yoyo59
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2009
- Posts
- 174
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- 10
well the best dap I ever had was the sony x series, best ive heard
Seems like everyone on here is rockboxing everything. I'm not sure rockboxing is for me though. From what I've read a rockboxed iPod is little more then an iPod that allows you to eq. If that's true then I'll just jailbreak my iPod and buy a proper eq app off of Cydia. Out of all the players you own which player sounds the absolute best and why?
To give an honest answer requires some focused listening. I'll get back to you in a couple of days if that's ok.
Oh and I don't think I'd bother to Rockbox an iPod.
As one said above, there can't be ONE choice reached by general consensus, simply because no-one has experienced ALL the players that have been made and preferences vary from one person to another like fingerprints. Yet, there can be a list of very good players made.
You have to spend a lot of money to reach a conclusion that is final. And that is for you and YOU only.
Hows this sound as a short list?
Sanza Fuze+
Cowan
Sony
Fiio (if it ever gets released)
iPod touch next coming gen (I would only consider this if the touch gets 128 gigs of storage)
Anything else I should maybe look into researching?
Can somebody share Inks's opinion?
I am listening to a Touch 3G, but i find it quite bad. I hope the Cowons are (alot) clearer and have bigger soundstage.
Is there any way you can actually test a Cowon in a store?
There are many myths when it comes to players in Headfi. The Ipods (newer ones at least) are really good and actually have overall better performance than Sonys and Cowons. What makes the Cowons appealing for some is the sound enhancements but outside of that their performance isn't outstanding. Sonys actually have poor performance, their soundstage and dynamic range are generally compressed and they have some roll-offs and humps.
To me the best sounding DAP will be one with lots of power, wide soundstage and great dynamic range. Generally newer Ipods (3GS/IP4/Classic7G/Touch3-4G) are more linear, have greater dynamic range and stereo imaging than Cowons and Sonys.
I've tried the J3 and it's no better than my old 4G nano without enhancements, generally average. Sony X was poor in my experience, it's very colored and it's soundstage is compressed. I think people like the X because it's "different" in sound and not because of it's performance and accuracy (I will also say this remark about the Hifiman DAPs)..
Iphone 4 is the best sounding Ipod I've tried and it's clearly ahead the J3 and X imo. But the best sounding DAP I've tried via it's headphone out has been the S:Flo2 in my experience.