[Brewmaster]

Thanks to DRM once again kicking me in the teeth (will I ever learn), I'm looking for another portable player.

My dilemma is as follows:
I'm tired of music dissapearing from my Napster subscription.
I love the Fuze.
In Canada it appears that Itunes is my only option for DRM free tracks for alot of the music I like. Itunes+ is available for lots of tracks that Puretracks only has available in protected WMA.

So I've decided to abandon my subscription service and start purchasing music, but I won't buy DRM protected music.

So basically what I would like is a DAP that is very close to the Fuze that plays AAC tracks.

Things I like about the Fuze are:
Small size
Audio quality
Easy navigation
Expandable memory (ok, I might have to compromise on this one).

Any recomendations on a player I can look at to replace my Fuze?

 

[ZARIM]

I find Philips SA5295(best buy) is very close to Sansa Fuze in term of sound quality

 

[member1982]

hummmm creative zen, and creative xfi. alot of players still wont play protective aac tracks thou.

 

[Brewmaster]

Quote:

Originally Posted by member1982 /img/forum/go_quote.gif hummmm creative zen, and creative xfi. alot of players still wont play protective aac tracks thou.

Thanks. I don't need protected aac, as most tracks on Itunes are now non protected.

 

[Brewmaster]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZARIM /img/forum/go_quote.gif I find Philips SA5295(best buy) is very close to Sansa Fuze in term of sound quality

Looks like a decent player. I'm going to see if I can find one locally to view in person.

 

[member1982]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brewmaster /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks. I don't need protected aac, as most tracks on Itunes are now non protected.

humm isnt non-protected music = mp3? (there is also an option to convert them to mp3)
Although i never bought anything from itunes (still prefer CDs )

 

[member1982]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZARIM /img/forum/go_quote.gif I find Philips SA5295(best buy) is very close to Sansa Fuze in term of sound quality

omG the Philips spec sheet shows the SA5295 output is only 2.4mW? although doesnt specific at which ohms... Yeah depends on the headphones u are using thou.

 

[Brewmaster]

Quote:

Originally Posted by member1982 /img/forum/go_quote.gif humm isnt non-protected music = mp3? (there is also an option to convert them to mp3) Although i never bought anything from itunes (still prefer CDs )

Most of the tracks on Itunes are now available as Itunes+ (higher bitrate 256k and no DRM).

I've given up on CD's. Downloads are lower cost, and far more convenient.

I fall into the camp of those that can't really hear the difference between high bitrate well encoded lossy files vs. losless. I find that the hardware used to listen has a far greater effect on sound quality.

 

[shigzeo]

the sony players available outside of japan are drag and drop and feature aac decoding. i use them with itunes purchases. they are great.

 

[member1982]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brewmaster /img/forum/go_quote.gif Most of the tracks on Itunes are now available as Itunes+ (higher bitrate 256k and no DRM).

What format is it? still AAC or MP3?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brewmaster /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've given up on CD's. Downloads are lower cost, and far more convenient.

I hear ya, Downloads u still pay for internet connection, Im still not convienced what if i have to reinstall? the security of having a physical object and artwork still i like I Still do shopping, or i can order CDs from online and let them deliver to my work/home.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brewmaster /img/forum/go_quote.gif I fall into the camp of those that can't really hear the difference between high bitrate well encoded lossy files vs. losless. I find that the hardware used to listen has a far greater effect on sound quality.

Unless someone needs super detail of every sound in the recording... they might as well need good hardware first, then the lossless will give you that... but i havent tried it 320KB vs Lossless my self... There were some differences on 192KB some details just wasnt as audiable and everything seems to be congested as well.

 

[chinesekiwi]

the difference on portable players = nil for me. (Vorbis -q8 vs. lossless).
Difference home setup wise = much noticeable.

It's silly to put lossless on most portable setups imo.

 

[jmonfar]

Doing today a similar quest for my son... and looking too for expandable memory AND AAC (as I'll provide him with both MP3 and non-DRM m4a files).

There is not much to choose in the market that fills both requirements. Many players around, but few have this features. Sony's do AAC, but none have expandable memory. Some Cowon's take SD cards, but don't do AAC (even if they do Ogg and FLAC). Most others don't do either.

My search has reduced the selection to Sansa View (as Fuze and Clip don't take AAC - clip does not take memory cards, either), and Creative Zen's. They both play AAC and accept SD/SDHC cards. Similar prices for similar capacity, too.

I have discarded the Creative Zen (simple Zen and Zen X-Fi) because several reports and reviews clearly state that the memory card support is totally crippled: files in internal memory and on card are accessed from different menu items, with significantly less options for card files. So the card support is there, but is almost a joke. And apparently Creative will not do anything about it, as reports about this issue extend from older models and several years ago. They don't care.

The Sansa View seems to have all you want, except that is perhaps bigger than expected if compared with the Fuze, for example. I have not had yet any on my hands; according to specifications, seems to be pretty slim and not heavy weigth, but the 2.4" screen has it's size, so it's not exactly small. Likely to fit well in any pocket, but not like the fuze or clip.

Another caveat is that the supported memory cards on the Sansa are microSD/SDHC, not full size SD like in the Creative. That could leave out some or all the cards you could already own. But price is the same, and so cheap right now, that I don't consider this a problem right now, and even less in the future.

The last possible issue is that, while you can find Creative stuff almost anywhere, as most Sandisk stuff, the Sansa players are far less easy to find. At least, in my area, and for what I can remember. Have yet to try with the Sansa View...

From my side, I made my decission, and I'll try to find a Sansa View for my son. Hope it's not too difficult to find.

Hope this helps.