Better now.. (was: Before I Kill iRiver)

[timn]

Let me take a deep breath here...

For the last year or so I've been using the SanDisk 1GB player and have been fairly happy - it's less than perfect but it is simple and straight forward and I've only been interested in playback.

But now I'm interested in a portable recording device. I read around -- including this group and others -- and the consensus seems to be that the iRiver is a fairly decent way to go.

So today, I received my iFP-799 (1 GB) player. Hardware-wise, it's built much better than the SanDisk. But, first things first, I RTFM. Then I begin to play...

My first nasty surprise was that it does not function as a straight-forward USB device. You must use the included "iRiver Music Manager" to transfer files. This makes the player much less 'portable' than the SanDisk -- I can't simply interface with whatever computer I have handy like I do with the SanDisk. Perhaps they should have included a separate arm band where you can keep the installation CD handy at a moment's notice.

Next, I go to see if maybe I need a firmware upgrade - the version on the player currently is 1.243 Unfortunately, iRiver's support site won't tell you what the most current version of the firmware is - they just have you download "IFP-7XXT.HEX" and install it. Oh yeah, upgrading firmware wipes out the file system.

But finally, and most agregiously, before I upgraded I wanted to move a few sample podcast MP3s off of the iRiver that I hadn't listen to yet onto a second computer. Guess what -- "Cannot upload audio type file" Unfricking believeable. UH, rename, then upload? Nope. Sorry Charlie. One way transactions only for MP3 files. Delete? Sure! No problem!

So I'm researching these issues and I run across a post that says "Oh, you gotta upgrade to the UMS firmware version - then the player functions as a standard USB device and you'll have nirvana." Back to the iRiver site. Found the UMS Firware page. I read through it, thinking I've found a solution. I get to the bottom of the page and guess what --- UMS not available for 799.

So, as I sit here and rip my hair out the only saving grace is that I've heard with my own ears what the iRiver is capable of doing and keep reminding myself that the PRIMARY reason for purchasing it was to record.

What's really frustrating here is that I've spent my career writing software for a living and I can tell you that HUNDREDS of hours were spent deliberately crippling this player with malice aforethought . What in the hell were they thinking? They've taken what could be a fabulous playback device and poked its eyes out and slice its tongue off. It's like vandalizing a Picasso. It appears that the hardware engineers worked very hard to get it right only to have the software development team crap all over their work.

I would never recommend this player to anyone simply looking for playback capabilities.

Anyway, RANT OFF. Thanks for the chance to vent... I'll bite my tongue now and continue to use the SanDisk as my primary player...

[allthewhile]

I love the iriver.

two cons:

1. interface takes a while to learn.
2. crappy software

I'd love to be able to dock it and sync with a folder like itunes. but hey, that would be too easy wouldn't it.

[timn]

The interface didn't give me too much trouble -- but I attribute this to the great similarity between the iRiver and the SanDisk. I remember being somewhat frustrated when first learning the SanDisk interface.

[dhp]

Hey -

I've been an owner of an iRiver H140 for almost a year. The thing I love about it, is that it's essentially one big jump-drive - USB2.0 and never has any problems interacting with various machines. It's worked perfectly for music, recording via line-in and external mics, etc. The hardware is great.
The interface, however, is HORRIBLE. Pathetic, really. If you can get past that, I'd be very suprised if you didn't grow to love your iRiver.

I learned much from this site: www.misticriver.net For all things iRiver.

DHP

[gozar]

My first nasty surprised was that it does not function as a straight-forward USB device. You must use the included "iRiver Music Manager" to transfer files. This makes the player much less 'portable' than the SanDisk -- I can't simply interface with whatever computer I have handy like I do with the SanDisk. Perhaps they should have included a separate arm band where you can keep the installation CD handy at a moment's notice.


I keep a copy on a USB flash drive that I always have with me. It is a pain though.


But finally, and most agregiously, before I upgraded I wanted to move a few sample podcast MP3s off of the iRiver that I hadn't listen to yet onto a second computer. Guess what -- "Cannot upload audio type file" Unfricking believeable. UH, rename, then upload? Nope. Sorry Charlie. One way transactions only for MP3 files. Delete? Sure! No problem!


On the Mac, I noticed there was a preference to turn off this restriction, but it was grayed out. I loaded up the developers tools, opened the file that controls the GUI on the iRiver Music Manager software and enabled the check box. I can now copy mp3s off of the iRiver, but it always locks up when finished and I have to force quit.

I've also had luck renaming the mp3s with a .REC extension. It still locks up when finished, but you can at least get the files off of the machine.


So, as I sit here and rip my hair out the only saving grace is that I've heard with my own ears what the iRiver is capable of doing and keep reminding myself that the PRIMARY reason for purchasing it was to record.


That's all I use it for. It's too cumbersome to load up mp3s on it since it doesn't sync with iTunes. I also have an iPod, so it's not that big of a deal for me.


I would never recommend this player to anyone simply looking for playback capabilities.


I agree. The interface is the most confusing thing ever. Even now when I'm recording on it, I can't remember if I hit the Rec button to pause it or the play/stop button.


Anyway, RANT OFF. Thanks for the chance to vent... I'll bite my tongue now and continue to use the SanDisk as my primary player...

Get an iPod, you'll be much happier! :-)

[timn]

Gozar:

I checked out your site. The May 23rd comic cost me a whole mouthful of coffee and a wet keyboard. Thanks.

[roadrageradio]

My first mp3 player/recorder was a Pogo Ripflash, which also uses a proprietary interface for up/down loads, and also functions as a roach motel-- you can't upload anything you've downloaded.

The IRivers have the built in mic pre-amp which is nice if you're doing any field recording. My current beast is a Creative Muvo N200, which **does** function as a USB drive, but {sigh} doesn't have the mic pre-amp, so I have to carry another box and worry about another set of batteries. Nothing is ever easy.

HOWEVER,

there's an outfit called Rockbox that is working on their own firmware for the IRiver family. They actually reverse engineered the firmware on the old Archos Jukebox line, and wrote a lovely open source UI for that hunk of junk. I don't know how far along they are on the IRiver project, but if you google RockBox, you will find out.

[Craig]

I don't know how far along they are on the IRiver project, but if you google RockBox, you will find out.
I think they're only doing it for the iHP-120 and 340.

Craig

[timn]

deleted (well tried to anyway)

Could someone tell me how to delete my own post? When I hover over the EDIT button, the little pop-up help text says "Edit/Delete Post" but all I can seem to do is edit...

[timn]

dhp:

I was checking out the site you recommended and I ran across this:

http://www.misticriver.net/boards/showthread.php?t=9018

If you look, there's a section for "iFP-790/795/799" Under that there is a link to a file "UMS v1.28" The URL points to the iRiver site in Korea rather than iRiverAmerica.

I sucessfully downloaded the ZIP file and extracted the EXE. Ran EXE and it created .HEX files Now I'm in a holding pattern.

[ update ]

I've been reading through the FAQ and forums at misticriver and the UMS upgrade appears to be real. However, there's one limitation I'm unsure if I want to live with or not - under the UMS firmware, the line-in bit rate is limited to 96kbps. This might end up sounding a bit thin and cheesy, no?

Also, the folks over at mistic say that file xfer is slower under the UMS firmware. Compared to the SanDisk, file xfer under the Music Manager is already about 25% slower than I'm used to so even slower doesn't thrill me.

Thanks for all the help - especially the pointer to misticriver - it's far superior to the iRiverAmerica site. I'm gonna hold off on the UMS firmware ufor the time being until I'm sure I want to try it - maybe chat with the mistic folks.