[Grimloki]

About... oh, seven or eight years ago, I bought myself a ER4s, headphone amp from headroom, and a CD player for a portable rig. I even went to the audiologist for molds for the ER4s. Thats my only experience with IEMs. Or high quality audio for that matter.

That rig was stolen a few years ago. I loved the sound, but I hated the amp, cd player, amp case, etc... truth be told, the only thing uglier than a ety er4s in your ear, is the er4s with molds... and the headroom man bag for all that crap didn't help.

So they were great for sound, and absolutely horrible for moving about, or listening in public, or making good first impressions when listening to music. "Oh excuse me, I can't hear you... let me pull this comically huge freaking wad of clear rubber from my ear." In other words... not-really-that-portable-audio. And so I never replaced them. Yet time has moved on, and new things have been developed.

Thus, I have ordered the V-moda Vibes (with the Amazon prime trial - 3.99 next day air). They have great reviews, they are described as musical and fun (the er4s is neither. They are beautiful sounding and precise yes).

Besides a portable cd player, I have a *cough* *cough* Creative Muvo slim 256meg I bought for listening to... audio books. It was $40. The screen stopped working... which is a sign that its authentically a Creative product, from what I read.

So... can anyone recommend a flash player to pair with these Vibes? I say flash because I commute by bicycle, and I worry a harddrive DAP won't enjoy the banging about. If that is an excessive worry, then by all means, please let me know. That would move me into the world of Rockbox, of nice Cowon players, or even an old Rio Karma if I can find one.

I am cheap to a fault, and I assume that this will be lost, broken, or whatnot, so I take that into account when shopping. Used may be my only option, but $50 would be the perfect price, while $150 is my max right now. I only care about sound quality, and 1gb would be more than enough for me. Screen can be matchstick sized with four pixels, the organization system can take weeks of study to learn, and the player can be the size and weght of a brick (or.. ok.. maybe a half-brick). Sound quality un-ampped is my priority. Sound quality that doesn't exceed the vibes ability to reproduce it, that is.

So, can anyone be kind enough to recommend something for me? And do flash players often have decent sound quality?

 

[roastpuff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grimloki So, can anyone be kind enough to recommend something for me? And do flash players often have decent sound quality?

Yes, and yes.

If you're looking for cheap as cheap goes - and you're not against iPods - the iPod Shuffle is the often-overlooked gem in the iPod family. Flash, durable to a fault and has the best sound quality of any Apple product so far. The 1st generation version goes for $59 for a 1GB model on the Apple Refurbished site, and has no hissing problems that are associated with the 2nd generation iPod Shuffle.

If you ARE against iPods, may I suggest an iRiver player? There are tons of not-so-old players that are available on the market for quite a low price, such as the T10 or T30 series, that have excellent sound, are similar in size to the iPod Shuffle 1st Generation, and have a screen to boot! The Sansa family from Sandisk also represent a good option to go to - not as good sounding as the iRivers, but probably easier to use and cheaper to boot.

Camp on eBay and the For Sale forums here - I do daresay that you can find a suitable player for your purposes.

Oh, welcome to Head-Fi and sorry about your wallet!

 

[Jokieman]

Try a first generation iPod nano. I say first generation because it can be rockboxed. The 2nd gen nano cannot. Though I do like the 2nd gen nano's 24 hour battery life.

Check apple's refurb listings in their store and wait for a batch to pop up. You get the full 1 year warranty on their refurbed iPods.

So far as I know Rockbox for the 2nd gen nano is on hold permanently. As no one has been able to crack the encryption. At least, the thread that they have on it is going nowhere. (kind of a bummer too).

I'd rule the shuffle out because, like it's name, that's what it does. Shuffle songs.

 

[roastpuff]

The Shuffle can also play songs in an un-shuffled manner, you know! You're just missing a screen.

 

[antonyfirst]

I'd suggest to wait for the Samsung YP-K3. It's basically a K5 without the external speaker (not so useful and expensive), and with more space (8gb against the K5's 4gb). If the YP-K3 keeps the wonderful headphone out of the K5, it will be a very nice deal.

 

[ZARIM]

I own SAMSUNG YP-K5 and YP-T9JAB. These are awesome flashbased mp3 players. T9 are realy good with beautiful 1.8in color screen which play videos. These are(K5 and T9) also avalaible in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB models. These(K5, T9) shows rich details in mids and clear highs with tight deep bass(awesome sound quality). I used Zen micro photo and Z5 but these(k5 and T9) are awesome. BTW i have 5G ipod but these are clearly superior in term of sound quality(straight out to the headphone jack).

 

[Grimloki]

Thanks to all those that have replied!

I've been given alot to think about.

I've been researching, and what I find is that Cowon has the best rep for sound, among all its players. I'm not sure if this is true, or just wishful thinking on my part.

The basic flash players from cowon, the g2, g3, u2, and u3 look interesting to me, and they can be had, in various conditions for around $50 to $90 (Cowon offers refurb units with 1 yr warranties at attractive prices)

I am especially fond of the 1 gig g2... as it has no fm tuner, a basic screen, uses aa batteries, and plays pretty much everything except flac (which is too big for a portable anyhow). Refurb available via an amazon seller for $49.99 +$5 shipped.

Any thoughts on Cowon flash players, or anything that sounds better than they do, for less than $100?

 

[Grimloki]

double post. Sorry

 

[LaBreaHead]

"Any thoughts on Cowon flash players...?"

I had an iAudio 5 and was very impressed by the default sound, not to mention the EQ possibilities. I've considered the G2 in the past for its potential sound quality, its AA battery (especially good battery usage on this one) and its non-eye-catching appearance (less likely to attract the wrong sort of attention). I didn't get one, but Cowon remains on my Head-Fi "radar" ... good stuff.

The G2 won't have a tank-like build (probably not as hearty physically as the iRiver that uses the AA battery), but it will have excellent sound ... that price looks pretty good. The iAudio, iRiver and, yes, Samsung flash players are known for having good sound ... I have liked my Creative flash players, for what they are, but you seem poised to make a big step up in sound quality...