[cubeover]

I had a close listen to both hp pre3 and touchpad audio output quality.
Must I say I was impressed by pre3!
I used my both favourite Etymotics and Audio-Technica headphones and here's what I say:

1. Touchpad with it's "Beats Audio" can go and weep in the corner.
2. Pre3 likes a bit of inductivity so lightweight drivers like Etymotic ERP are not the best choice.
3. Pre3 is louder!
4. Pre3 has very good dynamic range.
5. Pre3 has great detail resolution.
6. Pre3 has very well balanced sound, immersive experience.
7. TouchPad is plagued with "croaky audio" symptom here and there.
8. TouchPad has lower max. volume, and only the last 3 notches are really usable.

Resume - watch your movies and browse on Touchpad, but let your Pre3 "do the beat"!

Questions, Comrades?

[jcmarcos]

I still fail to see what that crap "beats audio" buzz is all about? A clean ground system? OOoooooohhhh, revolutionary. Some equalization? There have been notable audio enhancements since the analog days, such as "BBE", for example, that have done much more for audio quality.

[cubeover]

It's just a brand for teenagers who have no ear of their own.

[Scholle3000]

Yes I agree the Pre3 has the same good audio quality as my good old iPaq4150 (tested with thinksound S02 and Shure E4C) . Unfortunately the Pre3 has no control pad to skip titles or album. Until now no one developed a patch to skip music title by volume key similar as the blackberry units .

[cubeover]

@Scholle3000 you can use any iPhone-compatible headset and double-click the mic button for next track. Sometimes it works, but not always.

Oh wait, I figured it out. First you do one click - it stops the track, then very soon you do another click and instead of resuming, it goes on to next track (assuming that time since stop was small enough). So it's not a double-click but a clever sequence of single clicks

[jcmarcos]

I have to add that the button in the original Pre headset does nothing on the Pre 3, albeit looking identical.

[p41m3r]

@cubeover:
which Ety model did you try w/ the Pre 3? I was a bit disappointed w/ the ER-4S' dynamic response; the 4P would have been better for these devices, but I couldn't exactly turn it down and demanded the other.

BTW, I was wondering... is there a media player w/ a decent EQ? I know that'll introduce things to the signal in the absence of a 'clean' circuit (e.g. Beats) but it'll also allow one to attenuate and fine tune others. Also, what is the quality of the DSP in the Pre 3? Is it worth Etymotic, UE, Shure...?

[lebasocir]

Yes, it is worth it! I use it with my UE TF10 pro.
You should also give touchvol a go!

Get it in prewar!

Grz,

ric