Y do portable media players suck?
Jul 9, 2012 at 7:19 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 15
DGriff0400

DGriff0400

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Been looking for a portable media player lately, been lurking in head-fi and googling almost every player there is at a reasonable price range and yet to find a reasonable package. Apple is meh because of the output and itunes and external storage. Dont understand what goes through the minds of an Android company...their phones and tablets have awesome specs but their media player offerings suck extremely....only the galaxy player 70 has hope but im sure thats quite expensive....sony z series ??really? who would buy that?. Its so hard to find a decent package that does everything at an ok level its either good at something but sucks at other stuff like cowon z2. What do you head-fiers think about the state of portable media and what it needs?
 
Jul 10, 2012 at 6:23 AM Post #3 of 15
well particularly the android offerings that have so much potential, i think ill wait till they enable the usb capabilities then that would be perfect for using dac's to make up for their audio shortcomings...and if only cowon would give better hardware it would be a steal of a deal. Well i wouldnt say they suck to make it sound like they are absolutely horrible they all just seem to miss something that makes them get beat by the likes of apple that does everything at an average level.
 
Jul 11, 2012 at 8:51 PM Post #6 of 15
I remember getting my first dap D. (Archos Jukebox) and thinking, this is it, does not get better than this (2002, I believe)...lol...Built like a tank and I still have it.  Through the years, I have collected many and think in their own way they each bring something to the table.  With the digital age being what it is, I personally love experimenting and using my DAPs at home through powered speakers a lot.  Not only for on-the-go anymore.  You can have a nice little home system and when you're on the go, just plug in some iems.  Versatility indeed.
 
Right now, listening to a Rockboxed iPod 5.5G (in dock), lossless files, connected to a tube buffer and buffer connected to powered speakers...
 
Good times D...
 
Cheers
 
Jul 12, 2012 at 4:11 AM Post #7 of 15
I've said many times that my perfect player would be an updated iriver120.  Decent sized storage (ssd,hard drive whatever)better ui and a good battery life.  My stock iriver still holds a 5 hour battery life to this day and I've pretty much caned it.  It's also outlived at least 3 of my friends ipods.  I'd upgrade the hard drive to an ssd (particularly now the prices are falling)but can't find any guides anymore.
 
Cheers
 
Jul 17, 2012 at 8:52 AM Post #8 of 15
Why DAP, when you can PMP. Why PMP, when you can have a smartphone? I could not see the use of having two device in your pocket that does practically the more or less the same thing. Now that android has or will have a proper LOD, it will all soon be a standard thing, and the death of portable source gear is certain... But then again, the point and shoot camera is still in business today, though for how long nobody knows... I guess with human way of thinking more is always more???
 
Jul 17, 2012 at 9:25 AM Post #9 of 15
Quote:
dgriff0400 said:
Been looking for a portable media player lately, been lurking in head-fi and googling almost every player there is at a reasonable price range and yet to find a reasonable package. Apple is meh because of the output and itunes and external storage. Dont understand what goes through the minds of an Android company...their phones and tablets have awesome specs but their media player offerings suck extremely....only the galaxy player 70 has hope but im sure thats quite expensive....sony z series ??really? who would buy that?. Its so hard to find a decent package that does everything at an ok level its either good at something but sucks at other stuff like cowon z2. What do you head-fiers think about the state of portable media and what it needs?
Click to expand...

 
Portable media is better now than it has ever been. Seriously, it is like Louis C. K.'s anecdote about the guy on the airplane that started complaining the minute his in-flight wifi stopped working: link. This stuff was unheard of 10 years ago and what did exist then was bricklike in both weight and form factor.
 
Corollary: If you base your purchases on what the internet thinks is cool or the best you will rarely be satisfied.
 
Set a budget, buy a product that has features you want, move on. Audition two or three things if you think it matters that much or that you'll be able to tell while riding the bus. Expect portable audio to be mostly a losing battle for quality, particularly if you are comparing it to a home rig in a quiet room.
 
Jul 19, 2012 at 8:51 AM Post #10 of 15
lets say we lived in a word where cowon realised the potentail to make a player with usb capabilities for external DAC's and amps.and kept its flash OS and BBE+ lossless mixer suite and used an SDXC card slot wouldnt that be nice?
 
Jul 19, 2012 at 9:31 AM Post #11 of 15
mrcuccuou said:
Why DAP, when you can PMP. Why PMP, when you can have a smartphone? I could not see the use of having two device in your pocket that does practically the more or less the same thing. Now that android has or will have a proper LOD, it will all soon be a standard thing, and the death of portable source gear is certain... But then again, the point and shoot camera is still in business today, though for how long nobody knows... I guess with human way of thinking more is always more???
Click to expand...


Some people need a PMP rather than rely on a phone. I have to carry a work blackberry that I can also make personal calls with so I certainly wouldn't pay a separate phone bill to get something with better media capabilities.
 
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:35 AM Post #12 of 15
Quote:
mrcuccuou said:
Why DAP, when you can PMP. Why PMP, when you can have a smartphone? I could not see the use of having two device in your pocket that does practically the more or less the same thing. Now that android has or will have a proper LOD, it will all soon be a standard thing, and the death of portable source gear is certain... But then again, the point and shoot camera is still in business today, though for how long nobody knows... I guess with human way of thinking more is always more???
Click to expand...

 
Two words......battery life. I want to know that my phone battery still has charge, for if I need to text, or call someone, or even Google something. Granted, I have about 25GB of lossy tunes, 2.5GB of videos, and the Pandora and Digitally Imported streaming apps installed on my phone, but if I was going to be away from AC power for any length of time, I'd be bringing my other devices with me for music and video playback.
 
And as far as point and shoot cameras vs. smartphones, the P&S still do take better pictures.....I bring mine with me if I am going somewhere where I expect to be taking pictures. But I will grant that having the smartphone camera is nice in a pinch.
 
Jul 20, 2012 at 10:49 AM Post #13 of 15
Quote:
mrcuccuou said:
Why DAP, when you can PMP. Why PMP, when you can have a smartphone? I could not see the use of having two device in your pocket that does practically the more or less the same thing. Now that android has or will have a proper LOD, it will all soon be a standard thing, and the death of portable source gear is certain... But then again, the point and shoot camera is still in business today, though for how long nobody knows... I guess with human way of thinking more is always more???
Click to expand...

 
Who's gonna hesitate buying a single smartphone that can take better photos than DSLRs, dual wolfson DAC, has 1 month battery life on continuous usage, has a perfect placement of external dedicated music buttons, camera buttons, and pefectly programmed and perfectly designed user interface?
 
Too bad it doesn't exist.
 
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