Clipper Audio Playaway audiobooks - very poor sound

Sparrow · 11-02-2009, 10:49 AM

My local library has started issuing Clipper Audio Playaway audiobooks; they were doing a 2-for-the-price-of-1 offer (£1.50 for a 3 week loan).
They're a neat idea, and I borrowed Jasper Fforde's "The Big Over Easy" and John O'Farrel's "An Utterly Impartial History of Britain". But the sound quality on both was appalling - probably due to a very low bit-rate.
I won't be borrowing any more and asked the librarian to stick with CDs for now.

Has anyone else tried Playaways? Are any of them listenable?

Caitlin Muxie · 11-29-2009, 05:01 AM

Sparrow:
I've listened to several books on the Playaways. The idea is great, but in truth the execution is flawed.

Here are my gripes:

- The tracks are divided by chapters. The tracks I've listened to have varied from 15 minutes to an astonishing - and daunting - 145 minutes. As a recorded book maven, I've found the track length of about 3 minutes (usually on CD's) works great.
I listen while I'm working (designing on computer), or house-mousing (welcome distraction from the ghastliness of petty chores) . . . when I take a walk, or at night with the quilt tucked under my chin and my cat at my side.
I need to be able to find my place if the story keeps running when I'm interrupted or fall asleep. So I'm pressing the damn rewind button forever. This is time-consuming, runs the battery down, and is so inefficient!
For books that are reeaallly long, like 42 hours for Goodwin's Team of Rivals, you start to feel you're caught in a sonic worm hole. Thoughtless engineering.
- The volume and equalizer have to be reset every time the thing's turned on.
- There's no power supply besides the battery, so I can't plug the Playaway into an AC outlet to save the battery.
- If I want to listen to the book on my home system instead of with headphones, I can't get more than a moderate volume, even with everything cranked to the max.

- And last, yes, the sound quality is poor! I worked my way through every equalizer setting, and they varied from "being read in a tin can" through "recorded on a jumble sale tape recorder after it was dropped in a pond" to "shortwave broadcast from Antarctica."
I've come to treasure my favorite readers for the superb range, depth and subtlety they bring to the works of my favorite authors. These carefully crafted nuances are lost with the crummy bit rate on the Playaway. I'm relistening to Jan Karon's "At Home in Mitford" with its exquisite rendering by John McDonough, and poor John sounds like he's got a clothespin on his nose!

Fortunately I haven't bought any of these units. The price is very high in relation to what you get (and, I'm sure, in relation to what the thing costs to manufacture - in China). Instead my excellent library bought them and I got them for free here in Monterey, California.
I feel a little weird venting about an audiobook manufacturer's shortcomings, but yours is the first comment I've found about the execrable sound - I think Clipper should be called on its inferior product. And I'm not going to apologize either!

Best,
Caitlin

11-02-2009, 10:49 AM	#1
Sparrow Wizard Posts: 4,395 Karma: 1358132 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: UK Device: Palm TX, CyBook Gen3	Clipper Audio Playaway audiobooks - very poor sound My local library has started issuing Clipper Audio Playaway audiobooks; they were doing a 2-for-the-price-of-1 offer (£1.50 for a 3 week loan). They're a neat idea, and I borrowed Jasper Fforde's "The Big Over Easy" and John O'Farrel's "An Utterly Impartial History of Britain". But the sound quality on both was appalling - probably due to a very low bit-rate. I won't be borrowing any more and asked the librarian to stick with CDs for now. Has anyone else tried Playaways? Are any of them listenable?

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Blackstone Audio to release audio books as DRM-free MP3s	Donnageddon	News	4	07-07-2008 12:16 PM

11-29-2009, 05:01 AM	#2
Caitlin Muxie Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: none	Sparrow: I've listened to several books on the Playaways. The idea is great, but in truth the execution is flawed. Here are my gripes: - The tracks are divided by chapters. The tracks I've listened to have varied from 15 minutes to an astonishing - and daunting - 145 minutes. As a recorded book maven, I've found the track length of about 3 minutes (usually on CD's) works great. I listen while I'm working (designing on computer), or house-mousing (welcome distraction from the ghastliness of petty chores) . . . when I take a walk, or at night with the quilt tucked under my chin and my cat at my side. I need to be able to find my place if the story keeps running when I'm interrupted or fall asleep. So I'm pressing the damn rewind button forever. This is time-consuming, runs the battery down, and is so inefficient! For books that are reeaallly long, like 42 hours for Goodwin's Team of Rivals, you start to feel you're caught in a sonic worm hole. Thoughtless engineering. - The volume and equalizer have to be reset every time the thing's turned on. - There's no power supply besides the battery, so I can't plug the Playaway into an AC outlet to save the battery. - If I want to listen to the book on my home system instead of with headphones, I can't get more than a moderate volume, even with everything cranked to the max. - And last, yes, the sound quality is poor! I worked my way through every equalizer setting, and they varied from "being read in a tin can" through "recorded on a jumble sale tape recorder after it was dropped in a pond" to "shortwave broadcast from Antarctica." I've come to treasure my favorite readers for the superb range, depth and subtlety they bring to the works of my favorite authors. These carefully crafted nuances are lost with the crummy bit rate on the Playaway. I'm relistening to Jan Karon's "At Home in Mitford" with its exquisite rendering by John McDonough, and poor John sounds like he's got a clothespin on his nose! Fortunately I haven't bought any of these units. The price is very high in relation to what you get (and, I'm sure, in relation to what the thing costs to manufacture - in China). Instead my excellent library bought them and I got them for free here in Monterey, California. I feel a little weird venting about an audiobook manufacturer's shortcomings, but yours is the first comment I've found about the execrable sound - I think Clipper should be called on its inferior product. And I'm not going to apologize either! Best, Caitlin

Advert