[csharpminor]

Hi,
 
I'm going to try to keep this short...
 
I currently have a rockboxed ipod classic 5g 30gb with mid-level Shure IEMs. The ipod battery is almost dead and with a large collection of music (hundreds of GBs), I'm getting tired of always having to delete/re-upload music to my player. Now that rockbox is finally stable on IPC7g I was thinking about getting the 160gb version, but I was surprised to see how many new, high-quality players are available at reasonable prices nowadays. The idea is that, with SD card expansion, maybe I could get a better-sounding player for similar amount of money.
 
So my question to you all is: do you think a rockboxed ipod classic 7g can sound as good as other price-comparable options (see below)?
 
My priorities are:
to spend under $300 USD
have a good sounding player
portability (i.e. no ipod+DAC combinations)
lots of available storage (either 100+ gb or via SD cards--i'm hoping for 128gb microSDs in near future, although multiple 64gb will do)
 
I have been considering the following (along with prices, memory specs, and audio hours of listening)
 
replacing the hard drive/battery on the old ipod and calling it good (~$250, 240gb, ?)
iPod classic $250, 160gb, 30hr battery
Cowon X7 $230, 120gb, 100hr
hifiman HM-601 $200, 4gb/sdhc microSD, 10hr
Colorfly c3 $130, 8gb/sdhc microSD (64gb limit!), 10-20hr
NOVA-N3 $200, 16gb/sdhc microSD, 20hr
Fiio X3 $200, 8gb/sdhc microSD, 10hr
iBasso DX50 $240, 8gb/sdXC microSD, 14hr
Cowon J3 $220, 16gb/sdhc microSD, 64hr
Cowon D20 $180 32gb/schc SD, 90hr*
Hisoundaudio Studio 3 Anni Ed. , $300?, 4gb/sdhc microSD, 85hr
a Sony player with sdxc/sdhc?
a Teclast player with sdxc/sdhc?
 
1 microSD 64gb: ~$50
1 SD 128gb: ~$70+
 
The D20 is tempting because it uses an SD, not microSD card... but what about the SQ?
 
Have you heard a rockboxed ipod vs. any of the above players? Is there a huge difference? Worth the hassle of multiple SD cards? Worth the lower battery life? Any other players that I should consider?
 
Your experience and advice are most welcome!!!
 
thanks

 

[DrSheep]

Another lesser known fact to consider: if you get one with Android, you can use it's WiFi with player apps like the Neutron Player to read from network shared folders or WiFi enabled hard drives.  Sony will never release a DAP with microSD support, and this is why I got a WiFi HDD for my F807.  You can do this to some of the Cowons too.  I have not tried this with iOS, but in theory it should work too.