[Anaxilus]

Quote:

You know, it really depends on what you mean by 'picky' and what you mean by 'audiophile'. I find a lot of 'picky' people tend to let go the finer details of the listening experience and that many 'audiophiles' are just groupies who yearn for a new clique. 
 
The S:Flo is a GOOD player.
 
On the +++ side:
Low - moderate amount of hiss
Good output when driving low or high Ω earphones
Spacious sound
Great Line out
 
On the --- side:
No gapless support. (That is a big step back from OLD technology like CD and MD and newer tech like iPods.)
Low pass filter that dulls the high frequencies a bit (enough that I immediately commented on it with my DT880 and CK10).
If you have sensitive earphones, you can hear clicking noises when playing music at low volumes no matter the screen is off and has been off for a long time. 
 
The other stuff: bubbling sound when the screen is on are just annoying. GUI is a step back because it flaunts the screen, but there is no real reason to have a touchscreen input for this player, nor such a large screen. Teclast just played to the lowest common denominator by including a huge screen and touch input. It is a clumsy way to navigate this player no matter the firmware.

shigzeo is a great contributor and valuable resource here, no question.  However, to my knowledge, his impressions are of the older firmware 2.2 rather than the newer 2.3 which was basically the SQ update.
 
I had no issues w/ the UI.  Directory, pick a folder, have a listen.  No sweat.  If you can manage your collection within folders its easy breezy, if you rely on software to sort your collection and don't want to mess w/ it than I would not go for the Sflo2.

 

[Hyl]

I don't have a s:flo yet (waiting for the next batch somewhere in november), is the ui really that bad? I know that the ui from the hm-801 is pretty much basic and that's already a downgrade compared to my cowon s9 and sony x1050, i hope that that the ui isn't worse than the hm-801.

 

[Somnambulist]

The UI is 'okay' and there's several skins to choose from if you don't like the stock one. It's a bit clunky compared to an iPod or something but it's not counter-intuitive or painful to use. The UI shouldn't put anyone off. As Anaxilus says, it's more down to whether you're prepared to sort your music out in a way that suits directory browsing on the player, using freeware like DriveSort to make sure folders on the player are alphabetised properly and faffing around with the updating the player (since each update has given improvements).

 

[GeorgeGoodman]

The S:Flo2 has crazy value, if some other flaws. The UI is slow, but I kind of enjoy getting to a song. I am always rewarded when I plug anything into it and let the music play. By the way, the low pass filter Shig mentioned is only on the headphone out, not the line out, and I think that got fixed on firmware 2.3 (still running 2.2 because all I have access to are windows 7 and mac, but if someone would like to help me out htat would be great.)

 

[Garage1217]

I am really shocked about all the love for the fuze, I own 5 of them between myself, wife and kids and they sounds dry, lifeless and stage poorly with crappy dynamics IMO... Well I have only compared it to two other devices so take my word with a grain of salt...that and I sold my ipod touch as I really did not like the way it sounded even with my poor quality old cans. I was shocked when I compared the fuze against my old 30gb zune and direct out of my home system at how bad it really was. I can pick the zune in a blind test every time at equal volume levels an no basic EQ on over the fuze, I know I tested myself over and over to confirm I was not just dreaming up the massive difference. even though the sansa has a.. sort of 5 band eq, I can never get it to sound even close to as good as the zune with it's basic eq offerings. Maybe the fuze just really hates my pxc350's and my zune loves them. No idea. "I travel a lot which is why I use noise canceling cans"... But after doing a ton of back to backs and even seeing if my wife could tell them apart, she picked the zune 10 out of 10 times which says a ton to me. Makes me wonder how much better the newer, higher dollar players are these days since my 30G zune is pushing a few years old but still sounds for what it is. Will have to listen to some of the other players you guys are talking about as well!

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

 Will have to listen to some of the other players you guys are talking about as well!

 
Thats where, IMO, things can really go pear-shaped. Unless you can borrow various toys for a week or so at a time, I suspect that you will be disappointed. A big part of the 'problem' is that we grow accustomed to a certain sound - for example, many here are fanatical about the level of detail from several Cowon DAPs, but I prefer the warmth of my Sony X.
 
If the Zune does it for you, stick with it and spend your money elsewhere - just my two Satang worth.

 

[Achmedisdead]

 
Quote:

I am really shocked about all the love for the fuze, I own 5 of them between myself, wife and kids and they sounds dry, lifeless and stage poorly with crappy dynamics IMO... Well I have only compared it to two other devices so take my word with a grain of salt...that and I sold my ipod touch as I really did not like the way it sounded even with my poor quality old cans. I was shocked when I compared the fuze against my old 30gb zune and direct out of my home system at how bad it really was. I can pick the zune in a blind test every time at equal volume levels an no basic EQ on over the fuze, I know I tested myself over and over to confirm I was not just dreaming up the massive difference. even though the sansa has a.. sort of 5 band eq, I can never get it to sound even close to as good as the zune with it's basic eq offerings. Maybe the fuze just really hates my pxc350's and my zune loves them. No idea. "I travel a lot which is why I use noise canceling cans"... But after doing a ton of back to backs and even seeing if my wife could tell them apart, she picked the zune 10 out of 10 times which says a ton to me. Makes me wonder how much better the newer, higher dollar players are these days since my 30G zune is pushing a few years old but still sounds for what it is. Will have to listen to some of the other players you guys are talking about as well!

Rockbox one of them....then you can make it sound however you like.

 

[elwappo99]

Really surprised iriver hasn't been mentioned yet

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Really surprised iriver hasn't been mentioned yet

Maybe it is because iriver hasn't made anything half decent for a fairly long while?

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

Maybe it is because iriver hasn't made anything half decent for a fairly long while?

they're older players are still a viable option though....

 

[singh]

I recieved an email informing me that the new HIFI colorfly is now in stock with 32gb one available at €503 with 48 for shipping.
it has really no reviews in the english reading internet. i am a bit interested but i cant take a plunge. features that attract me are :
1. Normal SPDIF coax out/in (great if you have JH3a in mind)
2. 24/192KHz playback
3. quite powerful to drive fullsized Headphones. so has any one ordered this /will order this i am quite interested for impressions.
 
Here is what they said
 
[size=10pt]"On today I am glad to inform you that right now [/size][size=10pt]"Colorfly" is available in our current stock.[/size]
[size=10pt]As soon as you will arrange the payment of the following items:[/size]
[size=11pt] [/size]

[size=9pt]ITEMS-No.[/size]​	[size=9pt]ITEMS-DESCRIPTION[/size]​	[size=9pt]QTY/PCS.[/size]	[size=9pt]PRICE/EUR[/size]	[size=9pt]TOTAL/EUR[/size]​
[size=10pt]Colorfly HIFI C4 Pro[/size]​	[size=10pt]Pocket HIFI Player,   32 GB , Retail Packing[/size]​	[size=10pt]1[/size]​	[size=10pt]503,36[/size]	[size=10pt]503.36[/size]​

[size=11pt] [/size]
[size=10pt]+ transport charges to India 43.50 EUR by DHL Standard, we will arrange the shipment to your mentioned delivery address.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]We are selling world-wide, also to the USA(International business)."[/size]
 
[size=10pt]so this is also good alternative for a audiophile player, thats why i posted here.[/size]
 

 

[anadin]

The price for the HIFI colorfly is insane

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

The price for the HIFI colorfly is insane

Agreed.  Maybe slash it by 150-200 euros and we'll talk then.

 

[estreeter]

You forgot to mention ugly. Normally, I would prioritise SQ over looks, but they really seem to have gone out of their way to make the thing hideous.
 

 

[Gradoman]

iriver h140 optical out, flac, to ibasso D12?