[nyonya]

A question for the experts:
 
Is there any player out there that has noticeably better sound quality than a Clip Zip that can still fit in an Altoids tin?  For example, my sister's now-outdated Sony player (I believe the A818) does fit inside.
 
So, what are some good choices that are still compact enough to fit in a tin?
 
Thanks!

 

[tzjin]

Yes there is, if you're fine with no screen and an empty wallet. Look up the Tera-player.

 

 

[nyonya]

Quote:

Yes there is, if you're fine with no screen and an empty wallet. Look up the Tera-player.

 

You're right, that met all my stated requirements...
 
Let's try this again, with, let's say, a $300 price cap.  Would something like the Cowon E2 or D2+ sound noticeably better?  I would prefer a screen of course, just hard to find smaller players that are well-regarded.

 

[alphaphoenix]

Yeah, the D2/D2+ is better and so is the Meizu mini player.  Both sounds more fun and richer over the Clip especially if you play around with the EQ, but the Clip sounds more accurate to the source music.
 
Your other option is to get a portable amp around the same size as the Clip like the RSA P-51/Shadow, XIN supermini III, Ibasso T3...etc

 

[tzjin]

Quote:

Yeah, the D2/D2+ is better and so is the Meizu mini player.  Both sounds more fun and richer over the Clip especially if you play around with the EQ, but the Clip sounds more accurate to the source music.
 
Your other option is to get a portable amp around the same size as the Clip like the RSA P-51/Shadow, XIN supermini III, Ibasso T3...etc

 ++

What will you be using the player with? I'm guessing IEM's because you want portability?

 

[nyonya]

Quote:

Yeah, the D2/D2+ is better and so is the Meizu mini player.  Both sounds more fun and richer over the Clip especially if you play around with the EQ, but the Clip sounds more accurate to the source music.
 
Your other option is to get a portable amp around the same size as the Clip like the RSA P-51/Shadow, XIN supermini III, Ibasso T3...etc

Thanks for the response.  So are the D2/D2+ and Meizu players technically better, or just possess a different sound signature?  What I mean is, do they have higher quality DACs or amps?  I'm not really interested in messing with the sound - my Clip's EQ would accomplish that admirably I'd imagine.  I'm after a strictly higher quality player.
 
I've thought about getting a portable amp, and I may choose to go down that route - just seeing what other options are out there that I might've missed.  Thanks!

 

[nyonya]

Quote:

 ++

What will you be using the player with? I'm guessing IEM's because you want portability?

Yes, this'll be used primarily with IEMs - I may look to get over-the-head 'phones at some point but for now just in-ears.

 

[tzjin]

By the way, Sansa clip zip.

I thought something looked off.
 
IEM's typically won't benefit too much from amping, but really do shine with a better source. If you are looking for transparency, the Clip is going to be one of the best for it's size. There are better sounding players, but usually they will be larger as well.

 

[JK1]

The D2 is much larger than the Clip Zip and around quadruple the weight.

 

[nyonya]

Quote:

By the way, Sansa clip zip.

I thought something looked off.
 
IEM's typically won't benefit too much from amping, but really do shine with a better source. If you are looking for transparency, the Clip is going to be one of the best for it's size. There are better sounding players, but usually they will be larger as well.

Oh ha, good catch.  Not sure how that happened, it's sitting right in front of me too.
Quote:

The D2 is much larger than the Clip Zip and around quadruple the weight.

Yea that seems right - still it's one of the smaller well-regarded players.  So am I to assume that, unless I spend the $1k on the Tera-Player, I simply won't get better sound out of a similar-size player?  Somehow that doesn't seem possible - surely many audiophiles are concerned with portability as well...

 

[tzjin]

Quote:

surely many audiophiles are concerned with portability as well...

 
Not really. For most, I think sound quality > practicality in terms of importance. Hence the giant CLAS-Amp-Ipod stacks and the HM-801. Kinda beats me too

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

Oh ha, good catch.  Not sure how that happened, it's sitting right in front of me too.
Yea that seems right - still it's one of the smaller well-regarded players.  So am I to assume that, unless I spend the $1k on the Tera-Player, I simply won't get better sound out of a similar-size player?  Somehow that doesn't seem possible - surely many audiophiles are concerned with portability as well...

 
Have you looked at the size of some of the rigs in the "Show Pictures of Your Portable Rig" thread? 

Many of them are more "transportable" than "portable".

 

[Const4nt1n3]

Guys, what about Sony players? They do have some small ones too, for example, B, E, S, A or weird W. Is their SQ worse than a Sansa Clip Zip?

 

[H20Fidelity]

I have a D2+ the sound quality by far superior to a Zip. There's better detail and soundstage. Or you could look at the Cowon C2 which is even smaller than a D2+.

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

I have a D2+ the sound quality by far superior to a Zip. There's better detail and soundstage. Or you could look at the Cowon C2 which is even smaller than a D2+.

They must have improved something when they went from D2 to D2+ then, because with all enhancements/EQ disabled, I found the rockboxed Clip+/Clip Zip to sound a little better than a D2 at low to medium  volume. Only when really cranking the volume would I notice a difference, and that was due to the D2 having more output power.