Nano VS Iriver H300 series comparison ...

i own h320 from iriver.

i have bought nano for my brother who already has 3rd gen ipod which is no longer working.

my h320 is like a brick, too thick. nano is smooth and slim, i think 5 nanos will make one h320.

i have been using er6i earphones which are quiet expensive. Before that i used sony mdr n.u.d.e which had great bass.

er6is are meant to be for ipod. but here lies the irony.

the sound on h320 is AWESOME. with my er6i the sound is so awesome that i get the thrill when i listen and i am fully satisfied. though there is some hissing when there is silence in songs due to hard disk.

i must admit that i am an audiophile, and listen to high quality cds and convert them to mp3s with at least 192 bit rate. but i prefer 320 kpbs. i dont mean to boast but i can tell which codec (lame etc.) has been used for ripping songs, i have "fine tuned" my ears and researched for more than 2 years now. burning dollars on almost every earphone :(

now was i thrilled to test the nano. yes sir i was!

first thing: there is still some hissing, much less that h320 but there is still hissing. now the irony part: er6i sound HORRIBLE on ipod nano.

the sound on ipod is so TINNY as compared to iriver h320.

But h320 is big. i always carry a bag, so no problem for me. But when i just move around i keep nano in my pocket and dont even feel it. But the sound just plain SUCKS on er6i. when i put on AIWA noise reduction headphones, nano sound good. But still tinny when compared to iriver.

this is sad since apple has made a nice product. but are you just going to show off your nano or enjoy the music? i think in case of nano its more style than substance. i read a book on how apple was formed and it says that steve jobs once wanted to buy a washing machine and chose the one that looked cool!

same with nano. looks cool but as compared to iriver h320 sound quality, i give it 4/10. but if you havent listened to h320, then you might enjoy the sound on nano since it would be absolute quality rather that relative quality. note that h320 also has SRS and bass, which, with er6i just blows me away.

choice is yours: if you want style, go for nano. if you want good music and good battery life, go for h320. nano battery sucks according to me. h320 lasts more than nano.

But to be frank one should compare h320 with ipod 20 GB, not nano. In that case also, i'll go for H 320.It comes "fully loaded" with leather case, remote and an external battery add on by which you an play/charge H 320 with 4 aa batteries. By the way iriver is no longer producing H 320, only H 340.

one more thing, i watch VIDEOS on H320. simpsons just look and sound great on h320 screen.

Originally posted by thedodgyguy
I'll go with an indirect comparison... I have an iAudio X5 at the moment, which I found very similar for quality to the H320 (I disposed of the H320 in favour of the X5).

What about the screen quality? Which one is better between the H300 and the X5?
I own a H340 and the video quality is awesome for me ...
I heard that the screen quality is better on the H300 but the videos are better on the X5, can you tell me a real opinion?
Thanks !!!!!!

Originally posted by epaludo
What about the screen quality? Which one is better between the H300 and the X5?
I own a H340 and the video quality is awesome for me ...
I heard that the screen quality is better on the H300 but the videos are better on the X5, can you tell me a real opinion?
Thanks !!!!!!

Personally, the video is a gimmick on both machines and I never used it beyond testing... but the H320's video is a nice gimmick, whereas the X5's video is a total gimmick :p

The movement is jerkier on the H320, but the X5 isn't exactly smooth either so you're not losing much. The real loss on the X5 is the video quality... it's crap. The H320 is much more detailed and vibrant in the images.

Generally speaking though as an all-round machine I find the X5 more usable thanthe H320. Faster navigation, OTG that works, more portable, etc. The X5 is definitely not without it's faults, but if I was looking to get maximum functional bang for the buck while going for something which I can still slide in a pocket, the X5 would be the machine to choose right now.

The Nano is however practically unnoticeable in a jacket pocket, and is a very usable music player... more so than the above two.

Going back to the sound, in the case of gsbhatia he's decided on a comparatively anaemic pair of earphones. Simply put, things sound tinny for him because the ER-6i's are pretty tinny earphones in the overall scheme of things. The H320 and the X5 both allow you to throw a mass of (detrimental in terms of quality) sound tuning to make things otherwise. But if you choose something more balanced, you needn't feel that way with the Nano.