[gechu]

my post wasn´t a reaction against that statement, simply wanted to tell that you can expand your listening experience with another firmware.

Dont be so judging, we´r just here to help. Only accepting help in one route will lead you to less understanding.

 

[redquilang]

well according to kenwood (ive never heard it), their new HD20GA7 seems to have the greatest SQ of ANY DAP. they have inserted an amp into their player and, besides the great design and screen, this seems to be the only selling point as it doesnt play videos or pictures. quite a shame. but if you just want a great looking, great sounding player, the HD20GA7 is the player for you. their only selling it in japan, but it has english text on it.

if it had video and picture im sure it would be the greatest out there period.

 

[JaGWiRE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bahamaman RedLeader - I think it is quite natural that an iPod owner would be distressed by the words in the original post: "Ipod fans please don't bother posting! Looking for quality sound here!" Not only did he indicate that iPods were incapable of delivering quality sound, there also seems to be an intent to bait those who own iPods. The reaction his post engendered was entirely expectable, and appropriate, imo.

Yeah, he more a less totally disrespected the iPod, and all iPod fans / iPod owners who enjoy their product. If he wanted to say he wants to avoid the iPod, he could had put it in much politer terms, and ignore the fact that their sound quality is completely fine.

 

[catscratch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redquilang well according to kenwood (ive never heard it), their new HD20GA7 seems to have the greatest SQ of ANY DAP. they have inserted an amp into their player and, besides the great design and screen, this seems to be the only selling point as it doesnt play videos or pictures. quite a shame. but if you just want a great looking, great sounding player, the HD20GA7 is the player for you. their only selling it in japan, but it has english text on it. if it had video and picture im sure it would be the greatest out there period.

I do own the HD20GA7 and I think Kenwood would be right if the player didn't hiss quite as much as it does. It hisses more than the iHP-120 (but not that much more). As it stands, the hiss with more sensitive IEMs is completely unacceptable, which limits the player's compatibility options. It's 6mW x 6mW output also limits it's ability to drive many full-size headphones.

With the few headphones with which it synergizes well, it does sound better than any other DAP that I've ever heard (and PCDPs, too). It's warm, dynamic, has a coherent soundstage and plenty of detail, though it is somewhat lacking in ability to resolve micro-detail. It makes up for this with musicality and a full-size CDP sound.

I keep promising a review. Maybe someday I'll get to it

 

[exodus454]

Greatest DAP I've ever used: iRiver H300 series with rockbox. Dedicated headphone jack, line in, line out, and built in mic. Not to mention it plays videos, almost every file format with the help of rockbox and the sound quality is great. Thanks to rockbox we finally have a full featured equalizer, as well as gapless playback.

Also, when you finally kill your battery, you can easily upgrade to a 2200mAh battery from an earlier generation iPod to give you 22-28hrs of continuous playback. Not bad for a $20 mod.

Thats got my vote for the best sounding, and best overall, mp3 player.

(the earlier version - H100 series - even has optical SPDIF!)


And regarding the iPods - I have to say that after having two of them before my iRiver, they easily take the cake as far as navigation goes. Other than that though, Apple has their iPod OS WAY too sterile, ie lacks basic things such as a customizeable EQ. And iTunes drove me crazy.

 

[catscratch]

Yes, the iRiver iHP-140 is IMO the best DAP ever made overall. It does, however, hiss a whole lot with sensitive IEM's straight out of the headphone jack. It doesn't sound quite as good as the HD20GA7 but it has a similar sound overall and does sound a notch above the X5. The line-out and optical line-out are what really sells this player. Once upon a time in Korea iRiver had realized that the only place a DAP has in a hi-fi rig is as a portable digital transport, and the built accordingly. Now, though, they wisened up and figured out that no one really cares as long as the player is stylish, plays movies, and has nice controls. Besides, the RIAA will have a field day if players with digital line-outs become popular

 

[Orestes]

+1 for rio karma. gapless, ogg, flac, very nice eq, decent battery life, nice headphone out, WITHOUT THE ROCKBOX FIRMWARE. it comes with a nice little dock with rca outs and even has an ethernet port.

 

[Orestes]

oh and here's my favorite pic of my karma:

 

[Cjattwood]

Hehe, awesome pic

 

[AudioNoob]

I really liked my karma at its time, wish they had stronger clickwheels and less shaky hds.

 

[redquilang]

when i saw that picture, one thing came to mind: miles away from ordinary. ( its from the bud commercials i think).

 

[eTe]

i got laptop psp and 3 different mp3 players the i-river 799 sounds way better than any other source i got.. =) the psp has ok sound quality too...use djsp to play mp3s it gets even better..but you still need a amp for psp to get it louder....

 

[Alucard00723]

I thought the results were interesting, although the MP3 player that ranked last most often in their sound tests is also the highest rated MP3 player.

Not sure of the date these were reviewed either.

Link: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6450_7-6247126-1.html

 

[sxr71]

NM

 

[TenaciousO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alucard00723 I thought the results were interesting, although the MP3 player that ranked last most often in their sound tests is also the highest rated MP3 player. Not sure of the date these were reviewed either. Link: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6450_7-6247126-1.html

That review was published right around the time that the Sony HD5 came out so it is rather old. It didn't surprise me that the iPod Photo didn't fare so well based on my own experiences, but it's kind of a mute point considering the 5g has noticeably improved sound quality.