eggowong

I don't notice any difference either during MP3 playback. Funny you should mention this test, because I do have a normal 80 minute MD that I had a bunch of dance/trance songs transcoded from the original MP3 format (192Kbps/LAME encoder version 1.11 from an app called MP3 Workshop) to ATRAC (132Kbps if i remember correctly/OpenMG Jukebox version 2.2 that came with my MZ-N1 NetMD recorder) and the playback indeed does sound better on my new RH10 than on the older N1. I remember trying various treble/bass settings on that N1 to try and and negate the "digitizing" I constantly heard (especially during the highs), though I never really got rid of it. I haven't tried the custom settings for the EQ on the RH10 (I like the "Unique" setting) but I'll try and test it out sometime soon. Hope this helps...?

And I thought we'd be stuck with the nasty purple (or is it royal blue?) colored ones. I want!!!

Hehhe, a fellow lurker. I just registered myself Me personally, I am not all that impressed with all the various MP3 players out on the market. At my workplace we sell the Creative Labs Zen 30GB (I think it's an older model) and I've fooled around with it, but to me it seems rather bulky and quite heavy (literally a hard-drive with a screen). The iPod is pretty snazzy looking, but once you see 50 people with it, the fad gets rather old. I wouldn't mind having one though, but at the moment, I don't have thousands of songs that I absolutely need to listen to on a daily basis. I like the MD format (SonicStage isn't bad, but that crap called OpenMG Jukebox was horrid). Been using it since I got my first MD recorder in the form of the MZ-N1 waaay back in 2002. Now I have the MZ-RH10 too. All shiny and polished (the OLED screen is stunning!). Compliments my PSP with the all black casing. I hate to say this (not to be promoting a "proprietary" format), but I think the ATRAC encoding sounds better than MP3. It doesn't sound as...digital (I don't know how to explain it). And it's right up my alley in that it can possibly store hundreds of MP3s or ATRAC-encoded files (which is just about how many songs I actually listen to), depending on the bitrate and the length of the individual tracks. It all boils down to user preference. In the end, like Ishiyoshi said, it is music you are enjoying. Just my thoughts