[Yomoska]

I've been looking around this forum for a couple of days but I can't decide for myself what I should get. I don't know much about audio and I didn't even know headphone amps existed until I read these forums (I'm now interested in building one myself).

Anyways the kind of music I'll most likely be listening to is anything from metalcore to deathmetal to post-hardcore. I have sennheiser hd201 headphones. I would also like it to have more than 8gb.

Also, since I'm interested in building a headphone amp, maybe not all the $200 should be spent.

 

[bba1973]

Check out anythingbutipod.com's top 5. That's a good place to at least look for stuff. If you want a hard drive player, look at used Zunes, Creative players, and iRiver players. For flash players, there's more to choose from, but not as many for over 8 GB. Keep reading, there's a whole lot of information out there.

As for making your own headphone amp, you might want to hold off. You can get a Fiio E5 for $20 shipped or a good Cmoy for $65 or less shipped. Unless you're really handy, a Cmoy off ebay would most likely be better than what you could make on your first try. Don't take it the wrong way, but if you mess up, it'll be frustrating and could cost you more money in parts. I bought one from biosciencegeek (BSG), and there's no way I could make anything as good or better.

How about this setup: 8 GB Clip ($99 + tax), Fiio E5 ($20 shipped), and Altec Lansing UHP336 earbuds ($35 shipped) ? That's around $155 (probably closer to $165) for a decent setup.

What earbuds/headphones do you use? One of the first things you'll hear is to upgrade these because it will make the most difference.

 

[Yomoska]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bba1973 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Check out anythingbutipod.com's top 5. That's a good place to at least look for stuff. If you want a hard drive player, look at used Zunes, Creative players, and iRiver players. For flash players, there's more to choose from, but not as many for over 8 GB. Keep reading, there's a whole lot of information out there. As for making your own headphone amp, you might want to hold off. You can get a Fiio E5 for $20 shipped or a good Cmoy for $65 or less shipped. Unless you're really handy, a Cmoy off ebay would most likely be better than what you could make on your first try. Don't take it the wrong way, but if you mess up, it'll be frustrating and could cost you more money in parts. I bought one from biosciencegeek (BSG), and there's no way I could make anything as good or better. How about this setup: 8 GB Clip ($99 + tax), Fiio E5 ($20 shipped), and Altec Lansing UHP336 earbuds ($35 shipped) ? That's around $155 (probably closer to $165) for a decent setup. What earbuds/headphones do you use? One of the first things you'll hear is to upgrade these because it will make the most difference.

I use sennheiser hd201 headphones, I don't really like earbuds but if they are better much better then I would use them. Also, I guess I'll hold off on building headphone amps, I'll probably just try them on the side for gifts or something. I also really want more than 8gb cause on my cheap 8gb player I got <1gb left. Although if it has a card slot or something that's okay too.

I forgot an important thing, I live in Canada so this stuff needs to be available in Canada and $200 CAD is about $170 USD.

 

[bba1973]

Some Cowon players have expansion slots. Check into those. If you're having trouble driving your current headphones (ie not enough volume), pick up a Fiio E5 for a headphone amp. Unless you're just not satisfied with your headphones, they'll probably do okay.

 

[micaela]

You might take a look at the Sansa Fuze. You can get an 8g with another 8 available in expansion slot. I paid just over $100 for 16g. The player sounds very good & plays a good variety of codecs. It does not have a line out to take full advantage of a portable amp - but I have seen a thread with instruction on making a LOD for it.

 

[Benaiir]

Cowon D2 = 169.99 shipped @ ZoomZipFly - - - - COWON D2-16BL 16GB 2.5in LCD Flash MP3 Player Black Retail at ZipZoomfly

Fiio E5 = ~$12 shipped @ ebay - - - - FIIO E5 HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER AMP 3.5mm EARPHONE MP3 MP4 - eBay (item 260435957097 end time Jun-29-09 20:10:00 PDT)

 

[a_tumiwa]

Samsung P3 , new product , 16gb, touch screen, good SQ

 

[robertreynolds]

Ditto that on the P3 (if you can find one).

I also really like my Sansa Clip. SQ is not quite as good as the P3 imo, but it's damn close.

 

[blawhh]

AMP3 if you dont care about features and looks and only SQ

 

[ABathingApe]

I was gonna say D2 as well. You can get D2+'s for about 200 in Canada. Seeing 171 on NCIX with my PP pricing.