iRiver iFP-899 MP3 Player - Features, Sound Quality, and Display
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Features
- File Formats: MPEG 1 2/2.5 Layer 3, WMA, ASF, Ogg Vorbis
- Bitrates: 8 to 320 Kbps (Ogg: 96.1 to 225 Kbps)
- Signal to noise ratio: 90dB
- Records: Internal microphone, Line-in, FM Tuner
- Interface: fast USB 2.0
- Weight: 40g
- Size: 88.5(W) x 36.2(D) x 27.3(H) mm (roughly my index and middle finger together)
This is one of only several players that has Ogg Vorbis support. Some reviewers have reported difficulty with playing Ogg Vorbis files. To test this, I had to encode some Ogg Vorbis files since I never use the format. The songs played without a single glitch; those that had trouble may not needed a firmware upgrade or else had a faulty unit.
Sound, FM Tuner, and Recording Quality
To test the sound quality at high levels, I used the included line-in/out cable. I connected it to my car stereo to get a sense of what it can sound like going through a set of really nice speakers (instead of testing on limited, stock earphones). Using 160 Kbps MP3s and my stereo turned way up, I increased the iRiver volume from 1 (lowest) to 40 (highest).
What I found is that the sound did not distort at all on the higher settings. It sounded very clear, clean and indistinguishable from putting CD in the car stereo. By the time I reached volume 40, the sound was shaking the car but was still notably quieter than a CD would have been at that level. Needless to say, this player doesn’t lack anything for sound quality and power. Using the equalizer can improve the sound balance too.
The FM Tuner is pretty nice as well. The reception of the tuner is quite good. It picks up more stations more clearly than a portable FM stereo, though my car radio is better (and I’d hope it would be). Retrieving stations from memory is really easy and only takes a click. You can define the stations both from the player and from the Music Manager software. Scanning stations is unfortunately more trouble than it’s worth, but that isn’t a problem if you have your favorite stations stored in memory.
The device can actually record using 3 methods: an internal microphone, the line-in, and the FM tuner. The line-in can be used to record from stereos, CD players, and external microphones if the internal one doesn’t do it for you. For any of the recording methods, the bitrate and mono/stereo can be adjusted through menu options (except for the internal mic, which obviously must be mono). Recordings can be offloaded from the player to your computer using the Music manager software. This is an extremely capable little recorder for radio, CDs, class lectures, or perhaps even a “note to self.”
Display and Navigation
The display is small but sufficient. It has a bright blue backlight, and has four lines of text when navigating. Users navigate the menus and folders using a joystick-like button. It’s very easy to use when stationary, but this joystick is a giant pain when running. For instance, while trying to increase the volume (UP) I would frequently move the joystick to the next song (RIGHT) accidentally. Using several independent buttons would have made this easier for using while running, which is what this player should be designed for to begin with. The actual act of learning to navigate the menus is simple; if you’ve used another portable player you’ll be able to use this one immediately. Also, there are three round buttons at top that give more options when playing music, such as changing the equalizer and the playing order (shuffle folder then stop, shuffle all and continue af, repeat folder, etc.)
While playing music, they player displays a lot of totally useless information, like file format and bitrate. What’s actually helpful on the screen is the top line, which displays the folder title (in my case, the artist name), and the second line, which displays the track information (which can be pulled from the file name or the track tags. Also, there is a little visualization in the lower right corner, another useless thing, which can be replaced by a track status bar or a clock. The onscreen cock feature is nice, because it means I don’t have to wear a watch while running. This is not a feature on other flash players I’ve seen.
Screens of navigating and visualization menu
The great thing about the player is that almost everything can be adjusted to your preference. The three buttons at top have many options to cycle through while playing (like 7 equalizers and 10 play modes), and using menus, you can remove ones you don’t use to make use much faster. You can change the time the backlight stays on, the visualization, set alarms, set a power saver time, the speed of fast forwarding through tracks, recording quality, set fade-ins, and much more.
You can also build playlists on the fly using the player. If you want to see the options, you can view the player's manual online and check out section 5.
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