This is not the first CD-ROM-based portable MP3 player from MPZOO Indeed a previous model was reviewed in February of this 2001 (page 74), and we had some reservations about the viability of the player. Those reservations can now be put to rest with the MPZOO Exonion.

It looks just like a standard portable audio CD player, and of course it is that - and more. Its equipped with anti-shock memory for 48 seconds protection, but with a fairly shock-sensitive transport it remains unsuitable for playing on the move.

I thought I ought to get that out of the way, because its about the only negative I can think of with this player. Lets look at the MP3 functionality. MP3 on CD-ROM amplifies all the relevant numbers. Instead of 48 seconds of shock protection you get 480 seconds, or eight minutes. Instead of 74 minutes of music, you get nearly 700 minutes, or 11.5 hours.

All this creates a problem. With players such as the Philips eXpanium (reviewed August 2001, page 94), it is difficult to find a track among the 200-odd that you may have on a single CD-ROM. The MPZOO Exonion solves this in two ways. The first is an excellent backlit display that shows title and artist information. The play modes and battery indicator occupy the top line while the bottom line shows the sampling frequency, bit rate and current position within a track by time.

Navigation is made simpler, because the player allows playlists to be built through a menu system. You can drill down via artist, genre, title or folder lists and select (or erase) either single tracks or entire lists. Artist, genre and title can be derived from ID3 tags within the MP3 file or the filename. The latter involves adopting an FIF NaviTrack naming format (FIF stands for Field in Filename): [ARTIST][TITLE][GENRE].mp3. A utility program allows renaming of files and can extract ID3 tags from the files themselves. Also supplied is MusicMatch Jukebox software, which provides MP3 encoding and playback.

The player comes with an inline remote control which will accept a standard 3.5mm stereo plug for your own choice of headphones. This remote has a jog shuttle to use as a navigation alternative to the players own arrow keys. Also thrown in are a some NiMH AA batteries and an AC charger. Finally, there is one of those pseudo-cassette gadgets that slots into your cars cassette player.

The Exonion offers fine audio performance. Oddly, while the headphone output has a completely flat frequency response, the line output rolls off the bass gently to be 3dB down at 14 Hz. A bass boost circuit is provided, along with three equalisation curves. The player produces a solid 1.4V at maximum volume, so its suitable for use with any headphones.

What more can you say? The Exonion is a decent portable CD player, and an excellent MP3 player.

Stephen Dawson