Wow, we need an equalizer.

[WalkGood]

Custom EQ isn’t the only thing it needs, how about MSC option too, many other players offer it and not doing so limits it’s true market potential. Just look how many of us don’t by apple because of that … yea I know it would be a cold day in hell before they go that route per the other discussions we’ve had with Dave …

[CrowdAds]

[McDougal]

Yeah I would love MSC mode too, I forgot about that. I would love to just drag&drop sync and ditch the annoying Zune software....

[Icky6]

Originally Posted by McDougal

If somebody bought a nice Cowon player and left it on flat all the time...that would be a waste of money IMO, if you're just going to leave it on flat, but a cheaper player.

I totally agree that a custom EQ would be great (and is a pretty appalling omission), but I don't quite get your comment here. Custom EQ is not a magical "make music sound better" button. It's a tool. It's purpose is to adjust for headphone deficiencies and/or personal sonic preference. If a Cowon sounds good with a flat EQ to someone with a given pair of headphones, then it sounds good. If it doesn't, then all the custom EQ does is give the flexibility to compensate for what may be lacking.

[Satellite_6]

I have to agree with Icky6, with flat-ish headphones or a FR that the user really likes an EQ might not be that beneficial.

But for me it's essential, my 'phones have terribly uneven frequency responses and they all sound better when I flatten out the sound a bit with an EQ.

[NSILMike]

Originally Posted by McDougal

Yeah I would love MSC mode too, I forgot about that. I would love to just drag&drop sync and ditch the annoying Zune software....

MSC protocol can't handle some of the more advanced features on the Zune. But a BIG problem with MSC is that it operates as a mass storage device block (usually FAT,) and not at the logical file level. When a USB host PC has mounted an MSC partition, it assumes absolute control of the storage, which then cannot be touched by the device without risk of data corruption (until the PC closes the connection.)
And, I doubt you could get 'safe' DRM in that system. DRM uses encryption and copy control. I suspect (don't know...) that the encryption is bypassed on the device (too much CPU horsepower req'd) and therefore you depend on copy-control plus simple expiration dates (zune pass...) That's why MS freaks out about hacks that try to directly access data, why 3rd party XNA apps are sand-boxed so heavily, etc.

Update-...boy, did we get off topic or what...?!

[The DarkSide]

Custom EQ and I'd actually have a Zune HD 32gb myself. Really, if you don't need it and it's on the player - don't friggin' use it, no loss or gain to anyone (except the gain to hose of us who want/need the EQ itself).

I have a selection of players that I can use a custom EQ on,.....ALL OF THEM!!! Get the trend MS?!?!?!

And yeah, MSC would be nice - but I'm really am not a drag and drop type. Still, there's a large percentage of current and possibly new Zune users that would love this feature, and I'm behind them 100%.

[Marvin the Martian]

Even if you don't drag and drop, MSC is still a nice idea....nice to know you can just plug it into the computer and it works. And you can still use some of the media manager programs with a player that is in MSC mode....I know Mediamonkey will, at least. Of course, that doesn't help the slaves to playlists, like lestatar....

But yeah MS....no custom EQ, no sale!

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

...SNIPPED...Of course, that doesn't help the slaves to playlists, like lestatar....

But yeah MS....no custom EQ, no sale!

lols. but where there's a will, there is usually a way, especially with this stuff.

I have zero personal quality time with the Zunes[HD], but I must say that my in-store demos of the HD have been pretty OK. Nice form factor, good build quality - certainly a viable competitor for most of the Apple lineup. But yes, like others here I found the EQ presets to be craptastic through 2 pairs of my own IEMs.

Really an odd failing that in 2010 custom EQ settings on any DAP/PMP are unavailable. Does everyone need to use custom EQ settings? Heck no! But for sure, much better/easier to not use custom than to want to use it and have it be unavailable.

Wonder what Dave-MS has to say about this specific issue?

[Icky6]

I also wonder what Dave has to say, I don't think he's ever commented on it. It seems like such a glaring flaw in a media-centric player... for as much as there has been outcry over apps (I'm one of those people), they realistically don't fall in line with MS's aim with the ZHD. Custom EQ is completely in line with their aim. It seems thoroughly retarded not to have it.

[McDougal]

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

I have a selection of players that I can use a custom EQ on,.....ALL OF THEM!!! Get the trend MS?!?!?!

Sorry....I don't think MS gets the trend.....

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

Even if you don't drag and drop, MSC is still a nice idea....nice to know you can just plug it into the computer and it works. And you can still use some of the media manager programs with a player that is in MSC mode....I know Mediamonkey will, at least. Of course, that doesn't help the slaves to playlists, like lestatar....

Another good reason to have MSC mode is so you can use it like a flash drive, so you can store stuff other than music, photos and videos on there.

Originally Posted by lestatar

I have zero personal quality time with the Zunes[HD], but I must say that my in-store demos of the HD have been pretty OK. Nice form factor, good build quality - certainly a viable competitor for most of the Apple lineup. But yes, like others here I found the EQ presets to be craptastic through 2 pairs of my own IEMs.

Really an odd failing that in 2010 custom EQ settings on any DAP/PMP are unavailable. Does everyone need to use custom EQ settings? Heck no! But for sure, much better/easier to not use custom than to want to use it and have it be unavailable.

Wonder what Dave-MS has to say about this specific issue?

Oh yeah, I understand why you guys didn't get my comment before. Everybody certainly doesn't need to use a custom EQ. I don't use any EQ on all of my Sennheiser IEM's, I feel that they don't require one. However, my JVC Flats sound much better when using a custom EQ, which is why I don't like to use my Flats with my Zune HD, and would much prefer to use them on a Rockboxed Fuze... So I guess it all depends on personal taste and what headphones you are using. And I also wonder what Dave has to say about this whole custom EQ issue, I don't think he's ever mentioned it before.

Originally Posted by Icky6

It seems like such a glaring flaw in a media-centric player... for as much as there has been outcry over apps (I'm one of those people), they realistically don't fall in line with MS's aim with the ZHD. Custom EQ is completely in line with their aim. It seems thoroughly retarded not to have it.

I used to be one of those people who screamed and cried about the lack of apps, but I don't really care about apps anymore. All I care about is the basic media features, and maybe some small improvements on the browser and performance. I really don't understand why MS didn't include a custom EQ in the first place....and I don't see any good reasons that's preventing them from not adding one now.

[skip252]

Originally Posted by lestatar

Wonder what Dave-MS has to say about this specific issue?

My, you are new around here aren't you Lestatar? This horse has been well and throughly beaten to death.

This is totally and absolutely out of context but here's a snapshot of Dave's take on a custom EQ during the run up to the release of the ZHD. It may not be the best reference but the threads running up to and immediately after the release are HUGE. If you're truly interested and have a free week or so they make very interesting reading.

The thread I linked to and the others that sprang from it is the reason that the mods and admins have so little patience with these types of threads. People insist that Dave has said nothing about these issues and he most definitely has.

Given that the ZHD has followed the things that he said in previous posts very nearly exactly I see no reason to believe that one more "We want a custom EQ" thread is going to make a bit of difference. You should see the size of the one on zune.net.

[jmerrey]

i wonder if the reason we don't get drag and drop is because of all the extra info that comes with the music: bio/pictures/etc...

[lip]

Originally Posted by McDougal

Yeah I would love MSC mode too, I forgot about that. I would love to just drag&drop sync and ditch the annoying Zune software....

To each his/her own...love the zune software...drag and drop was great, I guess, for 1st gen mp3 players but I don't see a benefit myself...

[Satellite_6]

Originally Posted by lip

To each his/her own...love the zune software...drag and drop was great, I guess, for 1st gen mp3 players but I don't see a benefit myself...

I don't see the benefit of using a program to put songs on a DAP. . .

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by skip252

My, you are new around here aren't you Lestatar? This horse has been well and throughly beaten to death.

This is totally and absolutely out of context but here's a snapshot of Dave's take on a custom EQ during the run up to the release of the ZHD. ..SNIPPED...

skip252, once again, you simply never cease to amaze me.

I did figure that Dave surely would have responded to this at some previous point.

thanks for the continuing info/education - though generally i don't pay much attention to the Zune boards

[That Guy Is Here]

Originally Posted by lip

To each his/her own...love the zune software...drag and drop was great, I guess, for 1st gen mp3 players but I don't see a benefit myself...

I dont see a benefit of that either. And the zune software has that feature all you do is plug in your zune and drag-n-drop to the zune in the lft corner.

[Flyordie]

They really broke apart WinCE on the ZuneHD. I am beginning to think that they can't do custom EQ due to missing components. I have been trying to find a way into the root of the OS to add the equalizer from the Windows CE based Mobinova laptop since it uses the same sound chip and even the same CPU/GPU combo...

So maybe it just can't be added due to a broken sound delivery system.

[h1a8]

Originally Posted by zaner123

I don't think a custom equalizer is necessary at all..

I have Shure SE530 IEM's (that cost $300 dollars) and I can easily say that the sound quality of the Zune HD on it's "Normal" equalizer setting is much better than the sound quality of my old Zen HD with a custom equalizer. The equalizer is very much unimportant.

People not only have different tastes but they have different tastes for different music as well. For music X I like the bass, treble, and midrange to be a certain way. For music Y I like the bass, treble, and midrange to be a certain way as well. No headphone can adjust its signature to different kinds of music to satisfy the tastes for ALL people for that particular piece of music. I personally listen to more than 5 kinds of music and prefer a good set of headphones with a custom eq.

Zune's presets suck and don't provide me with the tweaking I need for a particular song. I kinda regret buying one. I only use it for watching videos (And I do that rarely on it).

[Leroy Bad]

Originally Posted by musichound

IMO, the only way the Zune HD would get custom EQ is if it's added to the iPods.
Nuff said.

This is so true! Its all Apples fault to begin with. I remember asking that guy from MS who post here sometimes why the Zune HD has no custom EQ settings, and he basically said the same thing, "The Zune HD doesn't have an EQ because the iPod doesn't have one." Which is stupid!
While new iPod Touch 3G has 4x the amount of preset EQ as the Zune, but they still refuse to put in a Custom EQ even though they put one in iTunes. So you'd think MS would loosen up a bit.

[sonorguy]

Originally Posted by lestatar

skip252, once again, you simply never cease to amaze me.

I did figure that Dave surely would have responded to this at some previous point.

thanks for the continuing info/education - though generally i don't pay much attention to the Zune boards

So, if the Zune HD were to get a custom eq, would your primary pmp become a Zune instead of the Cowon J3?