making the batteries last but sometimes you might want to pause the machine for longer. When the unit is switched back on play resumes at the beginning of the last track played.

The sound quality of the unit is quite good. It comes with a set of ear bud headphones which do not sound bad. However, I find that ear buds do not stay snug inside the ear and some of the sound tends to get lost. I live in New York City and travel on the subway where noise levels can be quite high. I usually use a pair of full size Sony over the ear headphones (MDR-V300)for my portable devices. Still, the quality of the sound from the Sony headphones is not all that much better, although they do go a long way towards canceling out outside noise.

A lot of the playback quality has to do with the quality of the source material. Some files play back much louder and clearer than others so bitrate is definitely important. The volume can be set at levels from 0 to 22 (Why 22, I don't know. How about to 20 or 25?) which under normal listening conditions is adequate but not deafening. Although if using the ear buds and in a place with a lot of outside noise it might not be quite loud enough.

It is very easy to move files from the download manager to the player but it is not possible to move files from the player back to the computer. This is quite a disappointment because I have song files on two different computers and was hoping I could use the iRock to move songs from one machine to another but since you cannot but songs from the player onto a computer this is not possible. This is curious actually because there is a command on the software to do this but it gives an error message about this being against copyright laws when it is used. Also, the player only supports MP3 files so if you have any other audio files they cannot be played on the iRock.

The iRock is a decent sounding player with a relatively large amount of storage space. In the future, I will probably buy a larger MP3 jukebox to help manage my music collection, but there certainly is a place for such a small device with big sound that can hold 3+ hours of music. It's great for the first time user like me, or as very portable player for the gym or commuting. All in all, the iRock is recommended as a very portable no frills MP3 player.

Pros:
Relatively inexpensive
Good sound quality
Decent amount of memory- 128k onboard, up to 128k SmartMedia Card
Light weight
Easy to use

Cons:
Does not support files other than MP3
Cannot move files from player back to computer
Small display with no backlight and no tag support

For the price, you cannot find a better *sports-oriented* MP3 player with more storage space (128MB internal and optional 128MB via SMC). It is practically weightless and the features are pretty good. Of course you can get more features and probably better sound quality for a [more expensive}player, but do you want to invest that in something you're going to bang around in the gym? The only thing lacking is USB 2.0 (it uses USB 1.1 instead) and a carry case, or any way of clipping it onto yourself for that matter. However, it sits in your pocket great and you don't even know it's there.

I read all the reviews on this website and then bought the Irock 530 for my husband for Christmas. The problem is, we absolutely could not get it to work with his computer. For one thing, you need to download Windows XP drivers if you have XP, and NOTHING in the very limited instructions tells you this--it was only after a couple of hours of frustration that I finally called customer support and was told that. But in our case, even that didn't work. The computer would recognize the new "hardware" (the Irock), but none of the software for transferring MP3 files would (not the software that came with it, nor "Download Manager" which you can get off the Irock site, nor Musicmatch w/ an Irock plug-in--we tried them all). I must have spent 2 or 3 hours total on the phone w/ Irock's technical support, and nothing worked. I will admit that the technical support was great for spending that much time and giving such clear instructions (this is why I gave it 2 stars instead of one) but eventually he just seemed to give up, and I did too. I'm sure it's a great player, but I just can't get past the fact that we couldn't get it to work! I exchanged it and got a Creative Nomad II (128 mb), and it has worked from the first hour without any problems; my husband is very happy with it.

Purchased Iroc 3 weeks ago - claims to upgrade to 256K with additional Smart Media cards. Purchased card and loaded system up. Could not get unit to play over 40 songs -even though 86 were loaded (combination of internal and external memory) - wrote tech service - only received statement that eventually unit will be able to play 99 songs - but did not answer my question or problem why I was having trouble.

The Irock 530 seems durable yet light. It is the cheapest 128 mb mp3 player you can find, and it works with macs. I can just plug it in, boot up Itunes, and fit over 2 hours without a smart media card. I just wished it had a backlit screen and showed the name of the song.

This player is great. I exchanged an iRock 730i for it, and so far I've absolutely loved the simplicity of it and it's great features. The toggle button is great. Not only is it unique, but it makes all the controls into one switch right at your fingertips. Although some might argue that this player isn't all that since it lacks ID3 tag support, I don't see much of a problem with it since I won't question what song is playing -- if I downloaded it to the player myself, wouldn't I know what it was in the first place? I really like how you can change the equalizer settings during playback. The sound is great, including volume level, and the transfer software is really easy to use. The simplicity of the player makes it extremely appealing. Definitely worth the investment.

I still have the receipt from when I purchased this MP3 player from CompUSA in 2003. In 2006, I left it out in the rain for a day and a month later after it dried up, it started working again. Beware of the other brands because I strongly believe the other brands will not last nearly as long.

Though the great price on this mp3 player makes it more attainable than an iPod, the external quality of it is poor. Good for running and exercising, the small, compact shape makes it easy to carry around in your pocket or purse. Unfortunately, the cheap outer coating on mine started coming off about a month after I bought it, so that now (at one year old) it looks very cheap and used. The screen does not display the name or artist of the songs, only a number to which it is assigned, which was disappointing as well.
The software often crashes, but is easy to use for beginners. Also, the program seems cheaply put together as well.
But again, I have had mine for one year and it still works prfectly. If internal quality is your real concern, and you have no preference of how it looks, I'd say this mp3 player is a great deal.

I saved some money and bought a refurbished one. It lasted less than three months and now won't power up. The manufacturer warranty on the refurbs is one month, which tells you how much faith they put in their product. Buyer beware.