[Hentai11]

My current setup is a Rockboxed Sansa e260+microSDHC, and I'm happy.

BUT, I heard that I might be sacrificing sound quality. If so, I need to upgrade.

My requirements:

-If I can't expect a serious upgrade in SQ, I'm happy as-is.
-No HD players less than 40G. The 32G SDHC cards are coming out.
-Rockbox, or EQ/audio tweaking of comparable quality.

Don't need video. (On those screens? Please.) I like battery life, but I'm not rigid over it. AC adapters are nice, but this will be mostly a mobile unit.

I use IEMs, so I almost never amp.

I'm thinking <$300 USD. I don't mind paying more if quality is commensurate to price. Sound quality, that is. I don't care for pretty bells and whistles--a battered stainless steel cube would do, if it sounds right.

So, should I go shopping, or is it Sansa For Life?

 

[rawrster]

I have not tried the Sony X, S9, or whatever the best dap is these days. I've tried 5.5G, e260 rockboxed, Sony A818, cowon D2 and fuze rockboxed.

Now I haven't done an A/B comparison between any of them so take this how you will. The only time I noticed a better sound was when I went from my D2 to a fuze rockboxed. I can test out the e260 and fuze later if you really want since both are rockboxed but it probably won't be a large upgrade in SQ. It has been a while since I used the e260 as a dap since I use it mainly to burn in. However finding a v1 fuze is not as easy as a v2 since as of right now v1 can be rockboxed while v2 cannot.

 

[roebeet]

I started off my current DAP fixation with the E200 v1 - a great player, especially when Rockboxed. But, the SQ was lacking, imo.

I think many of the newer players will give you a substantial SQ improvement. From my experience, the S9 is very good due to its EQ settings (not as advanced as Rockbox, of course) - but you're also paying for the video screen which may not interest you.

I would also recommend a Fuze v1 to Rockbox (the Fuze chipset is different than the E200 - I believe it's similar to the Clip). Problem is finding one. I've never had a Fuze v1, but I have a Clip v1 (Rockboxed) and I believe the SQ is noticeably better than my old Rockboxed E250.

 

[Blue Meanie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roebeet /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would also recommend a Fuze v1 to Rockbox (the Fuze chipset is different than the E200 - I believe it's similar to the Clip). Problem is finding one. I've never had a Fuze v1, but I have a Clip v1 (Rockboxed) and I believe the SQ is noticeably better than my old Rockboxed E250.

Perhaps my memory is faulty, but isn't the chipset in the E200v2 the same as the chipset in the Clip v1 and the Fuze v1?

All I know is that my v2 E200 sounds better than my v1 E200 on the original firmware. The v2 E200 Rockboxed also sounds better to me than my v1 E200 Rockboxed did, too.

 

[Deep Funk]

Clip +?

 

[roebeet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Meanie /img/forum/go_quote.gif Perhaps my memory is faulty, but isn't the chipset in the E200v2 the same as the chipset in the Clip v1 and the Fuze v1? All I know is that my v2 E200 sounds better than my v1 E200 on the original firmware. The v2 E200 Rockboxed also sounds better to me than my v1 E200 Rockboxed did, too.

i know that the chipset in the v2 E200 is different than the v1, but I'm not sure if it's the same as the Clip / Fuze v1's.

I actually wasn't aware that the v2 E200's could be Rockboxed, now. My bad on that. If the OP has a v2 E200, then I would agree that the SQ difference may be negligible with a Fuze. But if the OP has a v1 E200, then a Fuze should be a noticeable SQ improvement.

I believe the way to tell is with the firmware version - if it's 1.xxxx, then it's a v1. If it's 3.xxxx, then it's a v2.

 

[Blue Meanie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roebeet /img/forum/go_quote.gif i know that the chipset in the v2 E200 is different than the v1, but I'm not sure if it's the same as the Clip / Fuze v1's. I actually wasn't aware that the v2 E200's could be Rockboxed, now. My bad on that. If the OP has a v2 E200, then I would agree that the SQ difference may be negligible with a Fuze. But if the OP has a v1 E200, then a Fuze should be a noticeable SQ improvement. I believe the way to tell is with the firmware version - if it's 1.xxxx, then it's a v1. If it's 3.xxxx, then it's a v2.

FWIW, I just did some checking, and the E200v2 does indeed utilize the same chipset as the v1 Clip and v1 Fuze.

I'm not sure how long the rockbox porting has been stable on the v2 E200. I had checked a few months ago, and it wasn't. Just for the heck of it, I checked a couple weeks ago, and there were no major issues reported anymore, so I tried it. So far, so good.

You are correct about using the firmware version to determine which E200 one has.

 

[Hentai11]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deep Funk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Clip +?

How's the audio tweaking on that? (Since it's currently Rockbox-incompatible.)

 

[roebeet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hentai11 /img/forum/go_quote.gif How's the audio tweaking on that? (Since it's currently Rockbox-incompatible.)

Several EQ presets and one custom 5 band custom EQ you can alter. Not even close to Rockbox, but better than some other DAP's.

 

[Hentai11]

Finally buckled and went with a v1 Fuze. Thanks everyone!