BoomGear MP-800

Reviewed by

John Frederick Moore

on 10/14/2004

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Page 2

Pressing the FM button during MP3 playback activates the FM transmitter, which allows you to listen to MP3s over a car radio or home stereo without extra cables. The feature worked well on our home stereo, transmitting a clear signal from as far away as 30 feet from the receiver. Just remember to boost the volume to the maximum level on the MP-800 and to keep the earbuds plugged in if you're going to use this feature. The audio quality wasn't great in our tests, but it was static-free. The transmitter works on unused frequencies between 88.1MHz and 88.9MHz. The MP-800 also offers line-in and FM recording capability, and these files are saved in MP3 format at bit rates from 8Kbps to 256Kbps.

Despite a decent 90dB signal-to-noise ratio, music sounded only adequate with either the included earbuds or a set of full-size Koss UR-40 headphones. The five EQ presets (Normal, Live, Classic, Pop, Rock) made songs sound either flat or muffled. With an earphone output of 10mW per channel, however, music gets loud, even with larger headphones. In CNET Labs' tests, tracks transferred to the player at a rate of 0.42MB per second, which is just below average for a USB 1.1 connection. The 8.1 hours of continuous playback from the single AAA battery is also subpar.