Which player is the best in sound quality ?

[jackmike008]

i want to buy a mp3 player around 5k-6k. I shortlisted sony nwz e363, sandisk sansa clip and cowon d2.. I want to know which one has the best sound quality, especially the bass reproduction ability..? i dont believe in Apple for sound quality.. They r just loud..

Please suggest me the best possible choice and also if there is any other player in this range which is a good option.

[CrowdAds]

[The DarkSide]

All have great SQ, it's just the features that are different. Choose based on that,...

BTW: 5K-6K USD is enough to get wayyyyyy more than an mp3 player,...so state where you live to make it easier to help you in the future.

[WalkGood]

I agree with you but I would limit my statement to the top tier, there are some cheap players that I've tried that don't sound all that great.

[steinburger1109]

Yes restrict that statement to quality players.my friend has some little Coby player that kind kinda sucks...

DarkSide is right if that's US dollars, you don't need to spend that much to get something great. I think Cowon's J3 still reigns supreme where non-lunatic-"audiophiles"are concerned.

[FuzinEvolution]

Too many factors to really say which player is "the best" because it depends on:
- Listener's ears and subjective experiences, one person may think the sound is great and another might not be able to stand it.
- Head phones are a bigger culprit for many that makes a player sound poor. So many are missing out by sticking to those stock buds that players come with.
- Bitrate of course, 128 kbps mp3 is likely going to sound like crap through a decent pair of headphones vs 320 kbps or FLAC.

iPods are pretty poor sound quality wise but you seemed to have gathered that already.

I personally dig Sandisk's players (any of them, new or old) they have some incredible sound for the asking price.

Cowon, though I've had no experience with these, sound quality seems to consistently be one of its main attractions (and battery life).

[demch]

Please read my comment at
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...938#post591938

where I spent sufficient time to select the best MP3 player which is comparable to what I have with Sony PCM-50.

And finally I selected and bought Cowon D3. it is more expensive than iPod Touch or iPod Classic but SQ much-much better.

[demch]

Originally Posted by FuzinEvolution

Too many factors to really say which player is "the best" because it depends on:
- Listener's ears and subjective experiences, one person may think the sound is great and another might not be able to stand it.
- Head phones are a bigger culprit for many that makes a player sound poor. So many are missing out by sticking to those stock buds that players come with.
- Bitrate of course, 128 kbps mp3 is likely going to sound like crap through a decent pair of headphones vs 320 kbps or FLAC.

When you have really good sound engine as in Sony or Cowon, you will realise that bitrate is not the main factor.

[TackyTiger]

Originally Posted by demch

When you have really good sound engine as in Sony or Cowon, you will realise that bitrate is not the main factor.

If the bitrate is low enough and enough audio data is lost that the artefacts become audible, no amount of post processing will bring it back.

Reminds me of the saying "You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear".

[dfkt]

As long as a player isn't broken in one way or another, it will sound the same as the next one. The player really isn't that important for overall sound quality - what matters most is the recording quality (and encoding quality, to a certain extent) and the headphones one uses.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by FuzinEvolution

iPods are pretty poor sound quality wise but you seemed to have gathered that already.

Not all of them. Some of them actually sound quite good, like my 4th-gen Touch and 4th-gen Shuffle.

[dfkt]

New generation iDevices are actually some of the technically best performing portables available, right up there with the Sansa AMS players. But to human ears those tiny differences in measurements aren't audible anyways.

That doesn't seem to stop some people though from spreading half-truths, hear-say, myths, and other unfounded nonsense about audio quality - instead of simply AB-testing the players themselves, with their own ears.

[demch]

Originally Posted by dfkt

New generation iDevices are actually some of the technically best performing portables available, right up there with the Sansa AMS players. But to human ears those tiny differences in measurements aren't audible anyways.

That doesn't seem to stop some people though from spreading half-truths, hear-say, myths, and other unfounded nonsense about audio quality - instead of simply AB-testing the players themselves, with their own ears.

DFKT:
It is strange to hear this from the person that should have some experience and knowledge on the subject.

Some people do feel difference and ready to pay money to have minimum insult against their feeling when listening digital music and comparing it to live music. Even if not music but just field recording. Professional recorders and players do it both way good.

Take first good (professional) headphones and listen few players and you'll see difference. Best way to test with classic music and violin concerts in particular, or take some bird songs records in nature.

I again say that it took for me sufficient time to test few options and finally select Cowon D3 which I would highly recommend.

See my post here
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...883#post591883

If you want to know what should be features of a quality player, read BBE+ article at http://www.cowonglobal.com/. They know what they do.

[Marvin the Martian]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=cFods1KSWsQ

[musichound]

Originally Posted by demch

DFKT:


If you want to know what should be features of a quality player, read BBE+ article at http://www.cowonglobal.com/. They know what they do.

Demch, I seriously doubt dfkt needs any DAP advice form you or anyone else in these forums, and I also think you insulted his intelligence.

[JK98]

320 kbps is not needed, however 192 kbps average VBR or 256 kbps CBR would be reasonable bitrates to use. I can't hear the difference between 256 kbps mp3 and 320 kbps, however 128 kbps does sound bad to me. 192 kbps CBR sounds pleasant to me however it sounds like it is missing something.

[Enigmatic]

Originally Posted by JK98

192 kbps CBR sounds pleasant to me however it sounds like it is missing something.

What is it missing?

[steinburger1109]

Originally Posted by JK98

192 kbps CBR sounds pleasant to me however it sounds like it is missing something.

I know what you're talking about. It's hard to describe, but it says a little airy to me...

lol @Marv. That one's going in the steinburger archive.

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by JK98

192 kbps CBR sounds pleasant to me however it sounds like it is missing something.

Funny, but I find the same thing here, even on VBR sometimes - sounds like the highs might be slightly clipped/rolled off maybe?!?!?!

Yeah, strange stuff - but it's most likely a placebo/psychological IMO.

[dfkt]

It's easy to find out what differences various encoder qualities give: http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_abx

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by steinburger1109

lol @Marv. That one's going in the steinburger archive.

It sure cracked me up when I found it earlier.