[razorpakk]

Since I became interested in this world I've always used various clip devices: must've gone through about ten of them, between the original, the Plus, Zip and even the latest Jam (20+h battery life is hard to pass when comfort and practicality are priorities).

I had other players which I either never used (Cowon D2, Rio Karma) or sold (Fiio X1) because nothing can beat the practicality of the Clip.
I don't think I'm alone here: I choose Iems and Clip for the comfort and ease of use, I'll never carry a headphone amp or use the cumbersome combo of phone+dac/amp, nor I care for bulky players. I use my desktop setup for that kind of things, whenever I'm on the go it's either maximum comfort or nothing.

Now that Sandisk dropped the ball (few years ago really), don't you think think the M3 successor should tackle that gap, with a small player with a clip, simple UI and decent dac? **** it, they could even launch it with Rockbox and I'd be happy with that.
I'm aware other companies are trying, but if Fiio did it, it could become as iconic as the Sansa Clip still is.

EDIT: Just check on ebay how much people are willing to pay for old Clip + and Zip. Sigh, every time I go through another battery cycle on mine I know it could be the last.

 

[JK1]

Some of the Ruizu and AGPTEK clip on players look interesting. Unfortunately they probably have very primitive firmware. I have Rockboxed Sandisk Clip+ and Clip Zip players, as well as the Fiio M3 and Fiio X1. The firmware on Fiio players is rather basic. It seems like in general player makers are skimping on the firmware, and don't want to make feature rich firmware like what Rockbox offers.

 

[Aevum]

AGPtek has a decent player that does that

the M26 is a flac compatible Clip clone with bluetooth and decent sound quality

 

[Anthony Campbell]

How long has the M3 been out for? You'd think by now there would be a MKII version, as with the rest of the Fiio range.
Please Fiio if you are watching, MKII with radio, 256Gb storage, and better buttons.

 

[Whitigir]

Instead of a clip, why don’t people go with Bluetooth ? Just curious

 

[JK1]

Instead of a clip, why don’t people go with Bluetooth ? Just curious

Bluetooth decreases sound quality, and typically greatly decreases battery life of the sound source. It is also another thing to charge, and another thing that can disappoint you by running out of power when you want to use it. Bluetooth headphones and earphones also cost more than comparable wired headphones.