Creative's MuVo TX FM

Players are becoming smaller and more unique in design almost every day. The Creative MuVi TX FM is no exception t this rule at all. But just having a cool design isn't enough. It may be a selling point, yes, but ultimately it's the quality that will set the bar for the manufacturer to dish out superior products. Let's see where the bar lies after testing the TX FM.

Form Factor
The TX FM is a small rectangular shaped player that seems to hide a little secret. The front of the player is pretty plain and I’m sure you’ll wonder why Creative has wasted so much space. But I’ll get to that. So like I said the font is plain with the display at the bottom. The microphone is placed right beside the display and is followed by the Power / Play / Pause key. Weighing in at just 32g it’s makes it really easy to carry around. A little too easy sometimes. I had top keep checking if it was still in my pocket if it wasn’t plugged in.

On the right side of the player is the 3.5mm earphone slot and above that is the loop for the strap that’s provided. On the rear you’ll find the battery compartment. The MuVo TX FM accepts one AAA battery.

The volume keys are on the bottom of the player along with a Jog Dial that can be used for scrolling, skipping tracks and since the dial can also be depressed, it can be sued to select various options.

Now you may be wondering how you’d transfer your files, as there’s no visible USB connector in plain sight. That’s the secret. The TX FM separates and the screen section plugs into your PC’s USB port. Very spy-like. Since its 2.0 compatible data transfer is quick.

Performance
Radio
Although the features are pretty average as Mp3 players go these days, I am impressed with performance of almost all except the radio. Firstly, in auto scan mode it doesn’t pick up the stations at all, while traveling or stationary. When it does happen to find stations and store them as presets all you’ll gets is static. Manually selecting stations is the way to go in this case. The signals still didn’t come in too clearly and were scratchy at best. SO naturally it made no sense trying to record from the radio. But since it’s my job, I tried recording from the stations that came in clearer than the others. The quality was, as expected, scratchy.

Music
The MuVo TX FM reads Mp3 and WMA formats that can simply be copy pasted in to the player while connected to the PC. You can create folder to segregate your music if you want. Using the Jog-dial to enter the menus you can go to the ‘Folder Skip’ option to find the folder you’re looking for. The problem here is, I couldn’t find a way top select any one particular track. Just the folders they were in. So you’ll be kipping (if you’ll pardon the expression) your way to the track of your choice.

The TX FM also has EQ presets to enhance your listening experience (Jazz, Rock, Pop and Classical). But if you’re like me and prefer to adjust the levels to your personal preference, you’re in luck. There’s a customizable 5 band EQ setting as well. Sound quality is excellent. The earphones provided are capable of allowing you to retreat into your own world be it in the office or in the middle of the fish market. Believe me, a stinky experience it may have been, but like I said before, it’s my job. Just to check I even tried the earphones with other devices and the MuVo with other earphones. Both delivered in spades. SO I know where my next set of earphones are coming from. In a nutshell, sound quality and output combined are awesome!

Misc. Features
The range from the in-built microphones is quite good. It picked up my voice from over three feet away quite clearly. Playback is simple as the files are stored in a specific folder for voice and FM recordings. So they’re easy to find. The entire interface is easy to navigate through. I have to say the idea of the having a Jog-dial option was masterful. It makes it really to maneuver through the various options and even adjust the EQ levels. Another clever option that’s provided is the capability to horizontally flip the display so it can be viewed from any side. The device also allows provides full track information on the display with ID3 tags.

Battery
As I said, the TX FM takes one AAA battery but the player really gives that single little cell a run for it’s buck. I know the Creative Website and a few others may have said that it provides you with around fifteen hours of battery life, but for the first time, I’ve come across a product that overshot that mark. The TX FM drained that battery of every last bit of power and I clocked it in at a little over sixteen and a half hours. Now that is impressive!

Conclusion
As simple as the player may seem there’s nothing simple about the quality of sound you’ll get. Priced at approximately Rs. 3,000, it’s worth the price. The only problem I had was with the radio. But everything else was strictly Okay!. I absolutely loved the noise cancellation from the earphones, and I’m thoroughly impressed with the overall functioning especially the battery life. Now if only they would improve the radio pick up, I’d have given this a higher rating. But as is I think it’s a real value for your hard earned money. Go ahead treat yourself to one ‘o these babies.