Intro
After reading the TT reviews on the T 630, I've been apprehensive about the claimed low volume and slow transfer speeds which TT complained about.I'd been wanting to get hold of a t630 for a while , and i did, and subjected to the usual battery of tests . First off, the initial impressions. The packaging is much smaller, and has less goodies. No pouch, no strap like i got with my 610. For something which commands a premium over the 610, the lack of accessories is a bit of a downer! :no:check out the packaging . A bit of the stuff that came with the 630, like the stereo input cable for line in recordings, as well as the driver CD for both are missing from the pics.First off, the two, boxed.
Then, unboxed. the 610 includes goodies like a carry case and a arm band , a wrist band extra which the 630 misses out on. the 610 earbuds are silver gray while the 630 buds are black.
Together. Notice that the 630 is slimmer than the 610.Even though its smaller, it ends up being heavier.Also, the rounded edges and the weight make it good to hold in the hand!
[BREAK=Display]
Displays. the 630 has a white Oled display which looks more upmarket than the 610's blue + yellow.
On starting it up, the first thing is the speed . The 610 takes its own sweet time to start up. the 630 was up and running by that time. In addition, it managed to remember where exactly in a track you were when you shut down!:cool2:Using the 630 was a bit harder as the play pause button is centrally placed and easy to access, but not the rest of the buttons , especially the menu /record buttons. IMHO the volume +/- buttons would have been better there.The screen feels better to use , and the interface is definitely faster! There is an extra 'bass' preset as compared to the 610.The 630 claims a 7 band eq, but its just a 6 band eq with a pre amp slider like in winamp:S. this might be why the 630 might come across as relatively quieter than the 610. the 610 allowed you to push the volume to the max , but for the 630, you need to set the volume and eq gain as well. Its not a bad thing as the 610 distorted after vol level 54. the 630 on the other hand , didn't distort till full volume at default settings. in fact , it was louder. The 630 had an output level about 3~4dB higher than the 610. If i pushed the eq gain, i'd get even higher. The eq gain is for those tracks which already have a low volume , and need some more loudness. applying more gain to a loud track will only make it distort! The Eq is not as great as that of the 610. The 610 eq sliders used to go till 12db. the 630's can be pushed only till 8. I guess those who want to push the eq settings to the max might be a bit disappointed
.The rest of the UI is similar to the 610. only the different button placement hinders navigation. the backlit ring around the play /pause button is a nice touch!
First of all, i gave them a listen with the stock headphones. Weirdly, the grooves in the ear buds are in the bottom half, and not in the left /right half of the ear to focus the sound into the ear. i guess its a fit and finish issue. The high end sound the same as the 610 stock buds. Better than the budget philips HE 036 ear buds i have. Bass could have been a bit better. I suspect the drivers used in the 610 and 630 buds are the same , but the cheap plastic used in the 630's buds gives the bass a plasticy ring to it resonance i guess. I switch to the EP 630. Now the treble , i didn't check much , cos i didn't have a lot of high quality material on hand, but bass does have a slight edge in the 630 at default settings. It had a bit more punch and boom compared to the 610. maximum sound levels were similar. in no way did i feel they were underpowered:clap:.
[BREAK=Pics]
Pics
notice that the 630 is slimmer !
[BREAK=RMAA]
RMAA Tests:
The no load frequency response shows the T630 with a great low end response. Much better than the 610 which has a sharp rolloff. I plugged in my EP 630 and HP 805 and checked the output on load ( using a splitter) check out the graphs.
The 610 has much better noise, dynamic range and distortion figures than the 630.but the 630 has better low end response!
hyeah: another strange thing is the strange hump in the THD figures in the 70Hz area.:S
THD on when driving the EP 630 and HP 805
Frankly, I've never seen anything like that . Maybe It's been added to make the bass sound punchier, and i dont mind, but still its weird. I guess these graphs look like gibberish, but bottom line , T630= more bass T610=less noise
All readings were taken at default/normal presets, and the t610 at vol 54( beyond which it started clipping) which corresponded to -12db . the t630's volume was also similarly decreased.If anyone wants, i can upload the original Sav files.:hap2: download RMAA from their website and make the comparisons you want
[BREAK=HD Tach]
HD tach
Now this is what blew me away. I've always felt that the t610 was slow, but this proves it . At first i couldnt believe it . I thought it was because mine was a 2GB model. I called up biosbhai who benched his 1GB t610 and it also came up with the same transfer rate. Maybe thats why the folder navigation in the 610 sucks:|
T610 -> 1.1MBps
T630 -> 6.6MBps:O
thats 6X the speed!
[BREAK=Conclusions]
Conclusions.
Bear in mind that i didn't have it long enough to check battery life .Transcend Advertises it to be longer. My friend who owns the 630 doesn't agree though.
Overall, i was quite impressed with the 630 ! it sounded as good ( if not slightly better) has a faster interface, is much more usable , better looking display, is smaller , faster transfers and better looks. Only downers are the lesser accessories like a carry pouch, the button placement and the stock ear buds. Delta quotes 2600 for the 2GB T610 and 2950 for the 2GB T630. I'd buy the 630 any day, and for 4GB , there aren't any other options
. I think I can safely say that the 630 is now unseated the 610 as the king of the VFM mp3 players :thumb:.I'd buy the 630 just for the faster speeds, and everything else is a welcome bonus! I'd say its a best buy, and folks should start recommending the 630 instead of the 610 from now on
EDIT: after some further usage and feedback from forum folks, it has been noticed that battery life is indeed lesser than that of the T610, but as long as the other features are more important, the 630 is a better choice, but if you wont be able to charge it often, then the 610 might be a better choice.
And some added info, the motorola RAZR charger is mini USB and can be used to charge these players
After reading the TT reviews on the T 630, I've been apprehensive about the claimed low volume and slow transfer speeds which TT complained about.I'd been wanting to get hold of a t630 for a while , and i did, and subjected to the usual battery of tests . First off, the initial impressions. The packaging is much smaller, and has less goodies. No pouch, no strap like i got with my 610. For something which commands a premium over the 610, the lack of accessories is a bit of a downer! :no:check out the packaging . A bit of the stuff that came with the 630, like the stereo input cable for line in recordings, as well as the driver CD for both are missing from the pics.First off, the two, boxed.
Then, unboxed. the 610 includes goodies like a carry case and a arm band , a wrist band extra which the 630 misses out on. the 610 earbuds are silver gray while the 630 buds are black.
Together. Notice that the 630 is slimmer than the 610.Even though its smaller, it ends up being heavier.Also, the rounded edges and the weight make it good to hold in the hand!
[BREAK=Display]
Displays. the 630 has a white Oled display which looks more upmarket than the 610's blue + yellow.
On starting it up, the first thing is the speed . The 610 takes its own sweet time to start up. the 630 was up and running by that time. In addition, it managed to remember where exactly in a track you were when you shut down!:cool2:Using the 630 was a bit harder as the play pause button is centrally placed and easy to access, but not the rest of the buttons , especially the menu /record buttons. IMHO the volume +/- buttons would have been better there.The screen feels better to use , and the interface is definitely faster! There is an extra 'bass' preset as compared to the 610.The 630 claims a 7 band eq, but its just a 6 band eq with a pre amp slider like in winamp:S. this might be why the 630 might come across as relatively quieter than the 610. the 610 allowed you to push the volume to the max , but for the 630, you need to set the volume and eq gain as well. Its not a bad thing as the 610 distorted after vol level 54. the 630 on the other hand , didn't distort till full volume at default settings. in fact , it was louder. The 630 had an output level about 3~4dB higher than the 610. If i pushed the eq gain, i'd get even higher. The eq gain is for those tracks which already have a low volume , and need some more loudness. applying more gain to a loud track will only make it distort! The Eq is not as great as that of the 610. The 610 eq sliders used to go till 12db. the 630's can be pushed only till 8. I guess those who want to push the eq settings to the max might be a bit disappointed
.The rest of the UI is similar to the 610. only the different button placement hinders navigation. the backlit ring around the play /pause button is a nice touch!First of all, i gave them a listen with the stock headphones. Weirdly, the grooves in the ear buds are in the bottom half, and not in the left /right half of the ear to focus the sound into the ear. i guess its a fit and finish issue. The high end sound the same as the 610 stock buds. Better than the budget philips HE 036 ear buds i have. Bass could have been a bit better. I suspect the drivers used in the 610 and 630 buds are the same , but the cheap plastic used in the 630's buds gives the bass a plasticy ring to it resonance i guess. I switch to the EP 630. Now the treble , i didn't check much , cos i didn't have a lot of high quality material on hand, but bass does have a slight edge in the 630 at default settings. It had a bit more punch and boom compared to the 610. maximum sound levels were similar. in no way did i feel they were underpowered:clap:.
[BREAK=Pics]
Pics
notice that the 630 is slimmer !
[BREAK=RMAA]
RMAA Tests:
T630 Vs T610 without any load
The no load frequency response shows the T630 with a great low end response. Much better than the 610 which has a sharp rolloff. I plugged in my EP 630 and HP 805 and checked the output on load ( using a splitter) check out the graphs.
T630 and T610 when driving the EP 630 and Hp 805
Dynamic Range Graphs of the 610 and the 630
The 610 has much better noise, dynamic range and distortion figures than the 630.but the 630 has better low end response!
hyeah: another strange thing is the strange hump in the THD figures in the 70Hz area.:S
THD on when driving the EP 630 and HP 805
All readings were taken at default/normal presets, and the t610 at vol 54( beyond which it started clipping) which corresponded to -12db . the t630's volume was also similarly decreased.If anyone wants, i can upload the original Sav files.:hap2: download RMAA from their website and make the comparisons you want
[BREAK=HD Tach]
HD tach
Now this is what blew me away. I've always felt that the t610 was slow, but this proves it . At first i couldnt believe it . I thought it was because mine was a 2GB model. I called up biosbhai who benched his 1GB t610 and it also came up with the same transfer rate. Maybe thats why the folder navigation in the 610 sucks:|
T610 -> 1.1MBps
T630 -> 6.6MBps:O
thats 6X the speed!
[BREAK=Conclusions]
Conclusions.
Bear in mind that i didn't have it long enough to check battery life
.Transcend Advertises it to be longer. My friend who owns the 630 doesn't agree though. Overall, i was quite impressed with the 630 ! it sounded as good ( if not slightly better) has a faster interface, is much more usable , better looking display, is smaller , faster transfers and better looks. Only downers are the lesser accessories like a carry pouch, the button placement and the stock ear buds. Delta quotes 2600 for the 2GB T610 and 2950 for the 2GB T630. I'd buy the 630 any day, and for 4GB , there aren't any other options
. I think I can safely say that the 630 is now unseated the 610 as the king of the VFM mp3 players :thumb:.I'd buy the 630 just for the faster speeds, and everything else is a welcome bonus! I'd say its a best buy, and folks should start recommending the 630 instead of the 610 from now on EDIT: after some further usage and feedback from forum folks, it has been noticed that battery life is indeed lesser than that of the T610, but as long as the other features are more important, the 630 is a better choice, but if you wont be able to charge it often, then the 610 might be a better choice.
And some added info, the motorola RAZR charger is mini USB and can be used to charge these players
These types of review really motivate people to write some 
