ABI Sony X-1000 Review

[EnzoTen]

This was a long one, check out the walkman x-1000 review here. Videos are in HD for your viewing pleasure.

[CrowdAds]

[dfkt]

Ouch, that one sure smells of fail: overpriced, no native video support, not even 480x272 screen, no open source codecs, etc.

Furthermore, I've had the awful Netfront browser on my Sony Clie TH55 for the last 5 years, I know how bad it is as a web browser - even Opera on my Nintendo DS is miles above that crap.

[Ascariss]

Agreed, sony did a similar mistake with the old A1000/3000 series, overpriced for what it offered and little support for codecs. Thought sony learned their lesson, guess not.

[$ony$tyle]

Originally Posted by Ascariss

Agreed, sony did a similar mistake with the old A1000/3000 series, overpriced for what it offered and little support for codecs. Thought sony learned their lesson, guess not.

that's true, i recall at least A1000/3000 was able to receive fireware update few times and some basic features, then sony even got hot japanese chicks dancing for HOURS for A1000/3000 when they launched. what about X? people hardly notice it in japan, so no chicks dancing for it either, poor functions of so called top of mountain technologies from sony promotion. At least A and S series offered something over the years.

[BlindBandit]

Got the X series 16gb version today in Sony Store in NYC : ), the SQ & VQ is O_O, words can't not say how great the player is, it very small & bright. going to post pictures in a few mins, also when you get the Sony X series, you get 14.2gb out of 16gb btw, after some test & tweaking the video in Ripbot264, i can say that the X series run at 432x240@768kb at Profile 1.3 in AVC H264

Also upload the X series Ripbot264 profile for those who has issue , pick 432x240 & enjoy & put your video brightness on 5 ^_^.

Originally Posted by dfkt

Ouch, that one sure smells of fail: overpriced, no native video support, not even 480x272 screen

Overprice, well like they say, you get what you pay & i'm sure you get your money worth on the X series because the SQ is crazy, i never heard music like this before & this coming from someone who own a Logitech Z-5500 with X-fi sound card for PC, i can't tell you how much bass, treble & cleanness my music is sounding now on the X series i never heard on my PC O_O, i have a 96k mp3 file & it sound like 320k & not only that but very clean & bass with treble.

as for video, it support 432x240 which is the native res of the player but there no need for 480x272 because the player the screen is max at 432x240 but i still try a sample video in 480x272 at 1.5mpbs if it work, i will post my feed back. alot of people got mad at me in Best Buy because i did't pick the iTouch but as soon i let the person who work there listen to the X series his jaw drop lol, he said it sound like a Hifi system & even at vol 25 to 30 the music sound loud, still clean & the bass get even more powerfull & treble get more powerfull as well, so for a little mp3 player i say i got my money worth since it's a mp3 player not a netbook.

Update: OMFG X series is freaking sweet, i encode two HD WMV video 2-pass mode but both in 1024kb@480x272 & 1.5mbbs & all i got to say is O_O even more colorfull & more sharp. it's official X series pretty much worth the money now because it can do 1.5mbps & not only that but 480x272 O_O.

Update: i upload a X series video trailer using my profile for Ripbot264 & 432x240@24fps & 1.53mb for VQ.
http://rapidshare.com/files/25097813...ascar.mp4.html
Don't forget to set up the X series OLED screen to 5 so you can see the OLED screen in action with alot of color & brightness

[robiceli]

Finally the X series has been released in my country. I got my X1060 on Tuesday and I have to agree with BlindBandit - the sound is awesome and way better than any other DMP I have used before. I think that the S-Master chip is showing its "colours" here.

I uploaded some pics of my new DMP. I hope you enjoy

[BlindBandit]

Originally Posted by robiceli

Finally the X series has been released in my country. I got my X1060 on Tuesday and I have to agree with BlindBandit - the sound is awesome and way better than any other DMP I have used before. I think that the S-Master chip is showing its "colours" here.

I uploaded some pics of my new DMP. I hope you enjoy

Yeah even at Vol 22 it sound very loud & very clean. here a X series wallpaper enjoy!

[jjrosaria]

Originally Posted by robiceli

Finally the X series has been released in my country. I got my X1060 on Tuesday and I have to agree with BlindBandit - the sound is awesome and way better than any other DMP I have used before. I think that the S-Master chip is showing its "colours" here.

I uploaded some pics of my new DMP. I hope you enjoy

nice pics, is ur pen made by sony too?? cuz everything i saw in that photo was sony

[racerg64]

I have waited for this for a long time and it finally got here.This is a must have device for music fans.Now I don't need to use my phone for all the other things I used it for in the past. This is perfect for me for music or browsing the web.I had to write an article in support of it.Beautiful device well made and should be well received.I luv it. This Sony Walkman is for keeps.

[Photoman]

Originally Posted by BlindBandit

Got the X series 16gb version today in Sony Store in NYC : ), the SQ & VQ is O_O, words can't not say how great the player is, it very small & bright. going to post pictures in a few mins, also when you get the Sony X series, you get 14.2gb out of 16gb btw, after some test & tweaking the video in Ripbot264, i can say that the X series run at 432x240@768kb at Profile 1.3 in AVC H264

Also upload the X series Ripbot264 profile for those who has issue , pick 432x240 & enjoy & put your video brightness on 5 ^_^.



Overprice, well like they say, you get what you pay & i'm sure you get your money worth on the X series because the SQ is crazy, i never heard music like this before & this coming from someone who own a Logitech Z-5500 with X-fi sound card for PC, i can't tell you how much bass, treble & cleanness my music is sounding now on the X series i never heard on my PC O_O, i have a 96k mp3 file & it sound like 320k & not only that but very clean & bass with treble.

as for video, it support 432x240 which is the native res of the player but there no need for 480x272 because the player the screen is max at 432x240 but i still try a sample video in 480x272 at 1.5mpbs if it work, i will post my feed back. alot of people got mad at me in Best Buy because i did't pick the iTouch but as soon i let the person who work there listen to the X series his jaw drop lol, he said it sound like a Hifi system & even at vol 25 to 30 the music sound loud, still clean & the bass get even more powerfull & treble get more powerfull as well, so for a little mp3 player i say i got my money worth since it's a mp3 player not a netbook.

Update: OMFG X series is freaking sweet, i encode two HD WMV video 2-pass mode but both in 1024kb@480x272 & 1.5mbbs & all i got to say is O_O even more colorfull & more sharp. it's official X series pretty much worth the money now because it can do 1.5mbps & not only that but 480x272 O_O.

Update: i upload a X series video trailer using my profile for Ripbot264 & 432x240@24fps & 1.53mb for VQ.
http://rapidshare.com/files/25097813...ascar.mp4.html
Don't forget to set up the X series OLED screen to 5 so you can see the OLED screen in action with alot of color & brightness

And Slacker Sounds Great and is all that and a bag of chips!

[EnzoTen]

I def would not call it a fail- its a solid player. there is a lot of good stuff in there despite the lack of native video support, crappy web browser and semi-frivolous youtube videos. the UI and the sound quality for me are worth the extra $100. To many Slacker Radio could easily be worth the premium. Might not work for you guys, but for others it could be a win.

[Dreamnine]

I liked the lightning-fast UI when I tried it out, and had no doubt the SQ would be top-notch; but I couldn't justify £200/£250 for one. It will have its fans, though.

[h1a8]

How I wish they would drop the price some. I don't see myself using the wi-fi and radio features. I mostly would probably use only the music and video features. The S9 does these well.

Enzo did you check whether this player has gapless using mp3 as well as wav? Im curious about this. Thanks!

[EnzoTen]

No gapless and there is WAV support.

[h1a8]

Originally Posted by EnzoTen

No gapless and there is WAV support.

Thanks! But for the wav
I meant gapless for wav format.

[EnzoTen]

Originally Posted by h1a8

Thanks! But for the wav
I meant gapless for wav format.

ah ok, ill test later today

[Muka]

Originally Posted by EnzoTen

No gapless and there is WAV support.

I just bought an X1000, and was very disappointed to find that it does NOT have gapless playback. Sending it back for a refund. One would have thought Sony could get a basic very important feature like gapless playback right, especially considering the X1000 is supposed to be their flagship Walkman. Minidiscs have always been able to play gapless. Apple took a lot of heat for not supporting gapless playback, and they fixed it.

BTW the browser is just a joke. Anything other than basic WAP sites and it just chokes, as to be unusable.

Extremely disappointed with this player, will probably look at a Creative, Sansa, Cowon or Iriver. Well the X1000 has a nice screen and the sound quality is good, but is completely ruined by the half second gaps on my DJ mix albums.

[h1a8]

Originally Posted by Muka

I just bought an X1000, and was very disappointed to find that it does NOT have gapless playback. Sending it back for a refund. One would have thought Sony could get a basic very important feature like gapless playback right, especially considering the X1000 is supposed to be their flagship Walkman. Minidiscs have always been able to play gapless. Apple took a lot of heat for not supporting gapless playback, and they fixed it.

BTW the browser is just a joke. Anything other than basic WAP sites and it just chokes, as to be unusable.

Extremely disappointed with this player, will probably look at a Creative, Sansa, Cowon or Iriver. Well the X1000 has a nice screen and the sound quality is good, but is completely ruined by the half second gaps on my DJ mix albums.

It has gapless for wav though. But this defeats the purpose of an mp3 player.

[jjrosaria]

Nice review Enzo.. I really love this device.. I would definitely buy this over the s9 if I have the money..

PS: does it atleast scale videos good?

[Olley]

Slick UI thrill goes away after the first few weeks with a device. I turn off the screen on my S9 after starting my music. Now throw in noise cancelling that I have to give up if I want to use more comfortable over-ear headphones. Finish it off with a less than stellar web browser, and there is no way this Sony should sell for the same price as the Touch. You can get the same music quality on lesser Sony, and save enough money to buy a pair of their comfortable noise cancelling headphones.