[Vinyl]

My first and only MP3 player was and is a Creative FX100-something, black and stick-like. It only holds half a GB of data and the battery cover has come loose (a rubber band holds it), so I was thinking about a new one. But my problem with modern players is that I hate those colour displays, video capability and kitchen sinks: I just want a player to play music, but I don't feel like paying for some useless (to me) gimmick when a player could cost less for the same audio quality, or sound better for the same price. Is there a player out there that would play AAC and Vorbis along with MP3 and possibly have a monochrome, manly display?

Another great thing would be that it hold regular batteries, so I won't have to pack a charger which I would probably forget in hotel rooms/relative's houses.

 

[newfier]

what price range do you prefer? and what sound quality grade do you desire?

There are too many DAPs can near your requirements.

Thanks.

 

[Vinyl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by newfier /img/forum/go_quote.gif There are too many DAPs can near your requirements.

Glad to hear that.

As for price, around or below 100 bucks; as for music quality, the best I can get for that price. Storage isn't an issue: 1 or 2 GB will do. Bulk isn't either: I always sit down and relax while listening.

Oh, and I'm going to drive my phones straight from the unit, no amp.

 

[Bigburger]

Might want to check out the Sansa Clip. Available in various capacities 8gb and under I think. Should be within you price range, known for good sound quality, and only does music, has a simple screen.

 

[penartur]

Quote:

Is there a player out there that would play AAC and Vorbis along with MP3 and possibly have a monochrome, manly display?

Maybe ipod mini with a microdrive replaced with compact flash?

 

[steaxauce]

Penartur, I don't think it's really necessary to build an mp3 player.

If you want to skip out on the screen altogether, the 1st gen shuffle was known to have exceptional sound quality (oddly enough). Those are probably practically free these days.

Edit: Oooh, look at me, I'm a 1000+ member.

 

[sanka]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigburger /img/forum/go_quote.gif Might want to check out the Sansa Clip. Available in various capacities 8gb and under I think. Should be within you price range, known for good sound quality, and only does music, has a simple screen.

Note, however, that the Sansa Clip's firmware has a bug that makes it play all files with a 44.1 kHz sample rate (i.e., most audio files) about 20 cents or a fifth of a semitone flat. This is noticeably out-of-tune to my ear. YMMV, though.

This problem has been documented on the Sandisk forums and has been admitted to be an issue that's being (or, rather, at one time was being) addressed by Sandisk firmware developers. Sandisk also announced (yesterday) that they don't have any plans to fix this pitch bug.

Re: Before buying: songs playing at a slower speed? - Sansa Fuze - Welcome to SanDisk's Sansa Community

Re: 1st problem with 8GB Clip already... - Sansa Clip - Welcome to SanDisk's Sansa Community

Pitch bug on Clip+? - Sansa Clip+ - Welcome to SanDisk's Sansa Community

As far as I know, the new Sansa Clip+ does not have this pitch bug, but, well, caveat emptor.

 

[penartur]

Quote:

I don't think it's really necessary to build an mp3 player

I'm not talking about building, i'm talking about upgrading.
Mini has an acceptable battery runtime, runs rockbox and can be upgraded to 32gb (and in the future up to 2tb).