Choosing a new MP3 player

[Delta9]

Hello all,

I have owned a Creative Zen Vision M for a very long time. Sadly the battery doesn't hold its charge as well as it used to, the screen/graphics chip is damaged so my screen looks horrible and it just doesn't have the capacity I need. So I am in the market for a new mp3 player.

I am new to this forum, but from my "lurking" it appears that the community is very knowledgeable and friendly. For the past 6 months of so I have been trying to find a "good/decent" non apple mp3 player/pmp to no avail.

Thus I have registered here, read the "read this before you make a new recommendation topic" and other prereqs.
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• Location: San Diego, California, 92117.
• Capacity: At least 60-80 GB. Preferably non-hard drive based, but if the specs/price is right HDD based systems are fine.
• Budget: $100-250.
• Use: Home/Office/Hiking.
• Type/Design: DAP and or PMP.
• Features: All it needs to do is play my music (mp4, mp3, flac). Some ability to do video/apps would be nice, but isn't a requirement. Any other "additional" features are just a plus.
• Display: Display is preferable. At least 2.5 inches?
• UI/Controls: Tactile/buttons or a combo of both is fine.
• Battery life: At least 5-10 hours of continuous play. Longer is better though.
  
  *** NOTE: I own the following headphones, Sennheiser HD 280 Pro, Audio Technica ATH-M50, and am planning on trying to find some really good bass producing IEMS. I do not have an AMP/DAC at the moment, so a player that can push my headphones properly would be great. If not, a suggested AMP/DAC is fine too. ***
  
  Thank you all for your time and consideration,
  - Delta9

[CrowdAds]

[mamamia88]

Maybe a fuze v2 with a 64gb micro sd card? edit http://shop.sandisk.com/store/sdisku...oryID.13937600 and http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...0263179&sr=8-1 grand total about $100

[The DarkSide]

Either a Samsung Galaxy Player or even a 64gb iPod touch (Apple is trying to rid themselves of new old stock for a decent price on their website). Either type device will do IMO.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD...uch-64gb-white

I just decided to Jailbreak mine the other day,...I'm quite pleased.

[Delta9]

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

Either a Samsung Galaxy Player or even a 64gb iPod touch (Apple is trying to rid themselves of new old stock for a decent price on their website). Either type device will do IMO.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD...uch-64gb-white

I just decided to Jailbreak mine the other day,...I'm quite pleased.

The Samsung Galaxy player as far as I know will not meet my requirements, and I do not want an apple device. But I do appreciate you taking the time to respond to my post.

-Delta9

[Delta9]

Originally Posted by mamamia88

Maybe a fuze v2 with a 64gb micro sd card? edit http://shop.sandisk.com/store/sdisku...oryID.13937600 and http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...0263179&sr=8-1 grand total about $100

Nice price, unfortunately the device has a really small screen. But thanks for the recommendation!

-Delta9

[mamamia88]

Originally Posted by Delta9

Nice price, unfortunately the device has a really small screen. But thanks for the recommendation!

-Delta9

You said you wanted it for music only. Unless you have granny eyes I really don't see the problem. And why wouldn't a galaxy player has a sd card slot and even if you cut the estimated battery life of the 5.0 in half it would still meet your requirements for battery. Also it has a huge screen for video if you wanted that occasionally. Edit nvm i see you want real buttons. Well you can't have that on the galaxy player but you might be able to get by with using the volume buttons for next/previous track

[Delta9]

Originally Posted by mamamia88

You said you wanted it for music only. Unless you have granny eyes I really don't see the problem. And why wouldn't a galaxy player has a sd card slot and even if you cut the estimated battery life of the 5.0 in half it would still meet your requirements for battery. Also it has a huge screen for video if you wanted that occasionally. Edit nvm i see you want real buttons. Well you can't have that on the galaxy player but you might be able to get by with using the volume buttons for next/previous track

I prefer to have at least a 2 inch screen in possible. My post says ~2.5inch, if the device had a larger screen I would seriously consider it though.

My post also says DAP and or PMP. The Galaxy Player has 8 GB onboard w/ a supported max of 32 GB SD storage for a total of 40GB, I need 60-80 GB per my post. The battery on it is just fine. The interface (touch screen/real buttons) is a very minor issue and not why I mentioned that the Galaxy wouldn't work, it is a storage issue.

-Delta9

[The DarkSide]

A Cowon X9, or if you can find it, the X7 might be better then.

[mamamia88]

Originally Posted by Delta9

I prefer to have at least a 2 inch screen in possible. My post says ~2.5inch, if the device had a larger screen I would seriously consider it though.

My post also says DAP and or PMP. The Galaxy Player has 8 GB onboard w/ a supported max of 32 GB SD storage for a total of 40GB, I need 60-80 GB per my post. The battery on it is just fine. The interface (touch screen/real buttons) is a very minor issue and not why I mentioned that the Galaxy wouldn't work, it is a storage issue.

-Delta9

True that. But often times the stated max capacity of a micro sd card is often bullshit. Just googling it shows that it works. Here is a link on this site discussing it. http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=69150

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by mamamia88

True that. But often times the stated max capacity of a micro sd card is often bullshit. Just googling it shows that it works. Here is a link on this site discussing it. http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=69150

I missed that about the microSD card size limit. 64GB sdxc cards work as well, with no issues.

[sideways]

You have a few options....

1) If you already have some sort of smartphone... get a 64GB microSD card and extra battery/ mobile charger for it. You will still not have tactile controls but you will have the space you need, enough juice to power it, and wont be paying twice for buying what is essentially out of date smartphone hardware minus the ability to make calls. You could even look at off contract last gen smartphones and not put in the phone chip.

2) Give up on the watching video requirement.... Get an expandable mp3 players like a sansa clip plus and throw in a 64 GB microSD card.

3) Give up on the "no HDD" requirement and get an ipod classic (maybe one of the rockboxable versions) or cowon x7 (I doubt you will find one anymore these days)

The problem is getting tactile controls, good video playback (mostly only on touch screen devices) and high capacity into the same device.

[Delta9]

Originally Posted by sideways

You have a few options....

1) If you already have some sort of smartphone... get a 64GB microSD card and extra battery/ mobile charger for it. You will still not have tactile controls but you will have the space you need, enough juice to power it, and wont be paying twice for buying what is essentially out of date smartphone hardware minus the ability to make calls. You could even look at off contract last gen smartphones and not put in the phone chip.

2) Give up on the watching video requirement.... Get an expandable mp3 players like a sansa clip plus and throw in a 64 GB microSD card.

3) Give up on the "no HDD" requirement and get an ipod classic (maybe one of the rockboxable versions) or cowon x7 (I doubt you will find one anymore these days)

The problem is getting tactile controls, good video playback (mostly only on touch screen devices) and high capacity into the same device.

I already own an HTC Thunderbolt, I just pulled down n7player and am going to see what that does. I have an extended battery for it, and the specs are 1.67 GB internal w/ 30 GB internal (which I could upgrade w/ a 64 GB sd card).

The only issue I seem to notice is that this phone cannot push my headphones properly. Any ideas on a DAC/AMP? Or recommendation on some very nice bass pushing IEM's? ( I know this is "off topic" but it pertains to my potential choice in what device I use)...

Thanks,

Delta9

[musichound]

A rockboxed iPod video 5.5G would have your requirements covered in spades.

[sideways]

If it isn't driving your headphones to high enough levels you can either get more sensitive headphones/iems/whatever (16 or 32 ohms should do the trick) or get a portable headphone amp. I think a basic "fiio headphone amplifier" can be had for like 20$ on amazon (examples fiio e5 and e6).

Before making any purchases try out the phone with a few different headphones and a few different music applications from the app store. If you are satisfied you can think about getting more storage and accessories.

[Delta9]

Originally Posted by musichound

A rockboxed iPod video 5.5G would have your requirements covered in spades.

Except I made it perfectly clear in my request that I do not want ANY apple products.

But I do appreciate your suggestion.

-Delta9

[musichound]

Originally Posted by Delta9

Except I made it perfectly clear in my request that I do not want ANY apple products.

But I do appreciate your suggestion.

-Delta9

Just in case you are missing a very important point, iTunes is not needed for a Rockboxed iPod video except to initially install Rockbox. Why deprive yourself of a player that suits all your required needs just because it's an Apple product? That makes no sense to me.

[Delta9]

Originally Posted by musichound

Just in case you are missing a very important point, iTunes is not needed for a Rockboxed iPod video except to initially install Rockbox. Why deprive yourself of a player that suits all your required needs just because it's an Apple product? That makes no sense to me.

I should have maybe given some background as to why I do not want an apple product. I have had 4 different iPods in the past, and all ended up failing within 1-2.5 years of purchase. I refuse to buy another one. And most of them had HITACHI hard drives in them, which are cheap low-end hard drives. And this is not a personal opinion, I work in IT for a living. Anyone in the industry will tell you the same thing, Hitachi drives are sub-par and have higher failure rates than say Seagate/Western Digital.

-Delta9

[musichound]

Originally Posted by Delta9

I should have maybe given some background as to why I do not want an apple product. I have had 4 different iPods in the past, and all ended up failing within 1-2.5 years of purchase. I refuse to buy another one. And most of them had HITACHI hard drives in them, which are cheap low-end hard drives. And this is not a personal opinion, I work in IT for a living. Anyone in the industry will tell you the same thing, Hitachi drives are sub-par and have higher failure rates than say Seagate/Western Digital.

-Delta9

OK, that makes a lot of sense. I guess as the saying goes YMMV. I've had an iPod Video as well as a Classic, and I never encountered any issues.

[dgb52]

Can't you put a new Hard drive for better quality or perhaps a SSD drive in the Ipod

[mamamia88]

Originally Posted by dgb52

Can't you put a new Hard drive for better quality or perhaps a SSD drive in the Ipod

I'm 100% positive you can. I've seen videos on youtube of people doing exactly that. Maybe you can get one with a broken harddrive on ebay for cheap and try it?