[classicalguy]

Let me first confess up front that I am a terrible tightwad. Maybe bargain hunter is a better word.

After losing my last music player, I decided to buy a 1G Sansa Clip for around $40. But then I stopped into Sams Club and saw this Digi-Block 2GB cube player, with a recharger, for $20. It is a tiny cube with an OLED display. I couldn't resist buying it.

I've read that they are basically the same machine as the MobiBlu DAH-1500 (without FM). Some of the reviews said that they have good sound quality.

I am listening right now through koss ksc-75s, and it sounds quite good. When I first started listening yesterday, I would get a little bit of a static (zzzzt) sound every once in a while. I gave it a full charge overnight, and I havn't heard the static. I don't know if this was a break-in issue, a charge issue, or something that will return periodically.

Right now I'm listening to Glenn Gould play the early beethoven sonatas. His humming comes through nice and clear!

The controls are hard to use because the thing is so small. Also, the controls don't work right when the music is playing. A very thorough Amazon review suggested that the processor is not fast enough to handle the controls and playing music at the same time (I've read the zen stone doesn't let you use the controls when the music is playing - maybe this is a common problem?)

Clearly, not a perfect player, but it sure is cheap for a 2 gig player with an oled screen.

I'd love to hear anyone else's experience.

 

[classicalguy]

I'm going to continue the conversation I've been having with myself by jumping to the end of the story. The Digi-Block kept making unpleasant noises (zzzzt) in my ears. The controls didn't respond easily (press pause 20 times, if you're lucky it will work once). Downloading seemed exceeding slow (it says usb 2.0, but sheesh). So, I returned it. I ordered a 2 gig sansa C250 refurb. I assume it will be v1, and I'll rockbox it. I will likely still buy a clip at some point, when a decent deal is offered. I hope the C250 will sound good enough to hold me over for a while. Right now the only working portable player I have is a Sony PSP. My advice: don't buy a digi-block. It's junk.

 

[Trastan]

Thanks for the heads-up. I guess I'm not surprised at the cost that you paid for it.

I'd *highly* recommend watching a site called Woot.com. It's a well-respected tech-oriented site that has a single product offered each day, and seems to be extremely fond of lower-end/priced DAPs. Watch it for a week or so - I'd be surprised if you didn't find a great player in your price range. Yesterday they offered a two-pack of 512MB Sansa m230s, for example. It's certainly not a guarantee, but that's the first place I'd watch if I was in your situation.

Good luck!

 

[classicalguy]

Yea, it was cheap. But price does not always equate with quality in this business. There are great cheap (or inexpensive) products that sound better than more expensive ones. It's a matter of using out collective experience to identify and share them.

 

[BlindTiger]

thank you for that write up and warning.
I recently bought a 2gb Sony NWZ-B105 because it was cheap. before that I
bought a couple of cheap off-brand stuff (Jaton and a nano chipod) and was satisfied with them.
Until now, The Sony was way better in sound and almost everything else.
I just synched some AAC back up files I made and it even plays those files.
(3rd gen Ipod/itunes) The sony sounds great with my Porta pros.
I'm using media monkey to synch because I'm still on W2K OS. drag and drop works, too.
My other cheap player is a Iriver E10 and I'm happy with it, too.

 

[pascla]

I have a digiblock I bought at Sams club for 20 dollars. It works fine. I am wondering if it is possible to charge it and listen at the same time? any ideas?

 

[classicalguy]

Well, my recommendation would be to dump it and get something better. I bought a sansa clip and it sounds 1000% better, is easier to read the screen, and a better shape for wearing. IMO, the digiblock really sucked.

 

[lumanogin]

I got a sony s615 (2gb) for $50 refurb. Just takes some looking around. Sansa clip is another fine choice.