[krismusic]

Hi, I have been trawling round and round the internet, reading endless reviews, trying to decide which DAP to spend around 250 GBP on. It seems to me that there is no player at this price point that gets an unequivocal thumbs up. The nearest are the Cowon S9 and the Sansa clip. I am beginning to think that all players are flawed. The S9 boasts huge amounts of DSP. Surely redundant if the player is well designed in the first place. Any thoughts?

 

[Zalithian]

No players are great in all areas, but some of it has to do with personal preference and I feel a lot of the negatives are due to people expecting too much from a portable music player.

I mean, does a portable music player really need great wifi and video viewing? Do they all need a touch screen?

I feel most of the problems with reviews is they're often not about what is most important about a music player, and that's how it plays music. Even then, they may be using horrible testing standard, like the basic earbuds or low quality files.

I think if you are simply looking for something that plays music well, and does some other things as a bonus.. you will not have a problem - but if you expect a mobile computer from a $250-$400 music player - of course you'll be disappointed.

 

[Punnisher]

Rockbox makes any player suck a lot less. Check out the supported models and research them a little.

 

[ericj]

It's like any other thing in the world - pick the warts you can live with, because everything has some.

 

[krmathis]

Yes, pretty much! But some suck less than others...
I have yet to find the "perfect" DAP, since they all have some weak sides.

 

[D_4_Dog]

Do all MP3 players suck a little? NO, some suck LOTS.....

you need to make a compromise when it comes to portables... size/weight/functionality blah blah blah... up to you what you value the most.

As much as people praise the sony s series... i wasn't that impressed when i tried it and actually preferred my ipod nano 1st gen to it...

 

[ulsanman]

Read the AMP3 posts if you are interested in a music player, for music this is perfect.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zalithian /img/forum/go_quote.gif I feel most of the problems with reviews is they're often not about what is most important about a music player, and that's how it plays music.

One would think that sound would be the primary focus in a review of a device designed to produce...ummm...sound. But I have grown quite accustomed to reviews that relegate comments on SQ to the last paragraph or two of the article. Even then, the comments tend to say much about how ignorant the reviewer is of basic audio concepts, and little about what the player sounds like.

I'm not talking about reviews posted here or on other enthusiast forums; I'm talking about reviews on the tech blogs and other places where fashionistas trawl for lifestyle accessories. "Dahling! Your DAP doesn't match your scarf? You can't leave the house like that!"

In the end, the average consumer just doesn't care about sound. They are focused on much more important features like built-in egg-timers, color-coordination, and, above all, fashionability.

I want my PCDP back.

 

[Zalithian]

Agreed, unfortunately due to the tech age and mp3's, which I actually find completely listenable most of the time - people care more about what devices can do besides play music. They are judged on their ease of use in the UI, if they have internet, how they play videos etc now instead of sound.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zalithian /img/forum/go_quote.gif Agreed, unfortunately due to the tech age and mp3's, which I actually find completely listenable most of the time - people care more about what devices can do besides play music. They are judged on their ease of use in the UI, if they have internet, how they play videos etc now instead of sound.

The worst is yet to come. Just wait until the cell-phone juggernaut drives DAP's completely out of the market. At that point, sound will become a minor convenience feature alongside 50,000 other features. This is not some conspiracy on the part of manufacturers; this is manufacturers responding to market forces driven by people who think Milly Virus is a great singer. At that point, the "sound" portion of the review will boil down to something like "Oh, yeah, dudes and duddettes, like, OMG, it plays yer toonz also, LOL!! And you can like, hear them!"

richtamon started an interesting thread on the subject.

 

[Mr. B]

People still rightfully reminisce about the Rio Karma... that can only be because the DAP still hasn't been done totally right.

 

[uraflit]

DAPs have their limitations

that's why i skimp on it and focus on my home setup!