Datasafe oomi (2GB) review

Equalisers offer a way of compensating for the inability of something in your audio chain to properly render the music as it was recorded by studio engineers. Unwanted colouration might be caused by an overly bassy amplifier, or an awkward room shape or speaker placement. A good MP3 player used with good headphones, listening to properly encoded audio files, should not need an equaliser.

The oomi supports the MP3, WMA and ASF codecs, and there's a voice recorder, FM tuner and FM recorder, but reception is typically flakey because the player uses the volatile headphone lead to receive transmissions.

Multi-function control buttons on the front of the oomi make navigation fairly self-explanatory, and two 'control orbs' on either side of the player summon sub-menus. There's a built-in lithium-polymer rechargeable battery that Datasafe rates at 12 hours -- an estimation born out in our test.

Performance
The Datasafe oomi worked with both our test PC and Mac. There's multi-language support, simple folder navigation and a built-in sleep timer and stopwatch The 1GB model will hold around 500 songs, and the 2GB holds around 1,000, depending on the encoding rate.

Sound quality on the oomi was competent if unremarkable. Listening to Nirvana's Lithium produced a performance we'd expect from an MP3 player in this price range. Tonal balance seemed about right, although some of the heavier sections lacked a little definition. Adding a good pair of headphones will improve the listening experience over the stock issue.

Plugging the oomi into our flat-response studio amp revealed a slightly bassy colouration to the music, but nothing that undermined our enjoyment. As a small, lightweight player with a decent DAC stage, the oomi is worth comparing to other players before you make a final decision.

Edited by Mary Lojkine
Additional editing by Nick Hide