Andrew Brown of Tech-Report let me know that Anand of Anandtech has just posted a review of the MkII on his website. The review is EXTREMELY detailed and I'd urge everyone to go read it, but I'll give away the ending and tell you that it got 8 out of 10 points.

I wonder how Anand got his hands on one of these? Was someone kind enough to let him review theirs or did empeg actually send one to him? Just curious...

George

Well, it is serial number 434 from the August run (080000434). It is not in the empeg registry...


Paul G.
Q# 15189
Status: In queue for a green 36GB Mk2

This is a great review. Very accurate, very detailed, and very honest. Yes, the faces scratch rather easily and have no A/R coating. Yes, it's not "polished" enough to become a mainstream product. And yes, despite those issues, it kicks ass. Anand has been doing great hardware reviews for what seems like forever, and this definitely continues that trend. Much better than the unresearched, inaccurate ZDTV tripe that was posted last week. I suggest Empeg links to this review on their as-yet-undeveloped Press section of the website.

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MkII 080000554

im just glad i got my dang number before the hordes come a callin.

Im as confused as a baby in a topless bar...

In reply to:

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Andrew Brown of Tech-Report let me know that Anand of Anandtech has just posted a review of the MkII on his website.

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I particularly liked:

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A man by the name of Huge Fiennes ran into the same problem...

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Nick.

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18Gb blue - s/n 080000299 (original queue position 8724)

What did they say on ZDTV? Do they have a reveiw or something on the web site?

Proud Owner of MK2 080000558 - 18gb Blue

Huge Fiennes

Now that's a contradiction in terms if I've ever heard one.

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Tony Fabris

AnandTech didn't ask for a review unit. The serial number featured in the review was sold to a client in Canada.

A good review I thought..

Rob

Damn good and damn thorough. I just read through the whole thing. I thought they did an excellent job overall. The only thing that confused me was the implications they were making to it being fact that Emplode won't handle more than 500 to 600 megs being dragged to it at any one time in Win98. I successfully dragged over 8 gigs in one swoop with no problems. Hrm. But at anyrate. . . they addressed all the points and they hit the highs quite nicely. You even get a little Empeg history lesson to boot. =]


|| loren.cox
|| 080000446

Currently emplode seems to either love you or hate you. Hopefully 1.01 will fix most of those problems, and 1.1 should do away with the rest (he says).

The only thing that niggled with me in the review was how much he hated the car mount. That thing cost a fortune and is made to a FAR higher standard than any mainstream hardware I've seen. It's 1mm stainless steel - punched, folded and welded. The flimsy punched and crimped mounts from other manufacturers cost pennies to make and wouldn't last five minutes with a pull-out.

It would also have been nice if Anand had let me know he was doing a review. Luckily his piece didn't really need fact checking, but I would have been able to tell him that we ordered anti-reflection coated (and scratch resistant) panels several weeks ago. They should turn up in production sometime during October, and will be available to existing owners at a minimal cost.

Rob

I think I'll go post a reply to that review in their forum. Make sure to clarify those facts you mentioned...

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Tony Fabris

Yeah... that's the other one i noticed Rob. He did make a huge deal about the sled. The one that cracked me up...

"The back of the cage isn’t entirely open, meaning that if the rear of the cage is stuck on anything during its install you can’t tell by simply looking into the cage."

ermm...okay. I won't point out the fault in that idea. The install was made out to be a much larger problem that it should have been, seeing as way more than most of the people buying the unit will have it professionally installed anyway, and if you saw the crap they have to deal with from most units, the Empeg sled is a breeze. I'm surprised they wouldn't let you know before hand that they were reviewing it... thought that was standard practice. hm.


|| loren.cox
|| 080000446

Greetings!

I wouldn't doubt that the reviewer may have been (or perhaps is) a regular reader of this board. The reviewer
certainly had a lot of information and detail, some of which you can only find out here. Anyone care to comment???

Paul G.
Q# 15189
Status: In queue for a green 36GB Mk2

Tony...oh man, i just went and checked out the forum. You have a lot of correcting to do. None of the replies in the forum got it at all. Nearly all of them either didn't read through the whole article or just selectively read into it what they wanted. One guy thought it was still running a P166 with an AMD fan?! (obviously from the picture of Hugo's first car player). At anyrate... it just goes to show that people don't get it... and i still don't understand what the roadblock is. Maybe it's that the reality of the player is too good to be true? One guy thought it would be EASIER to burn CD's instead of syncing the player?!?! WTF. I'm sure Tony's gonna wipe some stuff up, but i'll check back later and try and help him out. Everyone should go post some testimonials!!


|| loren.cox
|| 080000446

If Anand reads the board then I'm not aware that he's ever posted - not as himself anyway. We'd have noticed!

The guy we sold the player to is probably active on here though. There were definitely comments in the review that came straight from the BBS.

It's rather cool to find a review with so much technical research.

Rob

I was all set to jump in.. then I read the posts.. and it's the MP3.com in-car forum all over again. I really can't be bothered - people who post those kinds of opinions aren't going to be swayed without actually using an empeg, and maybe not even then. They just don't "get it".

That's why the product is hard to sell outside of a niche market. We can shout about all the neat features, but people simply don't see the point. It takes people with vision and imagination to see what the empeg can do for them - and although such people seem to be very much in the minority, there are still enough of you to keep this product in the marketplace for a long time.

I love you guys

Rob

That's why the product is hard to sell outside of a niche market. We can shout about all the neat features, but people simply don't see the point.

I know you've been at this for a couple years now, Rob, but don't feel defeated just yet.

Sure, it's hard for most people to understand now, but give it a couple more years. Folks will have spent their time with CD-ROM and RAM-card based products, and slowly come to realize how cool something like the Empeg is. By that time, more companies will be competing in the market and you'll still be kicking butt (either that or supplying the other companies with their software).

The recognition will come. Slowly, but it will come.

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Tony Fabris

>It takes people with vision and imagination to see what the empeg can do for them

thanks for the compliment rob!

jeremy

12 gig, green...

Yeah, I caught that when I zipped through the review the first time (yes, I've read it about 3 times already) and laughed. I thought maybe Anand had better connections than we do and knew of some other person involved in the original. I was more concerned about the quality of the review than typos, though. And, that, I must say, was definitely top notch. As was said elsewhere, Anand is one of the most fair, but tough reviewers around. He doesn't skimp on quality or quantity. He's quick to qualify anything he says.

George

Awww... I think I'm gonna cry. ;-)


George

I was going to, but Tony's definitely got me beat in the knowledge department. I will go give my own two cents (2 grand, maybe? LOL!) as an owner, though and my experience with the empeg.

George

Honestly, I think that the competition is only going to solidify empeg's popularity. The players coming out now aren't even competition, as we all know. The problems they find with them are almost all solved with the empeg. Now, as the CD-R based players start to take hold and more and more people start converting their CD's to MP3's, they'll slowly tire of having to STILL carry CD's with them. How much do you want to bet an MP3 CD-R changer will come out before they go to hard drives, like the empeg? As more and more people start trying the competition and see that they don't meet their standards, requirements, or expectations, they'll start doing more research and stumble (or have it shoved down their throat by Rob's PR engine!) onto the empeg and all of its' features. Price will always be an issue for the empeg, but when it's compared to a Sony ES, Pioneer Premier or and Eclipse head unit, the empeg will win hands down and those head units generally start in the $1000 range. Competition, when it actually arrives, will only spell good things for the empeg. Rob just needs to make sure he's got the empeg just as visible as the REAL competition. Side by side comparison, right now, only make everyone see the price of the unit. REAL competition will cause the empeg to beat the living crap out of them!

George

FWIW, I don't have my MkII yet, but you guys are (and were always) years ahead of the curve. Eventually, this will be the "gotta have it" car stereo. And it is a great design. Until memory chips of larger size become available and are much, much cheaper, this type of design will dominate the market. Without stating the obvious, this is the next big thing in not just car audio, but audio in general. Creative is already marketing a portable player based upon HD. And of course it is getting alot of press. Everyone I have told about my soon-to-be car audio system says the same thing. They all want one. And if it weren't for the (somewhat) steep price, they'd be queued up already. But when they see mine, I fully expect them to be in line...

- John

in reply to this statement
And of course it is getting alot of press. Everyone I have told about my soon-to-be car audio system says the same thing. They all want one. And if it weren't for the (somewhat) steep price, they'd be queued up already. But when they see mine, I fully expect them to be in line...


ill have you all know im driving on a transmission that only has 3.5 gears of hte 5 it is supposed to. all because damnit im not going to spend 1g on a tranny when that one grand can go towards mah damn empeg! seriously thought it is an awesome product way ahead of its curve. Plus look at the comunity of smart folks it has created.

i dont see any car deck forums talking about creating navigational programs from scratch using binary algorithms and maping software that im sure the nsa would drool at (ok ok ok so i got carried away).. hehe we kick ass and those lamer cd guys suck! err wait im still a cd guy :(

Im as confused as a baby in a topless bar...

High visability will come, what it needs is a car audiophile to take one to the car audio competition circuit, This will happen in time.... it may be happening now...

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MK II, (Blue but should be Amber) SN: 118

Already .. Doug has done some IASCA in Alaska, and there was another guy trying to use it as an SPL source, and complained when the unit failed at 150+ dB...

Early days yet. It's things like public meets that will do it.

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

Anand might be lurker, you know, but either way, I think he at least did alot of research on the board. He woudl have to in order to make a statement like:

In reply to:

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According to empeg, the biggest driving force for the production of the Mk.2 was the need for a design with nearly 100% surface mounted components and the need for an automated testing rig

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Is this true? If it isn't, then I don't suppose it is, in fact, "according to" you guys

But I agree, he certainly did his research for the most part!

DiGNAN

Greetings!

Actually, this is almost word for word from the Geek Site, describing the birth of the Mark 2...

Paul G.
Q# 15189
Status: In queue for a green 36GB Mk2

Indeed - the reason for the redesign was to improve production. It seemed a shame to waste the opportunity to add a lot of new features at the same time, though!

The new styling was a very last minute decision, resulting from a thread on the BBS and my foolishly offering to manage the project :)

Rob