Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Portable Source Gear › Newbie looking to buy a new DAP.
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Newbie looking to buy a new DAP.

post #1 of 18
10/4/11 at 5:16pm
Thread Starter 

Newbie here. Looking to spend sub-$100 on a new DAP. The player must have the following:

 

Must be Micro SDHC compatible.

Player must either be FLAC native, or rockboxable.

Player must have a rechargable battery. 16-20 hours of play/charge.

 

Additional notes:

 

I will NOT be buying a portable amp/LOD rig. I have a pair of PL11 and PL30 in my possession, and don't plan on buying any 'phones that require additional drive.

 

ATM my experiences with DAPs are: Sansa E260 (Rockbox, 2GB Micro SD *Loaned out, may retrieve.), Zune 30GB (Brown *Stolen), Rooted, Flashed LG Optimus V, 16 Micro SDHC /w Power Amp (Current DAP. Source and PL11 passed frequency test. Perfect clarity, zero feedback or distortion, extreme lows and highs picked up.)

 

So far I've expressed interest in the Sansa Clip+ and Sansa Fuze+. I'm open for any alternatives within that price range. I'm happy to go a little higher as long as I don't break the $100 range if there is a noticable quality jump.

Reply
post #2 of 18
10/4/11 at 11:23pm

Clip or Fuze would be my choice. I have both, use FLAC exclusively, and they work well with anything IEM's I use.

Reply
post #3 of 18
10/5/11 at 8:18am
Thread Starter 
A few questions:

Are there any differences in sound quality from the discontinued eseries, and the clip, clip plus, clip zip, fuze, and fuze+? Has fuze+ been rockboxed yet?

Ultimately I'm looking for the most revealing of the sources.

Also do you or anyone know any alternatives within $10-$20 in the same price range, even used or refurbished? The product doesn't necessarily have to be new.
Reply
post #4 of 18
10/5/11 at 9:05am

Brand new for less than $100 - gotta be a Sansa DAP IMO. The Clip + is pretty good.

Reply
post #5 of 18
10/5/11 at 10:35am
Thread Starter 
Telling me player x is good doesn't help me. Why is the clip good? What are its benefits over the e series and the fuze. What are the differences in sound quality?
Reply
post #6 of 18
10/5/11 at 4:11pm

use the search function to find out why a player is good, they all have been covered many many times.

 

anyway cube c30 or nationite nanite

Reply
post #7 of 18
10/5/11 at 4:49pm
Thread Starter 
I have spent more than a days worth of researching old threads and the questions I'm asking aren't coming up or as detailed as I would like it to be, leaving more questions to be asked. Also you're doing th same exact thing! You suggested players but failed to explain why they are good and why they are better than other players in the smell price range.
Reply
post #8 of 18
10/5/11 at 5:12pm

clip clip+ fuze all sound same (good sound nothing special) - http://www.head-fi.org/t/524554/what-to-get-clip-vs-fuze-vs-fuze

 

cube c30/nationite n2 (sounds better)  - better amp section provides this, gives more clarity.   http://www.head-fi.org/t/520697/impression-cube-c30

 

fuze+ not rockboxed

 

everything you have asked has been answered many many times.... seriously

 

i suggest buying whatever you get cheaper and clip+ fuze and cube/nationite,  then spend any money you have left over on better phones.

 

when buying this stuff your going to get 1000x more results from actually having decent phones over a dap which tbh sound pretty much the same unless you get into high end stuff.  Using a set of pl30/pl11 or similar your not really going to be able to tell that much of a difference are you.

 

Reply
post #9 of 18
10/5/11 at 5:30pm
Thread Starter 

I also asked how the E260 compares in the sound quality department, and how the LG Optimus V compares. I read that the Clip+ sounds very weak, but have heard otherwise about the Fuze.

 

also could you show me where I can buy the Cube? I can't find it at all. The nationite is tempting, but I have a ****load of music, and no touch screen/wheel for navigation is very daunting.

Reply
post #10 of 18
10/5/11 at 5:47pm

cube and nationite are basically the same thing,  you read wrong the fuze and clip are also basically the same internals that affect sound quality.

 

I have a clip, clip+, fuze and cube c30.  My favourite unamped (which is what your after) is the cube even loaded with 24gb (8gb plus 16gb card) of music.  However if your after more lines of text (for scrolling etc go for the fuze.

 

a great combo for you would either be

 

nationite 4gb - $55

or

fuse 4gb (refurbished) - $36

 

upgrade your phones to the soundmagic e10  - $35

 

you will see a great improvement to what you have heard from your other sources/phones.

 

when upgrading it goes roughly like this    phones, file encoding (flac etc), dap, amp, cables etc etc

Reply
post #11 of 18
10/5/11 at 5:48pm

http://anythingbutipod.com/2011/08/soundmagic-e10-review/

Reply
post #12 of 18
10/5/11 at 5:58pm

ohhh and totally forgot about the refurbished monster turbines direct from monster.

 

absolute steal at $50

 

http://www.monstercable.com/outletstore/linelist.asp

Reply
post #13 of 18
10/5/11 at 8:05pm
Thread Starter 

How much better are the E10 versus the PL30? How long will the $50 refurbished monster turbines be in sock? 

 

I've also read that cables have not been proven to increase sound quality.

 

 

Reply
post #14 of 18
10/6/11 at 4:45am

1. http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/multi-iem-review-199-iems-compared-fischer-audio-tandem-hisoundaudio-crystal-added-10-05-11

 

2. ask monster, how should i know.

 

3. you read wrong, they do but not by much.

Reply
post #15 of 18
10/6/11 at 7:26am
Thread Starter 
I wish I knew about the turbines ahead of time. Last week I bought the pl30s, a Sony hybric tip kit,.and some other stuff that I could have spent on this steal.

Where is it proven cables improve sq? The newbie guides say they aren't proven to do so.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Portable Source Gear
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Portable Source Gear › Newbie looking to buy a new DAP.