WTB: Audiophile-grade MP3 Player

alanchanxd

I need something along the lines of a FIIO X5 X1, iBasso DX90, Hifiman HM-802, etc... thx

Rocker

Without wishing to sound snooty or anything, the words MP3 and audiophile are streets apart. I use a Zen player, loaded with .FLAC files and Sennheiser phones.the Zen software is not top drawer but the sound is pretty good. Good enough to listen to for a few hours at a time. The players you listed might be equivalents of the Zen, if so, use high bit rate files. Forget that MP3 was ever invented. MP3 'music' makes Scottish football commentaries sound interesting. Nuff said.

Wazmeister

@alanchanxd - If I may offer some adivce here, as Ive had a long (and expensive) journey here !

Ive tried most of em, if not all.. The best ? The iBasso DX90 is very involving and full of character. The BEST Ive encountered is the Astell and Kern AK100 ii and its quite simply stunning.

alanchanxd

Rocker said:

Without wishing to sound snooty or anything, the words MP3 and audiophile are streets apart. I use a Zen player, loaded with .FLAC files and Sennheiser phones.the Zen software is not top drawer but the sound is pretty good. Good enough to listen to for a few hours at a time. The players you listed might be equivalents of the Zen, if so, use high bit rate files. Forget that MP3 was ever invented. MP3 'music' makes Scottish football commentaries sound interesting. Nuff said.

I used the word "mp3 player" in the title because "mp3 player" is the de-facto household name for defining a portable source that delivers music. By doing so, the audience in this forum would know what I want without creating confusion lol.

Although it can be an oxymoron to place "mp3" and "audiophile" in the same sentence, but to be honest my ears only goes as good as 320kbps mp3 files as I can't differentiate them to loseless files.

But I am very very fussy about the source quality because I have an acquired taste was sound signature which is: flat, cold, and analytical with detailed sparkling highs. I currently have an Etymotic ER4p/s earphone and would like to pair it with something higher quality than my current Sansa Clip Zip and iPod video.

alanchanxd

Wazmeister said:

@alanchanxd - If I may offer some adivce here, as Ive had a long (and expensive) journey here !

Ive tried most of em, if not all.. The best ? The iBasso DX90 is very involving and full of character. The BEST Ive encountered is the Astell and Kern AK100 ii and its quite simply stunning.

Nice! I am glad that that there are audiophiles in this forum, thanks for the advice lol, it is rare to encounter someone who has the chance to try a lot of audiophile-grade players.

I was previously torn deciding whether to get the DX90 or Fiio x5ii because these 2 players are widely available online in the UK without having to importing them. Too bad I can't try them out before buying so I really have to take my chances on opinions and reviews.

I also looked into the Astell and Kern series, but they cost as much as my kidneys and liver which sucks because every review i read was so positive. 

Apart from the DX90, do you recommend any other audiophile portable player that cost less than £300?

4114Effects

For what it's worth, I have a pair of Shure SE535 headphones and the sound quality from my humble Sansa Clip+ is fantastic. I sometimes feel guilty pairing the expensive headphones with a £28 DAP. But whatever Sansa have put in there they've got it right. 

More than enough output to drive the earphones, fantastic battery life and it clips to my shirt collar and weighs virtually nothing.

I've toyed with upgrading, having owned Fiio and Cowon units in the past, but honestly the Sansa sounds lovely, so whilst I'm enjoying the listening experience this much I think I'll put the money to use elsewhere.

Not sure if that's helpful or not. But there you go

4114Effects

By the way, if you do upgrade the player, make sure you buy an audiophile after market battery for it. The 100% audio-grade silver stranded directional polymers and gold-plated terminals will ensure that the voltage is delivered in a timely fashion and give the music more dynamics and a greater soundstage with enhanced air.

alanchanxd

4114Effects said:

By the way, if you do upgrade the player, make sure you buy an audiophile after market battery for it. The 100% audio-grade silver stranded directional polymers and gold-plated terminals will ensure that the voltage is delivered in a timely fashion and give the music more dynamics and a greater soundstage with enhanced air.

Haha thanks for the personal and snake oil advice I agree that there are limits and beyond that, it's all placebo (especially those silver stranded blah blah custom cable that cost more than your Shures themselves).

I also thought the same that my sansa clip zip (it shares the same DAC with the Clip+) was adequate as it provides a detailed and a relatively flat EQ. But it was only until I recently tried my friend's Colorfly C3 £79.99 player, my mind was blown away. I realized that you may not know what you have missed until you try something new. I used to own a SE420 and I thought it was good, until I tried the Etymotics. But it's all a matter of personal taste too, I tried sharing my new found glory flat-sounding earphones to my friends and they still prefer something close to Beats earphone (urgh).

I think buying an audiophile-grade portable player as a one-off investment is ok, as long as it isn't ridiculously expensive, you love it, and you don't plan on upgrading it for a long time. But given the experience of GAS, I can see how being an audiophile can lead to addiction... 

Rocker

And you definitely need an audiophile certified lead for copying music to your portable device from your computer...

4114Effects

Hehe.

I might look into that colorfly c3. The only thing that I don't like about the clip is the small display and relatively awkward navigation. Something with a bigger screen would be nice.

4114Effects

Oh, the colorfly has a small screen. Nevermind. I don't think I can bring myself to buy a device that spells colour that way anyway ...

TTony

I just bought the new Fiio X3, but haven't had chance to load it up with re-ripped CDs to give it a listen yet.  It's my first venture away from iPod / phone based mp3s, so my hopes are high.

 10% off all Fiio kit if you buy direct from the UK distributors atm.

chrispy108

Rocker said:

And you definitely need an audiophile certified lead for copying music to your portable device from your computer...

http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/11113/111134695/3966236-9906433653-fry-c.jpg

alanchanxd

4114Effects said:

Oh, the colorfly has a small screen. Nevermind. I don't think I can bring myself to buy a device that spells colour that way anyway ...

4114Effects said:Oh, the colorfly has a small screen. Nevermind. I don't think I can bring myself to buy a device that spells colour that way anyway ...

Yeah the screen is small and the user interface is bad. Not a very good user experience if you have a lot of songs or if you are used to the iPod interface. 

A lot of leading audiophile players are from small obscure Chinese companies (that's how Fiio started) and they have really weird sounding product names like... QLS, LOTTO, Cayin, iHiFi

alanchanxd

TTony said:

I just bought the new Fiio X3, but haven't had chance to load it up with re-ripped CDs to give it a listen yet.  It's my first venture away from iPod / phone based mp3s, so my hopes are high.

 10% off all Fiio kit if you buy direct from the UK distributors atm.

May I have the link to where you bought your Fiio

X3 is my budget choice, from reviews and opinions it seems that the X3 sounds more or less identical to X5 despite being £100 cheaper 

jimification

I have an Ibasso DX90 I might sell. It's great but I'm a vinyl fan at home and only use it on flights, so a bit of a waste really.

The sound quality and internal amp are superb though, I was using it with HD800's for a while and it powered them just fine...it even held it's own very respectably against the Sennheiser HDVA 800.

Shoot me a pm if you're interested (it's boxed and has been in the protective rubber case with a screen protector on from new) think I even have a spare battery for it somewhere too.

cheers,

Jim

TTony

alanchanxd said:

TTony said:

I just bought the new Fiio X3, but haven't had chance to load it up with re-ripped CDs to give it a listen yet.  It's my first venture away from iPod / phone based mp3s, so my hopes are high.

 10% off all Fiio kit if you buy direct from the UK distributors atm.

May I have the link to where you bought your Fiio

X3 is my budget choice, from reviews and opinions it seems that the X3 sounds more or less identical to X5 despite being £100 cheaper 

Linky @alanchanxd - all good with a free bundled cable and next-day delivery.  Beats Amazon!