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Transcend T.Sonic 630
The T.Sonic 630 is not a new player. In fact it’s been around for quite a while now and from the information in the market, it’s doing quite well. Since we hadn’t reviewed it then, I figured this is as good a time at any and if the rating provides you to with an answer on whether or not it's worth your money, V-Day is just around the corner and this could make a great gift. Read on for the answer.
Form Factor
The 630 is a slim and not a bad looking device at all as compared to quite a few DAP’s (Digital Audio Player) available in the market right now. It’s just 12.5mm thick and weighs in at just 30g thus making it extremely easy to carry around. It sports a 1-inch OLED single color display in front with a five way nav-pad beside it. The functioning of the pad is not conventional with an up-down and left-right system. It has two buttons above the center play/pause/power key for forwarding or rewinding and skipping tracks and stations and two buttons below for volume control.
On the top, you’ll see the standard mini USB port followed by a ‘Hold’ slider, Menu button and a Record/repeat key. On the side is a 3.5mm earphone socket. The bundled earphones may not be the best but they’re not bad either. You might want to cover the speakers with the sponge (not included) for comfort and slightly better toneage. What I like about the 630 is the Line-In feature (socket is located at the bottom). You can plug in an external source (a wire is provided) and record directly from that source.
All in all, it’s a well designed player in terms of form factor, navigation and features.
Features and Performance
Interface
This DAP employs a simple yet detailed UI. The display is bright and easily read even in bright sunlight. Navigating the menus and submenus is easy and hassle free, so is accessing of various features and settings.
Audio
I can’t really say that the 630 will give you a truly great audio experience; however, for the price it’s just right. It could have used a tad more of a bass line thump but as is, it was quite adequate. The highs were a bit on the sharp side though but you can tone those down a bit using the customizable 5 band graphic EQ. The presets are helpful but again they don’t really help with the higher tones. On the plus side the earphones won’t necessarily need to be changed unless you already have a really good set already. Just get the sponge for the speakers.
The FM radio was quite good though. It managed to get pretty decent reception even while on the commute through the city and took just about 17 seconds to load and save presets. The oddest thing is that it stored presets that really weren’t associated to any specific station. It was essentially storing frequencies that had breaks in the static. Nevertheless it did store the relevant channels as well so no problem.
The Line In records from any external audio device with either a Line Out or via the earphones (in .WAV). Just one thing to keep in mind while recording from the earphone port of another device is NOT to keep the volume at a high level. It tends to distort the recorded audio. You can also record audio from the radio as well as from the in-built microphone.
Battery
Transcend promises 15 hours of battery life with the 630. While it fell short of that mark, it didn’t fall short by too much. The 630 clocked in around 13 hours and 35 minutes of usage on a single charge. That’s not too bad either.
The Bottom Line
The DAP is available in three capacities 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB priced at Rs. 2, 250, Rs. 2, 750, Rs. 3, 250 and Rs 4, 250 respectively. In my opinion it’s well worth the price. Like I said, the audio quality is not perfect but it’s still quite good and adequately effective for those who wish to have a slightly pleasant journey on the commute with music instead of a lot of mindless yelling and shouting that’s not accompanied by extreme guitars and a crazy drummer. I can handle that, not the trains, but c’est la vie right.
Form Factor
The 630 is a slim and not a bad looking device at all as compared to quite a few DAP’s (Digital Audio Player) available in the market right now. It’s just 12.5mm thick and weighs in at just 30g thus making it extremely easy to carry around. It sports a 1-inch OLED single color display in front with a five way nav-pad beside it. The functioning of the pad is not conventional with an up-down and left-right system. It has two buttons above the center play/pause/power key for forwarding or rewinding and skipping tracks and stations and two buttons below for volume control.
On the top, you’ll see the standard mini USB port followed by a ‘Hold’ slider, Menu button and a Record/repeat key. On the side is a 3.5mm earphone socket. The bundled earphones may not be the best but they’re not bad either. You might want to cover the speakers with the sponge (not included) for comfort and slightly better toneage. What I like about the 630 is the Line-In feature (socket is located at the bottom). You can plug in an external source (a wire is provided) and record directly from that source.
All in all, it’s a well designed player in terms of form factor, navigation and features.
Features and Performance
Interface
This DAP employs a simple yet detailed UI. The display is bright and easily read even in bright sunlight. Navigating the menus and submenus is easy and hassle free, so is accessing of various features and settings.
Audio
I can’t really say that the 630 will give you a truly great audio experience; however, for the price it’s just right. It could have used a tad more of a bass line thump but as is, it was quite adequate. The highs were a bit on the sharp side though but you can tone those down a bit using the customizable 5 band graphic EQ. The presets are helpful but again they don’t really help with the higher tones. On the plus side the earphones won’t necessarily need to be changed unless you already have a really good set already. Just get the sponge for the speakers.
The FM radio was quite good though. It managed to get pretty decent reception even while on the commute through the city and took just about 17 seconds to load and save presets. The oddest thing is that it stored presets that really weren’t associated to any specific station. It was essentially storing frequencies that had breaks in the static. Nevertheless it did store the relevant channels as well so no problem.
The Line In records from any external audio device with either a Line Out or via the earphones (in .WAV). Just one thing to keep in mind while recording from the earphone port of another device is NOT to keep the volume at a high level. It tends to distort the recorded audio. You can also record audio from the radio as well as from the in-built microphone.
Battery
Transcend promises 15 hours of battery life with the 630. While it fell short of that mark, it didn’t fall short by too much. The 630 clocked in around 13 hours and 35 minutes of usage on a single charge. That’s not too bad either.
The Bottom Line
The DAP is available in three capacities 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB priced at Rs. 2, 250, Rs. 2, 750, Rs. 3, 250 and Rs 4, 250 respectively. In my opinion it’s well worth the price. Like I said, the audio quality is not perfect but it’s still quite good and adequately effective for those who wish to have a slightly pleasant journey on the commute with music instead of a lot of mindless yelling and shouting that’s not accompanied by extreme guitars and a crazy drummer. I can handle that, not the trains, but c’est la vie right.