[NEO]

Ipod 3-4 G
Iriver IHP-1xx
Rio Karma
Zen/Zen Xtra
Dell DJ
Philips
Others

 

[Dane]

You'll probably not find many people who have heard all those players.

 

[Edwood]

Heheh, you mean, Rio Karma?


Are you talking all things being equal, like all having same MP3 at the same bit rate?

Because, I can think of quite a few that sound so much better because they can play uncompressed wav's and lossless. But at a huge storage penalty.

-Ed

 

[Kirosia]

You should ask austonia, he's heard plenty of DAPs. As for me, I'd vote for the ipod just to spite my iriver.

 

[chicubs]

I voted for the philips hdd120 out of blind loyality

....If I didnt it would hurt my players feelings...

*whisphers* [size=x-small][size=xx-small]the karma actually sounds better[/size][/size] *whispers*

 

[Edvard_Grieg]

Karma all the way, I second asking Austonia, but I can pretty much guarantee he will tell you the Karma as far as modern day DAPs go, and probably the NJB3 for all HD DAPs, on strictly a sound quality basis that is.

 

[purk]

If you prefer "fun" go with Iriver, if you want "accurate" go with Ipod. I heard both and they have their good and bad. If you don't own amp and don't mind using EQ, Iriver is a very nice sounding player.

 

[Megaman]

I think this poll is not gonna yield valid results, cause most people only heard the player they own and gonna blindly vote for it.

Personally I only heard the Dell DJ and the IHP, and the DJ sounds way better to my ears.

 

[Old Pa]

Alesis MasterLink 9600

 

[bangraman]

Smartass.
This is actually portable. Well sort of. Hey Mr. Gilmore, you watching?

Owned/own: iHP, iPod, Zen, iAudio, NJB3. I might vote for Others (NJB) as an overall aggregate of the HP and Line outputs. However of those on the list, I'll have to vote for the iPod since I've not owned the Rio and have no idea what it sounds like, and the Zen's results are inconclusive as it wasn't properly compared with the iPod.

 

[JaZZ]

Now that I own one: the Archos Gmini 220 is the best sounding player I've heard so far. From the ones listed I would choose the iPod.

 

[Old Pa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman Smartass.

Guilty, but only kinda/sorta. MP3s and most other similar formats are not up to a good redbook CD sound quality and the threadstarter's call for suggestions did not mention portable.

 

[raaj]

The fact that the iRiver iHP 1xx received as many votes compared to the Creative Zens show the validity of the poll

IMHO, if you are buying a HDD player purely for its sound quality, iRiver would be perhaps the least bang for the buck (damn BestBuy still tries to rip people off by listing the iHP120 for $329.00

..)

The new king of bang for the buck might be the Karma or the 4G iPod.. (I am going to check them out myself over a period of the next two weeks, comparing them with common test samples)

I voted Creative Zens (by implication, the NJB3) based on my experience with the NJB3 and the iRiver iHP 120..

 

[Orestes]

Rio Karma! Best sound! Best interface!

 

[chumley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edvard_Grieg Karma all the way, I second asking Austonia, but I can pretty much guarantee he will tell you the Karma as far as modern day DAPs go, and probably the NJB3 for all HD DAPs, on strictly a sound quality basis that is.

Austonia knows the 3G/4G iPod's L/O is the best source out of * any * HD DAP. He just hates to admit it.