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igmolinav(at)yahoo.de
Just Posting
2 Posts |
 Posted - 05/24/2005 : 04:37:27 AM
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Dear Sir or Madam:
Answers to the following questions will help me to get more acquainted with the Neuros MP3 player. I am very interested in acquiring the Neuros HD 30 GB USB 2.0 In advance, all your help is greatly appreciated.
1. I used to work as a photographer, and a lot of the equipment manufactured for working photographers is built with such quality and reliability that it can last for many years. Is there a life-time for the Neuros MP3 player ? If there is not really a life-time for the player please tell me how long you have had your Neuros MP3 player.
2. Does the Neutros MP3 player break down easily and often – if any, what kind of problem did you find yourself with the Neutros? How many times have you had malfunctioning problems since you got it – if you had any?
3. If the Neutros MP3 player fails and you need to send it back to neutros, how good and how expensive is their service?
4. I want to use the MP3 player with an external microphone for high-quality dialogue recordings of interviews or conferences. These recordings may last from one hour to several hours. I own a small omnidirectional microphone. However, Neuros offers a Portable Stereo Preamp and Mic Unit.
http://www.neurosaudio.com/store/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=DigitalInnovationsCatalog&category;%5Fname=Neuros+Gear&product;%5Fid=4019500
This unit combines a preamp (needed to work with the Neuros) and an omnidirectional mic. Do you recommend buying this unit – and why? - or would you use a separate mic and preamp like the ones in the two following links:
Mic.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A;=details&Q;=&sku;=179607&is;=REG
Preamp.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A;=details&Q;=&sku;=130518&is;=REG
5. The Neuros that I have the most interest for is the HD 30 GB USB 2.0. Is it possible to detach the 30 GB “back” and swap to an 80 GB “back”? When you detach the “back”, can you play the “back-less” Neuros by itself?
6. Does the Neuros recognize playlists transferred from Windows Media Player? Does the Neuros support ID3-tagged album art? Is there a chance that in the future with an upgrade, one may be able to view photos on the Neuros?
7. What is the farthest away that I can be from the Neuros in order for the built- in microphone to catch a lecture, a conference, etc.?
8. Do you think the Edirol R1 is a better buy and can be of better use than the Neuros for the purposes that I previously explained?
Thank you very much for your time and kind attention to this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Ignacio Molina.
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guttrhead(at)gmail.com
Posting Mania
402 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2005 : 10:02:54 AM
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1. I havn't had my neuros for too long, about 7 months, but it is showing no signs of degradation even though I use it at least 2hrs a day. It is all plastic, but it feels solid.
2. I wouldn't really say break down, but it can be very buggy. It has locked up on me on many occasions, but all were fixed easily. Just remember:
a) never unhook the usb cable from the player unless it says its ready
b) if the unit is off and unresponsive to button pushes, but the harddrive is spinning, detatch the brain from the backpack, then reattach it and it should work.
c)if it does not shut down properly and freezes or hangs on the shutdown screen, hold up+play to force a shutdown
d)if it won't startup and run correctly. hold 1+5+play to open the diagnostics menu. Format nand and rebuild bad blocks. This will not erase any data on the hard disk. the next startup will be slow because it has to recheck the database, but it should work fine again when it does.
Those 4 things will get you through 99.999999% of the problems you encounter, assuming there is nothing physically wrong with the unit.
3. haven't had to find out. but check around the forums, different people have different experiences. If its outside of the US, its usually a little worse than inside.
4. http://www.neurosaudio.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5899
There will be a new mic/preamp combo out soon. Specs are in the last comment in the link. I think its supposed to be cheaper then the one offered now and be tweaked for the neuros. The internal mic catches the spinning noise of the hard drive when it runs, so i only really recommend using it if the recordings are for personal use.
5. all backs can be swapped, but the power source is in the back, so you always need one on to play the neuros. They make a small, no hd, back to play off of the neuros' internal memory.
6. i know the neuros recognizes .m3u playlists. most of the sync managers let you build playlists to put on the device as well. i doubt they'll do anything about album art or photos, the screen is not color.
7.the mic is pretty sensitive, but I havn't done any real tests with it. If you can hear the lecture ok, the neuros should pick it up too.
8. I don't know anything about the edirol, but I love my neuros.
If you have any other questions, just ask. |
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kronin
Posting Mania
1144 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2005 : 10:42:15 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by guttrhead(at)gmail.com
6. i know the neuros recognizes .m3u playlists.
Just some clarification. The Neuros doesn't actually recognize .m3u playlists. The sync manager does, and it builds a playlist that the Neuros understands (in its database format). A minor difference, but one that can cause confusion. |
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FrozenFruit
Likes to Post
20 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2005 : 05:56:13 AM
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I purchased a 30gig NeurosII with the microphone/preamp about a year ago.
I think it was the best decision I could have made at the time, but with the other options available today (such as the R-1) I would not make the same choice.
I do not feel that the microphone/preamp is a good value. It distorts very easily on any of the higher gain settings. There are other companies ofering similar microphone/preamps for much less money. Also, I would rather not have to carry around a separate preamp.
The Neuros is buggy. It locks up frequently. Usually nothing that can't be solved by a reboot, but still frustrating!
Also, I do not have my Neuros right now because the hard drive failed and I had to ship it back. I have been waiting 3 weeks and have not yet heard anything from the company about when I will get it back or how much the repairs will cost.
Should I mention the problems I've had with skips in the recordings? Some people have attributed this to loud bass frequencies vibrating the recorder (I havn't ruled this out as a possibility although, the skips do not occur consistantly or at the loudest sound levels as I would expect if bass vibrations were the problem). I tolerate the occasional glitch-- It still beats recording to tape (USB transfer is verrry nice!) and for my purposes, it's not a huge deal...
If I was buying today I would get something like the R-1 for recording and buy a separate flash mp3 player for listening to music.
Or, I would hold out for the next generation of technology.
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Edited by - FrozenFruit on 05/25/2005 05:57:09 AM |
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Zithromax
Posting Mania
348 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2005 : 3:33:03 PM
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| If we were talking about the Neuros I, I would not hesitate to recommend the product. I had an NI and very few problems. Then one day I broke the screen so I ordered the NII. So far it hasn't functioned consistantly for much longer than a month. Really, the Neuros can be a huge hassle and you'd be better off with a competitor's player. There, I said it. |
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rcgcfn
Posting Profoundly
101 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2005 : 9:08:57 PM
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I'm not having any hassles . . . There, I said it . . .
--No trees were harmed in the generation of this message. A significant number of electrons were, however, severely inconvenienced.-- Order: #2059 & #7234 |
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Zithromax
Posting Mania
348 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2005 : 02:53:42 AM
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| It can be. If you want to roll the dice on it, go right ahead. If you really want a Neuros product, I recommend you wait for the N3. That could be awhile, though. Neuros Audio is a nice company and often all you have to pay to have your unit serviced is the shipping. Their sevice times vary. |
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igmolinav(at)yahoo.de
Just Posting
2 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2005 : 09:22:59 AM
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Hi !!!
Thank you very much for your kindness in your past responses. I have a few more questions I would like to ask. In advance, all help is greatly appreciated.
1. I have read a bit more about the Neuros´back but if you could clarify a little more for me I would deeply appreciate it.
With regard to the back, when one buys the Neuros HD 30 GB USB 2.0, one can use the 128 MB “brain” w/ the battery-only backpack AND one can use it with the 30 GB memory backpack, so you have two portability options, isn´t that correct?? Both the 30 GB memory backpack and the battery-only backpack are included with the purchase, right? By the way, I looked at the www.americantechpushers.com website, and they sell two option packages for the Neuros. One, is the Neuros Hard Drive players/recorders, and the other is the Neuros Bundle packages that are more expensive. What´s the difference between the two options and why is one option more expensive than the other?
2. I heard there is a Neuros 3 on the making. Do you know what improvements it will have compared to the Neuros 2, and when it will be out in the market – I also imagine, that in the future, one may be able to just buy the “brain” of the Neuros 3 by itself if one feels one doesn´t need a new memory backpack, right?
3. Since I will be making “my own music” by recording mainly dialogue of conferences and interviews I wonder if I´ll be able to classify what I record, e.g.
American Writer X – Interview I
American Writer X – Intervieew II
Dr. John Doe – Conference on Sociology May 2005
etc.
4. If I want to avoid noise from the Hard Drive, I have to record with an external microphone, isn´t? Do external microphones also pick up the noise from the Hard Drive?
5. Is a preamp really necessary to use an external microphone? If I use an external microphone, the noise from the hard drive will be caught in the recording, isn´t? www.americantechpushers.com say they will be selling a new type of preamp for the Neuros. If they don´t come out with this preamp anytime soon do you think any of these two preamps (please see links) will work great to make clean and excellent recordings of interviews and conferences?
Link 1:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A;=details&Q;=&sku;=217011&is;=REG
Link 2:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A;=details&Q;=&sku;=130518&is;=REG
6. I see that the Neuros may break down quite often, I am very afraid that it may let me down constantly. (I don´t live in the U.S., so sending back the product several times to be be adjusted or fixed can be a bit problematic). Pondering the good and the bad, if you had the choice all over again, would you buy the Neuros II or would you wait for the Neuros III to come out?
Thank you very much once again,
Imolinav : ) !!!
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rcgcfn
Posting Profoundly
101 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2005 : 3:46:24 PM
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1) You have the idea of the gundle situation. But I guess nobody is
selling the bundles anymore. It used to be that you had the option to buy
any combination of: a main unit, battery backpack, HD and battery backpack.
But, I don't see any stores that sell all three together. In fact, I can't
find any official reseller that supply the backpack only units. I haven't
looked at the market recently, but I guess that's how it is. If you really
want dual set-up with both backpacks, then you'll have to use a place like
eBay (or froogle (part of google)). But, to answer your question, any
options you will see at Americantechpushers.com will be only the main unit
and the HD backpack, or just the HD backpack. Make sure that you select the
"Player" option while buying from there, and not just the "Hard Drive"
option. Even though it seems cheaper ^_^
2) There are no solid facts about the Neuos III. So, I wouldn't be able to
recommend it at this time. I believe there will be a trade in option for
newcomers to upgrade if they buy just before the new one is announced.
3) You can not be able to designate a name to recorded files immediatly
when you record them. You'll have to record, and when you get back to your
computer, figure out what you want to call each file. The files are named
with the time and date that it was created at, which then you can figure out
what to name it as, when you get back to your computer.
4) When people say that the internal microphone picks up hard drive noise,
they mean that the HD is spinning up, and that is heard in teh recording.
If you use an external microphone, then if it isn't right next to the
Neuros, it won't pick up noise.
5) From what I understand, in order to use an external microphone, you need
a pre-amp. Yes. This is because the output level of a microphone is so
low, that it can't really be picked up through the line-in jack. You need a
pre'amp' to 'amplify' the signal to a decent level so that the Neuros can
pick it up. This is why you don't need a pre-amp while recording from
sources like another CD or MP3 player. Those signals are already amplified
by the original device, so that it's already at a decent level to record.
Those two preamps . . . I really don't know. I can't see the physical type
of inputs or outputs that they use. If they are regular headphone style
inputs and outputs, then sure, either should work.
6) Usually, any problem I experience is a technical problem, and not a
hardware problem. These problems with software and firmware can be
aggrivating at times, but always fixable. You hear about all these horror
stories on the forums about people getting mutliple dead units. But, I
wouldn't worry, and many other people wouldn't worry. At least too much
^_^. I'm not sure about American Techpushers return policy, and I don't
know if they do anything about service, but, Neuros Audio is always good
with their service. They will work until they get it right. So will
Techpushers, I suppose. There's also www.cool4u2view.com that specializes
with international sales. You might want to look there also about policies
regarding warrenty and such.
--No trees were harmed in the generation of this message. A significant number of electrons were, however, severely inconvenienced.-- Order: #2059 & #7234 |
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