JetAudio iAudio4 MP3 Player

Reviews: Multimedia

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Bradford Day
Kurtis
JetAudio
Jul. 13, 2004

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Recording

The line-in feature of the iAUDIO 4 will allow you to record MP3s directly from any input device that you can get a 3.5mm male plug out of. I recorded from my old Sony Discman using the included line-in cable. I was able to plug my earphones into the iAUDIO 4 as I was recording from the Discman to the MP3 player/recorder and listen to the tracks as I ripped them. While this feature is very handy for those of you wishing to easily record old tapes, records or even 8-tracks it doesn't separate each individual track. For each track you will either need to stop the recorder and restart it, or hash out each individual song from the one long MP3 file afterwards with an MP3 editing application. One outstanding feature of the line-in recording that really impressed me was the time remaining feature. Not only does the player/recorder display the total minutes available for recording, it also displays in megabytes the remaining room in the flash memory. Nifty.

Radio stations tuned clearly, but at times not as well as my home stereo. Of course, the antenna on the iAUDIO 4 isn't nearly as good as one included with a home system, but I rarely had problems tuning to all my local stations. Voice and FM recordings were clear, even at a relatively low quality setting of 56kbps. I was able to clearly record my own voice at normal speaking volume while holding the unit at arm's length. School lectures, business meetings and super secret spy conversations should be no problem for the powerful little microphone.

Additional features

Further menu searching will reveal more personalized settings than you can handle. From the Play Mode tab you can set track repeat, album repeat or playlist shuffling. The Display tab will allow you to adjust the time display, song title display, scrolling speed, LCD contrast and swap language display. Under the Timer tab you will find that AutoOff setting, allowing you to determine how long you want your player to lie dormant before it shuts itself off. There is also a Sleep setting so that you can serenade yourself off to dreamland without fear of running your battery down. The General settings tab will allow you to choose how quickly your player skips through songs, set song resume after shut off, instigate AutoPlay at power up and select battery type (alkaline or rechargeable).

Speaking of batteries! JetAudio claims that this player can get up to 15 hours of playback from a single AAA battery. Now obviously this number varies with the player settings, backlight use, and volume settings. So, I will just say this: I was able to get roughly 12-14 hours of playback out of the included Duracell AAA battery and I typically had the volume over a setting of 20 while often fiddling around with the backlight.

Extra goodies

But wait, there's more. JetAudio has also included for your enjoyment several extra accoutrements that make this versatile little player even more useful. Starting with the protective case! The case not only keeps finger prints and scratches off the LCD screen, it has pre-cut holes for all the buttons and even the microphone AND it allows you to attach the player to the adjustable elastic armband for exercising or just moving around the house. I even went the extra mile and took the iAUDIO 4 with me on a jog... well what I do can't really be called jogging, more like a huff 'n' stumble. The little player chugged right along with me and the armband was easily adjusted to fit my arm and never slipped or got too annoying as I ran. This player would be great for taking to the gym or on a jog. However, the Cresyn earbuds did have a tendency to fall out while I was jogging, so I prefer to use my Sony earbuds with the attached headband to keep the tunes flowing while I am wheezing my way down the street. For less active musical sessions, you may want to tether your player to the included necklace and dangle the iAUDIO 4 around your neck.

And if the protective case isn't enough for you, JetAudio also includes 2 static cling scratch protectors custom cut to fit over the LCD screen, much like a PDA protective film. Once in place, the protective film is barely noticeable. JetAudio also included a USB cable and a USB adapter so that you may use a standard USB cable or header with your player. The included cable resembles device cables more common to many digital cameras - in fact I was able to use my Olympus camera USB cable to load songs onto the unit.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Looks
Page 3: Features & Testing
Page 4: Features & Testing, Continued
Page 5: Software & Conclusion

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16 User Comments

1 - Posted by Nick on July 14, 2004 - 11:02 pm

I think Brad is officially my favorite reviewer here or anywhere. Always makes me laugh at some of the weird things he says and does.

2 - Posted by Brian on July 14, 2004 - 11:33 pm

Yeah, he has a kickin sense of humor. That's what we pay him for.

Well... eish... umm... hmmph

*slowly walks away*

3 - Posted by Kurtis on July 15, 2004 - 11:58 am

-on topic-
yes, brad has a great sense of humor. there was a time where brian and I used to write humor into our reviews, but I think we lost teh funnay :(

-off topic-
lmao brian when did you add that wayne brady thing to your sig? :lol:

4 - Posted by Brian on July 15, 2004 - 1:39 pm

I tried to add a bit of humor to my next review... we'll see...

I added the sig the other day :-P Good stuff

5 - Posted by handrail on July 15, 2004 - 2:41 pm

awww, gee, thanks guys! :wink:

glad you like me insane ramblings. of course, i have been told by a certain review editor that i sometimes use jokes too often in my reviews. but then again, sometimes i write one and it's the most surreal insane bit of brain ooze and i have to tidy it up a bit so that it will make sense to normal people. so umm, yeah.

i just hope the RIAA doesn't sue me for saying in so many words that they are a bunch of bastards...although i didn't mention them specifically until just now. they're still bastards tho.

6 - Posted by EmoMakesMeCry on July 15, 2004 - 4:28 pm

*looks in shame at his Rio One mp3 player*

me thinks it's time to invest in a new mp3 player...

7 - Posted by Kurtis on July 15, 2004 - 7:50 pm

by the way... we just got the jetaudio M3 today to review. It is a HDD-based 20GB MP3 player. We'll have a review up on it in a few weeks :)

8 - Posted by Guest on July 24, 2004 - 2:45 pm

Thank you for a review which is actually useful and seems to be impartial! I waded through many woeful reviews written by semi-literate individuals before finding this one. Now I'm more confident that this is the mp3 player I would like to own!

9 - Posted by Guest on September 15, 2004 - 8:10 am

I want to buy a MP3 player and was wondering what you would recommend? The Iaudio CW 300 512mb, the Iaudio 4 1 Gb of a Iaudio M3? I am not able te make up my mind between these players. So maybe you can help me a bit?

10 - Posted by Guest on September 16, 2004 - 8:29 am

Thanks for the advice. For me personally 512 Mb of 1 Gb is more then enough. Still thinking about buying an Iaudio CW 300 512mb, the Iaudio 4 512Mb or 1Gb. Maybe you can help me with some advice on this too?

11 - Posted by Guest on September 17, 2004 - 8:44 am

Thanks very much. I decided too buy the iAudio 4. The main reasons were the good user reviews of the soundquality and the use of AAA batteries, which makes the device very usefull on vacation.

12 - Posted by Guest on September 22, 2004 - 5:05 pm

Does the carrying case have a belt clip? In other words, can you wear the unit on your waist rather than on your arm? This is a critical issue to many runners. Thanks (My CW 300 had a very nice black leather case with a belt clip. This was a different case than the one supplied for use with the armband).

13 - Posted by Guest on December 15, 2004 - 3:41 am

Very appreciate your review. Currently plan to buy iAudio MP3,but still can not distinguish "U2" and "G3"(cannot find big difference between them),hope give me some advice.Thx!

14 - Posted by Guest on December 16, 2004 - 4:47 am

Thankyou for your the detailed data.I'll keep an eye on your review! :)

15 - Posted by Guest on January 4, 2005 - 2:43 am

Great review. I just purchased a MY3ia 512MB mp3 player, then read the reviews for the iAudio 4. I promptly returned the former player and ordered the iAudio online because it's features and quality blew mine away. I cant wait for it to arrive.

16 - Posted by Guest on August 14, 2005 - 12:49 pm

Hi, thanks for the review, very helpful. One question I can't seem to find the answer to...I'm looking for something that can record at least 2 hours of voice recording at high quality. Would this do it? Or would you recommend another product.

thanks again.

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