I have a question concerning the sound quality of the empeg. I own an autopc by clarion, and downloaded some software on the internet to play mp3's on it. The volume is really quiet and it sounds terrible. I experimented with many ripping speeds etc. and it always sounds the same. Particularily the high frequencies. It sounds kind of like I am in a cave, and there is not very good surround effects. I am wondering if this is a problem with the software or if this is an inherent problem when playing mp3s. I hav downloaded mp3s from napster, converted them to wav files and they sound fine, so I have a feeling it is the software, but i would like to get input from people who own empegs. Compared to a cd, how good is the sound? I am really disappointed because i was told the autopc would play mp3s, they didn't tell me when I bought it it would sound like crap. I am considering buying a Mark II in addition, I am #13615 in line. I appreciate any input.

The AutoPC doesn't have a good reputation for MP3 playing.

Actually, I think that might be an understatement.

Most people will agree that the empeg car player has rather nice audio, especially the Mk.2.

Rob

The AutoPC is a multi-purpose device. I firmly believe that something that does many different things will not do any one thing better than anything else. So for all the functions that the AutoPC performs, it may play mp3's, but since it isn't its only functions, the focus was not on it.

And you're not that far down in the queue. They should get to 13600's in the next week. And you can always defer while you decide (but if you want quality audio and mp3 capability, there is no choice ).

DiGNAN
13653

I've read about the AutoPC's MP3 playback. I know what's going on, and why you're having the problems.

I have good news for you: The Empeg absolutely does NOT suffer from the same problem. The Empeg sounds fantastic, as good as a CD player if your MP3 files are encoded at the proper bit rate. So please don't let your experience with the AutoPC make you afraid of the Empeg.

The problem is that MP3 decoding takes CPU horespower, and the AutoPC just doesn't have the oomph to do it properly. The audio anomolies you describe are the result of having to lower the sampling rate of the audio output and smash it to mono instead of stereo. This is described in the release notes of the software.

On the other hand, the Empeg does full-frequency, full-sample-rate, full-stereo decoding. It does this while simultaneously showing 3D visuals and managing its hard disk cache. And it's only using up about 30 percent of its CPU capability to do it. That's the power of the ARM processor.

So don't be worried about the Empeg: Your problem is unique to the AutoPC.

___________
Tony Fabris

Hehe... you guys sure didn't let me down! I spoke to Adam (akeller) last night on IM. He asked me the same questions and I gave him what information I could, but said that others who own one would be better to ask. I said that he should post the question and he'd get a bunch of responses... especially from Tony. You didn't make a liar out of me. Thanks!

What's that AutoPC use for a processor, anyhow? Anyone know? Perhaps a 6502? As good as it was, in it's time, it's no MP3 player.

George

Thanks for all your input, I am pretty sure I am still going to purchase the empeg. I fuigured the software was bad on the autopc because it was made by a private individual and it is free. After all the work you guys have done (i've been following the empeg boards for about 8-9 months now) I do not see how 1 guy could write sufficient software and offer it free. I also noticed the autopc is rather weak as far as raw horsepower. If it had enough power, their would be no reason clarion would not have some good mp3 software. I still do not regret buying the auto pc because i got a good deal (the heat unit, gps, disc changer, cell phone interface brand new for $1,000) and it has some interesting features, I am just glad I figured out it's shortcomings before my number came up, after all this waiting I would hate to miss it!

It uses a Hitachi SH-3 (32bit RISC processor) running at 60MHz. While 60MHz may be OK for a handheld, it sounds to me like they should've put a little more thought into it before they used it for the AutoPC.

Bill B.
Mk.2 SN 080000183 - 18 GB / Green

Are you sure about this Bill? Hugo said it was a 486 somewhere else on the board. There was quite a long thread discussing it a while back

I could be wrong here, though...

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

Well, according to the FAQ on the AutoPC Homepage ...

Bill B.
Mk.2 SN 080000183 - 18 GB / Green

My old Compaq handheld computer used the same processor. It is NOT sufficient for nearly anything!

I am quite suprised that they used that. It's not like there aren't ARM chip systems that run on CE. My Jornada, for example, runs on the ARM, and it's 5 million times as fast as the old piece of junk I used before (caution: exaggeration).

So I'm glad you've decided to go with the empeg. Good decision.

DiGNAN
13653

I'm pretty sure I didn't say it was a 486; the autopc II is a pentium though, I think. They're not learning, you know :)

Hugo

This is exactly what we aimed for in the empeg; whilst it *can* do lots of other things, we're currently concentrating on digital audio - and making this do everything anyone would ever want from an audio playback device.

When we're happy with the playback, we may well start looking at other areas (or partnering with people to address other areas) - but the autopc was the result of trying to make a box which did everything, and ending up with a worse radio than a normal high-end radio, a worse navigation system than the competition, etc.

It pays to concentrate :)

Hugo

Exactly the answer I'd expect to hear from Empeg. Do it once, do it right. Concentrate on one thing, do it well, then do it better! I think if Empeg does this, they'll wind up with a pretty diverse auto accessory line that squashes the competition once component at a time. I'd love to see that happen! But, I'm looking a little bit down the road, aren't I? We'll see how far off this prophecy is in a few years.

Keep up the good work, guys!

George

While 60MHz may be OK for a handheld

OK? Thats way to fast for anything useful right now for handhelds. (Useful being that I can go more then a few days without new batteries or a recharge). Most Palm devices run around 16mHz, and the HP49G graphics calculator is 4mHz. Both do very impressive things with those limits, while MS can't get a small OS to use less resources and processor time then their own Win 3.1. I about flipped when I saw the Compaq iPaq Pocket PC running a 206mHz StrongARM. Something more powerful by a bit then an empeg to hold phone numbers and play one MP3.

Sigh. Advancing technology is always good, but just imagine what a decent company like Palm will use that power for...