[Wobble73]

A Nokia 6630 with a 1gb memory card and headphones FTW! 

Well that's my MP3 player 


.......and my portable games console, and a handy camera....





Oh and a phone!      

[Colonol Dekker]

You can search by artist and album from the player interface when not connected in less than three thumb movements. But i'm a fan of connecting it up and editing in depth playlists
which you can do on the player also. Mines just too full /disorganised

[[DW]-Hunter]

iPod ftw.

IPod Isn't an MP3 player... It's an AAC player... He is asking for an "MP3" Player...

I don't know much about portable equipment, But pioneer makes car audio and home stereo equipment that will play just about any format, some including OGG Vorbis, at decent prices, with excelent quality. IMO You simply cant get anything better then Pioneer for less then they charge for most of their standard equipment. However, I donnot recommend Pioneer Subs. Rockford Phosgate is probably your best bet for Subs and Amps. Thats who I get my Subs and Amps from.

[IceFire]

Hard choices to make these days...back when I was shopping the Zen Micro 5G was the best MP3 player around...nevermind the iPods of the time...this was it.  Better sound quality, better battery life, more features, and system intergration so no need to install super annoying iTunes.  These days the iPods have more glitzy features but still don't publish their SNR anywhere I can find and still don't have a built in radio and you still need iTunes which I hate and my brother hates with an iPod.

I'd get something from Creative or something like that.  Creative just doesn't do the design bit very well...they have these great ideas and then they make it complicated looking.  The Zen Micro was their high point there I think. Very simple and smooth.

[Excalibur]

Don't get a $15 one?...

Usually the quality and look of the outside tells a story, I am still interested in the Samsung K-5 one, though it would be nice if it had more memory. (I haven't got an mp3 player yet)

[Stormkeeper]

I tend to buy better known brands, like Creative. At the very least, they have their own rep to live up to. Although I once bought a I-Pod look alike for SGD$30, and it was quite a good buy. Pretty good sound quality and stuff, and even had Tetris inside of it.

[MC_Kejml]

I tend to buy better known brands, like Creative. At the very least, they have their own rep to live up to. Although I once bought a I-Pod look alike for SGD$30, and it was quite a good buy. Pretty good sound quality and stuff, and even had Tetris inside of it.

EU3C Player? I remember mine had those too.

[Stormkeeper]

No idea what it was called. I kinda spoiled it because I had a habit of twisting the ear piece jack around.

[Scuddie]

If anyone finds an MP3 player that can output more than 2 dBm power and a SNR of higher than 3, let me know.  Otherwise, I'll listen to my AM Radio for the superior quality.

MP3 players (as well as every other portable device for that matter) have an audio quality that sounds like it was run over by a truck, even when run through a pre-amp.  Yes, it is kind of an exaggeration, but I still prefer QUALITY.  I'd be willing to pay a decent amount of price for an MP3 player that had a powerful DAC, with as little timing jitter/noise as possible.  Unfortunately I don't think such a thing exists .

[IceFire]

If anyone finds an MP3 player that can output more than 2 dBm power and a SNR of higher than 3, let me know.  Otherwise, I'll listen to my AM Radio for the superior quality.

MP3 players (as well as every other portable device for that matter) have an audio quality that sounds like it was run over by a truck, even when run through a pre-amp.  Yes, it is kind of an exaggeration, but I still prefer QUALITY.  I'd be willing to pay a decent amount of price for an MP3 player that had a powerful DAC, with as little timing jitter/noise as possible.  Unfortunately I don't think such a thing exists .

You must have one heck of a AM radio to get better quality than the average MP3 player.  Creative tends to have the best sound quality...or did...not sure what the latest offerings are like.  But if your a super audiophile and have proper home sound equipment...no that will probably not be surpassed by the current run (or probably anything in the foreseeable future) of MP3 players no matter how good they might try to be.

[Polpolion]

If anyone finds an MP3 player that can output more than 2 dBm power and a SNR of higher than 3, let me know.  Otherwise, I'll listen to my AM Radio for the superior quality.

MP3 players (as well as every other portable device for that matter) have an audio quality that sounds like it was run over by a truck, even when run through a pre-amp.  Yes, it is kind of an exaggeration, but I still prefer QUALITY.  I'd be willing to pay a decent amount of price for an MP3 player that had a powerful DAC, with as little timing jitter/noise as possible.  Unfortunately I don't think such a thing exists .

By any chance do you live next to the radio's broadcasting towers, and by any chance was your MP3 player actually run over by a truck? Otherwise, I'm going to have to disagree with you there. I mean, AM radio music is absolutely terrible. You must have a pretty crappy MP3 player for AM radio to beat it.

[Scuddie]

There is such a thing as hyperbole.  Learn it, use it, love it.

Basically, I've seen most portable audio devices simply don't have the kind of hardware to produce accurate samples without lots of local interference, timing inaccuracies, and delayed channel crossover.  Joint stereo is one thing, hearing a time-delayed, faint copy of the left channel on the right speaker is another...  Yes, I can hear that.

Secondly, I have yet to see any portable device that can drive a set of good high impedance headphones.  They simply don't have enough power.  And in order to actually hear the lower frequencies (which require LOTS of power output), it would require a pre-amp...  Which essentially throws portability out the window.

So, yeah.  I don't much like MP3 players because of the nature of lower quality and power in portable devices.  Simple as that.

Call me spoiled, I guess.

[Excalibur]

There is such a thing as hyperbole.  Learn it, use it, love it.

Basically, I've seen most portable audio devices simply don't have the kind of hardware to produce accurate samples without lots of local interference, timing inaccuracies, and delayed channel crossover.  Joint stereo is one thing, hearing a time-delayed, faint copy of the left channel on the right speaker is another...  Yes, I can hear that.

Secondly, I have yet to see any portable device that can drive a set of good high impedance headphones.  They simply don't have enough power.  And in order to actually hear the lower frequencies (which require LOTS of power output), it would require a pre-amp...  Which essentially throws portability out the window.

So, yeah.  I don't much like MP3 players because of the nature of lower quality and power in portable devices.  Simple as that.

Call me spoiled, I guess.

Seems wierd when normal headphones in an ipod turned way up can deafen you and be heard for ages away...same goes for some of those cans, you can hear them even though they're sealed when people turn them right up.

[Nuke]

anything that can run rockbox

[Mongoose]

Call me spoiled, I guess.

I'll gladly call you spoiled, because when I'm driving, I have my ****ty Creative Zen Neeon player hooked up to a freebie cassette tape deck adapter plugged into the factory stereo playing through the factory speakers of my 1997 Ford Escort.

And it sounds just fine to me.

[Scuddie]

Seems wierd when normal headphones in an ipod turned way up can deafen you and be heard for ages away...same goes for some of those cans, you can hear them even though they're sealed when people turn them right up.

Those 'normal' headphones are not normal at all.  They're cheap, pathetic little 4 ohm miniature pieces of garbage.  They have extremely high sensitivity, so even the smallest bit of current will excite the speakers.  You can put the jack against the side of your case and get an audible signal.  So basically, you get a small source signal that is being used to drive a loud volume.  And because the signal is so weak, it is much easier to hear local EMI and circuit line noise as compared to a strong signal.  This gives you hiss, static, and underpowered bass.  Not my cup of tea.

Good luck hearing anybody's headphones that have a significantly higher impedance (120 ohms, 300 ohm isn't even funny) in your own ear, let alone across the room.

EDIT:  lol @ Mongoose.  Like your left only channel, eh?  I can't stand to live with those things.  I guess it goes to show I have unreasonably high standards .

[Grizzly]

An Asus EEE PC.

[perihelion]

To whoever was looking for a player that will handle .ogg files, you need to go to www.rockbox.org and check out what players they have supported.  Nuke has already waxed eloquent on this in previous threads, but Rockbox is basically a community-created firmware replacement for a couple dozen different portable music players.  It provides enhanced playback capabilities.  The UI is sometimes a bit hard on the eyes, but it is lean, stripped down, and usually a good deal faster than the factory supplied firmware.  And it can play pretty much any format you like.

Oh yeah, and it supports Replay Gain.  You will NOT find any player anywhere that supports that feature out of the box.

[Polpolion]

BTW, if you're going for a sansa e200, watch out for the V2/V1. V2 can't run rockbox yet. IIRC they're starting to get somewhat close, but V1 would still be a better choice if you can find it.

[admiral_wolf]

I've had a Second Gen. iPod Nano for about a year now, and I've not had any problems.