Portable digital music player for £500 or less

Gagaryn

bingefeller said:

@Gagaryn the AK70 would come highly recommend by you then?  I wonder if Richer Sounds would do a deal for some SE535s for me as well, the same ones you have?

@Digitalscream Why do so many people use it as a firmware replacement?  What advantages does it have over stock firmwares?

All that stops me from highly recommending the AK70 mkII is the fact that the SR15 exists.

"People On The Internet" say that the SR15 is better and the two models are so close in price, even accounting for discounting, that I see no reason (other than perhaps the SR15's oddball styling) to pick the old model over the new. 

That said, if I didn't know about the new model, from my 15 minutes of playing with the AK70 I would have been very happy to own one; I had read that the UI was sluggish but it seemed fine to me; the test unit only had about 50 songs on it though, perhaps it is slower with more??  And it really did sound exceptional, - like, amazing!!  And it was physically smaller and lighter than I imagined - like all pretty and shiny!!

I have no doubt that Richer Sounds will discout the SE535s, they are asking £359 which is high - loads of places have them cheaper than that including GG and GAK at £319. I got mine from eGlobal a couple of years ago and they were £269 - they don't seem to stock them any more though. 

bingefeller

@digitalscream @Grumpyrocker that’s quite interesting.  So essentially all these players are just a basic box and it all depends on the firmware?  

Grumpyrocker

bingefeller said:

@digitalscream @Grumpyrocker that’s quite interesting.  So essentially all these players are just a basic box and it all depends on the firmware?  

Firmware yes, but also the DAC and headphone amp. But you don't have to go expensive for a decent DAC, it's pretty well understood tech at this point.

digitalscream

bingefeller said:

@digitalscream @Grumpyrocker that’s quite interesting.  So essentially all these players are just a basic box and it all depends on the firmware?  

In quite a few cases, yes. Check the Rockbox site for a list of players supported by it. Sadly, it's no longer developed (the main dev left it hanging in 2014), but it's still just as functional as it's ever been for supported players.

bingefeller

Thanks for all the info, guys, much appreciated.   

spark240

Am I right in thinking the SR15 doesnt have an input like the AK70Mk2, so cant sit between PC and headphones as a DAC?

Gagaryn

spark240 said:

Am I right in thinking the SR15 doesnt have an input like the AK70Mk2, so cant sit between PC and headphones as a DAC?

The WhatHiFi review suggests that but they got it wrong - I checked the manual and it can; "The USB DAC function allows the device to be recognized as a sound card on a computer. Music from the computer is played through the device’s headphone port for an enhanced listening experience."

Johnnyseven

Anyone know what music management software is best for hi res files like flac?

gavin_axecaster

digitalscream said:

bingefeller said:

@Digitalscream Why do so many people use it as a firmware replacement?  What advantages does it have over stock firmwares?

(at least, there was in the beta version I installed ages ago before my Clip ended up in the washing machine).

I know the feeling well - I've had 2 Clips in the washer. First one died but I'm still using the second one (Clip+) daily at the gym.

I also have a brand new Clip+ in box sitting on the shelf for when I inevitably destroy/lose the current one.

Grumpyrocker

Johnnyseven said:

Anyone know what music management software is best for hi res files like flac?

I use Musicbee these days, before that always used to use Media Monkey.

Johnnyseven

Thanks @Grumpyrocker ;

danishbacon

Johnnyseven said:

Thanks @Grumpyrocker ;

Jriver is solid for a large collection too

spark240

Err ok...so Music bee , Jriver, Media Monkey...slightly lost...are these just like iTunes alternatives?...can I actually download high quality music from these?

They all claim to be " The Ultimate"....but....whats the pros / cons of each?

Is it an annual fee , how much per download etc etc...

earwighoney

gavin_axecaster said:

I know the feeling well - I've had 2 Clips in the washer. First one died but I'm still using the second one (Clip+) daily at the gym.

I also have a brand new Clip+ in box sitting on the shelf for when I inevitably destroy/lose the current one.

I had a Sansa Clip which I lost on the first day of taking it out of the house.  Not the second or third, but the first day. 

Every time I read of it's mention on this thread I take it a personal reminder of my own stupidity. 

I've thought of getting another Sansa MP3 but I don't think someone like myself can be trusted with an Mp3 player as small as that, I think I need to get myself a Sony tape Walkman instead. 

Freebird

Gagaryn said:

Well today I bit the bullet.

I took a wander round to Richer Sounds after work to have a proper look. They didn't have a SR15 in stock but they did have an AK70 MkII in so I had a listen to that with my Shure SE535s.

I was completely blown away! It's now clear that the iPhone has not been driving the Shures particularly well. I had expected the Astell&Kern to sound better than the iPhone (obv) but I really didn't expect such a huge difference.

Richer Sounds have the AK70 at £529 just now but that's not cheap enough when the brand new SR15 is £599. They said they could get a SR15 in by the end of the week, but being one for instant gratification I was tempted just to pull the trigger with Amazon for delivery tomorrow; I mentioned that and they instantly offered me £50 off the SR15 if I ordered with them - I jumped at that.

Looking forward to getting it - in the meantime I've ordered a balanced cable for my SE535s; not sure how much difference that will make over the fitted unbalanced cable but the discount more than paid for it - and my current cable is pretty grotty! 

Just out of interest, I dug up the output impedance measurements for a few media players.

iPhone = 5 Ω
AK70 Mkll (balanced) = 3 Ω
AK70 Mkll (unbalanced) = 1.5 Ω
SR15 (balanced) = 1 Ω
SR15 (unbalanced) = 2 Ω
Sansa Clip+ = 1 Ω

Your Sure SE535s have an impedance of 36 Ω

If my information is correct, it could explain why you felt a bit more power coming out of the AK70 compared to the iPhone due to the impedance ratio?

Grumpyrocker

spark240 said:

Err ok...so Music bee , Jriver, Media Monkey...slightly lost...are these just like iTunes alternatives?...can I actually download high quality music from these?

They all claim to be " The Ultimate"....but....whats the pros / cons of each?

Is it an annual fee , how much per download etc etc...

Musicbee and Media Monkey are software for organising, playing and converting music on your computer. They aren't music stores.

Rocker

Johnnyseven said:

Anyone know what music management software is best for hi res files like flac?

On a PC, there is very little that is better than Foobar2000 to play music files including FLAC.  And it is free too.  Google to find the download.  Oh and FLAC is not hi-res technically as it is the same resolution as music on a CD.

Heartfeltdawn

earwighoney said:

gavin_axecaster said:

I know the feeling well - I've had 2 Clips in the washer. First one died but I'm still using the second one (Clip+) daily at the gym.

I also have a brand new Clip+ in box sitting on the shelf for when I inevitably destroy/lose the current one.

I had a Sansa Clip which I lost on the first day of taking it out of the house.  Not the second or third, but the first day. 

Every time I read of it's mention on this thread I take it a personal reminder of my own stupidity. 

I've thought of getting another Sansa MP3 but I don't think someone like myself can be trusted with an Mp3 player as small as that, I think I need to get myself a Sony tape Walkman instead. 

That is why my replacement Sandisk is bright pink and is wrapped in a bright pink silicon cover. I've had loads of people ask me why pink and the answer is the same: so I can easily find it and it's much harder to lose. 

Freebird

Heartfeltdawn said:
That is why my replacement Sandisk is bright pink and is wrapped in a bright pink silicon cover. I've had loads of people ask me why pink and the answer is the same: so I can easily find it and it's much harder to lose. 

Yep, I can believe it. It's quite a common colour actually. Are they waterproof?

bingefeller

Johnnyseven said:

Anyone know what music management software is best for hi res files like flac?

I like Clementine Player.  https://www.clementine-player.org/downloads