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[ImperialX]

Alright, hitting it right on the $270 mark, my suggestion is the Cowon S9 ($169) and the Shure SE215 ($99). This is a fabulous setup and does wonders to your ears. You don't need anything in between. The Cowon has a Wolfson WM8750S which is fantastic. 
 
I have the SE215 and it sounds wonderful, and I listen to all the same songs you listen to. You know that well.

 

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[ImperialX]

Quote:

Would trying to snatch one of those last J3's be a good decision? Will look at those Shures.

J3s are fine if you like the Interface.

 

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[ImperialX]

 
Quote:

I was definitely concerned about the interface but once I looked at some demos of it for a bit, it seems like it will work fine. Would waiting for the Z2 be better though?

 
Again, it depends on how much you hate the interface. The DAC will all be Wolfson and I doubt there will be a difference in sound quality.

 

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[JK1]

Get a Clip+. The 2GB one is just $30. Add a cheap 16GB or 32 GB microSDHC card to it.  Hopefully at the end of August Sandisk will release a new version of the Fuze.

 

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[JK1]

 
 
Would it be worth to get an 8GB and a card or just stay with 2GB and a card? I have enough money.
 
I hope they release a Fuze with either the scroll wheel again (unless Apple patented that), more responsive touchpad, or a touch screen. LOD too.

 
 
If 34GB isn't enough space, then 40GB won't be that much better. Imo it isn't worth spending $25 more just to get 6GB more space. For $30 you could get a second 2GB Clip+, and you could put a 32GB card in that. Some have reported that a 64GB micro SDXC card will work in the Clip+ if formatted as FAT32. Aside from its high cost(around $100?) the Clip+ has a song limit of around 8,000, although some hit the limit with as few as around 5,000 songs. Since the Clip+ gets only around 12 hours of battery life, carrying a second one, or a small usb battery pack may be a good idea.

 

[ImperialX]

 
Quote:

I hope they release a Fuze with either the scroll wheel again (unless Apple patented that), 

 
Not gonna happen because as you said it's patented.
 
 

 

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[ImperialX]

Cowons have horrible interfaces though. If you care about that you should get a Sandisk.

 

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[ImperialX]

 
Quote:

No Cowon then. The C2 seemed okay but I just took a look at the interface again and...meh.
 
So I guess that leaves HiSoundAudio and Sandisk.

Cowon is for pure sound. Nothing else.