Review: iRiver iFP899
For something different, I have recorded an audio review of the iRiver iFP 899 from a Mac-using podcaster’s perspective. Not that I am a podcaster, but I am a beginner. The review is interwoven with a sound-seeing tour of me going to the supermarket, since using these iRivers for podcasting is all about mobile recording.
Audio: iRiver Review MP3
It’s a worrying 50 minutes long, of which the review is mostly the first 15 minutes. The rest is me ranting / smoking / umming and scuttling furtively down the tinned food aisle. Although I don’t know why I bothered trying to hide the white Griffin Lapel Mic; it does tend to stand out against my dark navy jacket (see photo, right).
I got some facts wrong during the review, so read them here and don’t sue me:
- 1GB flash memory
- 40 hours of recording at 64kbps / 22.05Khz / Stereo
- Real-time Encoding
- 40 hours of playtime on a single AA battery
- Plays MP3, OGG, ASF and something called WMA
- FM tuner
- Record from Line In / External Mic, Internal Mic, FM Tuner
I forgot to mention the FM tuner in the review. Both the tuner and the recording feature work very well and the tuner has excellent reception (for me, anyway).
Also, I could hardly remember that in the box you get:
- Manuals (you’ll need ’em)
- CD
- Earphones
- Carrying Case
- Neck strap
- 1 AA Battery
- USB Cable (iRiver supports USB 2)
- Audio Cable (3.5mm jacks both ends)
Here is a screenshot of the iRiver Music Manager software (that doesn’t really manage anything):
Finally, I mention in the review that I tried to pause the recording and hit the wrong button, meaning I had to start another recording to continue. I stitched these together with Sound Studio then re-ripped the file into MP3 and tagged it using iTunes. I don’t think the quality suffered.
Enjoy!
Update: Click here see some notes on this review, and please accept my apologies for the singing.
April 20th, 2005 at 11:16 am
Vary bizarre yet somehow interesting listening to someone going shopping and hearing what are normally ‘thoughts’. You are right about iTunes users being spoilt.
June 3rd, 2005 at 8:59 pm
Good singing 🙂 Being from the other side of the atlantic pond, I enjoyed hearing the different idioms of the language. Thanks for the trip.
June 13th, 2005 at 12:44 am
Thanks much for this unique review. I can get one of these for $133 US dollars on sale this week. Sounds great! I have been using MiniDisc recorders since 1998, and this is a new interesting experiment for me.
Thanks again. A great idea.
June 13th, 2005 at 2:35 am
Thanks for the feedback!
July 8th, 2005 at 5:33 am
Steve,
Thanks for putting this review together. You’re some kind of lunatic, I hope you know that. (I mean that in the most positive sense you can imagine.)
The mp3 audio sounds poor. Did you intentionally use a low bit rate or is that the iRiver’s recording limitation? Please consider another improved review using a much higher bit rate; highest possible would be ideal.
Your recorded review almost sounds like stereo — kind of like the artificial stereo imaging record producers used to do to enhance old mono LPs to get people to buy them (because now they would hear stereo, albeit the ersatz version!). So, can this device record in stereo or not? The file you provided does not seem that it can record stereo. Don’t know if that’s the fault of the microphone(s?), the iRiver, or a combination of the two.
Anyway, thanks again for weirding out your audience. Excellent job!
July 12th, 2005 at 2:38 am
Gilles,
Thanks!
It was recorded in stereo at 64 Kbps and 22 kilohertz since that is the level of quality that many podcasters use. The Griffin Lapel Mic is stereo.
I’m incredibly busy right now, but I hope to do a “living with iRiver” recording in the next month or so.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:32 pm
[…] Recorded on the internal mic of my iRiver iFP899 – expect the audio quality to reflect that. […]
October 31st, 2005 at 3:27 pm
how isit defferent from the 799 ?
is the great sound quality of the 799 also present at the 899 ?
October 31st, 2005 at 4:18 pm
Apart from its design, it is really difficult to tell the difference in specifications between the 799 and the 899. I also don’t know how a 799 sounds compared to an 899.
November 9th, 2005 at 2:55 am
This is hilarious. I started listening because I’m in the market for a good mp3 player and ended up being totally entertained by this guy’s erranding.
November 12th, 2005 at 1:03 am
I’m interested in a recorder that’ll record my band’s shows in stereo, then allow me to upload them to my PC in digital form (rather than my Sony Minidisk turdball that only allows digital downloads, but uploads can only be done via the headphone jack, requiring 4 hours to transfer a 4-hour show). Would this recorder be appropriate? Are there better choices? I use a Sony stereo mic. I’d rather not have to buy a mixer/line-in device. Super fidelity isn’t necessary, as it’s only a room recording; if I want studio quality, I’ll go to the studio. I’d much rather buy from someone non-Sony, as their “rights management” methods have trampled on my rights every time.
November 18th, 2005 at 12:26 am
This would fit the bill, I suppose the quality would come down to a combination of bitrate and sample rate (since the iRiver records directly to MP3) and, obviously the mic itself.
I’ve mentioned this somewhere else on the blog but check out podcastrigs.com and the Podcastrigs Forum for lots of discussion on affordable and mobile recording devices, mics, etc.
Those two sites are not just about podcasting but audio production in general and the people there know infinitely more about this stuff than me!
January 11th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
does anyone know when the ifp first hit the street? mine no longer works. i havent had very long but dont have a receipt. iriver doesn’t care about it’s faulty equipment. they say this model has been on the market since may 2004. i question whether the 899 has been on the market for a year yet. anyone know? btw, i DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT!
February 12th, 2006 at 12:48 pm
Curious about the IFP-899 … I can’t find detailed pictures of the device. Are there TWO (2) separate jacks — one for headphones and ANOTHER for the line-in cable? Or is there only ONE jack that can be used for either headphones or line-in jack. I hope you can finally shed some light on this mystery. I’ve seen pictures of the IFP-799 and they clearly show two (2) separate jacks. Thank you for your review!
February 12th, 2006 at 4:26 pm
There are two separate jacks. The headphone jack comes out of the top (the left side in the photo above) and there is a separate line-in jack that comes out of the side (the bottom side in the picture above).
February 28th, 2006 at 11:57 am
I was lucky enough to be given an IFP-899 as a present by a close techie buddy in the USA. It seems fantastically good value with an amazing range of features and is a very cool looking and feeling device.
I have one teensy weensy caveat. I have had it a month now, have it loaded with around 250 songs yet STILL can’t navigate to the song I want and get it to play. The simplest basic operation. It just keeps reverting to the same starting track. So I have to add a sour note and say that I find it less than intuitive to use for playing music – it’s main purpose. The FM radio is easy to use however.
The sound quality is amazing and the battery life almost unbelievable. I especially like the metalic red finish and the cool selection of accesories that come as standard. I replaced the headphones with a higher quality pair with ear clips as the supplied basic style always fall out of my ears or feel as if they are going to.
March 9th, 2006 at 7:23 pm
^To Lionman,
I don’t know this product, but I do own an IRiver mp3 player and recognise the problem of having the same starting track no matter what you do. At the time, it was caused by the fact that I included a Playlist in one of the directories, and since the playlist support wasn’t that good, it used that playlist not just for that directory, but for the entire device. Maybe that’s what is happening to you?
I’ll grab this audio review, but I’d love to see it on the site as well for those who don’t have the time for the audio thing, no matter how much fun it is..
March 30th, 2006 at 5:13 pm
I have the iRiver iFP-880, and when you’re listening to a song, push in the round button knob, then in the General mode go to “Resume” – you have the options of “Off” or “On” – I have mine set to On to take up where I was last listening, but in Off you go back to the first track when the player is turned on.
When I turn on the player and the main screen comes up, I push the knob in and it shows where I left off – I can push the knob in again to resume play.
If I want to play a different song, I bump the knob left to back out of that folder (may take one or two left clicks, depending on how many subs in the folder) and then scroll up and down the folder list until I locate the new choice. Then I Push In to open that folder for the list of tunes, scroll up or down to desired song, then push in to play.
I’ve also found a small cell phone case works great for the MP3 – it has a belt clip and magnetic closure and I can wrap the headphones around the top of the closure and tuck the earpieces into the sides.
April 22nd, 2006 at 5:06 pm
I am looking for a unit that will do good voice recording of one or a group. Would also like to connect it to a mixer and do a group that way. Is this the unit?
May 19th, 2006 at 2:14 pm
Can you put that mp3 back online or email it to me? I’m curious about the sound quality! Thanks!
May 19th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
It’s back, sorry about that.
October 26th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
[…] at 2:10 pm | In people, fun, tech notes and tools | Tags: iriver, usability Yes, I still use an iRiver IFP to record podcasts and other sounds on the go. It gives you very decent quality, doesn’t cost […]