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Best MP3 player to buy

post #1 of 25
6/8/06 at 4:43am
Thread Starter 
What is your opinion on the best MP3 player to purchase? It will be used daily and I'll be downloading mostly CD's and some books.

Ease of use and excellent sound quality are my qualifications.

Thanks for your help.
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post #2 of 25
6/8/06 at 5:52am
Price range? Capacity? FM Radio? Video playback? Colour screen?
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post #3 of 25
6/9/06 at 12:25am
hard to help without knowing what exactly it is that you want out of the player...
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post #4 of 25
6/9/06 at 12:58am
Other variable that effect the decision include:

Do you plan to use an external DAC or AMP? Do you want the option to do that in the future if not immediately planned?

Are you looking for something that is ultraportable, i.e., for gym use or is something a bit clunkier that will fit in a bookback acceptable?

Will you be listening with quality headphones or stock buds?

If you are new to all of this, you may not know the answer to many of these questions, or why they even matter. If that is the case, I'd suggest you either study up by reading on this forum, or just buy something simple and universal like an I-Pod. Everybody knows how to use them, and they sound fine without modification. Get as much disk capacity as you can afford. Pick up a pair of decent phones that can be driven without an external amp like, e.g., The Sennheiser PX-100's and you're good to go.
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post #5 of 25
6/9/06 at 2:23am
Do you want a hard drive player, about the size of a deck of cards, or one of many smaller/lighter flash memory players, which are gym-worthy?

I would suggest that you plan/budget for a pair of canal phones, in-ear monitors, or headphones, to go with whatever you get. Yes, this is a player thread, but first-time buyers (perhaps you're one) sometimes don't realize that there is a whole world of improved listening beyond the earbuds that come bundled with various players.

Bundled earbuds can sound OK, but by getting something else to go with your purchase, you can improve fit, sound and perhaps isolation (earbuds tend to leak noise in and out, as do "open" headphones; canal phones -- many available for under $50 -- don't leak noise out, and they block a little bit of noise from outside; IEMs don't leak noise out and block a lot of noise from outside).
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post #6 of 25
6/9/06 at 4:42am
Thread Starter 
I am new to this forum, and just getting started. I just purchased some UM2's and they sound fantastic. I'm looking for a MP3 player with 1GB so I can store a lot of music. I'm not concerned about having FM radio, but the Amp sounds interesting. I don't know a lot about that.

I enjoy hiking and walking so portability would be excellent.

I've been doing some research on iriver's and this forum rates them pretty high, but Amazon customers were not impressed with the H10 20 GB. The iriver T10 1 GB were a lot more popular. As far as price goes, I'm willing to spend about 300.

Thanks for the help.
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post #7 of 25
6/9/06 at 9:41am
If you're willing to go upto $300, check out the 30GB Zen Vision:M.

Great player, lots of features, fantastic SQ and loads more.
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post #8 of 25
6/9/06 at 10:45am
Hiking and walking may tend to rule out an HD unit -- HD shock and power consumption.

The 2GB iriver Clix may be an attractive choice -- it does a little bit of everything.

Paul
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post #9 of 25
6/9/06 at 3:33pm
Congratulations on the UM2's ... you're in the right place.

I have a 1GB Cowon iAudio and a 512MB Samsung YP-U2 flash player, and I can attest to their very good sound quality. The Samsung should be available in larger capacities soon, if it's not already.

There are now the iPod nano competitors to consider -- the Samsung 2GB and 4GB flash players (which are supposed to sound quite good) and the Sandisk Sansa 2GB, 4GB and 6GB flash players.

If you're hiking "off the grid" from time to time, a flash player that uses AA/AAA batteries (rechargeables or disposables) can be convenient -- the Creative Zen Nano (AAA battery) is a pretty good player (not an industry leader in sound output, but good all-around) and Cowon offers the iAudio G3 and G2 (AA battery), and of course there are the iRivers that use batteries.

I hope you get something you like (sorry -- belatedly? -- about your wallet).
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post #10 of 25
6/9/06 at 4:57pm

iRiver H340

Personally, I think that this is a great player.
Great line-out, line-in + headphone out also.
Most importantly, can support OGG. Mostly encode my songs FLAC-OGG around quality 8-10.

Great player!
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post #11 of 25
6/11/06 at 2:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Psychoacoustist
Personally, I think that this is a great player.
Great line-out, line-in + headphone out also.
Most importantly, can support OGG. Mostly encode my songs FLAC-OGG around quality 8-10.

Great player!
Seconded!
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post #12 of 25
6/11/06 at 2:52pm
the h340 is a pretty good player, although I personally have problems with it picking up interference from cellphones on the subway a lot. I haven't really tried the line-out too much, but definitely unamped the thing has a lot of noise which is quite noticable on low impedance phones
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post #13 of 25
6/11/06 at 2:58pm
Creative players have good sound quality though they don't do justice to most mid level cans/canals. Yes an amp does fix some of the problems but it is a 16bit sound decoder after all so there isn't that much you can do. Just for comparison, iPods are on about the same level as the hdd and the newer flash creative players. I personally like the Apple sound quality better but they do cost a little bit more.

But in order to get a recomendation you really need to ask about a specific feature. The best for me probably isn't the best for you so you get the idea ...
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post #14 of 25
6/11/06 at 6:31pm
Has anyone tried the new SanDisk Sansa e200's, specifically the (yummy) e260 or e270?

I would like -

- flash based
- 4 GB or more
- FM
- video would be very nice, and "open" format even better
- photo not important, but OK if included
- voice recording completely unimportant
- decent battery life (hopefully easy with a flash player)
- "small" charger (?)
(edit) - wired remote a big plus

in other words, a good player to use when / if I'm riding my motorcycle again (feeling too poor to ride it regularly now).

Thanks everyone
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post #15 of 25
6/11/06 at 8:53pm
http://www.audiocubes.com/category/H...P3_Player.html

105 hours of battery life.

All you need to buy are some SD cards and you'll be set for life.

There is a new version that came out after this model... and I'll get it in a few months and do a nice review. :P
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