MP3 Player with the Essentials?
May 26, 2008 at 6:38 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 10

rwest1389

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Well I'm moving on from ipod (about time), and I'm looking for a replacement. What I'm looking for (ranked with importance):

1) battery life
2) sound quality (able to drive hfi780s pretty well)
3) more memory the better, 16 GB+ (SD or not I don't really care)
4) not too bulky, small is good
5) of course, cheaper is better

Besides these things, I don't care if it has a fancy screen, I won't be watching movies on it, no recording shows or wifi or any of that stuff. A line-out would be nice only if the player can't drive hfi780s well enough.

what I'm looking at so far:

Cowon iAudio 7
Cowon D2

So I'm pretty much looking for something that doesn't exist, but what comes closest?

Any suggestions/info is appreciated
 
May 26, 2008 at 7:03 PM Post #2 of 10
Those cowons are the only ones I can think of that fit just about all of your criteria.

Since you said you won't be watching videos, then the iaudio7 would be perfect for you.
In fact the iaudio7 has better battery life than the D2, plus it's smaller.
 
May 26, 2008 at 7:14 PM Post #3 of 10
An 8GB Sansa Fuze + 8GB microSDHC card will get you to 16GB right now, for less than Cowons will run you. It's smaller in size than the Cowon D2, and unlike the iAudio 7, it's expandable so it can grow in the future. In terms of sound quality, unless you need the tweakability of the Cowon players, the Fuze is actually preferable in my opinion.
 
May 26, 2008 at 7:16 PM Post #4 of 10
The iAudio 7 is your best bet, and that is because of the following:
1. Amazing battery life rated at 60 hours for audio playback.
2. Very good sound quality.
3. It has a very good internal amplifier. In fact, it is one of the best internal amplifiers seen on a DAP, so it will be capable of driving higher impedance headphones with more ease compared to other DAPs(except the Cowon D2).
3. Comes in 16GB flash capacity.
4. Small and not bulky.

The price for the 16GB version on Amazon.com is 198$. Check it out: Amazon.com: iAUDIO I7-16RD 16GB Portable Multimedia Player Red: Electronics
 
May 26, 2008 at 11:32 PM Post #6 of 10
yeah I've been leaning toward iAudio 7. Has anyone tried driving full sized cans from the sansa fuze? It too looks tempting, but I wouldn't mind shelling out a little more so that I don't need to carry around an amp.
 
May 26, 2008 at 11:43 PM Post #7 of 10
The administrators over at ABi have tried the Sansa Clip (which has the same sound output as the Fuze), with the HFI-780's with no amp

Quote:

Originally Posted by dfkt
Since the Fuze sounds like the Clip (as Enzo said, and since they use the same SOC/DAC/CODEC), it should most likely be one of the best sounding players available. I used my Clip with several high-end headphones (SE530, HFI-780, HD650+amp, ...), and it withstood every single test - it just sounds really great.


Source: abi>> Fuze Review - Sansa Fuze - abi>>forums
 
May 26, 2008 at 11:48 PM Post #8 of 10
Hmm the Fuze has the same output as the Clip but with an SD slot? Hmm.
 
May 27, 2008 at 12:14 AM Post #9 of 10
Hmm is right. Oh, could anyone comment on if there is any noise for very sensitive iems (westone) for either iAudio7 and the Fuze? I can't stand the hiss coming from an ipod.
 
May 27, 2008 at 12:48 AM Post #10 of 10
No annoying hiss from the Fuze with my AH-C700's or X3i's, which might not be quite as sensitive as the UM1's, but I bet you'd find it doesn't hiss
 

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