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THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE BEST PRODUCT I HAVE EVER BOUGHT. I LAY OUT LOTS OF LYRICS BUT HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO USE ANY OF THE PC MUSIC CREATION TOOLS VERY WELL. WITH THE MADPLAYER I CREATE MY OWN BEATS, BASS LINES, AND LEADS INSTANTLY AND THEN LAY MY VOICE RIGHT IN... I AM SO AMAZED BY THIS PRODUCT. INITIALLY I DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT AND WAS VERY SKEPTICAL OF WHAT IT WAS AND WHAT THE QUALITY OF THE MUSIC WOULD BE. AFTER GETTING IT AND PALYING AROUND FOR A FEW DAYS I AM JUST BLOWN AWAY BY ITS POWER. I BROUGHT IT TO A FRIEND WHO IS A MUSICIAN AND PRODUCER OF SOME LOCAL UNDERGROUND HIP HOP, HE PLUGGED IT INTO HIS SOUND SYSTEM IN THE STUDIO AND COULD NOT BELIEVE THE SOUND QUALITY AND EASY OF USE. IN A MATTER OF MINUTES WE LAYED OUT A NICE SERIES OF TRACKS TO USE ON A CD WE RIPPED.
I HAVE HAD THIS PRODUCT FOR TWO WEEKS NOW AND KEEP GETTING MORE AND MORE HOOKED ON IT. I FIND THAT I BRING IT EVERYWHERE I GO AND JUST PLAY AROUND ALL THE TIME CREATING LOTS OF GREAT MUSIC. ON THING THAT WORKS GREAT IS TO USE JUNGLE OR DRUMnBASS STYLES AND SLOW THEM DOWN AND USE THEM TO LAY RAP VOCALS OVER. I ALSO FIND THAT I USE THE FM RADIO A LOT TO SAMPLE OFF OF... THE SAMPLES ARE THEN MIXED WITH THE MUSIC IN REAL TIME. QUALITY AND FEEL OF THE MADPLAYER ARE GREAT, I ESPECIALLY LIKE THE SILKY FEEL. MY ONLY COMPLAINT INITIALLY WAS THAT I WANTED TO SAVE SAMPLES IN REALTIME IN THE SONG AS I CREATED A SONG... I FOUND OUT YESTERDAY AFTER VISITING THE MADPLAYER WEBSITE THAT THE COMPANY IS RELEASING A FREE UPGRADE NEXT WEEK THAT WILL LET ME DO THAT... I ALSO DO QUITE A LOT OF VIDEO EDITING AND HAVE BEEN USING THE MADPLAYER TO GENERATE BACKING TRACKS FOR THE VIDEOS... SINCE WHAT COMES OUT OF THE MADPLAYER IS COPYWRITE FREE "ACCORDING TO THE COMPANY" I AM FREELY USING THE MUSIC AND MAKING SOME GREAT VIDEOS AND DVD'S FOR MY FRIENDS.
IN SUMMARY, THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE MOST PERSONALLY EMPOWERING I HAVE EVER SEEN. ITS HAS GIVEN ME CONFIDENCE TO CREAT MUSIC, SOMETHING THAT I DID NOT HAVE MUCH OF A FEW WEEKS AGO.....

I saw the MadPlayer on fresh gear (TechTV) and said: well this looks cool, I am going to give it a shot. I also looked for a vendor which allowed me to return (thanks amazon.com) if I don't like it...
There is no thinking about returning the player. This little wonder is amazing... Create music and interact with it... I have to resist the temptation to play with it instead of doing my work :-)
I already created a couple of songs, tweaked, retweaked etc... Adding samples, Microphone voice with effect etc. is a lot of fun... I didn't even try the radio or mp3 player functions yet... Too much fun creating music....

Pros:
plays mp3, wave, midi, kar and other format files; has composer mode; records (selectable resolution) via mic input

Cons:
No external power supply connector, eats batteries. PC software has a few bugs, don't know about the Mac s/w. Needs more generic styles than just the x-hop, mod stuff; i.e. rock, jazz, blues, pop, etc. Needs a better GUI for the "hiway/dj" mode. Fine for non-musicians, but lame if you want real control. A midi/grid type editor would be real cool. Also the headset-mic is junk, but it demos the possibilities. Last, I can't get the unit to use more than 32MB of a 128MB SmartMedia card. Tech support is good so far, but we're still working on it. As usual, most companies will or can not come out and tell you what the bugs are.

Still a way cool product, despite my cons list. I have a hunch they'll fix most of these issues.