FenderP, one of the realities of the DAP market is that they will *never* make the player each of us would like to see, and we probably couldnt afford it if they did. HiFiMan is the classic example - Fang has gone all out to produce something that will blow minds, but how many will eventually find homes with production runs of 10 per month ??
Anyway, back in the real world, a pox on Sony. And Grado.
I had no intention of spending any more on audio this time two weeks ago, and here I am with a pair of SR325is on my head and an X-Series blasting out various metal faves. Yes, its the best I've ever experienced from anything even remotely portable, but we are talking something close to 1200 Aussie dollars here, people.
Ok, the Grados will last me for some years, but I agree with Uncle Erik that spending real money on something that is designed to die within a relatively short period of time is nuts. If, like the iPod Touch I tried to audition, Sony didnt have any tunes on their player it might all have been different. Head-Fiers will talk about various things being rolled-off, or harsh in the mids, or whatever : the simple fact is that our ears know what sounds good straight up, and this delivers.
I had read a stack of reviews, but couldnt help thinking 'it cant be that much better than my NWZ738 !' : lets just say that the latter is more forgiving of some of my lower-bitrate stuff, but dial in the 320K material and Sony have turned it up a notch. As I said earlier, sublime.
Now, back to being sorry for my wallet. Damn Sony and Grado fanboys - see what you've gone and done