[ohhgourami]

hello, im new to this hobby and some people have recommended players for me on a previous thread (i.e. S:Flo2, Clip+, Sony X-series, and Cowon players)

The S:Flo2 seems like a great player for the price and does about everything. The Clip+ is really cheap but provides good audio quality. It seems like Cowon has everything except its expensive.

But why is the Sony X-series any good? Spec-wise, it doesn't even support flac or ape! What's so good about this thing in terms of audio quality?

Whenever possible, I like my music in lossless. I almost refuse to listen to mp3 unless there's no other choice...

also, are there any other players that are comparable in the price range up to ~$300?

 

[1audioz]

I would personally like a Sony X-series. I use a Cowon D2+ at the moment and am beginning to become dissatisfied with the too uninvolving signature. The X-series offers a rich character to the music it plays back I would believe, despite it supporting MP3.

Just because something supports lossless (flac/ape) doesn't mean it necessarily sounds great; for example the iPod Classic 6th gen.

 

[AhhHoNG]

For me, the x series provide a richer sound and bass then the cowon and sansa players. You hate 320kbps tat much? seriously? the difference is not easy to spot at all.

 

[Cosmic Fool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AhhHoNG /img/forum/go_quote.gif For me, the x series provide a richer sound and bass then the cowon and sansa players. You hate 320kbps tat much? seriously? the difference is not easy to spot at all.

I totally agree! I had Cowon DAP's with FLAC-files and loved them very much, but the X sounds way better with 320 kb/s mp3. No kidding! I was really into the 'lossless only'-attitude but the X proved me wrong.

 

[ohhgourami]

hmmm, this is really making me reconsider...

the X-series is also more expensive than Cowon too...

since i still have that lossless only attitude, i guess ill just have to convert everything into WAV huh? ehehehe

 

[AhhHoNG]

if i had the money, i would buy x series on the spot when i demo it at the sony shop even though i have the cowon i9. Thats how good it is.

 

[ohhgourami]

would you say the sound quality is better than the S:Flo2? this seems like one of the better players out there too.

i wonder when sony will release a player that can play all lossless formats. as a big sony fanboy, i get a lil disappointed by their approach to some high end items at times.

 

[aloksatoor]

I would buy the x series in an instant if it wasnt a touch screen.....

 

[ramintop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ohhgourami /img/forum/go_quote.gif would you say the sound quality is better than the S:Flo2? this seems like one of the better players out there too. i wonder when sony will release a player that can play all lossless formats. as a big sony fanboy, i get a lil disappointed by their approach to some high end items at times.

btw the sony supports wav lossless, if you rip music from cd's then you might find this interesting. I was researching on both players and ended buying the sony. what I understood was that the s:flo2's headphone out wasnt as good as the line out, and in this department the x1060 is better, and the x1060 has much better bass.

 

[AhhHoNG]

i have no idea how s:flo2 sounds like but i honestly think that sansa/cowon/sony is good enough.It is just up to personal preference

 

[seekadds]

i haven't used an s:flo2, but i use a sony x series as my main player and i am very satisfied with it. i agree that the touch screen is a little unnecessary, but keep in mind that it has back, play/pause, forward, and volume (duh) external controls.

i found a major sound improvement from the sansa e200 v1 i used to use, and a minor sound improvement over my sansa clip+. i'm using mp3's at ~200 kbps on average. my only gripes are 1) the weird way the back button works (it only goes to the previous song if the current song is no more than ~1 second in), and 2) the lack of on-the-go playlists. the plug-and-play capability is a must for me, and it synchs well with media monkey, which is how i get the playlists on there.

as for the extra features, the browser is useless (android phone ftw), but the slacker radio i do find myself using sometimes. it takes about 20 mins to refresh the playlist over my slow home internet connection, and sometimes i've found that i have the same songs on a station even after a week or two and a refresh. thus, i still prefer last.fm or pandora usually, but hey, slacker is "free" with the player and supported.

as a final thought, i would also like to add that although the software/inteface isn't the best ever, it's reliable and does the job. i've only had the software "crash" once or twice in 6 months. just had to turn it off and on again.

 

[chicagojammer]

is this player still severely over priced?

 

[Ketut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicagojammer /img/forum/go_quote.gif is this player still severely over priced?

Sony Indonesia still lists the 32 GB version at around USD 650. That price is too steep for me at the moment