the best sounding portable mp3 player(POLL)

[Mr Iriver]

Maybe this archos player. It has an extremely small form factor for a 20G DAP, however I dont know how it sounds.

http://archos.com/products/overview/...bjoojo2byyy2fs

And many people also consider the creative NJB3 to be the best sounding DAP of all time.

http://creative.com/products/product...16&product=296

 

[ipoddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tattoou2 Owned both the Karma and a 3G iPod at the same time. Tolerated the iPod SQ, but loved the Karma SQ. The Karma crapped out within six months, but I still own the iPod and listen to it fairly regularly. I'm not crazy about the iPod SQ, but mine is like the Energizer Bunny....it just keeps going and going.

I'm sorry. I don't know what SQ stands for.

Jim

 

[mos86]

SQ: Sound Quality as far as I understand.

 

[Cocovitsch]

I got so many MP3 players...
Sound Quality Rating :

1. Creative JB3
2. Creative Zen Xtra
3. Rio Karma

4. Creative Zen Touch
5. Sony NWHD-1

6. Ipod 3
7. Iriver IHP120

8. Archos Gemini

 

[Zoide]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cocovitsch I got so many MP3 players... Sound Quality Rating : 1. Creative JB3 2. Creative Zen Xtra 3. Rio Karma 4. Creative Zen Touch 5. Sony NWHD-1 6. Ipod 3 7. Iriver IHP120 8. Archos Gemini

Do you really have all of those???

Also, I'm very surprised that in these polls the iPod is consistedly rated as having so-so sound (at least comparatively and for a reasonably large # of people). Meanwhile, there's a pretty large group of people with 2X-S and Ety's/Shures who think its SQ is outstanding, especially the 2X-S people. Could it just be that the iPod has great synergy with the 2X-S, for example?

 

[Cocovitsch]

Yes! i'm a serial owner of mp3 jukeboxes !
But currently, i use Zen Touch and NWHD-1 daily as portable players and JB3 as "Hi-fi" player...I don't believe about things like "synergy"... For an European user (i live in France), it's very surprising to read comments about Ipod as "audiophile player"... Zen or Karma maybe but Ipod : strange idea...Apple marketing must be terrific in your country...
My headphones are Ety R6i,Shure E3C and AKG 240S...

 

[Zoide]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cocovitsch Yes! i'm a serial owner of mp3 jukeboxes ! But currently, i use Zen Touch and NWHD-1 daily as portable players and JB3 as "Hi-fi" player...I don't believe about things like "synergy"... For an European user (i live in France), it's very surprising to read comments about Ipod as "audiophile player"... Zen or Karma maybe but Ipod : strange idea...Apple marketing must be terrific in your country... My headphones are Ety R6i,Shure E3C and AKG 240S...

Doesn't the Zen Touch lack lossless (except for .wav)? Wouldn't that limit either A) its storage capacity, or B) its sound quality?

 

[gerG]

I am not qualified to vote (and even when I do it doesn't seem to help, but that is a different story entirely). However, I find the combination below very intriguing (thanks Michael). Next player must have digital outputs. Firewire interface and AAC capability would be great as well, but for a digital output I can make compromises...

 

[Zoide]

WOW

That's SWEET

 

[epithetless]

Cocovitsch, how would you say the Zen Touch and the NWHD-1 compare to each other? I've managed to play the waiting game with hard disk players thus far, but I'm finally getting impatient. For now, I have no MP3 collection to speak of (I actually have a slew of Atrac3+ files for my D-NE500 CD player), so Sony's Atrac-only restriction wouldn't necessarily be a dealbreaker (even if it offends me in principle). Could you describe your opinions of each player?

 

[Cocovitsch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by epithetless Cocovitsch, how would you say the Zen Touch and the NWHD-1 compare to each other? I've managed to play the waiting game with hard disk players thus far, but I'm finally getting impatient. For now, I have no MP3 collection to speak of (I actually have a slew of Atrac3+ files for my D-NE500 CD player), so Sony's Atrac-only restriction wouldn't necessarily be a dealbreaker (even if it offends me in principle). Could you describe your opinions of each player?

Difficult to compare them : Zen Touch and NW-HD1 are very different players...
I think Zen Touch has slighty better SQ, best possibilities of Equalization but NW-HD1 is small,sexy and very easy to use with a good SQ (even with conversion to MP3 in Atrac+ 256 : it was very surprising)...
If you're a nomad user, The Sony is better for you...Zen Touch isn't a true audiophile player (unlike Zen NX or Xtra) but has low prize for a good overall quality...

PS : sorry for my scholar english

 

[Cocovitsch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoide Doesn't the Zen Touch lack lossless (except for .wav)? Wouldn't that limit either A) its storage capacity, or B) its sound quality?

I think Quality difference between loseless and MP3 320 (for Creative) or Ogg 256 (for Karma or Iriver) isn't a very important thing for a MP3 player...