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Topic: Recommend The Best Portable Mp3 Cd Player Please (Read 3759 times) previous topic - next topic
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Recommend The Best Portable Mp3 Cd Player Please

I want to replace my 5-year old Discman, and I want to buy one of those MP3 CD players.
Can you recommend me the best?
Must play VBR
Must sound good
Must be available in the US (even online)
Must not be terribly expensive.
Thank you very much 
I'm the one in the picture, sitting on a giant cabbage in Mexico, circa 1978.
Reseñas de Rock en Español: www.estadogeneral.com

Recommend The Best Portable Mp3 Cd Player Please

Reply #1 –
Nothing better than iRiver's SlimX (I have the 350). Ogg will be supported SOON (remember though, this is a very relative term).

I've had no problems with it (nothing major or even major minor). It does seem to be coming more sensitive to packet written CD-RW's. I get "No Disc" errors occassionally (did I spell that right?) that I know have MP3's on them. It may just be sensitive to surface cleanliness. Retails at about $170 USD.

Xenno
No one can be told what Ogg Vorbis is...you have to hear it for yourself
- Morpheus

Recommend The Best Portable Mp3 Cd Player Please

Reply #3 –
Thank you very much, I checked at Amazon and they have if for sale along with the very Sennheiser headphones I wanted to buy! 
My concern about that player is that I read from the Amazon customer reviews that it is too quiet.
Is this true?
I'm the one in the picture, sitting on a giant cabbage in Mexico, circa 1978.
Reseñas de Rock en Español: www.estadogeneral.com

Recommend The Best Portable Mp3 Cd Player Please

Reply #4 –
I wouldn't say it's too quiet. The SlimX has a 12mW headphone amp, which is actually pretty good compared to some other devices out there. With a good set of headphones and the ideal settings for your custom EQ, you'll find that the SlimX has some powerful sound output. Listening through my Sony MDR-G72LP "Street Style" headphones, my average volume level ranges from 32 ~ 36 (out of a maximum of 40). I'm afraid that if I push it any higher than that, I might soon go deaf. 

By the way, did you take the time to read that SlimX review I linked to in my original message? Here are some comments, from that review, which answer your question:

It would all be for naught if the SlimX didn't sound good. Thankfully, it sounds terrific. Thanks to a respectable 90dB signal-to-noise ratio, the SlimX can play digital files as clearly and loudly as their native format allows. As long as you don't use the bundled earbuds, which, unsurprisingly, suck, you are in for a sonic treat. You masochist will be happy to learn that the SlimX is unbelievably loud. The site quotes 12mW, but it seems like the headphone amp is much louder than that. But no matter what the number, the SlimX will provide more than enough juice for any listener. Great stuff.

There are perhaps only two issues I have with this player, and I'll point them out to you right now.

Firstly, the player suffers from some minor background hiss. It may not be as bad as you think, however, since you can only hear the hiss when there's no music playing and you're in a completely silent environment.

Secondly, there's a nasty bug in the decoder that causes occasional audio glitches to randomly pop up during the playback of MP3 files. This has been confirmed by myself and various other SlimX users, and it's something that iRiver is apparently aware of. Keep in mind that this bug doesn't occur very frequently, and it's something that'll probably be fixed in the next firmware update. Until then, however, you may find the decoding bug to be quite annoying when you do notice it for yourself.

Apart from those points, the SlimX is a great MP3 / CD player that's constantly improving thanks to iRiver's continuing support through firmware enhancements. Hell, iRiver is still actively supporting the iMP-100 model (AKA: RioVolt) which came out over two years ago!
 

Recommend The Best Portable Mp3 Cd Player Please

Reply #5 –
Quote
My concern about that player is that I read from the Amazon customer reviews that it is too quiet.
Is this true?

That depends on the music genre you are planning to listen to, in which environment and on the headphones. For classical music (great dynamics) I think that the volume is sometimes too low (with low volume mastered CDs).

The problem is, it will be hard (maybe impossible?) to find a portable player with more output power.

Featurewise I definitely recommend the SlimX!