Although they're often considered well designed and comprehensive, iRiver's digital music players can also be somewhat complicated. By the company's standards, the 512MB T30 is rather straightforward both in appearance and operation. The big attraction for this streamlined version of the iRiver T10 is its price. The 256MB version retails for AU$169, the 512MB version for AU$199, and the 1GB version is available for AU$269.
DesignAt 63.5mm by 33mm by 23mm and weighing 28 grams, the iRiver T30 is ideal for using while working out. Slip it into a shirt pocket, and you'll hardly notice it's there. The dull black and silver plastic case of our 512MB test model isn't particularly striking -- the 1GB version is a little more stunning in red -- and the player lacks the joystick controls found on other flash-based iRiver devices. But the T30's simplicity will appeal to MP3 novices.
The most common compliant regarding iRiver's players has been the abstruse, techie user interface. Operating the T30, however, is fairly straightforward: Press and hold the Menu button to access the Browser (the music directory), the recording settings, and the system settings. Some users, though, will still balk at having to decode the process of setting up shuffle/repeat modes.
FeaturesThe iRiver T30 plays MP3, OGG and DRM-protected WMA files and is otherwise a pretty basic player. You get voice and line-in recording, though unlike the more advanced T10, it has no FM tuner. This is a little strange to us, as an FM tuner seems like the more basic feature to have. The T30 also offers SRS effects, a five-band user-defined EQ and the ability to control playback speed. Performance
Although the 90dB signal-to-noise ratio is the norm for this type of device, music sounds very good with a set of decent headphones. The included earbuds are above average, offering better-than-expected bass response, but they're a bit uncomfortable. At 18mW per channel, playback is plenty loud with a pair of full-size Koss UR-40 headphones.
In CNET Labs' tests, the iRiver T30 reached 21.67 hours of continuous playback on an AAA battery -- not bad but short of iRiver's claims of 24 hours. The player scored an average transfer speed of 1.67MB per second over a USB 2.0 connection.
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weng
07/05/2008, 02:51 PM
rating
10/10
i lost my t30 and i miss it very much, I've used other mp3s and i have to say that t30 has the best sound quality of them all. 3a batt. pop a new batt. no need to wait for charging time by the way i use rechargeable batt. pop a new one and recharge the other one. Man thats nonestop!!!!
Pros: awesome sound quality even better when paired with hi quality headphones. easy to use inside your pocket man. scratch resistance screen. battery life was amazing. the line in and recording was unbealieveable can get songs w/out a pc. cool man!! Tons of good things to say about this little gadget.
Cons: the plastic cover of the usb. that all
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weng
07/05/2008, 02:48 PM
rating
10/10
i lost my t30 and i miss it very much, I've used other mp3s and i have to say that t30 has the best sound quality of them all. 3a batt. pop a new batt. no need to wait for charging time by the way i use rechargeable batt. pop a new one and recharge the other one. Man thats nonestop!!!!
Pros: awesome sound quality even better when paired with hi quality headphones. easy to use inside your pocket man. scratch resistance screen. battery life was amazing. the line in and recording was unbealieveable can get songs w/out a pc. cool man!! Tons of good things to say about this little gadget.
Cons: the plastic cover of the usb. that all
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Vacz
08/04/2008, 07:46 AM
rating
9/10
Great DAP with excellent recording features! The 320kbps line-in quality is still good enough to record a gig from the master-out, including guitars, keyboard, drums, etc. It can also be used with a non-electret microphone, however the signal needs to be normalized.
Pros: Great sound-quality, line-in works with non-electret mic, very fast transfer rate (3,6Mb/s write, 4,2 Mb/s read)
Cons: no FM here in Europe, must powered on, while USB connect
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jeunber
18/12/2006, 07:51 AM
rating
10/10
Simply superb !!!
Pros: » sound is amazing
» feature is full pack
» great battery life
» upgradable firmware
» price is affordabe and a truly value for your money
... so what more could you ask for ...
Cons: » buttons and interface at face seems annoying and confusing but it's just a matter of practice, you'll get used to it...
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drongo
11/12/2006, 12:41 PM
rating
8/10
Sounds great,small does every thing I want and cheap!
Cons: Odd shape
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jeff-n-jenny
07/11/2006, 12:39 AM
rating
3/10
This is for the T30 512mb Model. I bought off ebay as refurbished with factory warranty for $20 from IRiver. Unit is very small and light, head phones are throw away, back light is good though small. AAA batteries are a good deal to not have to deal with memory issues on charging an internal battery source. Navigation is a little tricky- it will not always go to normal play mode after disconnecting the USB connection. I need to remove the battery and restart the unit 50% of the time. Hard to navigate from recording mode to music play mode. Has a lock-out mode to prevent accidental button pushing. The USB rubber cover will not last very long- pretty thin piece of rubber, which could expose USB connection and then damage the plug-in port. Over all- I wouldn't pay more than I did for this. I used to have a Creative Nomad with no screen, which is helpful, but that things navigation and predictibility was much much better than this. I got that one free from Comcast when I signed up with them for cable.
But hey- I paid $21, what can you expect?
Pros: Size, battery, mine was $5 with $16 shipping off EBay
Cons: Navigation issues- lots of them, stock headphones, USB port cover won't last long, Appears pretty disposable, I don't think this will function well as a jump drive- unit needs to be powered 'on' in order to run the USB connection.
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Rubicon_DJ
03/10/2006, 08:44 AM
rating
8/10
Great features in a small package
As a DJ, I bought the T30 strictly for the line in encoding. I wanted something small and portable that I could record my sets with. The T30 fit the bill just fine. I simply plug it in to the back of the mixer and start recording. The 512GB size is perfect for a one hour set with room to spare.
Aside from my needs I like the way the buttons are laid out, the thumb and forefinger of each hand hold the unit nicely and navigation is a breeze. While I do like the button layout, I do wish the case was something other than the triangular shape. It would slide into pockets a little easier. It's a small unit which is great if your using the T30 while doing outdoor activities, but I keep loosing the thing. I wouldn't mind if it was just a smidge larger. Having a AAA battery as a power source is also a bonus; They're available anywhere you go. I use rechargeables (nickel metal) which have a slightly lower playing time than alkalines.
Overall I've been very happy with the T30. I haven't had any reliability issues and it's worked flawless from day one.
Pros: Line in encoding, voice recording, drag and drop, lightweight, great price, AAA battery, great sound.
Cons: Case design, screen size.
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[ j o s h i i | |
10/09/2006, 08:36 PM
rating
10/10
Small but pumping!
Very good little unit. Picked one of the 512MB units up for $92 at JB-HiFi. very good purchase i believe!
Pros: Excellent Sound Quality (Fantastic Bass Response) (Way better than iPod Sound, and many other Mp3 Units), Small and easy to hold, Cool design, clear and easily read screen, 20hrs on on AAA battery, and quite easy to navigate and get to things.
Cons: No FM Radio, but is that really a con? who would listen to a Radio on an Mp3 Player when you have your own music you want to listen to already on it?
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Shazza
04/09/2006, 09:35 AM
rating
2/10
Returned two players
Pros: Small, looks ok.
Drag & drop.
Can't comment about anything else because they went back to the store.
Cons: Sent back two devices because they would only copy to 0.5gb of the 2gb capacity. Once, is forgivable, but twice! Poor quality control out of the factory. No more Irivers for me.
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james morgan
21/08/2006, 07:46 PM
rating
9/10
great sound with supplied earbuds.
Pros: easy use on mac as mass storage device.
Cons: forgetting controls switchoff.
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