[swanlee]

 
Quote:

I still am of the mind -- hear me Teclast and Nationite -- that this player could be rad, truly rad if: it was small, had buttons, lost the touch screen, and then was given to Rockbox. There are just too many things that are lost on the hardware because of rubbish firmware and the horrid touch interface, a UI that has to be done perfectly otherwise it is rubbish. If Teclast hadn't have jumped the stupid 'me too' bandwagon, this would have been a much better player. And, if the player had gapless and better file system support (ala Rockbox), it would be perfect. 

 
 
I like the size, I'm not looking for a fuse or a clip and this player is certainly smaller than my old Zune30. I think the size feel and form factor are really fine with this player. No way they could get a battery strong enough to power all the chips in the SFLO:2 in a small form factor even if you removed the screen.The battery they use takes up all of the player inside length wise.
 
Rockbox will not be possible on a player using rockchip because they have the SDK under lock and key and seem to make everyone that uses a rockchip in there players sign there life away if that sdk gets leaked. So you can blame rockchip on that.
 
Also the custom UI's that people have created for this are really good, mp4nation has some threads on it they really improve the feel and look of the player. The only real outstanding issue is the lack of proper ID tag support but browsing by directory pretty much fixes that.

 

[shigzeo]

Lack of gapless is a huuuuuge problem for me and honestly, size is a problem. I tend to hate my touch for that very reason. Rockchip are problematic, but that was Teclast decision unfortunately as this thing would be badass if it had rockbox. 

 

[swanlee]

 
Quote:

Lack of gapless is a huuuuuge problem for me and honestly, size is a problem. I tend to hate my touch for that very reason. Rockchip are problematic, but that was Teclast decision unfortunately as this thing would be badass if it had rockbox. 

Lack of gapless is a bummer but even today it seems the amount of DAP's that can do gapless is alot smaller than the ones that can't. At least the way the T/51 handles gaps is quick and painless unlike my zune that had a really annoying click sound when tracks transitioned.
 
So it can't do gapless but at least it's a pretty smooth and not annoying transition.
 
As far using Rockchip seems as though you want a completely different player than the T/51-SFLO:2.
 
I don't think they made this player for your particular needs, I wouldn't complain about buying a Mac Truck when I really wanted to buy a Mini Van.
 
Seems you want a sansa clip that sounds like an SFLO:2 and has the power of an SFLO:2, This player does not exist yet. And the SFLO:2's power and sound require a big battery which would make it unable to be made small.
 
So if you made it small you would have to remove some of the components and put a smaller battery in it which would in the end lower the SQ and defeat the purpose of it.

 

[swanlee]

For those that still think the GUI is horrid here is the GUI I'm using with the 2.2 firmware,
 

 
You  can download the firmware with this GUI here
 
http://www.mp4nation.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=17992
 
 
 

 

[Young Spade]

^Thanks for posting. I really think I might upgrade to that later tonight; I'm still running the 2.0 firmware that the player shipped with I'll read up on the improvements to see if it's worth the hassle. 

 

[shigzeo]

SwanLee - I really don't want a clip. I have that badboy for biking and exercise and when I have no room in my trousers. I most certainly do like the parts in the S:Flo, but I wish they were arranged differently. There are different shapes for batteries out there - I wish they used a square design that was fat rather than long and really, the lack of buttons is a shame. 
 
I like the sound, but GUI nice and lovely does not mean a good navigation system. Please don't read that I don't like the S:Flo; rather read that I wish it was a much nicer player, the player it could have been. It feels like it was made for sound and everything else was slapped together, which is sad.

 

[swanlee]

 
Quote:

SwanLee - I really don't want a clip. I have that badboy for biking and exercise and when I have no room in my trousers. I most certainly do like the parts in the S:Flo, but I wish they were arranged differently. There are different shapes for batteries out there - I wish they used a square design that was fat rather than long and really, the lack of buttons is a shame. 
 
I like the sound, but GUI nice and lovely does not mean a good navigation system. Please don't read that I don't like the S:Flo; rather read that I wish it was a much nicer player, the player it could have been. It feels like it was made for sound and everything else was slapped together, which is sad.

I understand you like parts of it but really you want a completely different player, everything you describe you want is simply never going to be a T-51, like I said it's a mac truck and you want a mini van. This player uses the most powerful battery of any other dap, heck it can power a laptop and even then it only gets 10 hrs, any sacrifice they would make to house a smaller battery would have needed a hardware re design which would reduce the SQ.
 
Your issues aren't just minor tweaks but a completely different player, dont think I'm picking on you or anything your opinions are valid and well thought out but they are not very realistic with this current player. I'm happy they were able to get a player like this out and at a very reasonable price. It's size is pretty standard, and yes it's not a small compact player but it's not like it is a behemoth like the HIFIman or something. It fits right in line with the usual suspects of DAPS. They did a good job balancing size, price vs SQ.

 

[lisztian420]

I agree on the SQ, and that's it.
 
I think not using a big screen might help with battery a little. I also agreed on the touch screen being less than ideal. I think we can all agree that in our market segment, we don't really care about blings and graphics as much as average consumers. I think it's simply fun musing what could be improve on the S:Flo3 or Sflo4.
 
For the price though, I am lovin this player very much: )

 

[JeFFz]

I doubt Teclast would be able to change the teclast t51 to an only-for-audiophile player or to even make one. Their consumers are mainly from China's mass market, where competition between companies is really huge, they don't even care about the outside market. Most China companies' mentality is that the more function their products have, the better it is and this is how people in China see it as well. Teclast is a decently huge consumer electronics company in China and they have a lot of different products; their products are always changing due to the huge competition.
 
I went around a lot of electronic stores in China and none of them sells the teclast t51 anymore; some say that they are out of stock, waiting for more to come in, while others say that the product has stopped production. After that, they start introducing/promoting other teclast products to me -.-
 
The audiophile market is pretty small in China and therefore they won't cater only for this group of people. It's just like Samsung wouldn't be able to make a player only for audiophiles because that market isn't profitable. Maybe companies like head-direct could do it but that's because they are a pretty small company.

 

[lisztian420]

YES YES,  the audiophile market isn't that big. But as you know even 0.01% of the population is quite big in China.
 
I don't think Teclast will make an audiophile dream player, but I think maybe companies like MP4Nations can place special orders from Teclast.
 
Don't forget, China is a growing coutry. 10 years ago, I don't know anyone or any stores that would bother selling hi-end audio equipments, and now there's at afew in every major city.
 
I do know that the probabilty is low, but I hope the growing demand on head-fi, as well as other audiophile sites like erji or andaudio will push the demand up and actually capture some manufacturer's attention. Kinda like Hifiman from HeadDirect.
Quote:

I doubt Teclast would be able to change the teclast t51 to an only-for-audiophile player or to even make one. Their consumers are mainly from China's mass market, where competition between companies is really huge, they don't even care about the outside market. Most China companies' mentality is that the more function their products have, the better it is and this is how people in China see it as well. Teclast is a decently huge consumer electronics company in China and they have a lot of different products; their products are always changing due to the huge competition.
 
I went around a lot of electronic stores in China and none of them sells the teclast t51 anymore; some say that they are out of stock, waiting for more to come in, while others say that the product has stopped production. After that, they start introducing/promoting other teclast products to me -.-
 
The audiophile market is pretty small in China and therefore they won't cater only for this group of people. It's just like Samsung wouldn't be able to make a player only for audiophiles because that market isn't profitable. Maybe companies like head-direct could do it but that's because they are a pretty small company.

 

[JeFFz]

true 0.01% of china's population is huge but i think a lot of audiophiles in China would rather invest their money on other countries' products instead of their own. They would always think that other countries' products will always be superior compared to china company's products.
 
mp4nation could place orders to get THE audiophile player and make it exclusive but i doubt teclast would do it since they don't provide oem solely. 

 

[Young Spade]

Quote:

true 0.01% of china's population is huge but i think a lot of audiophiles in China would rather invest their money on other countries' products instead of their own. They would always think that other countries' products will always be superior compared to china company's products.
 
mp4nation could place orders to get THE audiophile player and make it exclusive but i doubt teclast would do it since they don't provide oem solely. 

Ok now you're just throwing stuff out there to defend your point and oppose JeFFz. If you don't have something legit to put on the table, don't post what you think everyone in China wants to do with their money. C'mon man.
 
If mp4nation or Telecast wanted to make a DAP aimed at audiophiles, I'm sure they could do it. Hell they could use the T51 as a base and modify it to cater to our needs. It has the fanbase to back it up and if it sounds anywhere remotely better than the T51/s:flo2 then it will sell. 

 

[shigzeo]

And, if it would support gapless and have buttons and maybe be smaller, I'd buy it!

 

[JeFFz]

Alright, i guess im wrong trying to interpret what everyone in china would spend their money on, sorry about that. imo head-direct or even other audio company could do it but i just think teclast, as a consumer electronics company, would not invest in audiophile-only products, with no extra functions. Well that's just me...

 

[shigzeo]

It's all about marketing. And being based in China, there is no end to really greasy marketing or vociferous shills. Hire a couple of them, plug HeadFi and other large audio boards and suddenly, you have an amazing seller - at least for your target. 
 
The product could be good or bad - neither really matters. As long as the marketing is done correctly, it is all about the right threads and the right adverts. I'd be happy with such a move, providing that it came with no nasty asking price. The current T51 is more money than it really is worth as a package, but it isn't far off from the mark. I'll queue for the next one, or an audio-only machine that has the same sound as the T51, plus a line out. I'd camp out for it if it got rid of rockchip and had rockbox.