[ericishere]

I realize dap sound is suggestive at best. I have an Iriver Clix2 and a Sony Vaio vgf-ap1l. To me the Iriver sounds fuller ( mabee because of the user adjustable 5 band EQ). The Sony sounds ok but there is no way to user adjust the midrange up to 1k. All of my music is in WAV format. Apart from the Ipod ( not a fan) or Kenwood player are there any other players with outstanding SQ that support WAV or other lossless format? The deal breaker for me with the Iriver and Ogg is no album art support ( why waste that gorgeous screen).

 

[rockin_amigo14]

Apple iPod plays Apple Lossless with the original firmware. All Cowon players support FLAC, as do players from Meizu.

Anything that will take RockBox firmware will play FLAC files: www.rockbox.org

 

[MrFaust]

Archos supports wav and you can get the 504 with 160gb hdd.
Another option is an iRiver H340 with Rockbox (w/album art patch) There is actually a theme that is a direct clone of the iPod OS look.

 

[epaludo]

Forget about WAVs. You must aim for lossless with compression, such as FLAC, WavPack, ALAC, etc. Because you get the same quality as WAV but with a lot less file size.
Besides, most DAP (if not all) are capable of WAV playback. Look for those supported by rockbox or, if not rockboxable (wow, rockboxable is ugly), those able to playback FLAC or ALAC ...

 

[majkel]

Many players play FLAC or wav but their actual sonoristic abilities are even below mp3 320kb/s quality level IMHO. Those, I could recommend because of real advantage when filled up with lossless music are: Rio Karma, iRivers H100/300 series + Rockbox, maybe Sony NW-A808 (ATRAC Advanced Lossless). iPods don't shine in terms of SQ, AFAIK. Neither Trekstor Vibez, nor many iAudios/Cowon D2 achieve the level of quality deserving lossless files. On the other hand, I bet dollars against nuts to the person who will distinguish between ogg Q8/Q9 and FLAC from a portable player It takes around 1/3 of the space needed fo the file at the same level of quality. So, it looks like no ogg/aac capable player needs lossless support. It only makes sense for people who feel bad about the fact they listen to lossy music files.

 

[budx3385]

Quote:

Originally Posted by majkel /img/forum/go_quote.gif . Those, I could recommend because of real advantage when filled up with lossless music are: Rio Karma, iRivers H100/300 series + Rockbox, maybe Sony NW-A808 (ATRAC Advanced Lossless). iPods don't shine in terms of SQ, AFAIK. Neither Trekstor Vibez, nor many iAudios/Cowon D2 achieve the level of quality deserving lossless files.

I agree that ipods (and imods) are still not good enough for WAVfans. The Kenwood and X5 are OK, but to my ears the Trekstor Vibez * is * good enough and is certainly the best currently available (and which some say is like a re-incarnated Rio Karma). I admit, though, that I have yet to hear the A808.

Mine stores 15 complete WAV albums of classical and vocal music. It's not perfect - the lock feature could be improved, for example - but through a Tomahawk and ER4s, it's worth carrying on the dreaded airplane, until I arrive and can unpack my pcdp and HD580s.

 

[lac29]

I think the Meizu M6 does FLAC.

 

[rodeodude]

I had an X5, they are great players, they can be found on ebay for cheap. Thats where I got mine.

 

[ericishere]

Is the Vaio Pocket able to be rockboxed?

 

[ericishere]

Also, is there really that much of a sound quality difference between WAV and a good compression codec like mp3 vbr or ogg Q10?

 

[cutthroat]

My vote is for the X5, or X5L if you want better battery life. Mine doesn't sound as good as my iMod, but it still sounds very very good.

 

[Cowon_1]

If you don't mind a touch screen the Cowon D2 is the best sounding dap in production at this time...plays flac and does it to perfection...

 

[rockin_amigo14]

^said the completely unbiased user.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericishere /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also, is there really that much of a sound quality difference between WAV and a good compression codec like mp3 vbr or ogg Q10?

Hard to say, since you only mention one audio codecs (MP3).
The other two (WAV and OGG) are container formats, which can hold both lossy and lossless audio...

 

[Cowon_1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockin_amigo14 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^said the completely unbiased user.

hahaha...yeah rockin_amigo14...biased maybe but it comes from experience..tried many but none comes close...

Hope you come back to the Cowon family...