Sony NWZ-S639 worth it compared to Sansa Clip? Other alternatives?

[Aegis]

Hi, I'm new here and not an Expert with MP3-Players but I read quite a bit here and some Reviews, but I still cannot decide which Player I should buy and people here seem to be well informed and helpfull. ^^

Currently I own an iPod Touch 1G, which I bought mainly for all the extra features. However, I plan to get myself a new Cellphone soon, which will take care of all these aspects, so I want a new Player for listening to Music only.

I ordered some good, yet more or less portable Headphones (Audio Technica ATH-ES7) i think, and now I need a nice player for them, which is supposed to be my Main Player.

The main criteria for me are Sound Quality and Usability.
The Sound of my iPod Touch is not good enough and I do not really like to have a Touchscreen Player for listening to Music only, because its just not handy, so I do not want to go for Cowon S9 or D2 which seem to have an annoying Touch Interface too.

Anyway, first I just thought about getting an iPod Classic, which has a nice Usability and huge space, but I'm afraid the Sound Quality is not good?

So with the Cowons out of the Picture there where the Sony NWZ-S639 and the Sansa Clip left which I considered.
I read that the S639 has a nice Sound which is comparable to the Cowons.
The formfactor is good and it seems to have a nice Usability too.
The Clip on the other Hand seems to have astonishing Sound Quality too and is very cheap and amazingly small (but that is not an important issue for me). And I won't need it for sports or anything like this.

So now I'm asking myself if the Sony is really worth 3 times the price in regards of Sound Quality? Its about 150 vs. 50 bucks. But as its supposed to be my Main MP3-Player the Sound Quality should be nice.
Also I wonder if the SQ of those is really supperior to the iPod Classics?
And are there maybe other Players that I should consider?

How about a Zune 120 ? I read it has good SQ. I would have to import it cause I'm from Europe though.. But if it's worth it.

[CrowdAds]

[The DarkSide]

Go w/the S639, the SQ is fantastic, and the ipod classic sounds worse than the ipod touch. I had a S639 & and A829, sold them cause I wanted the sd card slot for more tunes, but the SQ was comparable (the volume on the S639 is as loud as the D2 almost). The S639 will pair well w/the Audio Technica ATH-ES7, they're 32ohm & the S639 can power them no problem (I had the ATH-ES7 's as well).

As for the Zunes, they're great, but no match for a Cowon OR a Sony.

Also, did you consider the iAudio7 from Cowon? Excellent player!!!

[Aegis]

Well, I guess the i7 really is a choice here.
It's smaller and cheaper then the Sony, has incredible SQ and those BBE EQ.
Also it can play FLAC and has a better battery..
I don't really like the looks though, these weird frontside buttons somehow look cheap, but maybe it's not that bad if you see it in reality.
The only real downside seems to be the Interface.. but well.. I think I will be able to live with it.. because of all the other pros.
Importing the Zune is a hassle anyway and kinda expensive..

Well, I most likely will go for the i7 now.
Thanks a lot for your help.