Voortdurend het internet afschuimend naar nieuwe, wereldschokkende MP3 spelers kwam ik dit uitzondelijk mooie apparaatje tegen
Na het zien van dit genot voor het oog ben ik als een dolle ben ik op zoek gegaan naar een review... op een engels forum kwam ik er 1 tegen:
Zie hieronder de beschrijving,... en kniel voor zoveel moois:
Met dank aan de auteur, die duidelijk niet vies is van een stukje typen..
Mini-Review
Design: Very Good
Equipment Accessories: Very Good
Set-up: Easy
Sound Quality: Excellent
Sound Volume: Loud to Very Loud
FM radio: Good
Recording: Good
Value: Very Good
Overall: Very Good
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Portability, versatility, innovation, and style; the CVM100 seems to have it all. But can an upstart like Wigo really compete with the more established brands in the MP3 player market like IRiver. Here I take a closer look at the Wigo and give the low-down on all its features and a few of its failings.
What뭩 in the Box
-Wigo CVM100
-Wigo Earbud style headphones/necklace
-Transparent Rubbery Plastic Carry Case and elastic arm band
-USB Extension lead
-Line in Recording Cable: 3.5mm plug to 2.5mm plug
-Installation CD
-User Manual
Design
Straight out of the Box the Wigo is shiny little thing. I was amazed at how light it was too. The manual says it weighs 43g which sounds about right. The unit is made exclusively out of plastic which might bother some people but this is also why it is so light. The half-mirror surface and metallic borders give it a slightly more durable look and the half-mirror surface, although prone to finger-prints, actually seems quite tough. I think MPIO were very smart in equipping their player (FL-100) with a metal casing and would have liked to see the same (or at least a metal border) on the Wigo. The best thing about the design of this little gadget is its inbuilt USB plug which you can plug into any USB enabled computer without the need of cables while its rotating design mean there뭩 no cap to loose.
Accessories
The transparent plastic carry case which comes with the player is a useful accessory. The case is fits the player like a glove, leaving all controls accessible, but covering the mic hole. Strangely enough, I heard hardly any difference in recording volume with the cover on than with it off (more about the mic later). The case is equipped with a loop at the back so that you can slide the included arm band or a thin belt through it. I tried the arm band which is quite comfortable and should be fine for the Gym or a quick Jog. Just make sure you have all your tracks set up as you like them because navigating with this thing on your upper arm is not fun! Getting the carry case off is delicate work too and it pays to be gentle because if the metal USB plug pops out and it can leave a mark in the edge of the plastic cover.
The USB Extension lead is a godsend whether you have a PC (stops you bending down or messing around at the back of the pc) or a Laptop (since laptop USB ports tend to be pretty close together the CVM100 would take up the space of 2 USB ports of plugged directly into the Laptop. The line-in recording cable is 1mtr long and has a 2.5mm plug on one side and a 3.5mm plug on the other. The line-in socket on the player is made for 2.5mm plug like the ones you find on mobile hands-free headphones, and I assume this was done in a bid to save space, at a slight cost to compatibility. Although the line-in cable will allow you to record from any source with a 3.5mm socket, certain accessories, like powered external mics which generally come with a 3.5mm plug, will not be compatible with this player unless a 3.5mm to 2.5mm plug adaptor is used (this can be found cheap at Maplins/RadioShack). More about the line-in recording later.
Set-up/Installation
-The Player
The player (received on 20/04/2004) was already equipped with the latest firmware. This means you can plug it straight into your computer right out of the box and start copying songs or files. File transfer speed is USB 1.1 (a 6Mb song transfers in about 11-14 Seconds). There is no need to format the player or install any software. Drivers may be needed for Win98 machines. If you buy this player I strongly advise for reading the manual first. It뭩 quite easy to get lost or frustrated till you become acquainted with the basics. When you switch on your player for the first time you뭗 be forgiven for thinking this player has hallucinogenic properties! Thankfully the default 멢ainbow?backlight setting (a selection of bright colours in quick succession) can easily be changed with a few nudges of the joystick. The white and blue backlights look especially good on this player. For pictures check out the Wigo website (hotlink above).
-The Software
It was not until a day or so after receiving the player that I investigated the installation CD. It contains backups of the E-mail program and the PC Lock program which can be found on the CVM100, the setup program for InterAudio Manager and MyScreen Editor, as well as some terribly amusing demo mp3뭩 worthy of only the cheesiest of video games. InterAudio Manager is software used to update the firmware and MyScreen Editor is used to create custom screens which appear after a user definable amount of time while music is being player. More about MyScreen below.
Overall the Wigo is very well documented. If you want to get a better idea of what it뭩 like to use one I recommend downloading the manual from the Manufacturer뭩 website (above).
The Sound
Since this is by far the most crucial aspect of an MP3 player I뭠l start with a word or two (hundred) about the sound quality and volume.
-Quality
I was very sceptical about this aspect of the player before receiving it and thought there might not be enough power in the CVM100 to drive my Sony MDR-EX70 in-ear headphones well. I must admit I was wrong about this, sound quality is excellent and I am very happy with the sound from this unit. I also compared its output against that of my (high-endish) soundcard with various types of music and couldn뭪 perceive and difference in quality. The CVM100 has the following audio features
-5 channel equaliser (Many presets and 1 user definable)
Amazingly, the equaliser introduced no noticeable distortion. I even put all channels at max, and turned the volume up as much as I could bear and still could not hear any distortion.
-Bass Boost (1 to 5)
The bass boost did a good job without any distortion even at higher levels. For my in-ear headphones only a small bass-boost was needed, if any at all, but the included headphones need more to get a good punch out of them. Then again, I뭢 a definite bass lover.
-Treble Boost (1 to 5)
Has the unfortunate side effect of increasing the hiss of any mp3 as well as amplifying the shimmery sound of cymbals that you typically get with mp3뭩 encoded at 128kb/sec or lower. My headphones already have quite a shrill treble so I didn뭪 use this much.
-3D Effect
No true audiophile would even dream of using this. Their loss really꿬t뭩 a lot of fun! On 멛ow?it expands the stereo image (so the sound doesn뭪 sound like it뭩 coming from inside your head, but rather, around it) and adds a touch of reverb. This has the effect of accentuating the treble somewhat, but this can easily be countered by coupling the 3D effect with your custom EQ, which should be specified with slightly lower volumes on the highest frequencies (E.g. 10-10-10-9-8). On 멝ed?and 멖igh?the 3D effect adds further spacing and reverb, which will sound excessive on headphones (but might sound ok on a speaker system).
-Volume
At the time of writing the specified output per channel for the Wigo on the Advanced Mp3 Player website is a mere 5mW @16ohms. This is the same that can be found on most current Sony MiniDiscs and smaller mp3 players. It is enough to drive very low impedance earbuds but not much else. As far as earbuds go my Sony MDR-EX70뭩 are some of the least sensitive of the lot, and I would often have to put the volume on my 10mW/Channel @ 32ohm Sharp MiniDisc to 20-23/30 for a good listening level while on the move. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised when the CVM100 sounded loud enough at about 23/30. As I said before the EQ doesn뭪 distort the sound so you can also squeeze out another 2 units of volume by sliding you EQ sliders up all the way. When the 3D effect is used it also makes songs louder by approximately 1 unit of volume. Thus when I have both the EQ and 3D effect on I뭢 normally listening at 20/30. Another interesting thing I noticed about this player is its noise signature. You can hear very slight white noise (hiss) when the player is idle (Noise Ratio is quoted as 90db on Wigo website) as is true with most portable audio players but as you increase the volume this hiss does not increase at all; something which I have never found before. Obviously if there is any hiss in the recording this will show up (and increase with volume) on playback, but otherwise there is no noticeable hiss with this unit whatsoever during playback.
-The Stock Headphones
The stock headphones are actually built into a cord necklace which can be attached to the Wigo so that it dangles from your neck. Pity really, because the headphones themselves actually don뭪 sound half bad for stock headphones, but I don뭪 plan to go out with the Wigo hanging from my neck any time soon. Then again it IS nice and shiny?*bling*bling*!
Navigation
Navigating with the WIGO is very easy. Once mastered, the joystick is easy to use and quicker than buttons. Once you get used to the orientation of the player you will also be able to switch tracks or change the volume through clothing. The player also has a hold button which needs to be pressed for 2 seconds (although I뭗 prefer a switch as it뭩 faster). The Navigation mode can be access while paused or while playing an mp3. You start with three folders 멝usic? 멢ecord?and 멠laylist? 멝usic?shows all your mp3s. If you have arranged them into folders then that is how they will be shown. 멢ecord?is where all the mic and Line-In recordings end up and 멠laylist?holds all your playlists. For more info see the manual. There are some compromises to be made however. Only the first 59 characters of the combined Album and Artist field in an ID3 tag are displayed (not a big deal, because it would take ages to see the whole name of the song scroll if it was more than 59 chars). A bit more irritating is that if an mp3 has a name longer than 59 characters then the player will skip it in a playlist. Maybe something for the next firmware release? In the meantime you either rename the mp3 or just play it in normal play mode. If you use ID3 tags to identify mp3뭩 on the player then the filename won뭪 matter anyway. The problem is that you cannot browse ID3 tags in a playlist while in the paused mode. Although you see the song number change, the name of the song will stay the same. The name of the songs will change however if you are skipping through a playlist while playing it. Again this might be another candidate for a firmware update. Advanced Mp3 Players told me that they have good communication with Wigo, and it seems they are much more responsive to consumer뭩 feedback/requests than some of the other manufacturers.
A quick word on the order songs are played on flash based players: In general songs are played back in the order they where copied onto the player. After a few deletes the free memory will be spread around the player in 'patches' and even if you copy songs in the desired order it is possible that your songs play back in a different order to what you expected. The only way to ensure the correct order is to do a format (delete everything) and copy everything in the right order from scratch. Playlists are rather useful in flash players as they allow you to order songs the way you want irrespective of their place on the disk.
FM Radio
I have not had much opportunity to use this feature so my insight is limited. Basically it뭩 an FM radio, has auto-tuner and a 20 channel memory. Reception is good but with a noticeable hiss in the background. You can record from radio if you want, and can choose at what bit rate (quality) you want to record at, up to 256kb/sec.
Mic/Line-In Recording
An impressive feature of the CVM100 is its ability to record mp3뭩 at up to 256kb/sec. An excellent move on the part of the designers was to allow you to specify different 멶efault?bit rates for recording from mic, radio and line-in. These can then be changed from a quick menu if so desired. You can also change the sampling frequency from the main menu if you wish. If there was one word to summarise the CVM100뭩 recording function it is 멹lexibility?
-Mic
Mic recording is basic but good. The sound quality is clear but not detailed, as to be expected from a mic of such small dimensions. The volume of recordings from the mic is medium and sometimes I wish I could increase the volume. Strangely, on the manual there are clear instructions on how to change the volume of the mic but the setting seems to be missing in the player itself. *cough* firmware update *cough*! The player also has Voice Activity Detection which basically means it paused the recording when there is silence and resumes as soon as there is noise again.
-Line-In
If you want to copy your CD collection to mp3 then do yourself a favour and use a computer. It뭩 faster and the results, quality wise, are better if done properly because nothing beats digital recording. If you need to record audio while out and about then this is where the Wigo뭩 Line-In comes in handy. Recording at 256Kb/sec will eat away space like mad (Roughly 2mb/minute) but you will be left with a very high quality recording. Because the Wigo뭩 line in is analogues it is compatible with nearly every piece of audio playing equipment yet the lack of a digital input puts a cap on the quality it can record at. I tried recording a song from my computer뭩 audio-out to the Wigo at 160kb/sec and the results where good. As soon as you plug in the line-in cable the player automatically detects you are in line-in mode and silences the mic. In the quick menu you can specify the volume of the line in and in my recordings I didn뭪 notice any distortion resulting from recording at a higher line-in volume. A word of warning though; when you record through the line-in the volume your listening at while recording is dependent on both the playing volume (you know꿻he normal volume e.g. 20/30), and the line-in volume (which goes from -10 쟴o 10). So if your playing volume is set to mute or very low you might think it뭩 not recording well, when in fact it is. Finally the manual documents a 멑orced?Line-in mode which you can select from the quick-menu saying 밳ou can record at high volume by connecting the line-in jack to an external microphone? As I said at the start most external mics come with a 3.5mm jack and no socket, so you would need a 2.5 to 3.5 socket adapter like the one I뭭e seen at Maplins. If anyone tries this please share your results.
Other Stuff
If the above functions weren뭪 enough the Wigo engineers packed the following ones in too. There are basic instruction manuals about the Pop E-mail Program and the PC Lock program on the Wigo website.
-Pop E-mail Program (EmailHost.exe)
This is like a super-mini outlook express. You set up all your pop e-mail accounts and then can check them from any computer with an internet connect just by running the program from the CVM100. The program stores copies of your messages on the Wigo which might take up a little space if you have a large inbox. If you뭨e reading this Mr. Wigo Pop E-mail Program engineer, then make your program download headers instead of whole messages, and then let the user decide which ones he wants to view/save! Still, quite a useful program if you change computers a lot and can spare the space on your Wigo.
-Computer Security Lock Program (pclock.exe)
I haven뭪 tried it yet because I haven뭪 had any need to, but I can see how it might come in handy. You뭨e at the library, plugged in the CVM100 when *Ding*Dong* - call of nature -> lock pc | relief | unlock pc -> relief again when your work is still there and you haven뭪 been logged out by Ms. Jones.
-Puzzle Games/MyScreen
There are several puzzles games, but the two which stick out in my mind are Sokoban where you have to move black beads into target spots without getting stuck and a card memory game.
MyScreen Editor is used to create custom screens (.scr files) which appear after a user definable amount of time while music is being player. I designed (a basic) one of these to look like two hoops bouncing around my screen but it can be a rather tedious process as MyScreen Editor is a simple piece of software. If you want to design anything my advice is to do it in paintshop/photoshop and then use the 멼mport?function of MyScreen Editor to convert the bitmaps to MyScreen images. A little info-card which comes with the manual gives instructions on how to do this.
-Playback Features: A-B Repeat, Repeat 1, Repeat Folder, Repeat all, Random Folder (all songs in selected folder randomly), Random All
-Speed-up/Slow-Down: Winner of *most entertaining silly features award*. The sound is perfect at all speed levels (obviously pitch is changed). Good fun if you뭨e bored with a song.
Conclusion
If it took me over 3000 words to review it then I can뭪 begin to imagine what a task it was to design the CVM100 and code the firmware for it. Put in this context, a few minor glitches are acceptable for such a young and feature rich product and I expect Wigo to improve on its firmware in the future. The CVM100 could also benefit from a stronger chassis in future versions and a regular 3.5mm line-in would make it more convenient for use with external mics.
As things stand at the moment this is an excellent mp3 player, packed with many features, which can match any other flash based player on the market and beat it. Apart from being equipped with radio, mic, line-in, in-built USB plug and various odd features, it is the first flash based player to support .m3u playlists. More importantly the CVM100 performs its core function, that of playing music, extremely well. Output is clear, crisp and loud enough for most earphones, which is remarkable for a player of this size. I fact I can hardly believe there is so much to say about such a tiny little thing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heef er iemand ervaring met dit apparaatje! Het lijkt me een wanzinnig dingetje... qua uiterlijk heeft ie het voor mij iig helemaal gemaakt...
Na het zien van dit genot voor het oog ben ik als een dolle ben ik op zoek gegaan naar een review... op een engels forum kwam ik er 1 tegen:
Zie hieronder de beschrijving,... en kniel voor zoveel moois:
Met dank aan de auteur, die duidelijk niet vies is van een stukje typen..
Mini-Review
Design: Very Good
Equipment Accessories: Very Good
Set-up: Easy
Sound Quality: Excellent
Sound Volume: Loud to Very Loud
FM radio: Good
Recording: Good
Value: Very Good
Overall: Very Good
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Portability, versatility, innovation, and style; the CVM100 seems to have it all. But can an upstart like Wigo really compete with the more established brands in the MP3 player market like IRiver. Here I take a closer look at the Wigo and give the low-down on all its features and a few of its failings.
What뭩 in the Box
-Wigo CVM100
-Wigo Earbud style headphones/necklace
-Transparent Rubbery Plastic Carry Case and elastic arm band
-USB Extension lead
-Line in Recording Cable: 3.5mm plug to 2.5mm plug
-Installation CD
-User Manual
Design
Straight out of the Box the Wigo is shiny little thing. I was amazed at how light it was too. The manual says it weighs 43g which sounds about right. The unit is made exclusively out of plastic which might bother some people but this is also why it is so light. The half-mirror surface and metallic borders give it a slightly more durable look and the half-mirror surface, although prone to finger-prints, actually seems quite tough. I think MPIO were very smart in equipping their player (FL-100) with a metal casing and would have liked to see the same (or at least a metal border) on the Wigo. The best thing about the design of this little gadget is its inbuilt USB plug which you can plug into any USB enabled computer without the need of cables while its rotating design mean there뭩 no cap to loose.
Accessories
The transparent plastic carry case which comes with the player is a useful accessory. The case is fits the player like a glove, leaving all controls accessible, but covering the mic hole. Strangely enough, I heard hardly any difference in recording volume with the cover on than with it off (more about the mic later). The case is equipped with a loop at the back so that you can slide the included arm band or a thin belt through it. I tried the arm band which is quite comfortable and should be fine for the Gym or a quick Jog. Just make sure you have all your tracks set up as you like them because navigating with this thing on your upper arm is not fun! Getting the carry case off is delicate work too and it pays to be gentle because if the metal USB plug pops out and it can leave a mark in the edge of the plastic cover.
The USB Extension lead is a godsend whether you have a PC (stops you bending down or messing around at the back of the pc) or a Laptop (since laptop USB ports tend to be pretty close together the CVM100 would take up the space of 2 USB ports of plugged directly into the Laptop. The line-in recording cable is 1mtr long and has a 2.5mm plug on one side and a 3.5mm plug on the other. The line-in socket on the player is made for 2.5mm plug like the ones you find on mobile hands-free headphones, and I assume this was done in a bid to save space, at a slight cost to compatibility. Although the line-in cable will allow you to record from any source with a 3.5mm socket, certain accessories, like powered external mics which generally come with a 3.5mm plug, will not be compatible with this player unless a 3.5mm to 2.5mm plug adaptor is used (this can be found cheap at Maplins/RadioShack). More about the line-in recording later.
Set-up/Installation
-The Player
The player (received on 20/04/2004) was already equipped with the latest firmware. This means you can plug it straight into your computer right out of the box and start copying songs or files. File transfer speed is USB 1.1 (a 6Mb song transfers in about 11-14 Seconds). There is no need to format the player or install any software. Drivers may be needed for Win98 machines. If you buy this player I strongly advise for reading the manual first. It뭩 quite easy to get lost or frustrated till you become acquainted with the basics. When you switch on your player for the first time you뭗 be forgiven for thinking this player has hallucinogenic properties! Thankfully the default 멢ainbow?backlight setting (a selection of bright colours in quick succession) can easily be changed with a few nudges of the joystick. The white and blue backlights look especially good on this player. For pictures check out the Wigo website (hotlink above).
-The Software
It was not until a day or so after receiving the player that I investigated the installation CD. It contains backups of the E-mail program and the PC Lock program which can be found on the CVM100, the setup program for InterAudio Manager and MyScreen Editor, as well as some terribly amusing demo mp3뭩 worthy of only the cheesiest of video games. InterAudio Manager is software used to update the firmware and MyScreen Editor is used to create custom screens which appear after a user definable amount of time while music is being player. More about MyScreen below.
Overall the Wigo is very well documented. If you want to get a better idea of what it뭩 like to use one I recommend downloading the manual from the Manufacturer뭩 website (above).
The Sound
Since this is by far the most crucial aspect of an MP3 player I뭠l start with a word or two (hundred) about the sound quality and volume.
-Quality
I was very sceptical about this aspect of the player before receiving it and thought there might not be enough power in the CVM100 to drive my Sony MDR-EX70 in-ear headphones well. I must admit I was wrong about this, sound quality is excellent and I am very happy with the sound from this unit. I also compared its output against that of my (high-endish) soundcard with various types of music and couldn뭪 perceive and difference in quality. The CVM100 has the following audio features
-5 channel equaliser (Many presets and 1 user definable)
Amazingly, the equaliser introduced no noticeable distortion. I even put all channels at max, and turned the volume up as much as I could bear and still could not hear any distortion.
-Bass Boost (1 to 5)
The bass boost did a good job without any distortion even at higher levels. For my in-ear headphones only a small bass-boost was needed, if any at all, but the included headphones need more to get a good punch out of them. Then again, I뭢 a definite bass lover.
-Treble Boost (1 to 5)
Has the unfortunate side effect of increasing the hiss of any mp3 as well as amplifying the shimmery sound of cymbals that you typically get with mp3뭩 encoded at 128kb/sec or lower. My headphones already have quite a shrill treble so I didn뭪 use this much.
-3D Effect
No true audiophile would even dream of using this. Their loss really꿬t뭩 a lot of fun! On 멛ow?it expands the stereo image (so the sound doesn뭪 sound like it뭩 coming from inside your head, but rather, around it) and adds a touch of reverb. This has the effect of accentuating the treble somewhat, but this can easily be countered by coupling the 3D effect with your custom EQ, which should be specified with slightly lower volumes on the highest frequencies (E.g. 10-10-10-9-8). On 멝ed?and 멖igh?the 3D effect adds further spacing and reverb, which will sound excessive on headphones (but might sound ok on a speaker system).
-Volume
At the time of writing the specified output per channel for the Wigo on the Advanced Mp3 Player website is a mere 5mW @16ohms. This is the same that can be found on most current Sony MiniDiscs and smaller mp3 players. It is enough to drive very low impedance earbuds but not much else. As far as earbuds go my Sony MDR-EX70뭩 are some of the least sensitive of the lot, and I would often have to put the volume on my 10mW/Channel @ 32ohm Sharp MiniDisc to 20-23/30 for a good listening level while on the move. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised when the CVM100 sounded loud enough at about 23/30. As I said before the EQ doesn뭪 distort the sound so you can also squeeze out another 2 units of volume by sliding you EQ sliders up all the way. When the 3D effect is used it also makes songs louder by approximately 1 unit of volume. Thus when I have both the EQ and 3D effect on I뭢 normally listening at 20/30. Another interesting thing I noticed about this player is its noise signature. You can hear very slight white noise (hiss) when the player is idle (Noise Ratio is quoted as 90db on Wigo website) as is true with most portable audio players but as you increase the volume this hiss does not increase at all; something which I have never found before. Obviously if there is any hiss in the recording this will show up (and increase with volume) on playback, but otherwise there is no noticeable hiss with this unit whatsoever during playback.
-The Stock Headphones
The stock headphones are actually built into a cord necklace which can be attached to the Wigo so that it dangles from your neck. Pity really, because the headphones themselves actually don뭪 sound half bad for stock headphones, but I don뭪 plan to go out with the Wigo hanging from my neck any time soon. Then again it IS nice and shiny?*bling*bling*!
Navigation
Navigating with the WIGO is very easy. Once mastered, the joystick is easy to use and quicker than buttons. Once you get used to the orientation of the player you will also be able to switch tracks or change the volume through clothing. The player also has a hold button which needs to be pressed for 2 seconds (although I뭗 prefer a switch as it뭩 faster). The Navigation mode can be access while paused or while playing an mp3. You start with three folders 멝usic? 멢ecord?and 멠laylist? 멝usic?shows all your mp3s. If you have arranged them into folders then that is how they will be shown. 멢ecord?is where all the mic and Line-In recordings end up and 멠laylist?holds all your playlists. For more info see the manual. There are some compromises to be made however. Only the first 59 characters of the combined Album and Artist field in an ID3 tag are displayed (not a big deal, because it would take ages to see the whole name of the song scroll if it was more than 59 chars). A bit more irritating is that if an mp3 has a name longer than 59 characters then the player will skip it in a playlist. Maybe something for the next firmware release? In the meantime you either rename the mp3 or just play it in normal play mode. If you use ID3 tags to identify mp3뭩 on the player then the filename won뭪 matter anyway. The problem is that you cannot browse ID3 tags in a playlist while in the paused mode. Although you see the song number change, the name of the song will stay the same. The name of the songs will change however if you are skipping through a playlist while playing it. Again this might be another candidate for a firmware update. Advanced Mp3 Players told me that they have good communication with Wigo, and it seems they are much more responsive to consumer뭩 feedback/requests than some of the other manufacturers.
A quick word on the order songs are played on flash based players: In general songs are played back in the order they where copied onto the player. After a few deletes the free memory will be spread around the player in 'patches' and even if you copy songs in the desired order it is possible that your songs play back in a different order to what you expected. The only way to ensure the correct order is to do a format (delete everything) and copy everything in the right order from scratch. Playlists are rather useful in flash players as they allow you to order songs the way you want irrespective of their place on the disk.
FM Radio
I have not had much opportunity to use this feature so my insight is limited. Basically it뭩 an FM radio, has auto-tuner and a 20 channel memory. Reception is good but with a noticeable hiss in the background. You can record from radio if you want, and can choose at what bit rate (quality) you want to record at, up to 256kb/sec.
Mic/Line-In Recording
An impressive feature of the CVM100 is its ability to record mp3뭩 at up to 256kb/sec. An excellent move on the part of the designers was to allow you to specify different 멶efault?bit rates for recording from mic, radio and line-in. These can then be changed from a quick menu if so desired. You can also change the sampling frequency from the main menu if you wish. If there was one word to summarise the CVM100뭩 recording function it is 멹lexibility?
-Mic
Mic recording is basic but good. The sound quality is clear but not detailed, as to be expected from a mic of such small dimensions. The volume of recordings from the mic is medium and sometimes I wish I could increase the volume. Strangely, on the manual there are clear instructions on how to change the volume of the mic but the setting seems to be missing in the player itself. *cough* firmware update *cough*! The player also has Voice Activity Detection which basically means it paused the recording when there is silence and resumes as soon as there is noise again.
-Line-In
If you want to copy your CD collection to mp3 then do yourself a favour and use a computer. It뭩 faster and the results, quality wise, are better if done properly because nothing beats digital recording. If you need to record audio while out and about then this is where the Wigo뭩 Line-In comes in handy. Recording at 256Kb/sec will eat away space like mad (Roughly 2mb/minute) but you will be left with a very high quality recording. Because the Wigo뭩 line in is analogues it is compatible with nearly every piece of audio playing equipment yet the lack of a digital input puts a cap on the quality it can record at. I tried recording a song from my computer뭩 audio-out to the Wigo at 160kb/sec and the results where good. As soon as you plug in the line-in cable the player automatically detects you are in line-in mode and silences the mic. In the quick menu you can specify the volume of the line in and in my recordings I didn뭪 notice any distortion resulting from recording at a higher line-in volume. A word of warning though; when you record through the line-in the volume your listening at while recording is dependent on both the playing volume (you know꿻he normal volume e.g. 20/30), and the line-in volume (which goes from -10 쟴o 10). So if your playing volume is set to mute or very low you might think it뭩 not recording well, when in fact it is. Finally the manual documents a 멑orced?Line-in mode which you can select from the quick-menu saying 밳ou can record at high volume by connecting the line-in jack to an external microphone? As I said at the start most external mics come with a 3.5mm jack and no socket, so you would need a 2.5 to 3.5 socket adapter like the one I뭭e seen at Maplins. If anyone tries this please share your results.
Other Stuff
If the above functions weren뭪 enough the Wigo engineers packed the following ones in too. There are basic instruction manuals about the Pop E-mail Program and the PC Lock program on the Wigo website.
-Pop E-mail Program (EmailHost.exe)
This is like a super-mini outlook express. You set up all your pop e-mail accounts and then can check them from any computer with an internet connect just by running the program from the CVM100. The program stores copies of your messages on the Wigo which might take up a little space if you have a large inbox. If you뭨e reading this Mr. Wigo Pop E-mail Program engineer, then make your program download headers instead of whole messages, and then let the user decide which ones he wants to view/save! Still, quite a useful program if you change computers a lot and can spare the space on your Wigo.
-Computer Security Lock Program (pclock.exe)
I haven뭪 tried it yet because I haven뭪 had any need to, but I can see how it might come in handy. You뭨e at the library, plugged in the CVM100 when *Ding*Dong* - call of nature -> lock pc | relief | unlock pc -> relief again when your work is still there and you haven뭪 been logged out by Ms. Jones.
-Puzzle Games/MyScreen
There are several puzzles games, but the two which stick out in my mind are Sokoban where you have to move black beads into target spots without getting stuck and a card memory game.
MyScreen Editor is used to create custom screens (.scr files) which appear after a user definable amount of time while music is being player. I designed (a basic) one of these to look like two hoops bouncing around my screen but it can be a rather tedious process as MyScreen Editor is a simple piece of software. If you want to design anything my advice is to do it in paintshop/photoshop and then use the 멼mport?function of MyScreen Editor to convert the bitmaps to MyScreen images. A little info-card which comes with the manual gives instructions on how to do this.
-Playback Features: A-B Repeat, Repeat 1, Repeat Folder, Repeat all, Random Folder (all songs in selected folder randomly), Random All
-Speed-up/Slow-Down: Winner of *most entertaining silly features award*. The sound is perfect at all speed levels (obviously pitch is changed). Good fun if you뭨e bored with a song.
Conclusion
If it took me over 3000 words to review it then I can뭪 begin to imagine what a task it was to design the CVM100 and code the firmware for it. Put in this context, a few minor glitches are acceptable for such a young and feature rich product and I expect Wigo to improve on its firmware in the future. The CVM100 could also benefit from a stronger chassis in future versions and a regular 3.5mm line-in would make it more convenient for use with external mics.
As things stand at the moment this is an excellent mp3 player, packed with many features, which can match any other flash based player on the market and beat it. Apart from being equipped with radio, mic, line-in, in-built USB plug and various odd features, it is the first flash based player to support .m3u playlists. More importantly the CVM100 performs its core function, that of playing music, extremely well. Output is clear, crisp and loud enough for most earphones, which is remarkable for a player of this size. I fact I can hardly believe there is so much to say about such a tiny little thing.
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Heef er iemand ervaring met dit apparaatje! Het lijkt me een wanzinnig dingetje... qua uiterlijk heeft ie het voor mij iig helemaal gemaakt...
