best mp3 player ? (regarding SQ only)

[doomlordis]

I will be in a minority but i didnt think my Karma was any better sounding than my H120. To my ears the top players (iaudio, ipod , iriver etc ) dont differ much.
The best i have heard was the beosound 2 , i was using lame 192kbps and it was crystal clear, dynamic and went LOUD without any distorsion.
I currently have a Zen V M and a MZ-RH1 , the RH1 is better than the vision , more detail, seperation and you feel the bass more. The vision M isnt very dynamic, it sounds a little boring.
For the commute i would recommend the vision as it does movies, radio and music well, it just isnt a class leader at music.

 

[Sparky191]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zanth /img/forum/go_quote.gif Perhaps but how many have been made? Take that into consideration. Rio Karmas for instance must have sold 1/1000 the units and it seemed vast amounts failed. I'm not an iPod fanboy but seriously given the volume of these things on the market, even a bunch isn't a whole lot when the equate if fully drawn out.

No idea. I'm only basing my opinion on the experiences of people I know who have or had them. Thats 6 ipods and 3 of them have died. Its a very small sample I realise, but I'm fickle.

 

[Nandro]

Having had both, there is a deffinite build quality difference between the 2 when you hold them both. I had seen lots of Karma's being held together with duct tape, where my iPod has been dropped, kicked, and accidentally stepped on and still looks and sounds great. Any one of those incidents is death to a Karma.

 

[P.J]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr_a /img/forum/go_quote.gif IAudio U3 ... very nice SQ ... all the tweaking u wanna do with the sound - Preset and Custom EQ - BBE Effect - MachBass - MP3 enhancment - 3D effect Overall ... very very nice player out of all the players in terms of SQ I had like Nano 2nd gen, Samsung YP-Z5, Creative Zen V, Zen Micro and Sony NWE-405B.

But i doesn't like my F2's SQ

 

[naldo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nandro /img/forum/go_quote.gif Having had both, there is a deffinite build quality difference between the 2 when you hold them both. I had seen lots of Karma's being held together with duct tape, where my iPod has been dropped, kicked, and accidentally stepped on and still looks and sounds great. Any one of those incidents is death to a Karma.

I dunno, My karmas been through alot (Including falling out of a 2nd story window) and is still kicking.

 

[Nandro]

It must have had a lucky bounce. I mean its not hard to even feel the quality difference between the Karma and the better built Players. Believe me if mine would have help up or I thought it was a random thing I would have got another. I have been on many Karma forums where like all users they love the sound and suffer the build quality. I think like 70% had at some point broken or had the red pointer stick fail or just fall out, as well as the wheel which broke on me. Some company needs to buy the internal design and put it in a good durable case is what needs to happen.

 

[ozz]

i am sure it has to do with how the songs are ripped
but my 30g ipod all music done at lossless sounded
better than my friends zen with my sf5 but he is into
quantity so he probably did them at 128.

 

[Nandro]

Yea, there is no sense in comparing losless against lossy, or even lossy at different rates or formats as the sound will be altered enough to skew the review terribly. Best to use losless in all review cases in my opinion to see wha the best quality is I can get out of the unit.

 

[Zanth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by naldo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I dunno, My karmas been through alot (Including falling out of a 2nd story window) and is still kicking.

It will vary. Some folks have had horrible luck with iPods...others like me...horrible luck with the Karmas. I mean, if we stick with pure experience (my own and those close to me) the Karma has a 100% failure rate within 3 months. Of course the sample size is 3...and perhaps I too am fickle

but the point is that luck will play a part and if a Karma and iPod are both dropped one will land on that special spot that will shatter the item while the other one will bounce and come out practically unscathed. My iPod iPhoto has taken a solid beating and is still kicking. I don't know if the Karma could or could not have done the same (the HDs died before I had the chance to ever try). However, now with aluminum cases like the Nanos...they are even more durable, along with flash drives...and it is pretty robust! I won't be changing up any time soon. Of course this is all neither here nor there, the OP wants to know about the sound...and that will be a very subjective answer.

 

[tman1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nandro /img/forum/go_quote.gif It must have had a lucky bounce. I mean its not hard to even feel the quality difference between the Karma and the better built Players. Believe me if mine would have help up or I thought it was a random thing I would have got another. I have been on many Karma forums where like all users they love the sound and suffer the build quality. I think like 70% had at some point broken or had the red pointer stick fail or just fall out, as well as the wheel which broke on me. Some company needs to buy the internal design and put it in a good durable case is what needs to happen.

It's been done - Trekstor Vibez (although with less capacity and output power).

 

[Nandro]

I thought others said it had a different sound signature than the Karma? Also if the sound is as good how come they arent selling like hotcakes? I may put my 4G iPod photo up for trade for one of these if the sound is as good. Do they have a line out?

 

[wafflesomd]

Man, I'm surprised about the negative comments for the h120.

I have yet to hear a better player. I'm not sure where your hiss is coming from either. I've owned two h120's, neither of them had hiss.

 

[chowk]

I had the Rio Karma for a few weeks on loan and agree with other people's comments that the sound feels warm. The EQ was also good.

My gripe was that whenever the backlight came on, you'd hear the electro-static buzz (which I remember from some of the Creative flash players I used to own) which was a bit of a major turn off. It kind of made me not want to do anything that might trigger the backlight.

I've also found the Samsung Z5 to have a very "clean" sound.

 

[PrototypeX2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wafflesomd /img/forum/go_quote.gif Man, I'm surprised about the negative comments for the h120. I have yet to hear a better player. I'm not sure where your hiss is coming from either. I've owned two h120's, neither of them had hiss.

There is minimal hiss from all iRiver players.

 

[Nandro]

Alot of these players i agree probably have good SQ, but line out is important to me and most of the players info or spec's dont mention it. Does Zune have line out? I would love an H120, but they are hard to find. Maybe I can find someone to trade for my 4G iPod photo.