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Topic: Can you help me find a replacement device? (Read 5429 times) previous topic - next topic
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Can you help me find a replacement device?

Hi folks,
I wonder if people might please share their experiences and help me find a solution to my dilemma.

I'm looking for a replacement flash-memory MP3 player, not an iPod.  I've had an iRiver B30 for the last ten months, and there's a lot about it I've liked, but I've finally gotten fed up with the shortcoming in its operating software.  Specifically, there seem to be glitches in the volatile database that manages the audio files loaded onto the system - it sporadically loads the files out of order, and then plays them that way.  Not such a disaster for audio compilations, you might think, but it makes a mockery of classical music, audio books or radio drama, three genres I often listen to.

The B30 is apparently no longer in production, so the distributor here in Australia replaced this unit with an S100, which has almost as large a feature set.  Close enough, I guess.  But the S100 shows the same behaviour, and I've since been told it's apparently a common occurrence in devices from iRiver.  Bummer.

So, where should I look?  iPods are too expensive for me, I don't want to wade into the swamp that is Apple dependency, and to my perception the audio output of iPods is ... well, plasticky.  I'm not an audio snob by any means, but I want something with genuinely full and wide sound, not something that sounds bulked out by doofy bass.  I was genuinely pleased with the audio output of the iRiver devices plus a set of SoundMagic PL-50 earbuds.

Features I want?  The iRivers had all the following, so I'm a bit spoilt.
*  Support for lossless audio (iRiver had FLAC, APE and lossless WMA) and MP3 up to 320 KB.  OGG would be nice
*  Video display - AVI, MPEG 2/4, XViD, DiVX.
*  Gapless playback
*  DAB+ radio would be nice
*  Storage capacity expandable through SD slot
*  Audio settings, preferably manually adjustable, not just "ultra-bass" or the like


If you're still reading, thanks for hanging in.  I thought it was best to get the details up-front.

Can anyone suggest brands/models it would be worth considering?  I won't hold you to anything - I'm just a little boggled at trying to wade through all the PR guff.

Many thanks !

Can you help me find a replacement device?

Reply #1 –
Quote from: MacEachaidh on
[...] to my perception the audio output of iPods is ... well, plasticky.  I'm not an audio snob by any means, but I want something with genuinely full and wide sound, not something that sounds bulked out by doofy bass.  I was genuinely pleased with the audio output of the iRiver devices plus a set of SoundMagic PL-50 earbuds.

You should refrain, in this forum, from claiming such things without any proof, ABX for example.

PS: I'm not a iPod fanboy, I do not even own one. I just don't like bold claims

Can you help me find a replacement device?

Reply #2 –
Quote from: MacEachaidh on
Features I want?  The iRivers had all the following, so I'm a bit spoilt.
*  Support for lossless audio (iRiver had FLAC, APE and lossless WMA) and MP3 up to 320 KB.  OGG would be nice
*  Video display - AVI, MPEG 2/4, XViD, DiVX.
*  Gapless playback
*  DAB+ radio would be nice
*  Storage capacity expandable through SD slot
*  Audio settings, preferably manually adjustable, not just "ultra-bass" or the like


We don't have DAB in the US, so those players aren't marketed here.

Most of the other stuff would come on a Sansa Fuze with Rockbox.  Not all the video formats.  Biggest gap if you use the original firmware is gapless and lossless other than flac.

A number of Iriver players can also run Rockbox.  You could look over the list at rockbox.org

Can you help me find a replacement device?

Reply #3 –
+1 for anything that can run Rockbox. Looks like something a little more fancy would be nice, so maybe a Cowon D2? The Fuze is very good, too, but hurry before stock runs out (it was replaced by the Fuze+, a much different beast that is not yet supported).

Can you help me find a replacement device?

Reply #4 –
Thanks for the suggestions, folks.  It's appreciated.

I think I've decided to go with a Cowon J3 - the other suggestions were valuable, but here in Australia (Where most of the brands don't have official representation) I'm hesitant to buy things unseen and unheard across the internet.  I have reservations about the UI of the J3, but I guess a robustly mature PMP doesn't exist (which I find a bit surprising, certainly by now) and subjectively I like the tone of the J3's audio output.

(If I have no access to the devices, then I obviously can't do objective measurements.  But don't we all base our choices on what we find pleasing, subjectively, and what we don't?  Really, if we're honest?)

Can you help me find a replacement device?

Reply #5 –
Quote from: MacEachaidh on
I think I've decided to go with a Cowon J3.  I have reservations about the UI, but subjectively I like the tone of the audio.


One of the great things about the J3 and S9 is that the UCI is replaceable. Two popular ones with added functionality are Aero and Chakra. You can find them here:

http://iaudiophile.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=111

The default one is actually not too bad once you get use to it.

Can you help me find a replacement device?

Reply #6 –
Quote from: MacEachaidh on
(If I have no access to the devices, then I obviously can't do objective measurements.  But don't we all base our choices on what we find pleasing, subjectively, and what we don't?  Really, if we're honest?)

Do you really want to have this conversation?

If so, then the answer is no, not all of us base our choices on subjective feelings about sound quality, especially not on this forum.
 

Can you help me find a replacement device?

Reply #7 –
Quote from: MacEachaidh on
(If I have no access to the devices, then I obviously can't do objective measurements.  But don't we all base our choices on what we find pleasing, subjectively, and what we don't?  Really, if we're honest?)


Theres a ridiculously large number of tests on the internet that you could look at.  If you do you'll find that pretty much every one of these devices sounds identical unless you pair it with some particularly weird pair of headphones, since building a 16 bit DAC and a 5 mW power amplifier isn't all that hard post mid 1990s.  With that in mind I'd probably recommend against deciding on what to buy based on imaginary differences in "tone".