Monolith Premium MX7000 rugged MP3 player

If you find yourself replacing your portable audio player every few months because of a tendency to, say, drop it down flights of stairs, off of rooftops or out your car window, you may want to rethink your behavior. Or, you may want to check out the Monolith Premium MX7000, from South Korea's eStarLabs. The $150, 512MB flash player has all of the usual features, including support for MP3, WMA and OGG files, FM radio, color OLED display and 18-hour battery life. But what really sets this apart (and, we assume, helps to justify the premium price) are the manufacturer's claims that it's nearly indestructible, with a fused case and the ability to withstand being run over by a car, smashed against a wall or shot with a BB gun. Pretty impressive, but what we really want to know is whether it can handle being thrown onto the tracks of the New York subway system and being crushed by an oncoming train — if they ever start running again, that is.

[peter @ Dec 21st 2005 7:44PM]

ha, the transit strike is getting really annoying now.

and i know it's only been the 2nd day so far

[Elliot @ Dec 21st 2005 8:03PM]

OOOh Subway burned.

[Kid @ Dec 21st 2005 8:07PM]

This looks pretty cool. The positioning of buttons are intriguing.



But I dont think it will ever be crushed by a New York subway train perhaps because the subway workers got their ultimate pension and all retired.

[starpause @ Dec 21st 2005 8:30PM]

or how about ... lossless audio input? i'm not even kidding, i want it so bad on one of these flash dudes ... and ruggidized would make it all the better for field recordings =)

[slash @ Dec 21st 2005 8:37PM]

shot at with a bb gun? lol they couldnt be at tough...

[starpause @ Dec 21st 2005 9:14PM]

scratch my comment, this thing can record up to 320kbps, that's as good as lossless for my use!



however, i can't see any physical connection for the line in jack ... does anyone know what the line in jack is like?



here are some more snaps:



http://www.appz13.dsl.pipex.com/monolith%20premier.html

[3nglish @ Dec 21st 2005 9:22PM]

This is awesome...I think I might buy one. I have a tendancy to destroy all of my nice gadgets...

[Dave @ Dec 21st 2005 10:09PM]

No memory expansion slot? No thanks. Maybe in the MX8000 version?

[Ivan @ Dec 21st 2005 10:22PM]

I have a Creative NomadII MG that I've owned for four years. It's been dropped, kicked, and ran over by three cars after being dropped from my motorcycle going 45 MPH. It had some scratches and a screw loose but that's about it. I still use it everyday. That's the real rugged test.

By the way it has a voice recorder, FM radio, it can record from the radio, and the firmware has been upgraded to play the most popular formats. If it wasn't for the memory limits I'd put it up against the iPod.

[dan o'neill @ Dec 21st 2005 10:24PM]

Ya, but what you can't argue with is shoddy babel fish translations of the company's webpage.



? ? : Under? ? ? system? National disgrace?setting, option



http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=ko_en&url=http%3A%2F%2Festarlab.com%2Fcn%2Fproduct.html



or, if that link doesn't work the page itself is here: http://estarlab.com/cn/product.html

[dan o'neill @ Dec 21st 2005 10:34PM]

Oh, and, if you really want something decent for field recording, go look for one of the early minidisc player/recorders on ebay, or even around your city. I picked one up at a pawnshop for $100. Great quality, but admitedly, not very rugged.

[Ryan Wagner @ Dec 21st 2005 10:41PM]

Ha, I love when companies say things are virtually indestructable because that is what they say about some Oakley sunglasses. It is all a marketing hype.

----------

-Ryan

http://blog.cyberwags.com

[Anthony Pierre @ Dec 21st 2005 11:15PM]

The indestructible feature appeals greatly to this fellow. I cant help letting stuff fall from my "slippery grasp". Ah but for the price! I think I may have to pass on this one.

[Don Wilson @ Dec 21st 2005 11:58PM]

MX7700? What are they, logitech?

[.midnight @ Dec 22nd 2005 12:01AM]

Their official website has SWF video of this product getting ran over by a car. Yes it survived.

[J.Allard @ Dec 22nd 2005 12:42AM]

That looks pretty cool. I wonder if it would be worth trading in my new 60GB iPod for?

[Russ @ Dec 22nd 2005 12:49AM]

Remember the iPod Nano survived being run over by a car. Cars are no big deal - most of the weight is distributed to the parts of the tires not in contact with the object it is running over. It is just a gimik really.

[starpause @ Dec 22nd 2005 1:39AM]

#10 (dan o'neill) ... i've got a sharp 722 minidisc rec and i've used it close to a decade now. the sound quality is great, having microphone power right there is great, and the thing is TOUGH AS NAILS (i've had it in my pocket rolling on pavement and the case did bend a little, but not to the point where it was unusable).



however, it's a real pain in the ass to dump sounds off of minidisc ... ease of use is a big deal to me, if the tech doesn't click it doesn't get used. none of the new net md units that do dump via usb are any good for recording.



besides field recording im looking for something to bootleg shows and sit in line for my dj sets (i've got a weekly 2 hour fm broadcast and play out once in a while).



the monolith mx7000 1GB unit may be the ticket, but i'd like to know more about the recording interface. being able to do hi bitrate mp3 encodes is a step in the right direction. more review of this unit here:



http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=151262
#10 (dan o'neill) ... i've got a sharp 722 minidisc rec and i've used it close to a decade now. the sound quality is great, having microphone power right there is great, and the thing is TOUGH AS NAILS (i've had it in my pocket rolling on pavement and the case did bend a little, but not to the point where it was unusable).



however, it's a real pain in the ass to dump sounds off of minidisc ... ease of use is a big deal to me, if the tech doesn't click it doesn't get used. none of the new net md units that do dump via usb are any good for recording.



besides field recording im looking for something to bootleg shows and sit in line for my dj sets (i've got a weekly 2 hour fm broadcast and play out once in a while).



the monolith mx7000 1GB unit may be the ticket, but i'd like to know more about the recording interface. being able to do hi bitrate mp3 encodes is a step in the right direction. more review of this unit here:



http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=151262

[DarkFader @ Dec 22nd 2005 3:12AM]

but is it waterproof?

[Ray Morris @ Dec 22nd 2005 5:40AM]

How about including a indestructible mini GPS unit and tracker, so you can't loose it?

But then you might need a second indestructible mini GPS so you can find the first one , if you loose it....

[Galley @ Dec 22nd 2005 7:23AM]

That is one sexy beast!

[carter @ Dec 22nd 2005 11:30AM]

That's got a nice retro-walkman style to it. Pity about the memory.

[biscuitus @ Dec 22nd 2005 11:32AM]

love the old-school looks!

[starpause @ Dec 22nd 2005 3:28PM]

there's a 1GB version of this as well, that's enough for me (though who doesn't want more gigs, right? is 2GB too much hehe)



my concern with a sealed unit like this is the battery ... what happens when the little juicer quits charging? you've got a pricey brick!

[Malcolm @ Dec 22nd 2005 4:07PM]

Don't believe the hype - I used to have one of their MX7010's (same fused case, etc). Dropped it once and the display died, a few weeks later I dropped it a second time (see why I bought a 'rugged' player?) such that it landed on the headphone plug which forced the socket into the player ripping it off the PCB and taking several exceedingly small components with it. Definitely not worth the premium they charge for it.



On the upside the sound quality was very good.

[Steve @ Dec 22nd 2005 4:43PM]

I am not very good with technical translation so please be easy on me. There's also 1GB version available in Korea



Here's the description I got from a Korean comparative shopping website:



http://www.enuri.com/search/Searchlist.jsp?searchkind=1&keyword=mx700



Compact Description - MP3 player/Ogg playback/FM reception/voice recording/direct encoding/advance (time set) recording/Organic LCD/Clock/USB2.0



MX-7000(512M/1GB) Product Description

*512MB/1GB Internal Flash Memory

*Playback MP3, WMA, OGG(Q10), MPET1/2/2.5

*14 Equalizers

*SRS WOW 1.0 and 3D Sound

*FM Radio reception and recording

*Voice Recording

*Playback of 30 bookmarks, Study mode(?), repeat, e-book(?), playback speed change changed 75%-125%, 1-60sec scan option

*supports portable disk

*Automatic support of lyric

*Clock, Alarm, Sleep modes

*LCD Display - 16 Grade OLED, Image/Logo Insert, unlimited frame support

*Output - 28mW + 28mW(16 ohm)

*Frequency Range - Audio (20Hz-20Khz), FM (76-108Mhz)

*SNR - 93dB

*Interface - USB 2.0

* Composition - Earphones, Necklace (to wear MP3 players), USB Cable, install video and manual

*Power- internal lithium-ion rechargeable battery, 18hrs playback, 2hrs charge to full, USB charging

* size - 39.5x78x15.5mm

*weight - 64g



(Additional Descriptions)

*Direct Encoding - Direct MP3 encoding from CD, radio, cassette and others

* Intelligent FM Recording System - With date and time set for recording regardless of On or Off state, FM broadcast can be recorded (auto turn-off, daily, weekly, etc. record mode)

* Powerful Scan feature - scan speed can be varied from 1 to 60 seconds

* Smart Playlist - by song or by file addition of songs to play list. Bookmarking other songs or files possible during playback

* WMA (WIndows Media Audio)- WMA files can be compressed 2x that of MP3 with surprisingly good sound

* Ogg (Ogg Vorbis) - file format created to protect copy righted songs. Native support of VBR and provide better sound quality than MP3

* USB 2.0 Support - 40 times faster than 12Mbps USB 1.1. 480Mbps maximum transfer speed

[starpause @ Dec 29th 2005 11:36PM]

btw eStarLabs has a european web page and surprisingly answeres emails ... if a bit crypicaly =)



http://www.monolith-europe.com/

[db @ Jan 8th 2006 9:14PM]

is the 2gb version sold in the US anywhere? also, i'd love to read a high-end audio review of this -- i'm curious about the wolfson dac.