Lets talk about sound quality in portable players

[gates_2]

Hey guys- I'm wondering about the differences in sound quality between brand names, and even generations(5g ipod vs 4g ipod)

I have a 30gb video ipod that I got for free, and I currently do not use it very much(although I may need a portable player in the near future)

What do you consider to have the highest sound quality right now on the market?

My rationale is, sell the ipod now, since I'm not using it, while it is still worth some $$$$, wait until i need a portable player, and then pickup a non-ipod used player(say creative or iaudio) for much less $$$$....

But, if the 5g ipod has the best SQ(i don't think it does, but what do I know), then I guess I'd just keep it


Thanks guys,


-Michael

 

[ILikeMusic]

Hmmm, a thread about the sound quality of portable players... now there's an interesting idea...

 

[LFC_SL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gates_2 What do you consider to have the highest sound quality right now on the market?

Imo,

If you're happy, leave it. If not, read as many threads as you want ad nauseum and buy whatever

I'll now leave the stage for this topic...again

 

[Peter433]

i personally couldnt fault the sound on my Sony HD NW 1 20Gb walkman , never had any issues with it but the fact that everything has to get converted to a sony standard file format may put alot of people of but none the less you get to choose the bit rate and it has a graphic equaliser thing so you can adjust to your own preference , my mates just recently bought a creative zen media player 30Gb does video as well and he says its one of the best Mp3 players he's heard but then again each to there own i have nothing really to compare with

 

[LFC_SL]

lol I might as well post my experience

Sony HD3. Small, black, great. Except SonicStage back then was rubbish, impossible to register on more than one PC (back then) and there was a stupid background hiss at low volume. Au revoir. And SS wanted to access the internet all the time even when I wasn't using the store. No Sony...we're not all thieves

But they regularly sent me codes for free downloads heh

20 years ago Sony = quality. No more, all across the board. Imo

iaudio X5L. Great. Does the job. No software. Nice features. But a bit too big for me and gapless not perfect...read not there

Archos Xs202s - small - front shirt pocket small. As X5L but no FM, gapless and less codec support. Boo, hiss! But cheap and cheerful, so can't complain

 

[Veggie_Musician]

All makes have different sound quallity - I cant really fault Sony high end gear - they just sound "right" - shame about software! My best sounding portable player is by far my iPaq 4150 pocket PC and my worst is a Nokia mp3 phone.

I also own a Zen Vision:M - ok... great for video but sub par audio compaired to others - when I listen to ZVM (with latest firmware) I think "how can sound quality get much better than this" - but when I move to other players like my iPaq I think "wow this is night and day better!". I feel I dont really rock enough with the ZVM for some reason - its missing that something - altho it got a big sound its a bit safe!

Ive also owned samsung YH-J70... It plays back music flawlessly - no distortion - powerfull sound - but ZVM seems to have more personallity to its sound - the Samsung is a bit clinical and "digital" - the creative is more "analog".

Ive owned iRiver's too - they are rather warm to the point of being a bit soft - altho bassy - the bass is not gritty enough.

Ive listened to iPod 5gen for a bit - but didnt find it as full sounding as ZVM. It sounded almost brittle in comparison - but there was nothing wrong with the sound only lacking a bit of bass grunt... mind you after my Nokia the ZVM has the least bass compaired to the rest of the DAP's Ive owned.

 

[KrazyIvan]

You might as well choose the player that has the features you want and will play with your system needs. Sound quality is so subjective. The thing is that yes, many people can give you their opinion but most people do not the resources to say "X" unit is the best. Yes, there are review sites but most reviews are so biased that it is not even funny.

Personally I know the Sonic Stage issues from reading other peoples experiences but I have never had a problem with it. With that said, I have a Hi-MD portable along with several legacy MD units. I also have a cheapy Coby mp3 player and an X5L. So far, if I had to pick one as the best I would say my NHF800 has the best quality sound. with the X5L a very close second, make it almost tied for first.

 

[Csidinim]

all the responders who say sound quality is subjective and anecdotal evidence is unreliable are unhelpful and waste our time. different brands will utilize different parts from different manufacturers in different methods of assembly so the sound is objectively different. there may not exist a ranking system and there might not be an objective best but you can still hear different sound signatures and that is what reviews are for. when i listen to an iaudio and then switch to a karma i know i am enjoying the sound a lot more everytime and there is no amount of eq or sound adjustments that can level the iaudio because it is an inherent part of the sound signature that lacks the warmth and punch of the karma. when people discuss the ipod they used to mention the bass deficiency relative to its counterunits and this is what is helpful when someone, like myself, has not heard the sound of every player out there and is trying to get a better reference based on what is familiar and subjectively preferred.

so posts that say 'xxx has the highest sound quality in a portable' or 'xxx has better sound than yyy' are very much pointless and contribute nothing.

 

[nothing111]

From all the portable players I've used, the Kenwood HD30GA9 (and HD20GA7) sounds the best. And I don't think sound quality is that subjective. I've often purchased players based on the comments I've read on this forum, and most of the time they were right, and I knew exactly what I was getting. I've used most of these players without any amp, and with Shure E5C.

My first player was a 1st gen ipod. Sound was ok I guess (didn't know much at that time), probably a bit flat, but I hated the EQ (couldn't get a satisfying sound). I kinda like the look and navigability of the Ipods, but as long as Apple don't change the EQ in them, I'll never purchase another one again.

After that I got a Karma (good sound, good EQ). I was very happy with it but in the end I needed more capacity. So the next one was a Creative Zen 60GB. Again, this was a good player, almost as good as the Karma in the sound department, and a good EQ (nothing extraordinary though). But I guess the build construction wasn't that good and it stopped working after a few months.

Then I tried the Sony Vaio Pocket which had good capacity (40GB), and a very good sound (I would say better and purer than the Karma). But again the EQ didn't give much choice, and for me the bass was ultimately lacking. So here comes the X5L. I really hoped this would be the "final" player, it has many good features and does many things. But in the end I was really disappointed by its sound, I thought it was far too "artificial".

At that point I really thought this quest to find the "perfect" player would never end, all the ones I tried pretty much had one major flaw or another.

Then I read about this new Kenwood DAP, and some comments in this forum about its superior sound quality, so I gave it a try. I wasn't disappointed, the HD20GA7 did exactly what I expected, and I was really impressed with the sound quality (right after the X5L, I have to say this was a big change). I'm not going to develop more about it, there is an excellent review of this player on head-fi. Of course it's not perfect (the white noise issue might also be a problem for some), but for me it's not far from it.

Then a few months later the HD30GA9 was announced, and that's my current player. I'm sure the E500 will match perfectly with it.

 

[lolos]

nothing111, have you compared your Kenwood HD30GA9 to the imod?

Thanks.

 

[gloco]

Quick rundown on models and apparent sound signatures:

rio karma: with the eq on, it can turn a pair of shure e2c's into bliss. Punchy bass, sparkling highs make this unit a pleasure to listen to.

iriver H140: with the eq on, my shure's sound a tad soft and bass heavy. Highs are a bit subdued, but can still be fun to listen to.

Zen micro: with my shure's, this unit sounds thin and uninvolving, eq doesn't help much at all. I often found myself reaching for a newspaper to read on the subway over listening to this combo.

 

[nothing111]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lolos nothing111, have you compared your Kenwood HD30GA9 to the imod? Thanks.

Unfortunately not, but I sent you the details about the HD30GA9 via PM. Hope it helped you with your final choice.