Ratings of portable audio playersIf you´d like some other portable players to be added to this section, please drop us a line with your proposal.
How to read the ratingsThe ratings are updated live as new participants add their grades to the system. A rating bar consists of the following elements:
In most cases using this device/technology:
For devices with small impairments (not audible in ordinary listening tests) SoundExpert amplifies their sound artifacts to some predefined extent. Ratings of such devices are calculated analytically taking into account both the grades received and the amplification applied. They are above 5th grade on the scale showing certain quality headroom of such devices. How portable players are tested at SoundExpert Player under test
All sound enhancements and equalizations are OFF Players are tested at the same output level Players are connected to the headphones as in real-life usage scenario  Headphones Koss Porta Pro headphones are used as the load (60Ω, 15-25000Hz, 101dB SPL) Average sound pressure level for nine SE test samples is 82dB (400ms, unweighted)  Recorder Output signal is recorded with MICROTRACK II Recording quality is 88200Hz / 24bit Test files for SE listening tests are prepared from hi-rez recordings according to usual SE procedure. They are uploaded to common repository of test files ready for downloading. You download a random test file of some device/technology (not necessarily of portable players!), listen it and send back your grade. Afterwards you see the device you've just tested. Ratings are computed live as you add grades. Please, consider taking part in listening tests. It's easy and more like fun. No need for special equipment and extraordinary hearing - sound artifacts if too subtle are amplified. Common procedure of testing makes ratings of portable players directly comparable to all other SoundExpert ratings. |
- Device or technology being tested.
- Value of actual perceived audio quality (rating) which is also indicated by a bar length 
. Anchor points could be interpreted as follows:
and 
- the high and the low of a rating. As each device is tested under nine different sound samples, there are nine different local ratings for a device. In fact, the actual rating 
- Reliability of rating. It is also indicated by the color of bar - more reliable ratings have less percentage values and darker bars. Reliability depends on number of grades returned by participants. In most cases 5% or less is OK.
- Ruler for convenient estimation of highs and lows.
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