Creative's Latest MP3 Jukebox
It's been a while since the NOMAD Jukebox was launched last year. Back then having a MP3 player with a built-in HDD was an innovative idea. This made it possible for a huge selection of MP3 audio files to be played, limited only by the player's battery-life. Imagine the monotony of having to listen to the same songs repeatedly on a 64 MB capacity player during long journeys...

Soon after the NOMAD Jukebox's launch, similar MP3 players with built-in HDD started to appear, the latest being Apple's catchy iPod. I must say that the iPod is itself a work of art. The simple yet extremely portable design (2.43 by 4.02 by 0.78 inch and 6.5oz), baring the price of one, definitely makes it a hit in the market. Not to be outdone, the makers of the original NOMAD Jukebox is now offering the latest incarnation to the NOMAD series, the NOMAD Jukebox 3.




The NOMAD Jukebox 3 now contains a lofty 20Gig HDD, able to hold about 5000 MP3 files at 128kps and 8000 WMA files at 80kbs. Furthermore there are plans to introduce a 40Gig version, with enough space to contain all your CDs even at higher streaming rates, unless of course, your CD titles collection rivals that of HMV?




A 7-minute anti-skip buffer, courtesy of the onboard 16MB DRAM, makes continuous music on the go possible. But if you intend to listen to music during 'Xtreme' sporting activties, I would suggest you go for a smaller MP3 player based on flash memory, instead of HDD. No matter how robust a HDD is built, continuous shaking and banging definitely degerades its operational life concerned.

So, how different is it from the original NOMAD Jukebox? And what sets it apart from other players out in the market?




Specifications & Package
First of all, let us take a look at the technical specifications and packaging.




Package Contents

• 1 Creative NOMAD Jukebox 3 player
  
• 1 Pair of Stereo Headphones
  
• 1 Rechargeable LiON battery
  
• 1 Installation CD
  
• 1 SB1394 cable
  
• 1 USB cable
  
• 1 Universal AC power supply
  
• 1 Quick Start Guide

Product Specifications

• 4.84 by 5.12 by 1.38 inch (123 by 130 by 35 MM)
  
• 10.2 oz (289gms) without batteries
  
• 16MB DRAM
  
• 20Gig HDD (333 hours at 128kbps MP3 encoding)
  
• DC in 5v
  
• Up to 11 hrs continuous play with 1 LiON battery
  
• 132 x 64 pixel resolution LCD (Blue/Green)
  
• MPEG Audio Layer3 & Windows Media Audio playback and recording
  
• 98dB (line-out), 96dB (headphones) Signal to Noise Ratio
  
• 98dB (line-out), 75dB (headphones) Channel Separation
  
• 20Hz - 20KHz Frequency response
  
• <0.1% Harmonic Distortion
  
• 2 x 1/8 inch stereo minijack for front & rear speakers
  
• 1 x 1/8 inch minijack, 100mW for headphones
  
• USB, SB1394 and Creative Link connection
  
• EAX support

PC Minimum System Requirements

• Microsoft Windows 98/2000/ME/XP
  
• Intel Pentium II 200MHz or AMD K6-2 200MHz
  
• SVGA Graphics Adaptor (256 colors, 800x600)
  
• Internet connection for internet downloading or CDDB support
  
• 64MB RAM
  
• USB or SB1394 port
  
• 30MB free HDD space
  
• SB Audigy, Extigy or Live! for EAX enhanced MP3 encoding
  
• CDROM drive with digital audio extraction support

How it looks like
The NOMAD Jukebox3 itself. Most features and functions are accessible by the menu buttons on the player and the scroller button on the right side.




There is an IR port at the front of the player. However the IR remote controller is only available as an accessory and not within the package.


You have to buy the IR remote controller

Here we have the optical/line-in for external audio source and the power on/off switch.


Optical/Line-in on the left, Power ON/OFF on the right.

The scroller button allows you to scroll to the option you want before pressing it to confirm your choice. The connection you see on the right, next to left of the 1/8 inch minijack for headphones, is meant for connecting the remote.


Where do I connect my headphones?

There are 2 line-out connections available, allowing you to connect up to 4 speakers for 3D audio output. Data transfer is achieved by either the use of USB or Firewire connection.


Line-outs and Data transfer connections

The connections on the underside of the Jukebox 3 are meant for it to be attached onto a docking station where charging of battery and data transfer is possible. This way, you don't have to worry about messy wire connections whenever you need to detach and bring the Jukebox 3 on the go.




The single LiON battery provided is rated to be able to provide up to 11 hrs of listening pleasure. Should you need extended hours, an additional battery could be bought for up to 22 hrs of entertainment.


Space for 1 more battery, which is not provided

And did I mention that you could change the color of the LCD backlight? No doubt, the popularity of such a feature found in mobile phones may have played an influential role in its port. Somehow a blue backlight still looks better. I apologize for how the photos turned out. I had to turn off the lights for the backlight to stand out.


Green backlight


Blue backlight

And how can we leave this out? Ever wonder how it looks like inside? I have a fetish for disassembling hardware to see what's inside.


Level 1: Notice the gibberish characters? Somehow I couldn't get the player to display the song titles in other languages.

Notice that the HDD is screwed onto the PCB and lies ontop of the LiON battery. That alone with the LCD on top of the HDD contributes to the thickness of the Jukebox 3, at 1.38 inch. Apple's iPod is at 0.78inch.


Level 2: Hey, it's a Fujitsu HDD




Accessories
Like all gadgets, the new NOMAD Jukebox 3 has a range of accessories to fully complement its functionality.

FM Wired Remote
The FM Wired Remote combines FM tuner capabilities, a built in microphone, a blue LCD backlight and as well as playback controls. It's exactly like those remotes found in commonly sold portable CD players for audio playback control.




The FM tuner is also able to store up to 32 preset FM stations and the built-in microphone would be excellent for live recordings such as during meetings or interviews. There is another (normal) version of the remote without the FM tuner and built-in microphone available.

Car Kit
This includes a car cigarette power adaptor and a cassette adaptor from which the NOMAD Jukebox 3 draws its power from, and to where you connect your audio connections.

Home Kit with Docking Station and IR Remote
This features a docking station that lets you hook up the Nomad Jukebox 3 easily without connecting any messy wires. You can have all the audio I/O cables connected to the docking station instead of the NOMAD Jukebox 3 itself, making it easier for you to move the Jukebox around. And with the IR remote controller, you can sit back and relax in your couch to enjoy the music.




Faceplates
The faceplate on the Jukebox is detachable, just like those covers for your handphones/cellphones. Presently, however, you only get 3 colors to choose from.


Detachable faceplates


I wonder why Creative didn't give these out for free?

Pouch
To protect your Jukebox from being scratched when moving it around.




Data Transfer
With IEEE1394 support, or more commonly known as Firewire, you can expect to transfer your audio files at a much faster rate than using USB. Firewire has a theoretical bandwidth of 400 Mbps, while USB 1.1's at 12 Mbps. However, don't be mistaken into taking 400Mbps/12Mbps = 33 times faster transfer speed. It's just the same as saying ATA133 HDD is twice as fast compared to a ATA 66 HDD.


Firewire on the left, USB on the right

A 4 minute 128kps MP3 audio file took 3-4 seconds, using USB connection, to be transferred from my PC to the Jukebox. The entire album of 12 songs took about 45 seconds. Using Firewire, it took about 1 second for each song and about 14 seconds for the album.


Audio files are transferred with the use of PlayCenter, of which includes encoding and Jukebox settings too

Firewire support now comes with all SoundBlaster Audigy Soundcards. It is absent in older versions of soundcards like the SoundBlaster Live! series. I wouldn't deem it mandatory to really have Firewire support and rush out to get a Firewire I/O card. A USB connection would suffice.



EAX

Smart Volume Management
This is one feature that I really like. Remember you have to adjust the volume control when you play different MP3 files? This is due to songs being encoded at different volume levels by different people. This Smart Volume Management is able to hanlde that seamlessly, by keeping your playback volume at a constant level from song to song. This feature is also very useful when listening to music, especially trance, which have varying volume levels throughout.




Time Scaling
Lets you listen to audio files up to 1.5X faster or slower. This would be helpful if you need to say, listen to a recording of your meeting/interview with someone and couldn't wait to speed it up, or slow down a previous conversation with a fast speaker. And there is no change in pitch of the sound aka chipmunk's voice.




Environmental Effects
You can customize your songs for playback by adding ambient features like CONERT HALL, ARENA, ROCK ala WINAMP.




Multi-Channel Effects
Remember the Jukebox 3 has 2 line outs? You can configure the player to 4-channel speakers output for 3D audio. For normal 2-channel playback, the rear speakers duplicate the front speakers audio output.




Headphone Spatialization
Realistic 3D audio when listening to the NOMAD Jukebox 3 through your headphones. Settings from Full(Orchestra) to Wide(5 piece band) to Narrow(soloist) are available.


Power Settings
To lengthen your listening pleasure, you could adjust the power settings to conserve power from the LCD backlight and shortening the idle time before the player shuts itself off automatically. One thing I found out was when you first startup the NOMAD Jukebox 3, it takes some time to power up. And if you try to power it on within 30 minutes since the last power off, the bootup would be almost instantaneous due to the instant-on feature. After about 30 minutes, the unit would shut down completely to conserve power, making bootup time longer.






How do I find my songs ?

Managing your Music
With a 20Gig HDD, you will definitely get lost among the hundreds of albums. The Jukebox makes it easier by allowing you to customize playlist. You can have one for trance, one for rock, sentimental and even a slow romantic love song playlist should your date happen to come over.


5 search-by options

You can also search for playlists, songs & albums by using the scroller button on the right. Press the search button and 5 options will appear : Search by playlist, artist, album, genre or track. Simply use the scroller button to enter your choice and choose OK when done.


I want to rock!


Recording
You can do direct recording, MP3 or WMA format, on the fly. Simply connect your audio source to the line-in jack, choose line-in/optical, sampling frequency (11.025/22.05/44.1/48kHz) and you are done. For the wired remote recording with the microphone, you have to choose the W.Remote Recording option.


Choose either Line-In or Remote recording


For Line-In choose either Digital or Analog signal


Choose your sampling/streaming rate

Recording from CD player to Jukebox 3 is also possible. However it is real time, meaning the encoding time would be the length of the song. It would be better to use your PC to speed up the process.


CD to Jukebox recording. Yawn...


Portable file storage
The Jukebox 3 also functions as a portable storage device. Using Creative File Manager, you can transfer non-audio files such as photos, presentations in the NOMAD Jukebox 3. It's a useful replacement for all your ZIP and JAZ disks.


The file manager looks and works exactly like Windows Explorer

Moving files between your computer and NOMAD Jukebox 3 utilizes familiar features like Drag-and-Drop and New Folder creation as with Windows Explorer. However the PCs at your destinations must have this file manager, entirely different from Windows Explorer, installed. Fear not for there is a utility to create a so-called installation disk coupled with drivers and software required. Install it once and that's it.

I actually tried transferring a few DIVX movies with it between my 2 PCs at home. It would be great if there was actually a video out and DIVX firmware inside.




So what now ?
The NOMAD Jukebox 3 starts shipping in April/May 2002 at a MSRP of USD$399.99. The iPod retails from USD$375-400 for the 5Gig version. Though you might have 4 times the capacity with the NOMAD Jukebox 3, you don't get the classy look of the iPod. And the thickness of the Jukebox 3 doesn't speak wonders as compared to the iPod. I believed Apple spent quite an amount to acquire the hardware needed for iPod, maybe even custom-order. What Creative did was to consolidate off-the-shelf hardware and piece them together.


See how thick it is?

As seen in previous photo shots below, the HDD used was Fujitsu's 2.5inch laptop HDD. The LiON battery is suspected to be meant for handphone usage. All they had to do was to fabricate the PCB and get ready the software/firmware of which a large proportion of the codes already exist with them, like EAX.


Line out to my Extigy

The selling point of the NOMAD Jukebox 3 would be more on its functionality and features than looks itself. Features like search options, Smart Volume Management and EAX definitely sells. Coupled with the fact that the NOMAD can also act as a portable storage device, transferring large files between computers is made easy while you can still carry your songs from place to place.

NOMAD Jukebox 3's sound reproduction is definitely up to standard. With a high signal to noise ratio (SNR) and channel separation, the only way your audio sounds below par would be your listening device and cables. Of all the audio files I have tested, I couldn't really detect any deformality in sound reproduction.


Other cool MP3 players in the market

If you are looking for multi-functional/feature MP3 player, I really can't see where else to get one. There will be cheaper MP3 players around, like iRiver's iMP-350 SlimX (one of my favorites) to Apple's classy iPod. But in terms of capacity and features, the NOMAD Jukebox 3 is at the top of the list.

The downside? Cost. The player itself already sets you back USD$400. Like all other gadgets you need the full complement of accessories to maximize its potential.