I love them! I'm not an audiophile, but I can say that they do sound really good to me. Plus, they're really comfy. That said, I got these because they were on sale for a pretty good price. Although I love these, I certainly wouldn't want to pay 100 bucks for them, or for any other headphones at that.
Got the Aurvana lives recently...making this the fourth creative product I've bought in a year. I would do a review, but its reputation speaks for itself! I might be buying an external sound card for a relative of mine. That sound card will be from none other than Creative.
Publisher: Michael P., aka ssjmichael • Business Management • Website Design • System Administrator • Editor-in-Chief
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Welcome to epiZENter. You are seeing this message because you are either not registered or not logged in. If you're new to this site, I'll tell you what we're all about. This is a Creative fansite that focuses on their various players such as the very popular Creative ZEN. We make it our duty here to provide you with all the latest news and information to help you with your player, and to aid in your buying decision if you don't own a player yet. epiZENter is part of the DAPreview webring.
Our Forums are very friendly and include a number of different guides and resources to help you with your player. If you are attempting to see pictures but seeing a message saying image disabled, this means you aren't registered or logged in.
Once registered, you'll get full access to everything this great place has to offer. Compare our site to other Creative forums and you'll see it gets updated more, is more friendly, and is better organized.
It's been a long time since we've had anything to report here, put an emphasis on long. Creative has just announced a new player, the ZEN X-Fi3 at this year's IFA trade show. Unfortunately, the ZEN X-Fi3 doesn't quite live up to the namesake of its predecessors. The ZEN X-Fi and X-Fi2 were high-end looking devices (for Creative at least) with larger screens. The X-Fi3 on the other hand has a miniscule 2.0" low resolution display, and a very basic interface. In fact, it looks more like a colorized version of the ZEN Style than anything. It does pack in quite a lot of features for its size. Along with the built-in Bluetooth, it has Creative's X-Fi sound tech built-in, support for FLAC, Divx, and Xvid and can even output video to a TV. Check out the full feature-set below.
ZEN X-Fi3 Specs
Display: 2" TFT with 262K colors
Capacity: 8GB , 16GB with microSD expansion
Wireless: Bluetooth 2.1 (supports apt-X, AVRCP & A2DP)
Audio formats(2): FLAC, non-protected AAC (
.M4A) from iTunes Plus® , MP3, WMA (DRM9), WAV(IMA-ADPCM), Audible Format 4, Audible AAX
Video formats(3) : WMV9, MPEG4-SP, AVI (DivX4/5, XviD)
Video / Audio out : PAL or NTSC / Stereo (via A/V cable sold)
Photo formats: JPEG
Built-in Microphone for Voice Recording
Built-in FM Radio with 32 station presets
Built-in Speakers for sharing music out loud
Battery Playtime : Up to 20 hours of audio (mp3,128kbps), up to 5 hours of video (640x480, stereo(128kbps))
Dimensions: 65 x 45.5 x 12.5mm (est.)
Weight: 45g (est.)
Pricing isn't too bad either. The 8GB will set you back $99.99, while the 16GB rings up for $139.99. Unfortunately, the demand for dedicated MP3 players is all but dead right now. Even I've transitioned from using my dedicated DAP to using my tablet and mobile phone. In other words, Creative you need to make a new tablet and/or mobile phone. If Archos can be successful doing that, why can't you?
ZiiLABS demos working JAGUAR protoypes - we are pleasantly surprised
When ZiiLABS announced the ZMS-20, ZMS-40 and the new JAGUAR platforms over the last few weeks, I was skeptical at how things would eventually turn out to be. But seeing is believing. Thanks to VR-Zone (a Singapore based technology website), what we are going to see below are photos of the actual JAGUAR prototypes running the Honeycomb OS. According to the website, the ZiiLABS team has been working hard over the weeks to make the Honeycomb OS play nice with the ZMS-20 processor and has achieved "pretty good success so far". The article also claims that the latest Angry Bird Game (Rio) and 1080p videos were playing flawlessly on the JAGUAR. One last pleasant surprise of the day was how thin and sleek the JAGUAR 10" is! Honestly it looks very un-creative and Apple-like but i am not complaining. With its dual-core processor, awesome good looks and Creative's traditionally low prices for tablet, this is something i would really like to have for Christmas!
The 10" Jaguar running Android 3.0
These JAGUAR tablets actually looks and feels pretty good and slim too. Much closer to competition than before so ZiiLABS might have a chance in the tablet market.
Angry Bird Rio and a 1080p video running "flawlessly" on the JAGUAR
ZiiLabs new Jaguar tablet platform to feature ZMS-20 and ZMS-40 chips
The 10" Jaguar Reference design shown above
After showcasing their powerful new processors, the ZMS-20 and ZMS-40, Ziilabs is poised to put those bad boys to work. They'll be featured in a new platform called Jaguar, capable of running Android 3.0 (aka Honeycomb). ZiiLabs have provided reference designs for a 7" and a 10" model, as well as their capabilities.
Advanced Feature Set
Powered by ZMS-20 StemCell processor 7" and 10" LCD options Capacitive and resistive touch options Up to 1GB LPDDR2 or DDR3 Rear and Front facing cameras Wi-Fi b/g/n 3G/4G/WiMax modem options Bluetooth 2.1+EDR Tuned antenna design GPS, accelerometer, compass and gyroscope Stereo speakers High-quality dual microphone array Up to 64 GB internal storage HDMI 1.4 output USB 2.0 port SD card support Tuned antenna design Stereo headphone and Mic input Rechargeable battery and power management Instantaneous On and extended Sleep function
That's quite an impressive list! This new platform certainly sounds promising, and will hopefully get Creative and co. back on track. We'll keep you posted as usual.
ZiiLABS updates the Zii family of processors with the ZMS-20 and the ZMS-40
It has been 2 years since ZiiLABS announced its last media processor - the ZMS-08. The media-rich applications processor is now seen powering the Creative's ZiiO range of tablets. While we have yet to see the 1080p video playback or 720p video conferencing on these devices, we did see the ZiiO rendering decent 3D games and also 720p HDMI output.
Today, ZiiLABS (also known as the chip-making arm of Creative) announces 2 new processors targeting at the rapidly growing tablet market. The ZMS-20 is a dual-core (think 2 brains on a chip) 1.5GHz Cortex A9 processor which the company says is 4 times faster than the ZMS-08. The ZMS-40 on the other hand is a quad-core (now think 4 brains) processor which is able to deliver a clock speed of up to 6GHz. This all sounds amazing to us. What it simply means is that the ZMS-20 and ZMS-40 are micro-size media-powerhouse processors optimized for Android 3.0 high-definition tablets.
Along with the chips, ZiiLABS will provide a comprehensive Android Tablet Platform consisting of the ZMS-20 SDK for Android, customize or white label ID tablet designs and also certification and conformation.
It's been quite a while, but Creative has finally announced a new player. The Zen Style M300 is a compact device that looks about the same size as the latest iPod nano. The M300 comes in a variety of colors, has touch-sensitive controls, and supports Bluetooth for wireless connectivity.
Creative ZEN Style M300 Portable Media Player
Display: 1.45" TFT (262K colours) Capacity: 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, plus a microSD slot Bluetooth: Bluetooth 2.1 wireless technology (supports A2DP & AVRCP) FM Radio function with 32 preset stations Battery Life: Up to 20 hours (based on128kpbs, 4mins/song, MP3 file) Supported Audio Formats: MP3, WMA (DRM9),WAV (IMA-ADPCM), Audible Format 4, Audible AAX Supported Picture Formats: JPEG Supported Video Formats: Transcoded SMV (requires respective codec pre-installed on PC) Built-in microphone for voice recording Additional feature: Clock display
Creative also announced an "M100" model which is exactly like the M300 sans Bluetooth support. Both models go on sale in Mid June, with prices ranging from $39.99 to $89.99.
Creative has announced via its Twitter account that the ZiiO 10" will begin shipping in Europe today! The 8GB version will retail at £249.99 while the 16GB one will cost you £269.99. In case you have forgotten, below is a short summary of the ZiiO 10"'s features:
CES 2011 is underway and Creative is in attendance, showing off their recently announced ZiiO Android tablet. Tech Digest got their hands on it and shot this preview video:
The interface looked fairly responsive with most applications, but certainly not as smooth as a capacitive screen would be. According to Tech Digest, the device is currently running Android 2.2, but will be upgraded to 2.3 later on.
Creative ZiiO Android Tablet now Shipping in the US
Good news everyone, the ZiiO 7" Android Tablet is now available in the US. The 8GB model is available at Amazon for $249.99, and the 16GB for $269.99. The ZiiO adds to a quickly growing list of Android tablets coming out, but separates itself from the bunch with support for apt-x, and X-Fi audio enhancements. It's also quite a bit less than most other tablets out there. The device is running a customized version of Android 2.1 currently, but I've heard that there are plans to update it to 2.2 (aka Froyo). Currently, only the 7-inch model is available, but the 10-inch model should arrive next year.
Specs for the ZiiO 7"
Capacity: 8 or 16GB Capacity w/ microSDHC expansion
Display: 7.0" resistive touchscreen (800 x 480 resolution, 16.8M colors)
It's that time of the year folks! If you can't figure out what to get someone for Christmas, then Creative has just the sale for you. They've taken off 30% off of everything in their store, except their line of ZEN MP3 players. Since items at Creative are fulfilled by Amazon, many can be ordered directly from Amazon.com (often cheaper than from Creative). Just use the code 30OFFNOW at Checkout
Creative announces the ZiiO Tablet and ZEN Touch 2
It turns out the OnePad we reported on earlier was just a mere glimpse of what Creative had to unveil today. They announced the ZiiO series of tablets, as well as a new Android-based DAP called the ZEN Touch 2. Here's a breakdown of all the new stuff:
ZiiO Tablet
The ZiiO Tablet runs on Android, and since it's the first tablet to be apt-x enabled, as well as have X-Fi built-in, Creative states its "the best wireless audio performance you will get from an Androidâ„¢-based tablet in the market". Specs for the ZiiO 7"
Capacity: 8 or 16GB Capacity w/ microSDHC expansion
Display: 7.0" resistive touchscreen (800 x 480 resolution, 16.8M colors)
Video: MPEG-4, H.264, WMV, AVI, MOV at resolutions up to 1280 x 720
Connectivity; HDMI-Out, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
Battery Life: 25 hours for Audio, 5 for video
There's also a 10" version that's similar, but has a display resolution of 1024 x 600 (262K colors), and has an SD slot rather than microSD. The ZiiO tablet series will be released towards the end of December ranging in price from 359 Singapore dollars (roughly $279US) for the 8GB 7" model to 459S (roughly $356US) for the 16GB 10" model.
ZEN Touch 2
The ZEN Touch 2 isn't a tablet, but it's also running on Android 2.1, allowing it to share many of the same advantages of the ZiiO tablet line.
8 or 16GB Capacity
3.2†Touch Screen
Lossless Music
Android 2.1 Operating System
Bluetooth 2.1
High Speed Wi-Fi access (802.11b/g/n)
Accelerometer
Built-in Speaker
2-Megapixel Camera
Composite Video-Out
microSD Card Slot
GPS, Digital Compass, FM Radio (Available with the enhanced version)
The ZEN Touch 2 starts at 279 Singapore dollars, or roughly $217US and will be available starting next month.
Creative looks like their taking things more seriously again with these two new devices. Let us know what you think of them!
ZiiLABS demos working JAGUAR protoypes - we are pleasantly surprised
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