[jonnymk]

Hi friendly people,

Decided to get a portable rig. I don't have alot of time when outside so I would like something small that I can put in my pocket and easily play a few tracks from if I find that moment while not being to complected and valuable.

Previously I had a 4g iPod and found it far to big and serious for portable use; I would call it transportable; Rarely, I take this to work with Grado SR225's - This is the sort of sound I am after.

I am after a media player which can play MP3's, can hopefully take a MicroSD card too and is tiny, AFAIK - nothing else matters. I am also after some IEM's to go with which sound similar to Grado SR225's - stock ear buds always sound terrible to me.

Can't seem find what I'm after and feel like I need pointing in the right direction. All recommendations welcomed!

-Jonathan

 

[battleMAUS]

the new creative zen seems to be getting alot of noise around these parts. it takes microSD if i remember correctly. the sound quality is said to be on par with the recent ipod classic (if not better!). you will need an amp @ work to drive those SR225's (no mp3 player can sufficiently drive these without an amp), or you could purchase SR60s and run them amp less.

if i hadn't already committed to buying a kenwood from a fellow head-fier then this would be my purchase. anyway good luck with the search

 

[rockin_amigo14]

the ZEN takes SD/SDHC cards.

the only players i can think of with microSD expandability are the Insignia Pilot and the SanDisk Sansa e2x0 series, neither of which is known for their sound quality.

the Creative ZEN and the Cowon D2 are probably your best bets for small, expandable flash players with good sound.

if you can ditch the requirement and will take higher capacities, that opens your options quite a bit.

can't say much about the headphones, as I've never heard the 225's. My CrossRoads X3, however, are extremely good. I've really enjoyed using them. Great, warm sound. Sound just as good as my SF5Ps, I think, but we about $100 cheaper.

 

[kpeezy]

I love Grados and for IEMs I liked Etys. They give that incredible treble detail that Grados have and I like that a lot. Lighter on bass than the SR225s but I never minded.

I think the Cowon D2 player has SD card support and is pretty tiny. It also is supposed to have great SQ.

 

[IronStomach]

I'm no expert with IEMs, but in terms of audio players I can recommend the Cowon iAudio 7. It has a pretty small screen, so although it can play video it's pretty much too small to watch comfortably on, but it comes in 4, 8 and 16GB flavours, is pretty small, and has ridonculous battery life (I've tested mine at about 40 hours playing FLAC at about 25/40 volume). Oh, and sound quality is excellent, and the equalizer if you're in to that sort of thing is customizable and very good.