My super-budget portable setup

[ljokerl]

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.

 

[captian73]

that's bargain hunting at it's best. those JVC looks cool.

JVC HA-S150, Consumer Electronics items at low prices on eBay.co.uk

 

[thwood3]

Don't try to change your friend's mind about his set-up. He'll just find some defensive reason to accuse you of irrationality or snobbishness or some other moral failing. I've learned this the hard way. People never like being accused of being dopes... even when or especially when they are dopes. I-pods are for the cool people and those that follow them. People (like us) who are into the Clip are living on a different planet.

I was told last week why the nano is superior to the non-ipod players and I hadn't even said anything about it. I just listened and nodded my head.

Cheers.

PS Not trying to start anything w/ the Apple-people on this board! Your stuff is great!

 

[ljokerl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by captian73 /img/forum/go_quote.gif that's bargain hunting at it's best. those JVC looks cool. JVC HA-S150, Consumer Electronics items at low prices on eBay.co.uk

Wow, they're a good bit more pricy in the UK. The ebay.com prices fluctuate quite a bit, but the black open-box ones go quick here as well. The pink ones are plentiful though

Quote:

Originally Posted by thwood3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Don't try to change your friend's mind about his set-up. He'll just find some defensive reason to accuse you of irrationality or snobbishness or some other moral failing. I've learned this the hard way. People never like being accused of being dopes... even when or especially when they are dopes. I-pods are for the cool people and those that follow them. People (like us) who are into the Clip are living on a different planet.

Ah yes, I, too, find it futile to respond to true ipod fanboys, but my friend is a reasonable person, so I was not entriely unsuccessful. Though he still uses the nano, he has acknowledged that the Fuze is a better price/performance player with no sacrifices feature-wise over the nano. He also now has some decent earphones on the way (Maximo Im-490s). Not saying I've managed to convert someone over, but that's one set of ibuds soon to be removed from the face of the planet (or at least put out of sight)

.

 

[tstarn06]

Cool budget rig. I had a comparable setup with the same Woot! Clip deal (still have that DAP) and a $6 pair of KSc75s I got (have since given them to a nephew, Kramer modded of course).

My best budget rig however was the same Clip with a pair of Sony EX36B in-ear phones I got with 1900 points via my Sony VISA. So total cost $14.99. Not fair, I guess. Oh, the phones came with a complete set of Sony hybrid tips too, which are $10-$12 on Amazon, and that's how I "discovered" them. They are now my favorite tip for any canal phones.

 

[thwood3]

Quote:

Not saying I've managed to convert someone over, but that's one set of ibuds soon to be removed from the face of the planet (or at least put out of sight)

Hehe. I bought JVC marshmallows for my sister-in-law's i-pod but I made sure to get the silver/white ones so she might be able to go stealth and not be identified as a traitor to the realm of the round red fruit.

 

[billybob_jcv]

I tried a couple of different canal phones with my son, but he claims to prefer the apple buds. He also kept breaking them by yanking them out of his ears by the wires. So, I bought a lot of 10 apple buds on ebay. They are almost certainly fake, but he's happy, and I think the price came out to only a couple of bucks each. Teenagers are always smarter than parents...

 

[ljokerl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tstarn06 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Cool budget rig. I had a comparable setup with the same Woot! Clip deal (still have that DAP) and a $6 pair of KSc75s I got (have since given them to a nephew, Kramer modded of course). My best budget rig however was the same Clip with a pair of Sony EX36B in-ear phones I got with 1900 points via my Sony VISA. So total cost $14.99. Not fair, I guess. Oh, the phones came with a complete set of Sony hybrid tips too, which are $10-$12 on Amazon, and that's how I "discovered" them. They are now my favorite tip for any canal phones.

Sounds like a hell of a deal

. And yeah, imo not fair because I tried to make it something people could actually replicate given a bit of time and desire. Still, very nice uber-budget setup. Would like to hear more people's opinions on the cheapest way to get decent audio on the go.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thwood3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hehe. I bought JVC marshmallows for my sister-in-law's i-pod but I made sure to get the silver/white ones so she might be able to go stealth and not be identified as a traitor to the realm of the round red fruit.

My marshmallows were the first thing I considered for the budget rig and they are a bit more portable than the flats. However, even kramer-modded they don't sound nearly as good as the flats to me.

 

[priest]

Looks like an excellent budget rig.

 

[Young Spade]

Awesome job man.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljokerl /img/forum/go_quote.gif The point wasn’t to match the iPod feature-for-feature. The emphasis here was only on the sound quality per dollar[...]

Bullseye! In a budget-constrained situation, this focuses your resources on sound, which is supposed to be the point.

The profusion of useless (to me) features in many, if not most DAPs, is the reason I have never really warmed to the category.

Frankly, I wish it were possible to more easily extend this idea to more expensive players. Trouble is, spending more on a DAP by no means guarantees better sound. Instead, you generally get a better screen (for higher-res images of piano-playing kittens), along with a boatload of features that also have nothing to do with sound.

 

[ljokerl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by priest /img/forum/go_quote.gif Looks like an excellent budget rig.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Young Spade /img/forum/go_quote.gif Awesome job man.

Thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrBenway /img/forum/go_quote.gif Bullseye! In a budget-constrained situation, this focuses your resources on sound, which is supposed to be the point. The profusion of useless (to me) features in many, if not most DAPs, is the reason I have never really warmed to the category. Frankly, I wish it were possible to more easily extend this idea to more expensive players. Trouble is, spending more on a DAP by no means guarantees better sound. Instead, you generally get a better screen (for higher-res images of piano-playing kittens), along with a boatload of features that also have nothing to do with sound.

Absolutely. I think there is a very small handful of companies who are actually focusing on sound rather than flash because, sadly, the piano-playing kittens are what sells DAPs these days. At least cowon tried by introducing a good number of audio tweaks alongside all the fancy plugins and utilities on their latest players. The AMP3, the hifiman, and the rumoured Fiio DAP are the only purely audio-focused players I can think of off the top of my head, but we can certainly hope for more.

 

[Anonanimal]

Very cool budget setup, thanks for the work you did on that!

 

[ljokerl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anonanimal /img/forum/go_quote.gif Very cool budget setup, thanks for the work you did on that!

Thanks, just came back from another day at work with that same setup.

I know I don't have to use it anymore as I have proved my point (at least to myself), but something just made me grab it again this morning over the adjacent D2/Etys rig

.

 

[Anonanimal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljokerl /img/forum/go_quote.gif I know I don't have to use it anymore as I have proved my point (at least to myself), but something just made me grab it again this morning over the adjacent D2/Etys rig .

I think sometimes we all just want a sanity check- and it feels great when you can prove that more $$ doesn't always mean the best!