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Sisoft
Sandra
Sisoft
Sandra is the all in one benchmark suite to benchmark your
computer.
I
used the flash drive benchmark to test the transfer rate
of the MuVo.
Here
are the results.
The
player performs well at the start, with small files, and
starts to lag behind a little with bigger files.
Still
a good performance though.
Recorded tracks and microphone
If
you look closely at the MuVo, you’ll see the tiny hole for
the microphone.
This
is used to record your own personal recordings such as memos,
lectures or any other recordings you may wish to make.
The
recording process makes a new folder on your flash drive
called “voice”.
In
this folder you will find all your recordings in wav file
format.
FM Radio
A
nice feature of the MuVo is the FM radio that has 32 presets
that can be loaded. You can automatically scan for radio stations
or manually search for them.
In
the menu, you can choose to switch, save or delete the presets.
The
ear phones double as an antenna for the radio.
MP3 Encoding
With
this option you can encode the music from the line in.
When
you select this option 2 new options become available, Encoding
Bit-rate and Sync.
Encoding
bit-rate let’s you choose what bit-rate you use for the
MP3 files, choices are 96kbps, 128kbps and 160kbps.
Sync
allows you to synchronize the recording with the beginning
of the source signal.
The
tracks are saved in a folder named encoded tracks on the
player.
Lock
If
you select this feature, the MuVo will continue what it
was doing before you locked it. After it is locked, any button that is pressed
will activate the choice options of unlocking or canceling
the request.
Skip Folder
This
feature allows you the option of choosing to skip a folder
you have created on the flash drive and browse in the folder
you select.
Play mode
This
feature allows you to select the player’s play mode.
Selections
are: normal, shuffle folder, shuffle once, shuffle repeat,
track once, repeat folder, repeat all, repeat track, A-B.
Most
of these options are self-explanatory.
Option
A-B allows you to select what point in time for a song to
start repeating, basically creating a loop.
Equalizer
The
equalizer has 5 adjustable bands and 4 predefined presets,
jazz, pop, rock and classic, and allows you to make one
custom preset.
Delete
This
option is pretty self-explanatory…it deletes the currently
selected file.
Settings
There
are several options from which to choose:
-
LCD
Orientation - with this you can make your MuVo display visible
for right-handed or left-handed users.
-
Contrast
- this allows the contrast to be adjusted to increase visibility
of the display.
-
Backlight
– this allows you to set how long the backlight will flash
when the select button is pressed.
-
Language
– this is self explanatory…it changes the language.
-
FM
region – this changes the FM regions…the choices are International
or Japan.
-
Idle
shutdown – this will set the time when the device should
shutdown when it is inactive.
-
CUE/review
- this allows you to jump several seconds ahead in a song
instead of scrolling smoothly through a song.
-
Information
– this shows information about the firmware version, total
space available, space used, etc.
-
Cancel
selection – this cancels a choice.
Software
Creative
has bundled Media Source with this MuVo player.
A
lot of SoundBlaster cards have this software bundled with
it. In this case there are some additional drivers
added with the Media Source bundle.
Media
Source comes with three programs which are Media Source
audio converter, MS player and MS organizer.
The
installer makes sure you have unplugged the MuVo before
you start installing.
Media Source Audio Converter
This
is a program used to convert your wav, mp3 or wma files
into different wav, mp3 or wma files.
This
program is very straightforward and easy to use. You can tell which file(s) need converting and where to put them.
Media Source Organizer
This
program is much like Apple’s iTunes.
It is a simple to use tool for organizing and uploading
your music into a portable device.
When
you select the MuVo within the organizer you get an extra
set of options from which to choose.
SmartFit
allows you to compress the songs you put on the MuVo to
fit into the space available.
I
would have thought that initialize in this case meant a
sort of refresh of the files available on the flash drive.
What
it actually means is that you can reformat the flash drive.
Media Source Player
This
is a general multimedia player by Creative.
It
plays most of the favourite music formats that are available.
As
you can see from the screenshot, the player is part of the
organizer and the 2 programs share a common menu with the
same options.
In
the player, it is possible to record music files and play
music files. In the organizer, you can go one step further
and organize the files properly.
One
option I like is the music analyzer option.
This
feature allows you to organize your music files by tempo
or volume.
Now
you can quickly make play lists that are automatically sorted
by speed or sorted by volume levels.
It
saves you the trouble of sorting them yourselves.
Creative MuVo N200 Media Explorer
This
program is based on the Windows File explorer and is extended
a little bit.
I
found it when I opened the icon my computer.
Here’s
a screenshot of how it looks.
The
extra options you see are the same as with Media Source
organizer: Smartfit, organize, settings, initialize and
delete.
It
also allows you to quickly rip an audio CD and copy it to
the device.
Windows Media Player
10
Of
course Windows Media Player recognizes your MuVo instantly;
but, it recognizes it as a removable disk.
Here
you can also organize your music files and store them on
your flash drive.
As
you can read in the feature list, the player only weighs
about 19 grams without a battery… that’s very light.
The
weight with a battery is about 29 grams; and, with case
and belt clip, it weighs about 45 grams.
The
playtime for the player is stated to be approximately 15
hours.
I’ve
used the N200 for 5 hours now and the battery indicator
is still saying it’s full or good.
So
I think 15 hours sounds about right.
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