Great sound quality, good build quality & capacity
Disadvantages:
Slightly large/awkward - ish shape, limitations of user - interface & software .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
When I first bought my Jukebox 3 second-hand quite some time ago, I was somewhat taken aback by the limitations of the user-interface both on the player itself and the corresponding computer software used for transferring tracks to the player (the now superseded Creative PlayCentre - don't use it!). However, Creative have come up with a new and much improved software package for this job (MediaSource Organiser) which is rather similar to Apple's iTunes, and have also provided updated firmware for the player, which now finally has a random "Play any track" feature, probably the most important single function if you ask me.
Since then, the Jukebox 3 has become a loved companion both around the house and abroad. It has good connectivity options - optical line in for recording (but sadly not line out for playing on your stereo - one of the two analogue line-out ports has to be used for that), headphone socket with colume control, and for connecting to the PC there is a choice of USB and the much faster Firewire (which requires a corresponding port/card to be installed on your computer).
Although it is about the size and shape of a Discman, it is fairly lightweight, and I have never had any problems with unreliability, but then I handle all my gadgets with care and don't use them for jogging or the like. Exchangable fascias are available apparently, which is good mainly because if you happen to damage or scatch the cover you could easily get it replaced.
The menus and functions of this player are easy to use and user-friendly, and the blue backlight looks quite stylish though the contrast could maybe be better. Most functions are accessed with a "jog-dial" which is used both as a wheel to quickly scroll through lists (of artists, tracks or letters when searching alphabetically) and as a button to select the desired option. You can delete tracks directly on the player but not edit or rename them, the PC seems to be needed for that. (Obviously, having no full keyboard but just the jog-dial on the player would make more sophisticated operations very cumbersome anyway if they were available.)
The EAX feature is quite handy and worth mentioning - it levels out the volume of various tracks to prevent unpleasant "shocks" at the beginning of a new song - useful when listening with headphones.
A strength of this player is the great sound quality and many different equalizer functions for influencing and fine-tuning the sound to your liking.
You can also record any sound directly to mp3 format from either another stereo or a connected microphone - extremely useful, although I haven't managed to get the right type of microphone (it has to be an "active" one with batteries I believe) as yet to really test this.
Once I had the right software and drivers installed (Creative MediaSource Organiser NOT PlayCentre - available from the Creative website, I mention this as it took me quite a while to find and install!), connecting the player to the PC is easy and the connection very reliable and fast (I use Firewire but USB worked well too). Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a "synchronise" feature (unless it's well hidden!) - meaning you have to remember which new tracks have been added to your media/music library on the computer and select and transfer them manually. As I am fairly organised about it now, this works quite well for me. It is possible to "rip" a CD directly to the player, while a copy is also made in the music folder on the PC - a quick and easy way of updating both.
Creative also offer a "File Manager" package on their website which allows you to back up data from your computer onto the Jukebox's 20Gb hard disk - a nice little add-on feature for people who have no satifactory other means of backing up data.
Overall, I think with the latest firmware installed this is now a solid product. While it is the only mp3 player I have used which makes it impossible to draw comparisons, I would definitely recommend this little machine to everyone who loves music and is fussy about sound quality, as a more affordable alternative to an iPod.
More details
Video Quality
Helpful / Easy to Follow
Durability
Excellent
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