[seatown7]

My 90 year old mother is dying. She is a life long music lover, teacher, and choir director who played violin and piano and got her degree is music theory.
 
I can't think of anything she would enjoy more than listening to some of her favorite composers, hymns and singers while she is in hospice.
 
I am an Apple user and have several iPods - Nano, Touch etc..
 
I think these are too small and complicated for her to use on her own and was wondering if there were any digital players out there that would be easier for her to manipulate. Anything come to mind?
 
Also, I'd like to get her some headphones that have decent sound and gentle clamping force. Probably over ears would be the only thing that she'd be able to stand for long periods of time since she is essentially confined to bed.
 
I'm burning discs to iTunes and compiling a playlist for her...I use Apple Lossless...transferring that to whatever player needs to be easy.
 
I don't care about costs but she'd probably still give me a lickin' if I spent more than a few hundred dollars on her...say $500
 
Thanks in advance...your suggestions are appreciated.

 

[KG Jag]

Think about getting her the HD 598 with shorter 1/8" replacement cable.
 
Not an expert on DAPS, but you might look into what iBasso and Hidiz offer.  With regard to the second see:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/745676/christmas-sale-hidizs-ap100-for-219-only
 
All the best to your mom.  Earlier this year my 90 aunt had to move to a nursing home and hospice has been discussed.  My 91 year old mother in law has been in and out of "in place" hospice.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

For the player, would she be able to manipulate an iPod Touch? My grandmother did a lot better learning to use an iPad thanks to the touchscreen (she has her own now and she plays PvZ all day) than my grandfather did learning to use a discman (you don't exactly have triangle, square, double triangles hitting a wall, etc on a TT), plus he can't see the tiny markings without his glasses. The Fiio X3 uses old buttons but she might not be able to see those very well, plus you're using iTunes and you want transfers to be easy (and from experience, a lot of people who like iTunes are usually shocked at the complexity of "edit tags, then drag n' drop").

 

For the headphone, there's the K550 and K551. Both work well enough out of an iPod Touch, but you have to adjust the clamping force if she complains she can't hear any bass (I really don't think that will be something she would look for in her music though).

 

[DrSheep]

I think you should go large size like a personal media player (e.g., iriver P7, Cowon X9) of the old or just use a tablet with an DAC/AMP via OTG or CCK.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  I think you should go large size like a personal media player (e.g., iriver P7, Cowon X9) of the old or just use a tablet with an DAC/AMP via OTG or CCK.

 

I wouldn't recommend having a complex set-up like that for a 90yo in a hospice. Either she jerks the cables off by accident, or an orderly spins around at some point and knocks it off the table, and they might not be able to figure out how to put all that back together (that's assuming "put all that back together" just means getting the adapters and cables in properly, instead of a Humpty Dumpty situation). Given how many people get confused with computer cables as it is (even after you've told them, "that one won't fit in anything it wasn't designed for! just look for that port!"), if you're not the only one (or someone you know you can teach) using it or will be around to configure it, just use one player and a headphone that it can drive.

 

[billybob_jcv]

I think I would avoid the entire aspect of selecting songs on the DAP. I would use an iPOD shuffle set to random. Push the middle button to start, push it again to pause. Up for more volume, down for less. As easy as it gets, and she doesn't have to even see the buttons. Get her a pair of Sennheiser PX100 so there's no need to mess around with amps.

This is not about getting audiophile sound. This is about quality of life and giving her something to ease her final days.