Digital Trends

Samsung Yepp YP-55V September 2nd, 2003 | by Howard Chui

Introduction

Samsung's Yepp series MP3 players have always been hot sellers due to their large memory capacity and unique features. However with MP3 jukeboxes slowly gaining in market share and dropping in price, Samsung has an even larger challenge ahead if they are going to offer a Flash memory based MP3 player. The Samsung Yepp YP55V offers larger-than-average storage capacity of 256 MB compared to other MP3 players, yet is still much more affordable than going the MP3 jukebox route. With features like an integrated FM tuner and USB hard drive capabilities, the YP55V stays true to the Yepp roots.

Design and Features

From pictures the YP55V looks a lot smaller than it really is. Don't get me wrong, at 2.2 ounces it's hardly a brick, but it's heavier than I thought it would be. However with the extra size and weight come some cool extra features. Besides playing MP3's and WMA's the YP55V is a portable USB hard drive, a voice recorder, FM radio, has the ability to record sounds to MP3 format from other source's line level out or the FM tuner and has upgradeable firmware.

The YP55V takes a single AAA battery and should last around 15 hours according to Samsung. Our testing puts the battery life closer to 10-12 hours of performance; more than adequate enough.

The screen has a blue backlight with 2 rows. The first row displays the time and track number while the second displays about 10 or 11 characters of the track name information.

There is a stop play button right beside the LCD, recorder slider on one side and a music effects button on the other. To fast forward/rewind or skip forward/backwards just twist the head of the unit. There is a digital volume slider which has a mode button in the middle which is really confusing to use if you haven't read the manual.

To switch between MP3, voice recorder and radio modes you must stop the unit and then press the mode button to select. The backlit display will show the MP3 ID tag while playing or the channel that the FM preset is on.

As I mentioned you can record other sources or FM broadcasts to MP3 and voice recordings to .wav files in real time and then download them to your computer. Recording is really straight forward. To record your voice switch the YP55V to voice recorder mode and slide the record switch. To record FM radio broadcasts just listen to your favorite station and then slide the record switch. Recording from other sources via the line level in is really easy, connect the supplied cable, start the source and the slide the record slider.

There are 4 music sound modes; SRS, Trubass, WOW and EQ. SRS changes the way the music sounds so it's more spacious sounding. Trubass increases the bass level while WOW is just both SRS and Trubass at the same time. EQ has 5 built in settings and 1 user setting. The user setting allows you to select 10 different levels for bass and treble separately.

There is a file feature which allows you to manage files stored on the YP55 whether they are MP3's, voice recordings, etc and because the player is firmware upgradeable, there is no telling what Samsung may decide to add to the YP55V in the future.

You can adjust features like scroll speed, backlight time, power off time, default volume,encoder bit rates, etc...

Besides the player itself the YP55V comes with a USB cable, direct USB adapter, earbuds, manual, CD, battery, neck strap and carrying case.

The included ear buds have a fairly short cord (since Samsung wants you to wear it from your neck). If you prefer other types of headphones the YP55V's jack is a standard 3.5mm mini jack.