[ethanlives]

I'm looking to buy an inexpensive, very compact flash player with great sound quality in the 2 - 4 GB range to be matched with a pair of the Koss PortaPros unamped. I've done some research on here and it seems the players above are most likely some of my best choices. But are they capable of powering the PortaPros? I want this inexpensive, compact setup for use on my bike, hence the open cans. Any other suggestions for very small, very light, cheap players are welcome. Thanks!

 

[4saken]

The Sansa Clip is definitely the way to go.

 

[soozieq]

ethanlives - I bought my sister-in-law the Sony B105 and she hated it because she couldn't get loud enough volume from it. I tested it before I sent it to her, and I had to have it at about 90% even with decent earphones. The sound wasn't bad, but the Clip's been getting really good reviews. More people seem to have tried the Clip than the Sony.

 

[synaesthetic]

Sony is in love with their wimpy 5mW+5mW headphone outputs (mostly because it makes their battery life figures look stratospheric). Sadly they just don't put out enough juice for less-sensitive or higher impedance headphones.

 

[ethanlives]

Thank you guys very much for your recommendations. I was leaning towards the Clip in the first place, but there's so much hype on the current Sony DAPs that I wanted to make sure I was making a good decision. Looks like I'll probably be picking up a Clip.

 

[soozieq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by synaesthetic /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sony is in love with their wimpy 5mW+5mW headphone outputs (mostly because it makes their battery life figures look stratospheric). Sadly they just don't put out enough juice for less-sensitive or higher impedance headphones.

Well, the B105 has the same output as the 800/820 series and they go way loud enough. There must be some difference in the internals for the volume levels to be so different between models. And I never read too much into numbers, since there's a Zen Touch in the house too with 16mW+16mW outputs and my 808 and 829 play louder than that with no strain at all. Plus they handled the SA6 50ohms earphones with no problem. I know they're not high impedance, but really high impedance phones normally need an amp anyway for the majority of daps.

 

[evilking]

Or you could go for this:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f43/fs...ldwide-340131/

Same as the Clip just different form (built in USB) and microSD slot (8gb expansion).



EK

 

[rr423]

sansa express doesn't sound the same as the clip

 

[ethanlives]

Just wanted to say I picked up a 4 GB Clip and the PortaPros and I am damn impressed with the quality of sound. My typical setup is the D2 with some Atrios, which I love, and this new setup doesn't stray too far in terms of satisfaction, and so much cheaper! Anyhow, thanks for the suggestions as I'm very pleased with my purchase.

 

[todd92371]

I have been using the clip with the ER4p's and am really blown away. I love the sound of this combination. Hard to believe this little player was only 40 some dollars. Everyone mentions using it as a portable player. To heck with that- I'm using it at home.

todd

 

[tds101]

clip is the way to go - got mine jacked by my sis-in-law and she loves the SQ & so did I.

 

[Tomikans]

Sometimes i prefer my clip to my p2 just because the flat sq is just much more appealing than the p2.

the clip will be my permanent gym dap though.. its awesome. now i need to get some nice earphones .. looking at buying another pair of pk3's. (i bought pk3's for my gf's birthday and now i want to buy one for myself)

 

[ethanlives]

What other headphones work well with the Clip unamped? PortaPros and Atrios sound great with it. I'd be interested to check out a pair of earbuds with a warm sound... damn you Head-Fi!

 

[randomprecision]

Just so you guys thinking about Sansa players know, I had an older Sansa and for whatever reason, my computer no longer recognizes it. It still works. I just can't put any new music on it or take any off. I'm just stuck with what was on there. I babied that thing. I never dropped it, banged it around or anything. Then, one day, I plugged it in and nothing. Computer just said it didn't recognize it. I tried everything I could think of and everything people recommended online. No luck.

Of course, this may not mean anything. Customer feedback on Sansa players is generally positive and maybe I just got a bad one or something. But it worked fine for about 8 months. Consider that many people may not bother giving a product a negative review many months after they buy it if it dies. But I do expect something like that to last at least a year. I don't see any reason why the expected life shouldn't be at least 3 years.

Just be aware. It might be better in the long run to spend more up front and get something nice that will last.

 

[ethanlives]

That's why I got Best Buy's 2 year replacement plan for 12 dollars. They'll replace it up to two years later no questions asked. Gonna be turning it in for a new model whether it's broken or not.