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Flash-memory based players with 90+ GB?

post #1 of 15
10/12/11 at 6:36pm
Thread Starter 

Hello,

 

Does anyone know of any portable solid state memory players with over 90 GB of storage space?

 

The hard drive in my iPod Classic 80 GB is failing and won't play a good portion (probably about half) of the songs I have loaded on it. I would like to switch to a solid state memory device that has roughly the same or better capacity, so I can still keep my entire collection of music on my device and yet not have to worry about another hard drive failure.

 

I want the Cowon J3, but it only has 32 GB of storage (64 with card, but I'd rather not deal with that). The 64GB iPod Touch seems like a bit of a waste of $400, compared to the price of the J3. I assume, from what I've read, that the J3 sounds noticeably better than the iPod Touch.

 

Do any of you have suggestions for a large capacity solid state memory portable player? Sound quality is important, and let's pretend price is not an issue.

 

On a bit of a side note to any J3 owners...is the device noticeably slower when using an SD card to expand the memory, and does the end of the SD card stick out at all?

 

 

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post #2 of 15
10/12/11 at 9:54pm

Hmm, I'm not familiar with any devices bigger than 32GB+flash card or the iPod Touch 64GB. Now, Flash-expandable players can (some of them, anyway, that use the full-size SD cards) go past a 32GB card, but it starts to get a little more expensive. That said, a 32GB J3 with a 32GB flash card (no 64GB options yet for the micro-SD, as far as I'm aware) costs much less than a 64GB iPod Touch.

 

Now, though I love ragging on Apple products more than most, the iPod Touch is perfectly fine when it comes to music quality. And, because it's an Apple product... well, you have oodles of LOD options, and can therefore amp it easily. If you also need access to the app store and the other features like an internet browser, then you also have those.

 

In the J3's corner, you can get the same or more storage for less or an equivalent dollar amount. You can use FLAC files. And JetEffect is a hell of a tool. I don't know that you can amp it as easily or as well (and so you may be limited in choice of headphones that the player can drive). As far as I know, there is no LOD made for it (you can, however, use a 3.5 to 3.5mm line to amp it, though you may have to do so with Jet Effects off). Accessories are also far more limited and much harder to get ahold of outside of South Korea or the various international online dealers like Export Prive. That said, the ability to run most conventional headphones, the ability to play FLAC, the ability to use Jet Effects to custom tailor the sound a little bit... Well, I went to one from an iPod Touch, and sound-wise, I think I made the right decision (note, the J3 does sound pretty unimpressive right out of the box, and I initially thought I'd made a mistake... but after fooling around with Jet Effects, I'm much much happier with my decision).

 

If you're looking outside of the J3, there are a couple of boutique players like the Colorfly or the HiFiMan offerings that might be able to challenge it. I've not really had a chance to look over them, as neither of them appeal to me, nor have I listened to them. Someone else can probably better speak to their quality and sound image.

 

As for the SD card... I only use a 16GB, but I haven't noticed any slowdown. And no, it doesn't stick out (it's covered by the bottom panel).

 

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post #3 of 15
10/12/11 at 10:31pm

The thing with Flash is that it gets expensive. Fast. Many of us have spent the last 2-3 years hoping prices would come down the way they did with platter-based storage, but that just aint happening. If you saw the RRP on Sandisk 64GB Flash here in Oz, you'd faint.

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post #4 of 15
10/15/11 at 2:45pm
Thread Starter 

Thank you both very much for your responses. Since I'm not looking to carry an amp for LOD options (trying to remain as portable and lightweight as possible), I think I will be going for the J3. I'll have to shuffle my music around far more often than I do now, but I suppose I'll manage for the next few years while waiting for a higher capacity player to reach the market. I would probably actually get the iPod Classic again, but after using it for 4 years, I am so damn sick of the UI! It works and it's simple, which is great, but God is it boring after so many years. Also, if the X7 were to cost the same or less than the J3 and had the same screen, I'd get that instead...but oh well.

 

Now to begin the IEM part of my search...here we go again...

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post #5 of 15
10/16/11 at 12:44am

Hi,

well if you can get a cf card cheap (they go up to 128gb now) and cf mod a irver h120 (which are hard to find)

 

Back the the real world if you can find an iaudio x5/x5l (which i have seen on ebay for as low was $100) you can also cf mod it, the realisitic price for 64gb card is approx $150 on ebay. also if you search around people have done sd to cf mod which allows sd cards to be used, and 128gb sd cards only go for ~$200-300 on ebay (i have no idea if it will work tho, seems to work with 64gb sd card)

 

 

cf mod x5

http://anythingbutipod.com/2009/05/cowon-iaudio-x5-compact-flash-mod/

 

mention of sd to cf mod

http://anythingbutipod.com/2011/03/cowon-x5-sdxc-mod/

 

128gb sd card

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lexar-128-GB-Professional-133x-Speed-SD-XC-Memory-Card-/180733473670?pt=Digital_Camera_Memory_Cards&hash=item2a148df386#ht_1715wt_1037

 

so assuming you do the sd mod and get the cheapest prices i have seen lately the x5 with 128gb (assuming it works) is only in the mid $300s

 

or you can find a player that works with sd, which have not found any with high quality, the only one i own is the creative x-fi, which is nowhere near as good as my fuze, not to mention it only supports 32gb sd if i remember correctly

 

 


Edited by milford30 - 10/16/11 at 12:51am
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post #6 of 15
10/16/11 at 6:31am

I think you can also mod an iPod classic to use CF cards. I'm not sure which generations were compatible, though.

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post #7 of 15
10/16/11 at 9:07am

1st gen SD cards go up to 4GB.  2nd gen SD cards (SDHC) can go up to 32GB.  3rd SD cards (SDXC) can go up to 2TB basshead.gif but very few devices can use these cards yet.  It's also important to note which class (speed) a card is.  For most multimedia applications, you'll need at least a class 4 card.  For recording HD video, you'll need a class 10.

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post #8 of 15
11/16/11 at 7:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by andrewberge View Post

I think you can also mod an iPod classic to use CF cards. I'm not sure which generations were compatible, though.



See this thread pertaining to the modding of iPods. 128GB 3.3V ZIF SSD's successfully installed.

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post #9 of 15
11/16/11 at 11:47am

Well for iPods, you have two options. 1. Get the compact flash adapter for your classic. 2. Get a 1.8" zif ssd. With the ssd, you can get up to 256gb capacity, but its going to cost you.


Edited by NAWilson9 - 11/16/11 at 11:52am
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post #10 of 15
11/20/11 at 2:50am

You can get 64gb micro sd cards now from Sandisk and Kingmax. Not sure if it will work on the Cowon J3 though.

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post #11 of 15
11/20/11 at 5:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Love Music View Post

You can get 64gb micro sd cards now from Sandisk and Kingmax. Not sure if it will work on the Cowon J3 though.



a. I doubt that they do work on the Cowon

b. What sort of money are we talking ? It gets a little silly when the memory card costs 5 times as much as your player ....

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post #12 of 15
11/20/11 at 11:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by estreeter View Post



a. I doubt that they do work on the Cowon

b. What sort of money are we talking ? It gets a little silly when the memory card costs 5 times as much as your player ....



The Sandisk one costs £100 (USD 160) and the Kingmax one costs £108 (USD 170) from Amazon UK. They are both class 6 speed.

 

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post #13 of 15
11/25/11 at 7:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by the wizard of oz View Post





See this thread pertaining to the modding of iPods. 128GB 3.3V ZIF SSD's successfully installed.



Fellow member Imod just confirmed that SuperTalent's 3.3V 256GB SSD works with his 5.5G iMod.

 

So that probably brings the record to the largest flash-memory based player. 2 5 6 G B !

 

Alac -or Flac with RockBox-, gap-less, largest capacity, excellent battery autonomy, shockproof, good UI, & great SQ when iModded/DIYModded. Ideal DAP? At cost no object, of course...


Edited by the wizard of oz - 11/25/11 at 7:15am
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post #14 of 15
11/27/11 at 10:54pm

ok, pretending that "price is not an issue," here's an option (since you said merely a "portable" flash-mem-based player) which offers a bit more functionality wink.gif .

 

- used PowerBook G4 12":  usd100-450  [ CL, PowerMax, Wegener, etc ]

- if not done already, max out RAM to 1.25GB:  usd37  [ OWC ]

- PATA SSD 120/240 GB usd268-440 (and dropping slowly)  [ OWC Mercury Legacy Pro ]

- run OS X 10.4.11 or 10.5.8 (depending on player you want to use), strip out unneeded apps.... 10.4.11 will give longer batt life

 

same thing possible (more expensively) with current- or prior-generation MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro; SSD upgrades up to 480GB  [ OWC ]

 

or of course a Wintel equivalent.

 

then if you're ever motivated, you can add a portable USB DAC/amp; I like my RSA Predator.

 

PBG4 & MBP allow you to connect to your good firewire DAC (weiss) at home.......

 

smile_phones.gif

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post #15 of 15
12/12/11 at 1:33pm

A new candidate for this thread: the upcoming iBasso DX100. 64GB on-board + up to 32GB external Micro-SD's. Possible even 64GB Micro-SD's.

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