Okay...
A
very brief run down of the main players - my opinions, so - by no means authoritive...
Sixth (and last) place goes to the Cowon D2, it may well be highly regarded here at head-fi, but the combination of a non linear volume control, and a tone that MUST be tweaked to sound its best... its just not for me
Fifth place is for the Creative Zen, Not a terrible player, but can sound a bit thick / wooly, add in the fatal flaw of the music on your SD card being in a seperate library to your main music...
Fourth, the iPod Classic, Not too bad, but the overall sound (from the headphone out) is a bit... erm.. yellow, a bit coloured, and ultimately a bit thin... The line out is a different story as is well known, but - for this, I am looking at the 'phone out only...
Third is the iPhone 3G, a fair improvement over the classic, generally a nice sound, but sounds a bit thin at times...
Runner up is the Zune 30, nothing wrong with the sound at all, a really great player - to the point that I have been toying with - for months, importing the Zune 120... until that is...
The Sony NWZ-X1060B popped up in first place - the overall tone is well balanced, with PRaT that I haven't heard from any other player - tie that in with the quality of the S-Master output (where the seperation of instruments can best be described as holographic), and you have a new king of the hill
Like I say, incredibly brief, and not really describing anything, but - it gives you my top six in the order I like them...
If you want a fuller comparison between one and another, let me know, and I will see what I can do...