[Pianist]

For under $150, I would definitely go with Sony - it has the absolute best detail and the most balanced sound out of any MP3 player I have heard so far. The second best I have heard are Sansa Clip/Fuze. Those are also really great players, especially if you are looking for best price/performance. Their detail resolution is almost as good as that of the Sonys (although not quite up there IMO) and the overall sound is very nicely balanced and clear.
I don't recommend Samsung P2 - it looks cool and has touchscreen, but it's SQ is not quite as good as that of the aforementioned players IMO. It lacks overall balance and sounds too artificial for my tastes.

 

[goldfinger]

how about is a Samsung YP-U3?
It's very simple and good design.
It's easy to usea and only 32 pounds. too cheap!!
and no need for cables and no need to install anything.
You may then plug it into any PC USB port and drag and drop your music files.
Use the USB connector to charge the battery from any PC and enjoy up to 15 hours of play time on a single charge when listening to music, recording, or playing the FM radio.
Available in 1,2 and 4GB capacity.

 

[Tomikans]

Zune for my vote

 

[mcmurray]

MP3 and 'great sound quality' are mutually exclusive.

 

[Antony L]

ive got a d2 and im very pleased with it , with the ultrasone headphones and cheapo fiio amp it sounds breathtaking , the cans expose any weakness in my players , the nano sounds rubbish the zen stone sounds ok but the d2
very open with lots of clarity a full BIG sound ,im talking bloody stunning sound
I think the high output helps ,ive heard sonys dont pair well with as many full size cans as the d2 , i dont know
I dont over do the eq settings just bbe on 4

 

[DJGeorgeT]

I do not have a sony, but between the d2 and fuze/clip, the fuze/clip is the better sounding player and most people will agree with this asessment.

The 8GB fuze is a great buy. You can't go wrong with it.

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcmurray /img/forum/go_quote.gif MP3 and 'great sound quality' are mutually exclusive.

Not too many players support FLAC and Vorbis + it's annoying because of storage capacity reasons.

 

[RAQemUP]

Am I one of the few players who likes both the Cowon D2 and Sansa Fuze? I find the Cowon D2 works awesome with driving various 250 ohm Beyer fullsize cans and Yuin OK1 unamped, and find my Fuze and Klipsch X10 combo awesome too. The Klipsch sound great outta the Cowon D2 also and the bass roll off isn't too bad with those. The only bad combo I have come across is the Cowon D2 with my Audio Technica CM700 earbuds. They sound extremely flat sounding.

Edit: Forgot to mention Fuze sounds fantastic unEQed (it's EQ is indeed poop) and the Cowon D2 has a great EQ.

 

[limathy]

depending if EQ is an important feature or not.
if it isnt - fuze is a great player meeting the criteria and also has an expansion slot which i find rather useful.

 

[Ub3rMario]

If you want a higher capacity player...i'm selling my zune 80gb for wayyyyy cheap in the FS forums (link in sig). Not much higher than your price limit either.

 

[DaGreatAzn]

Looking at the replies you guys have made, I think I'm going to try and get a Sony S638F. I've been looking around, but it doesn't seem like there is any stores or sites that sells them. It seems most sites have the S730s. How is the SQ of the 730s compared to the 630s?

 

[radlux]

If you plan to use full size headphones at any time I'd go for the D2 which has a pretty decent amp in it. The older nano for instance sounds crap unamped on my IEMs. I like the ipod interface but the only way I can stand the SQ is when passed through a portable amp with an LOD. Don't know enough about the other players to comment.

 

[ShootingStars]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaGreatAzn /img/forum/go_quote.gif Looking at the replies you guys have made, I think I'm going to try and get a Sony S638F. I've been looking around, but it doesn't seem like there is any stores or sites that sells them. It seems most sites have the S730s. How is the SQ of the 730s compared to the 630s?

they are same exact thing, 730 has USELESS NC feature

 

[DJGeorgeT]

Is the s738 really the same as the s638 in terms of sound quality???????

 

[Calexico]

Yes.