Is there any such thing as the ultimate MP3 player?

Judging by the number of brands and models on the market is clear that everybody has a different idea of what he or she is looking for in an MP3 player.  Nonetheless, the Diva Gem from Daisy Multimedia is coming very close to today’s ultimate MP3 player for me.

It’s handsome, simple to use, costs nothing to run, is very affordable and its memory is infinitely expandable.  And of course it has an inbuilt FM radio.

Daisy Multimedia has brought out a line of new digital audio players, called the Diva Gem.  Ilya Sippen from Art in Fibre Optics, was kind enough to let me have one to dissect.

The Diva Gems are fully featured players that incorporate a slot for SD/MMC memory cards in addition to their inbuilt memory.  My review model had 64MB as its base memory. Other models can go up to 256MB.  There is also going to be a new model with Bluetooth connectivity for use with Bluetooth headsets.

Frankly, the 64MB is a bit barebones. I just bought the excellent Dreamcatcher CD from Secret Garden and it would not even fit. Granted, it has 20 tracks which is more than the standard CD. To be useful you need to buy a memory card of at least 128MB so that you can have about 3 hours of music. But the good thing is you’ll never run out of storage possibilities with the Diva and cards get cheaper by the month.

Nicely presented, the box (which features the Bluetooth GB4000 model on the front) shows that there are three colours to suit your preference: a blue-grey “stardust” model, a black “fanatic” and a luscious, deep-red “glamour”. Well, that’s the one my wife and daughters love, so someone picked a good colour in the marketing department!

On the box it says that you can get these jewels in five memory models, from a ridiculous 16MB to a reasonable 256MB. I suppose that with a decent SD/MMC card you could opt for the 16MB model, but from a production and marketing point of view it would have been better to bring out just a couple of high-end models.

Delving through the box as if discovering an archaeological treasure, brings up the following: comfortable necklace earphones, a Li-Ion battery which lasts for about 14 hours, a Quick Start User Guide, Installation CD, USB cable and a DC adapter.

The adaptor is a European/Asian model but here in Australia a humongous multi-plug adapter is also supplied. Get yourself a smaller one if you travel a lot.

I love the simple layout of the buttons on this player but even more so the mini-joystick for menu choices. I only feel the Vol + and Vol – buttons should be reversed (Vol Up should always be on the right).

The battery door also reveals the memory card slot. The battery can stay in place when changing cards. The whole unit is lightweight –25g without battery (I’m not a fan of heavy metal music either!).

The CD-ROM contains the installation program and various software applications plus manual.  

Main programs are Media Jukebox (for ripping and playing audio files) and MusicLoader.

MusicLoader is an application which allows you to:

1. Transfer MP3 music from the PC to your device and back

2. Delete MP3 files

3. Organize MP3 files in playlists

4. Search for MP3 files on the disk drives of your PC and to arrange them in libraries

5. Create MP3 file folders organized by genres, albums, artists

Forgetting the nitty-gritty of the Gem’s specs, the main question to ask is: Does the Diva deliver?

My verdict: an unequivocal Yes.

It looks great, feels great (non-slip), easy to use with good sound quality. I am particularly impressed with the quality of the Voice Recorder.

Add to this unlimited memory expansion, easy recording from FM radio, good endurance (14 hours & rechargeable also via USB!), a very attractive price of around AUD150 and this jewel must have your attention!

Putting price in perspective: just a few months ago we were reviewing MP3 players with fewer features for double the money and thought that was value for money. There is an incredible competition out there which puts some pressure on prices while making the products more feature-rich.

Of course!

Every product is a compromise. It’s just that the positives outweigh any of my concerns but if you must know -- here are a couple of my findings:

There’s a slightly annoying tick in between the tracks on the Diva which isn’t present on other players I checked.

The only formats catered for at present are MP3 and AAC (for voice recordings). AAC is, of course, becoming a very popular codec with the proliferation of iTunes and the iPod. Still, I would have wanted to see WMA included as well.

Lastly, the manual can do with a kind Editor’s magic wand.

No deal breakers for me here but points for improving a surprisingly nice and very affordable design.

Many future features, such as voice activation, can be implemented through the upgradeable firmware and the latest 1.51 version has some nice improvements (time, date, alarm, & microphone sensitivity) and bug fixes. It is highly recommended to apply this upgrade from the supplied 1.43 version.

The biggest surprise

is that this nifty unit is made in Bulgeria. Eastern Europe doesn’t have a heritage of creative engineering and catering to the whims of the consumer market but Daisy Multimedia, headquartered in Sofia, has some great products in the MP3 sector and is coming out with some interesting digital cameras as well.

Have a look on their website at the specs of their 5MP camera.

Hopefully, I’ll bring you an in-depth review of one of these very soon too.

To order one of these Gems here in Australia contact Ilya at sippen@iprimus.com.au

Technical Specifications

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