Overclock3D.Net :: Print Page :: Icy Box IB-MP301 HDD Media Player

The front of the box keeps things relatively simple as not to overwhelm any potential buyers with information. Only details on supported formats along with pictures of the front and back of the Icy Box are present.

Around the side and back of the of the box Raidsonic have gone into more detail, listing specifications such as file system support, connectivity and supported operating systems - in a total of 7 languages.

Open up the box and we can see that the Icy Box is held securely in place by a shaped cardboard insert that fits snugly around the unit. This combined with the plastic bag that the unit is placed in should provide adequate protection from any courier inflicted damage. Also included in the box are the following items to get you up and running:

• Power adapter.
• UK power cord.
• USB Cable.
• Driver Disk.
• Manual.
• Remote control.
• Composite Phono cables.

Appearance

If there's one thing the Icy Box series have never been short of, it's style. The IB-MP301 follows the same curved design as many of Icy Box's external hard disk enclosures but is mostly constructed from plastic rather than the brushed aluminium used on the IB-NAS2000.

The front of the unit has several controls for navigating around the menu's on the device along with power and reset switches at the top. One button I would have liked to have seen on the device is 'Setup'. This is essential to configuring the unit, but only available on the remote control.

Around the back of the unit you'll find a total of 6 connectors all marked with their relevent names. From bottom to top we have: a USB2 port, Left/Right Audio RCA Jacks, Video RCA Jack, VGA port for connection to a monitor, and a power connector that looks very much like a S-Video port. There's no sign of any digital outputs, but in all fairness the IB-MP301 isn't designed to be a high-end HD-Ready or Audiophile solution.

The included remote control contains all the features you'd expect to find on an average DVD player remote, and is a fair bit smaller to boot. However, it has to be said that the controller lacks any kind of style and does feel slightly tacky when pushing buttons.

Once you have re-assembled the unit, connect the power and USB leads. The Icy Box will first check the hard disk is installed and then perform a quick scan of the files on it. Once this is completed, the device will be detected under Windows as a standard hard disk.

If the hard disk you've installed is brand new, it will need to be formatted using the FAT32 file system. Unfortunately, due to an operating system limitation, Windows 2000 and above are only able to format up to 32GB when using FAT32 (see Microsoft KB article here). However, Raidsonic do have a DOS based utility that can be downloaded from their website (here) that allows the disk to be formatted up to its maximum size.

Setup

With the disk installed and formatted, you will then be able to transfer files to the Icy Box and access the main setup menu using the remote control. The following images have been taken directly of my LCD display with the IB-MP301 connected.

A comprehensive range of options are available under the 6 menu headers, and navigation around the menu's is easy using either the remote control or the directional buttons on the front of the unit. One thing I did find disappointing was the lack of any options to do with the installed hard disk. In my opinion it would be beneficial for users to be able to format the hard drive using the menu system and even check the current space left available on the device without needing to connect it to a PC.

With both the downloaded music video of "The Gorillaz" and a DVD-to-MPEG conversion of the movie "Carrie", the image quality of the IB-MP301 took me by surprise. Compared to the test PC running Windows Media Player, the IB-MP301 showed much better reproduction of colours and increased image sharpness.

For completeness the IB-MP301 was also tested on a Sony Trinitron 100hz CRT TV with a selection of SVCD clips. Yet again, the IB-MP301 showed good colour reproduction and reasonable sharpness despite being connected to the TV via RCA.

Sound Quality

Being heavily into music, one of the features that attracted me most to the IB-MP301 was its ability to play MP3 files. This coupled with the fact that a hard disk of up to 500gb in size could be installed meant that I'd finally be able to play music from my large MP3 collection without needing to sift through CD's or deal with the limited size of my current MP3 player.

Testing was performed using a Sony STR-DB1080 reciever, with the IB-MP301 connected to the CD input using the included RCA plugs. For comparison I will be playing the same MP3's on a Sony DVP-NS905V DVD/CD player connected to the receiver using a toslink optical cable.

Considering the testing conditions were unfairly weighted towards the Sony DVD/CD Player (using a toslink optical connection), the IB-MP301 still managed to produce good quality sound. On playing tracks such as "Hot Chip - Over And Over", the bass reproduction was deep, punchy and still managed to seperate itself from the higher frequencies. The overall clarity could have been better, but I feel this may have been partly due to the lack of a digital output and budget quality RCA cables.