Deciding on portable mp3 player

[jarrett]

Hey I narrowed my player down to one of these:

- Sony 818 or 618
- Creative Zen
- Zune 80gb

I have Etymotic ER6i headphones too. I listen to mostly jazz and classical.
Sound quality and battery life are most important to me. One thing that could be a decider though is being able to walk into the store and listen to one (preferrably with my own music). I would prefer to use a lossless format and if not that, enough storage to keep a couple dozen albums as WAV. I think all the ones I listed have FM radio expect for the 818.

Thanks for your opinions

 

[sigsegv0x0B]

Creative Zen is a loss for classic music. Well it's a loss for any music. They have a weird muddy sound signature. Just give it a listen by side with any other dap.

Never heard the Zune so I can't say much on that.

I own a NWZ-S616F and I would say it will do a very good job with any headphone you can stick into it. Sounds great with classical (or anything I tried with it).

PS. ER6i are 16ohm which implies you really do not have a choice. Sony is your only valid choice with 16ohm IEM. (I am not sure about the Zune you will need to find some loaded tests of it).

 

[Ricardo Dawkins]

Sony for battery life and you can test it on the store
Zune 80 for capacity in case you want to fill it with WMA Lossless. but you can't test it on the store unless the store updated the device firmware.

 

[jarrett]

oh what's the deal with 16ohm?

 

[DKaz]

I would go for the Sony for pure SQ.

Sony NWZ-A818

I would pick the Zuni if you need the space.

Zune 80

 

[sigsegv0x0B]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jarrett /img/forum/go_quote.gif oh what's the deal with 16ohm?

Most daps can not reproduce bass very well with low impedance headphones.

 

[minimelody]

I understand that the zen has a sd slot. it's also able to support sdhc cards so I would say the zen if you want more space. I just got to know that the zen has an amazing battery playtime of about 30hrs for music.. cool~!

 

[eeagle]

Every creative player I have heard and owned has had top quality sound. The latest Zen has a great credit card size, and form factor, excepts a wide variety of formats, and has that all important SD slot. It would have my vote...I just ordered a 16GB Zen!

 

[shigzeo]

any player will sound good even with 16ohm phones, but certain players will definately produce a thicker chauky bass. the sony does this: i have the 615 - it is great if not just a little too thick. you can feel the bass meet at the front of your head, not just the fringes or back.

but, will that sound mean that you like it? that is up to you. 16ohm phones are some of the hardest to drive in todays market and it is a shame there are so many of them available but they will still sound good from a source that doesn't have push pull cap system like the sony and very very few others have.

go and try it with your favourite phones and if you like it, buy it... but if not, you should knot that our recommendations are basically that: our recommendations and have nothing to do with you eventually. cheers

 

[janruzinsky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jarrett /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey I narrowed my player down to one of these: - Sony 818 or 618 - Creative Zen - Zune 80gb I have Etymotic ER6i headphones too. I listen to mostly jazz and classical. Sound quality and battery life are most important to me. One thing that could be a decider though is being able to walk into the store and listen to one (preferrably with my own music). I would prefer to use a lossless format and if not that, enough storage to keep a couple dozen albums as WAV. I think all the ones I listed have FM radio expect for the 818. Thanks for your opinions

You should add the Cowon iAudio7 to your list. Sound is perfect and battery life will be more than 50 hours.

 

[DNA Doc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jarrett /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey I narrowed my player down to one of these: - Sony 818 or 618 - Creative Zen - Zune 80gb I have Etymotic ER6i headphones too. I listen to mostly jazz and classical. Sound quality and battery life are most important to me. One thing that could be a decider though is being able to walk into the store and listen to one (preferrably with my own music). I would prefer to use a lossless format and if not that, enough storage to keep a couple dozen albums as WAV. I think all the ones I listed have FM radio expect for the 818. Thanks for your opinions

Quote:

Originally Posted by janruzinsky /img/forum/go_quote.gif You should add the Cowon iAudio7 to your list. Sound is perfect and battery life will be more than 50 hours.

I agree. I recently picked up a 16 GB iaudio7 and like it very much. I've got a handful of DAPs, amps and headphones, and I'm finding that I'm using the ia7 and a 60GB Creative ZVM more than any of the others.

I listen to many different types of music, including, like the OP, lots of jazz and classical. Sounds is very good, even with the very close-miked solo stringed pieces I love (and that seem so often to sound terrible on many DAPs.)

 

[WalkGood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by janruzinsky /img/forum/go_quote.gif You should add the Cowon iAudio7 to your list. Sound is perfect and battery life will be more than 50 hours.

Agreed with all the posts about the iAudio 7, read my opinion here

 

[jarrett]

Already got the Sony lol

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/so...ssions-291933/