Zune HD 16 GB Video MP3 Player (Black)

I've had my Zune for over a year now and I do still enjoy it greatly. This June I finally got a good pair of headphones and ever since have been beefing up my audio equipment. 

The zune can drive headphones directly better than the iPod touch (used to have audio jack broke 2 times). Problems arise when you begin using amps because the amp multiply the sound. including noise which is a problem for me on my Zune. Unlike iPhones or anything like that though. This thing is a brick. I've dropped this sucked more times than i care to imagine without a case and its still a champ. In that sense its better than a iPod, but If you don't care about durability in a portable setup. Go buy an iPod. If you want a brick. Get a zune.

I'm no audiophile, but, I like good sounding music and this device delivers. I primarily wanted to get a device that received H.D radio and this filled the bill and then some. I like this because it does my music library, pictures, videos, audio books. games, etc. 

I have had my Zune HD 16GB for about 5 months now and I am generally very happy with it.  I'm more of an audio enthusiast than an audiophile so here are the impressions of an audio enthusiast:

Pros:

1) Great sound quality out of the headphone jack.

2) Accepts WMA lossless so you can get high quality sound onto the unit with tags intact.

3) Zune user interface is a pretty nice interface overall, things zip and zoom with finger flicks as we now expect in an iPhone world.

4) Prices on these are really good right now.

5) The display is really crisp and colorful and clear.

6) Zune software and Zune marketplace are pretty good interface on the PC side, easy to install, easy to use, easy to build playlists.  The Zune subscription program is a nice way to find new music and you get 10 mp3 to keep every month -- not lossless but its still a good deal.

7) Very clean sleek look, lightweight and very portable.  Perfect shape for strapping to something like an Arrow 12HE or a Pico Slim I'm thinking.

Cons:

1) Nobody makes an LOD for this as far as I know.

2) In general its hard to find accessories.

3) Doesn't accept ALAC or FLAC so everything will need to be converted to WMA lossless which could be a bummer.

4) Can be a little hard to pause once the screen goes off -- push button on side, wait a second, tap the pause in the middle of the screen.

Impressions of sound:  I would say that this tends toward bass coloring but otherwise pretty close to flat.  Of course I primarily listen through UE11Pros which are already a bit heavy towards the base so I don't have a proper flat reference to go by.   I will say that this is one of my favorite DAPs as far as SQ is concerned.  Since I'm not a proper audiophile I'll leave it at that.