Transcend T.sonic 630 MP3 Player

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Transcend T.sonic 630 MP3 Player

Dan Sippy, Feb 21, 2007 1600 hrs IST

The T.sonic 630 series of MP3 players is available in three high capacity colorful models, 1GB (Orchid), 2GB (White), and 4GB (Black). Here's the 2GB (White) Version.

Good build quality, Smooth finish, Amazing OLED Display, Excellent value for money.

Slow file transfer, Average sound quality, Low sound volume

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The entire package includes:

MP3 Player
USB Cable
Earphones
Manual
Neck Strap
Driver (for Win98) and Utilities Mini-CD

Features

Its other features include an FM Radio and also an Advanced Digital Recording that features recording using its Built-in Microphone, an External Microphone, or Line-In device.

It also has a Playlist Builder, Real Time Clock, and Karaoke-type Lyrics display, which, it seems, is used to encourage users to sing-along by displaying the lyrics of a song on the screen. Although the lyrics display didn't impress me much, I don't think that it's a drawback. I actually thought of it as a bonus feature that didn't appeal to me.

The player does play pretty well, but it could have been better. The first flaw was that the maximum volume is not as much as other players; hence, if you are walking down a quiet street you can hear the music clearly, but if you are in traffic, it becomes difficult.

The build quality of the earphones is good. They don't fall off easily (it's happened a lot to me before.) Also there is one thing that confused me; how can a company that mainly manufactures HDD drives and flash drives make a mistake in the file transfer speed of its player? It's true that unlike the iPod Nano, you can drag and drop your digital music onto the T.sonic 630, but even with the Hi-Speed USB 2.0 connection, the transfer speed is not up to the mark.

One feature that I was very impressed with was being able to 'Lock' your computer and setup Password protection for your personal information using the bundled software that came with the player.

Some of the T.sonic 630's other features include its A-B repeat function, which allows you to replay a designated section of a track and if you combine this with the unit's adjustable Variable Track Playback speed control, you get all the functionality of a nifty language learning tool or musicians can concentrate on certain sections of a song, which they want to work on, which is a very good facility.

It also features One-Touch Recording, which works even when it is OFF. All you have to do is press and hold the REC button to start the Built-in Microphone Recording.

With 6 Equalizer effects (Normal, Classical, Rock, Pop, Jazz, Bass) and a customizable USER EQ mode as well as Scheduled Recordings (so you can preset a time to auto-start a Radio or microphone recording), the T630 seems to be equipped with many features that seem interesting to experiment with. Also it supports filename and song/artist title display in 12 user languages.

Also, its powered using a rechargeable Li-ion battery and a fully charged battery supports over 15 hours of continuous music playback. It does support USB Charge.

All this and its 2 GB version sells for a street price of Rs.5,000 whereas the 1 GB sells for a street price of Rs. 4,000, both with a two year warranty. When I first heard the price I was surprised. Had I not been an iRiver owner, I would've definitely bought this baby. So if you prefer a player that sounds good (not great), with a good capacity and one that doesn't cost a bomb, the T.sonic 630 is for you; a good buy at a good price.