[sghound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nnay07 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I do not want a 2 boxes solution with separate amp.

to bring the best outta FLAC, it might be necessary to pair your player with an excellent amp. there are several tiny amps that have been proven to work very well in portable rigs, 2 of which are my faves, the Ray Samuels Tomahawk & ibasso T1. pair them with a very comfortable fitting IEM like the Westone UM1 or UM2 and u're set to go!

 

[darkangel9685]

what about sony players?

I have the NW-HD1 any the SQ is quite good. From what i've read, the SQ of the HD-5 is also quite good as well.

As for the lossless format aspect, Sony's propietary format, ATRAC, scomes in a lossless flavor (ATRAC Advanced Lossless...AAL for short) that supports bitrates up to 352 kb/s.

Downside is Sonicstage, but not really. The version that comes with the players is **** (2.1 i believe) but the latest, ver 4.1 is awesomeness. It takes a little getting used to, but you'll fall in love once you do.

HD-1 from $193
HD-5 from $193

 

[Spaceage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkangel9685 /img/forum/go_quote.gif what about sony players? I have the NW-HD1 any the SQ is quite good. From what i've read, the SQ of the HD-5 is also quite good as well. As for the lossless format aspect, Sony's propietary format, ATRAC, scomes in a lossless flavor (ATRAC Advanced Lossless...AAL for short) that supports bitrates up to 352 kb/s. Downside is Sonicstage, but not really. The version that comes with the players is **** (2.1 i believe) but the latest, ver 4.1 is awesomeness. It takes a little getting used to, but you'll fall in love once you do. [/URL]

The sound quality of the HD5 is the reason I made the switch. It was day and night between iPod and HD5. I even upgraded to the HD5H (30 gig) and I'm considering picking up a Toshiba MK4007GAL 40 gig drive to up it even further.

 

[poo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sghound /img/forum/go_quote.gif FLAC? no problemos http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/x5/

Or for a more extensive selection...

http://flac.sourceforge.net/links.html#hardware

Scroll to PMPs

 

[chgolatin2]

If you havent heard an Imod you dont know what your missing. Quite impressive sounding compared to alot of $$$$$ Cd players out there.

 

[nnay07]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mofonyx /img/forum/go_quote.gif That figures why no one has recommended the iMod, but then again you could run the iMod with a volume control plugged into it.

I am a newbie, sorry for that...
As far as I understand, iMod is a modified iPod, is that right?
What are those changes about?
A specific iPod or any of them?
And iMod has no volume control?
Is iMod and Rockbox the same?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mofonyx /img/forum/go_quote.gif One question though, FLACs are big files and you're wanting 2GB or so, that would only fit roughly five to six albums. Is that enough for you?

Thanksfully, not all my music is in FLAC, but I'd rather avoid having to convert back flac to mp3 to be able to listen to it.

Of course the more I get the better, but I guess I don't want to focus only on HDD players since they are normally much bigger. In PMP there should still be P standing for "portable"...
I'd rather have a USB key size than a 3,5" HDD size player.

 

[nnay07]

Quote:

Originally Posted by antonyfirst /img/forum/go_quote.gif There are many people that address Samsung players like the best. While they actually are good (I've heard the Samsung K3), I'm pretty sure these people have never heard the Kenwood and the iMod mp3 players.

As far as I know, there is no flac support either on Kenwood's players, is there?

 

[nnay07]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sghound /img/forum/go_quote.gif to bring the best outta FLAC, it might be necessary to pair your player with an excellent amp. there are several tiny amps that have been proven to work very well in portable rigs, 2 of which are my faves, the Ray Samuels Tomahawk & ibasso T1. pair them with a very comfortable fitting IEM like the Westone UM1 or UM2 and u're set to go!

I will have a look, but I still want it to be portable: 1 box rather than 2, and a small one rather than a huge case.
By the way, I already have Westone UM2 headphones.

 

[antonyfirst]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nnay07 /img/forum/go_quote.gif As far as I know, there is no flac support either on Kenwood's players, is there?

You're right. But 320 kbs mp3 are really good, and sound better on it than FLAC on a Rio Karma or on the X5.

 

[Molondro]

+1 to Samsung YP-Z5

It doesn't support FLAC, but does OGG quite well, and besides without an amp and 300$+ headphones I doubt you can tell the difference between a 192 VBR lame MP3 and lossless.

If all you want is music, great SQ and great Battery life, you can't go wrong with a Z5, and it's an aging player, so you should find the 4 Gb version dirty cheap.

 

[yiliaozhang]

try atrac3plus352
much better than MP3 XXXkbs^^

 

[yiliaozhang]

ill say S705(Atrac3plus352 , A9(PCM)

 

[antonyfirst]

Molondo, I'd like to ask a question to you. Does your Z5 improve with the iBasso amp? And how much? Have you tried to use the iBasso on a pair of headophones that are good unamped? I'd like to understand if amping the Z5, with a cheap amp like the iBasso, would degrade the sound quality.

 

[Molondro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by antonyfirst /img/forum/go_quote.gif Molondo, I'd like to ask a question to you. Does your Z5 improve with the iBasso amp? And how much? Have you tried to use the iBasso on a pair of headophones that are good unamped? I'd like to understand if amping the Z5, with a cheap amp like the iBasso, would degrade the sound quality.

Well, that's a dificult question. The Z5 headphone out is indeed very good, and it can drive my 81djs and my cx300 pretty well. The T1 is my first amp, and with the 81djs the only benefits i've seen from it are the Bass boost switch, which is very nice, and in some songs the wide soundstage switch (with many others it's horrible). If you have very efficient cans as the K81Djs, I doubt they will sound any better with an amp, just louder. Maybe there are subtle improvements in the low and high ends, but not worth the 90$ the T1 cost me IMHO. The CX300 have improved a bit more, making them enjoyable again (they had been in the drawer the last 2 months)

I think that given a great headphone out + very efficient headphones combination, there is little room for improvement, if any, at least at sub 100$ price tags.

On to your answers : Yes, I found a little improvement with the iBasso, but I don't blame it on the amp but the little room for improvement. and NO, the iBasso doesn't degrade the SQ at all, just makes it louder. Mind that it has a noticeable hiss with low impedance iems (nothing a ghetto impedance adapter can`t fix).

 

[grndslm]

double post again