[Vergex2]

Sorry for the repost.. I'm not getting any replies and I do need to make a purchasing decision soon. Considering my needs, I'm not precisely which part of the forum this should go to anyway. Anyhow, enough with the excuses:
 
I currently have a Cowon S9, Mini^3 and ES10. I tried running it through an iPod line out dock > Mini^3 > ES10, and it seemed to be a world better - so I'm looking for a DAP to use as a DAC (the DAP's internal amp will be bypassed, so do not take it into account - it will probably never be used) and music storage.
 
The DAC should optimally be either as neutral as possible, or colour the sound this way:
 
Bass - underemphasized
Mids - overemphasized
Treble - as reference/neutral as possible

I'd prefer a 16GB player (internal, any more is a waste for me and any less may be pushing it) costing $200 or less. Can stretch budget but would prefer not to - I definitely won't buy an 801. Good firmware, video playback, UI, features, a pretty screen, lightweight and small of course are all positives that I'd gladly consider carefully.
 
Thanks in advance.
 
Storage, & video aside, how well would a Sansa Fuze do? What about a Sansa Clip+? (does a Clip+ support a LOD?)

Edits cause I'm an idiot.

 

[Young Spade]

Clip does not have LO. 
200? I'd definitely recommend the T51/s:flo2 but it doesn't have "good" firmware, UI, or all of the bells and whistles that come with the other mass market players like the Zune HD, Cowon S9, or iPods. 
 
Amazing sound quality though; surpasses about all of the other portable players out there. 

 

[Vergex2]

Quote:

Clip does not have LO. 
200? I'd definitely recommend the T51/s:flo2 but it doesn't have "good" firmware, UI, or all of the bells and whistles that come with the other mass market players like the Zune HD, Cowon S9, or iPods. 
 
Amazing sound quality though; surpasses about all of the other portable players out there. 

 
What happens when I used the dedicated line out of the S:Flo2? Does it bypass the internet amp? Does it sound great? Details would be excellent.
 

 

[Young Spade]

Gosh I wish I knew the link to that picture umm.... *looks*
BAM: http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ahmCuYTbi1U/S2IkN9Y-dCI/AAAAAAAAEKg/WR5kumzUles/specs.jpg
 
But yea the LO sounds a lot cleaner than the HO and doesn't have that "treble roll off" that some charts are showing that people are bringing up. You have to use an amp with it but the LO coupled with a good amp sounds better than iMods and the rest of the mass market DAPs out there (besides the HifiMan). 
 
(I have only directly compared it to the CLip+ and the LO is better.) (The part about beating all other DAPs is from what I've read people say when they A/B'd the T51/s:flo2 with other players. 

 

[Hero Kid]

I'm with Young Spade on this. Don't bother with LOD's when you can simply buy a DAP with a LO.
With that budget you would be crazy to overlook the s:flo2.

 

[Vergex2]

Thanks!

I ordered an S:Flo2, lets just hope I can get by with about 1/7th the battery life and no gapless playback. If that isn't a problem the benefits of having a dedicated line out and a better audio processor should be substantial.

 

[Young Spade]

Yea. And the lack of gapless is literally like 1/10th of a second. Like stopping then starting back instantly. It's a big problem for some but it doesn't really bother me that much.