PKloss
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2010
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I need some help choosing an MP3 player. This is basically what I'm looking for:
**Excellent sound quality**
Preferably - EQ with at least 7 bands
Expandable via memory card
FM Radio
Preferably - Support for FLAC
Standard USB port (regular, mini, micro all okay - but no proprietary cables)
Decent UI
Now, most important is the sound quality. Now, I have done some searching before posting, so let me stop many of you now before you start saying that sound quality is entirely subjective, because that is not true. The subjective areas that have to do with sound quality largely have to do with how sensitive a person's ear is (if they have a lousy ear, a poor player will sound just fine to them), and what they prefer in their sound signatures.
If you run tests with a large sample of genuine audiophiles, you can find common thresholds for bass magnitude, clarity and crispness (across all bands), etc... that will satisfy at least 90% of the people tested. (For example, you wouldn't say that the question of whether to support a frequency range of 10 hz - 300 khz is subjective. It is a fact that most humans are incapable of hearing this range and you can use the range that *most* people can hear to make objective determinations.)
With that as a baseline, you can make general objective judgements on a player's capabilities and quality of sound. Having addressed what a player is *capable* of, what you're left with is how well the player can be customized insofar as individual preferences for sound signature. Again, this can be largely objectively determined.
In that light, it's fair to say that a 5 band EQ is little more than a child's toy. If you've got a 5 band EQ, you better hope your player sounds fantastic with levels flat, because if not, you don't have enough control to do much about it.
That being said, can anyone recommend a player that fits the above criteria? It would be nice if it were under $200, but I understand that you can't always get quality without monetary pain.
**Excellent sound quality**
Preferably - EQ with at least 7 bands
Expandable via memory card
FM Radio
Preferably - Support for FLAC
Standard USB port (regular, mini, micro all okay - but no proprietary cables)
Decent UI
Now, most important is the sound quality. Now, I have done some searching before posting, so let me stop many of you now before you start saying that sound quality is entirely subjective, because that is not true. The subjective areas that have to do with sound quality largely have to do with how sensitive a person's ear is (if they have a lousy ear, a poor player will sound just fine to them), and what they prefer in their sound signatures.
If you run tests with a large sample of genuine audiophiles, you can find common thresholds for bass magnitude, clarity and crispness (across all bands), etc... that will satisfy at least 90% of the people tested. (For example, you wouldn't say that the question of whether to support a frequency range of 10 hz - 300 khz is subjective. It is a fact that most humans are incapable of hearing this range and you can use the range that *most* people can hear to make objective determinations.)
With that as a baseline, you can make general objective judgements on a player's capabilities and quality of sound. Having addressed what a player is *capable* of, what you're left with is how well the player can be customized insofar as individual preferences for sound signature. Again, this can be largely objectively determined.
In that light, it's fair to say that a 5 band EQ is little more than a child's toy. If you've got a 5 band EQ, you better hope your player sounds fantastic with levels flat, because if not, you don't have enough control to do much about it.
That being said, can anyone recommend a player that fits the above criteria? It would be nice if it were under $200, but I understand that you can't always get quality without monetary pain.
