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Yet another "New Player"-topic...

post #1 of 6
10/28/11 at 5:00am
Thread Starter 

Hi all,

 

It has been a long time since I have posted anything here. My current portable rig consists of an iPod Nano 2G and some Shure SCL2’s. I have been pretty happy about the sound, but now they seem to be a bit EOL. My iPod sometimes doesn’t respond to the buttons so I have to reset it, and sometimes, the battery is empty all of a sudden after not using it for a day. Sometimes there is also noise on the cable or no sound at all, but I’m still investigating if it’s in the shures or in the connection to the iPod.

 

Anyway, it time for new equipment! Also I would like to upgrade a bit. I have been looking for reviews and reading here and I think I am set on upgrading to the Westone UM2 (other tips are still welcome, nothing is set yet). For the player however I can’t make up my mind.

 

For now I am being thrown back and forth between de Cowon J3 or an iPod Classic 160G. From my Nano I really like the control interface of the iPod, the way it works together with iTunes, plus I have my entire library in iTunes (including a lot of ALAC-files, since Apple won’t support Flac), however sound quality is not “Top Notch”. From the J3, I read good things about the sound quality, battery life and it also looks nice.

 

An extra “Nice to have”-feature: Since I also want to hook up my player to my home Audio (Marantz SR5005 and Monitor Audio RX6) a nice dock would be nice. For Apple I would go for the Pro-Ject Dock box Fi (http://box-designs.com/main.php?prod=dockboxf&cat=source&lang=en), but I don’t think there are nice docks for the Cowon? Since the J3 has no Line out function this could only be done through a jack-cable and the player would just “lay there” next to the Marantz.

 

A way to increase the SQ of the iPod would be to use a LOD and portable amp. Would the UM2 profit from an amp? Or would this not create much of a difference?

 

Any tips or comments?

Thanks!

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post #2 of 6
10/29/11 at 12:35am
Thread Starter 

Nobody with tips? Other players to try (around the same pricerange)?

I guess I'll go with the Classic then. Maybe add an amp if I think I'm missing something...

 

 

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post #3 of 6
10/29/11 at 12:42am
No replies here is odd.

But hold on for a day or two.

I see you're in the Netherlands. Here in the US, we had a couple of big events. The last World Series game was tonight, so a lot of people might be off at parties watching.

Also, Halloween is Monday, so all the big Halloween parties are this weekend. Maybe that's why there's not much going on here.

So give it a day or two and bump the thread again. People here love to talk IEMs and DAPs, they'll pick up your thread.
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post #4 of 6
10/29/11 at 2:33am

Sorry, Uncle Erik, but the OPs post had so much info it hurt my brain.

 

Budget : Clip+

Few more dollars : J3

Serious Audiophile : T51

 

Best I can do.

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post #5 of 6
10/29/11 at 6:09am
Thread Starter 

Sorry for the headache tongue.gif

I see you have the T51. How's the "user friendliness"? Is the touchscreen working properly?

Getting the music on the player is just drag-and-drop?

 

What about the ZuneHD btw. Is this any good?

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post #6 of 6
10/29/11 at 4:04pm

1. Touch screen is a total piece of crap. Sometimes you could hit it with a hammer and nothing would happen, other times brushing it causes the music to stop. Worst I've used in a long time.

 

2. Music is drag and drop, assuming you can get your computer to recognise the device. I'm running 64-bit Win7, but it eventually decided to work on one of my two (!) laptop ports. 

 

3. McProgger had a Zune, but it died and the last I saw he was buying a T51. I am going to predict that he will be so pi**ed off with it that it will be sent back.

 

Look, once you get this thing playing music, its untouchable (IMO) in terms of the massive sound it puts out, but are you really prepared for 8-10 hours battery life and a touch screen that seems to have been designed by the Marquis De Sade ? Get the J3 or spend more dollars and get the HM-801. Ignore the appearance, forget about 'style' - if you genuinely have the budget you mentioned in your OP, do it once and do it right. 

 

I basically see it as a simple choice now for most 'normal' portable - Clip+/Nokia/iPhone or the HM-801 (phone+801 if you can afford both). I've had Sonys, Cowons, Samsungs and various other DAPs, but next time I will just spend the money and be done with this whole portable player thing. 

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