[JoshK]

I was wondering if there are any mega sized (20G+) mp3/wav players that support lossless compression codecs such as SHN, etc, either through existing firmware, update or 3rd party software?

I am a relative newby in the portable audio arena but not in hi-fi or mp3s.

Ideally I would like to own, and would even pay the price for, a player that supports lossless compression, has replaceable rechargeable batteries (for on the go swap), has enough memory to play a long lossless file, has a decent file system, supports Firewire (or USB2.0 at min) and has a large hard drive or supports upgraded HDs of the 2.5mm or 1.8mm type. Does such a player exist yet? Oh and it needs good audio output for external amp as I will be using Senn PXC250 NC phones which have a nasty 300R impedance.

I live in NYC and ride the subway everyday. The subway is noisy, hence the requirement for NC phones and the external amp that can drive these. Commuting via subway makes a good portable ideal....heck I can even listening to this while I work. Price isn't so much of the issue, at least if it is <$900. I can always buy a larger HD later on.

I just can't really tolerate mp3s long term. I can always tell the difference between mp3s (even at 320kbps) and CDs on my favorite CDs. I use to be a ripper and SOP for efnet a while back so I understand codecs. This simply is a limitation of the compression. WAVs are large, so are lossless compressed files for that matter but at least you can get twice the usage from the SHN files and such.

Any hope for me?

 

[Kelvie1234]

The upcoming Rio Pearl claims to have FLAC support.

 

[Darth Minidisc]

The Neuros is supposed to have eventual flac support from a firmware upgrade. Why not pair the Neuros (or the Rio) with Etymotics ER4P? Easily powered, excellent sound, and unsurpassed isolation

. Together the two will set you back maybe $650 brand new? The ipod also has wav. support and is available now though you'll probably lose a lot in the battery life that way.

 

[okie11]

the new creative labs zen allows for wav files as well as most other formats and they actually are cheaper than the ipod and have the new 80 gig player available for i beleive 399.00 so i would definitely recommend this over the ipod if you want to play uncompressed files.

 

[austonia]

Quote:

Originally posted by okie11 the new creative labs zen allows for wav files as well as most other formats and they actually are cheaper than the ipod and have the new 80 gig player available for i beleive 399.00 so i would definitely recommend this over the ipod if you want to play uncompressed files.

the zen is 60gb actually. however, any nomad can be upgraded with a standard 2.5" laptop drive, which currently go up to 80gb.

Back to subject at hand, using these MP3 jukeboxes for WAV or even lossless compression playback is a waste. it runs the hard drive constantly, which will drain batteries quick. also, seriously, you don't need that kind of fidelity out of a portable player. You're never going to get the same sound that a $3500 meridian CD player will produce.

EAC/LAME -APX MP3's are damn near CD quality, and you probably can't tell the difference with any level of background noise, like you always have outside the home.

 

[gerG]

For that kind of $, plus the limitless flexibility, you might consider a small laptop computer. Probnot good for the subway, but great for general wandering around. Plus you can play and encode CDs as well. Is the lossless requirement critical for the subway? Serious question, since I have never been on a subway that I can recall.


gerG

 

[blessingx]

I have another post on another thread defending the difference, between lossy and lossless files, but seriously... the subway... in Manhattan... with PCX250's? I assume you're planning on using this setup on other places and other phones, and thus requiring the improved file quality... right?

 

[ilikemonkeys]

check out www.fixup.net. this guy is building them. His stuff is super high quality. Cant wait to buy one myself. It's basically a small linux box with a HD and an LCD screen.

Bill