Best MP3 player for sound quality...?

[promerc]

really helpful posts shig... I think I'm going to go with the 160gb Ipod. I think you cleared up some misconceptions about the sound quality of an Ipod, taking your word for it.
 
So if I do decide to get the 160gb Ipod released in late 2009 I think, how good of headphones should I get? Am I wrong to think investing in a pair of DBA-02s will be overkill because of the mediocre SQ of the Ipod? Is it a better idea to get something less than half of the price like kipsch image s4? I always hear the saying around here, the music is only as good as the source, so finding a pair of earbuds that will be optimal for the Ipod is important to me. 

Thanks
 
EDit: for that guy, I think OF means original firmware, not sure though

 

[rawrster]

It's never overkill to try to get the best phones you can afford for any dap. The phones make one of the biggest upgrades you possibly can.

 

[mootookang]

^ Not true, higher end phones sound terrible without decent amps.

 

[rawrster]

Which phones would those be? I've heard a good number of "higher end" phones off a dap and none of them sounded horrible without an amp.

 

[mootookang]

I guess you've never sampled a pair of 600 ohm headphones unamped. 
 
I'm not saying that high end phones cannot sound good on a regular PMP, I just believe that it's hard to justify the price point of any headphones that is $200+ when they are unamped.

 

[rawrster]

and why would you pair a dap with those?

 

[mootookang]

I don't, "try to get the best phones you can afford" is fairly ambiguous. 

 

[bikertrash]

I'd say quality headphones that max at 60 ohms (unless you use an amp , then get whatever) are probably the best investment for sound quality with a DAP. You could spend a bundle of cash on UE Superfi 10s and other IEMs. I don't have any of those. I have Grado SR60i for home listening and Portpros for out and about. They're both great. Whatever you do as soon as you get your player, get new phones as stock buds suck.

 

[RaptorZX3]

try a Teclast T51, i think they have a dual Wolfson WM8740 DACs (Digital Audio Codecs), Philips TDA1208 headphones amp and Texas Instruments OPA2604 amp built-in, the main processor being a Rockchip 2806, able to read a lot of different audio and video formats including FLAC, AAC, OGG, MKV, able to decode H264 videos, the screen being a 3.5" capacitive touch-screen.
 
Wolfson is a Scotland semiconductors company famous for their DACs being used for a long time by Apple in their iPods, also in Microsoft's Zune PMPs, XBox, Sony's PSP portable game console and more.
 
I think the T51 go up to 8gb and 16gb in built-in memory size, with a MicroSDHC port also supporting up to 32gb.
 
Teclast is a Chinese brand, but one of the best though, along with Ainol.
 
i found this site selling it, the price is quite attractive also!
http://www.houseofdap.com/teclast-t51-hi-fi-quality-3-5-inch-mp4-player-8gb.html

 

[Hero Kid]

Quote:

^ Not true, higher end phones sound terrible without decent amps.

 
I'm going to disagree with you.
 
Proper ampage will greatly improve both IEMs and headphones (especially true for hard to drive headphones), but when you're on a budget the returns will be minimal for your dollar.
 
I've done lots of research and testing on the matter, and I stand by my current signature break down 100%.
 

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

try a Teclast T51, i think they have a dual Wolfson WM8740 DACs (Digital Audio Codecs), Philips TDA1208 headphones amp and Texas Instruments OPA2604 amp built-in, the main processor being a Rockchip 2806, able to read a lot of different audio and video formats including FLAC, AAC, OGG, MKV, able to decode H264 videos, the screen being a 3.5" capacitive touch-screen.
 
Wolfson is a Scotland semiconductors company famous for their DACs being used for a long time by Apple in their iPods, also in Microsoft's Zune PMPs, XBox, Sony's PSP portable game console and more.
 
I think the T51 go up to 8gb and 16gb in built-in memory size, with a MicroSDHC port also supporting up to 32gb.
 
Teclast is a Chinese brand, but one of the best though, along with Ainol.
 
i found this site selling it, the price is quite attractive also!
http://www.houseofdap.com/teclast-t51-hi-fi-quality-3-5-inch-mp4-player-8gb.html

Why would two Wolfson DAC's be better than one?

 

[Hero Kid]

For the record DAC does not stand for Digital Audio Codec, it stands for "Digital to Analog Converter".

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

For the record DAC does not stand for Digital Audio Codec, it stands for "Digital to Analog Converter".

Oops....didn't notice that when I made that post....too early in the morning to post, I guess.

Edited my highlighting to reflect this, but my question of why is two better than one stands.

 

[Currawong]

RaptorZX3: FYI, the 8740 is Wolfson's cheapest DA converter, and the OPAMPs in that DAP are some of the least-pleasant sounding ones available when used for voltage gain, as they almost inevitably are in Chinese gear.  If you find it sounds ok after having compared it with a fair amount of other gear, then good. 

 
Welcome to Head-fi though. 

 

[jendol]

my fav portable player is sill teclast t51 (aside from hifiman 801), but I have been using my cowon j3 lately