ljokerl
Portables Reviewerus Prolificus
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2009
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Just thought I’d share my recent thoughts on bang-for-the-buck portable audio. I was recently involved in an argument with my friend, who is convinced that his iPod Nano 8gb (latest gen), used with apple iBuds, of course, is a great-sounding “budget” setup. Well, I consider the $150 he paid to be quite a lot of money for something that sounds as awful as a Nano with iBuds, so obviously the question had to be asked: how much could I beat that by and still have something that sounds better for casual listening.
The point wasn’t to match the iPod feature-for-feature. The emphasis here was only on the sound quality per dollar, as my friend does not use any of the features anyway and only has a few hundred songs on the Nano. Here’s what I came up with:
1Gb Sansa Clip, refurbished. $13.99 shipped from Buy.com (also available from woot on occasion)
JVC HA-S150 “Flats”, open-box. $5.59 from Ebay (can be had for even less now)
To test my theory, I used the above rig as my primary setup for several days, and I can say that I enjoyed every second of it. I never felt like a huge chunk of the music was missing like I did when I listened to my Sansa E280 with stock earbuds for a day. Yes, it might be harsh and lacking in detail and extension compared to my usual setup (Cowon D2->Ety Er6i w/olives), but it is still hugely enjoyable – and at just about 1/10 of the cost. If I ever needed money badly, I would sell all the gear I have and just keep that setup, and wouldn’t be much worse off for it.
I think that with the above setup, one could get much, much better sound than what lots of people listen to for several (dozen) times the cost. That setup comes out to less than $20, which is what someone might drop on a good lunch, and it sounds great. As a final test I had my friend listen to it (blindly) and his response, ironically, was this: “Well we don’t all have hundreds of dollars to drop on fancy audio equips like you.” Yes, my friends often tell me that my audio hobby is a disease. But if my disease means that I can enjoy wonderful tunes for under $20 total, I’ll happily toss any medication I’m given out the window.
The point wasn’t to match the iPod feature-for-feature. The emphasis here was only on the sound quality per dollar, as my friend does not use any of the features anyway and only has a few hundred songs on the Nano. Here’s what I came up with:
1Gb Sansa Clip, refurbished. $13.99 shipped from Buy.com (also available from woot on occasion)
JVC HA-S150 “Flats”, open-box. $5.59 from Ebay (can be had for even less now)
To test my theory, I used the above rig as my primary setup for several days, and I can say that I enjoyed every second of it. I never felt like a huge chunk of the music was missing like I did when I listened to my Sansa E280 with stock earbuds for a day. Yes, it might be harsh and lacking in detail and extension compared to my usual setup (Cowon D2->Ety Er6i w/olives), but it is still hugely enjoyable – and at just about 1/10 of the cost. If I ever needed money badly, I would sell all the gear I have and just keep that setup, and wouldn’t be much worse off for it.
I think that with the above setup, one could get much, much better sound than what lots of people listen to for several (dozen) times the cost. That setup comes out to less than $20, which is what someone might drop on a good lunch, and it sounds great. As a final test I had my friend listen to it (blindly) and his response, ironically, was this: “Well we don’t all have hundreds of dollars to drop on fancy audio equips like you.” Yes, my friends often tell me that my audio hobby is a disease. But if my disease means that I can enjoy wonderful tunes for under $20 total, I’ll happily toss any medication I’m given out the window.
