[newkstime]

I apologize for being a bit of a newbie. I am looking for an affordable portable player that will do a good job playing flac files. I am open to smaller 4 gig players but would prefer 20+

I have been checking out iriver players on ebay. The H320 and H340 seem to still be $$ and I don't know ho easy the whole rockbox deal is. The H10 20g seems very affordable is this a good option for flac with or without rockbox.

Also there are some rebuilt rio karma's out there.... @ $100 w/new drives. are these great with flac.

I am little nervous about the older players and Vista, is this a problem ?

my other thought was one of the cowen players like the D2.

I would prefer to spend under $150 new or used and be able to drag and drop files etc with trouble free flac.

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks !!

 

[breakfastchef]

FLAC is a great lossless format, but hardly worthwile when played from a portable player. Pick any player you like and use OGG or high rate MP3; you probably cannot tell the difference - I certainly can't. Save your money for a more revealing home rig where you will really appreciate files ripped to FLAC.

 

[newkstime]

I appreciate that. Is there a way to have the files as flac on my computer and have them converted to ogg etc.. on the player so I don't have to have duplicate files in different formats on my machine.

Call me crazy but for me the difference between wav/lossless and even high rate mp3/4/etc. is present.

I don't need to have my whole collection with me and 20gigs would give at least 50 - 60 albums in flac, along with a portable amp and nice pohnes I won't be complaining.

 

[breakfastchef]

An app like MediaMonkey makes it rather easy to convert files from FLAC to MP3 or Ogg to a portable device. There are lots of great tools to help you tag and organize your music.

I run a Cowon X5L and cannot really hear a difference between a FLAC file and a high bit rate MP3. After all, it is a $200 player, and I would expect a system costing 10x as much should definitely reveal the differences. Hence my comments about building a decent home rig as fund permit. Cheers.

 

[ccfoodog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by newkstime /img/forum/go_quote.gif I appreciate that. Is there a way to have the files as flac on my computer and have them converted to ogg etc.. on the player so I don't have to have duplicate files in different formats on my machine.

J River Media Center will transcode files on the fly (or more accurately, on the sync).

-john

 

[Equus]

Just a note, I think the MediaMonkey conversion on the fly requires you to actually purchase it, rather than use the free version. At least, that's what I seem to remember, but I could be wrong. I shelled out the money, and it's been a long time since I used the free version.

Not meaning to be argumentative or anything, just pointing that out in case. ^_^

 

[warrior05]

Cowon's DAPs plays FLAC as well as Trekstor's Vibez. You can also Rockbox most iPods (not the most recent 6G) and play FLAC.