Who's using a dedicated digital audio player, and what have you got?

barnstorm

I've always preferred an mp3 player/DAP over listening to music on my phone when I'm travelling, and for the first time in a very long time I'm in need of a new one.

Unfortunately since I was last in the market a load of brands (e.g. Cowon) have exited, and almost every device now seems to be basically a hobbled Android smartphone with heaps of unnecessary features and crap battery life. 

I'm used to the old Sony devices that were tiny, fast, relatively inexpensive and gave 30-50 hours of music on a single charge. The only DAP in that vein that Sony is still making (for the UK) is very obviously flimsier than those that came before, and reportedly doesn't sound especially good. But I might be forced to go with it, anyway.

Any of you using something from the 'new' Chinese brands – Hiby, Shanling etc – and how infuriating (or not) do you find it? There seem to be UI and QC issues with most things if you spend enough time looking on hifi forums, but maybe the problems are overstated.

thecolourbox

I'm also very interested in this kind of thing, albeit I'd fancy one with the Android dubbins so I could use it for Media Monkey for my own files, but also run things like Spotify and Nugs.net, and to have bluetooth so I can use my earbuds. Even better if Dolby Atmos or similar is there too - I know a lot of people don't like it but through my earbuds on the Movie setting I really enjoy the experience - I listen every night before sleeping and the super wide stereo is a sensory treat in my half asleep state.

At that point people just say to buy a phone to be honest, but in my mind my ideal format would be like half the size of a phone vertically, maybe some ability to clip on to something, micro SD card compatible etc.

Appreciate you're after something of the simplicity of old rather than this - it's quite frustrating that there seem to be loads in the sub £100 cheap throwaway clunky android phones disguised as media players, then the next level up is like £800-£1k for audiofiles with very little functionality other than playing digital files. Hopefully there's something inbetween somewhere

TheBigDipper

This is still the phone, but it works for me. I store music on the phone in uncompressed format and connect it to an Oppo HA-2 headphone amp with some nice headphones. The Oppo is also the DA convertor, so all the phone does is serve up the digital stream to the amp. Sounds great and also works well with a headphone splitter if you have someone else who wants to listen along with you (campsite-friendly, for instance). 

blobb

AK 70 or AK Jr.

rze99

Still using iPod Classic synched to iTunes with connectors for hifi. 

I’m either listening in my home Studio (which includes streaming services and YouTube) or traveling. 

Only listen to music in the car in iPod and when I’m alone in the car which is very rare now. 

octatonic

barnstorm said:

I've always preferred an mp3 player/DAP over listening to music on my phone when I'm travelling, and for the first time in a very long time I'm in need of a new one.

Unfortunately since I was last in the market a load of brands (e.g. Cowon) have exited, and almost every device now seems to be basically a hobbled Android smartphone with heaps of unnecessary features and crap battery life. 

I'm used to the old Sony devices that were tiny, fast, relatively inexpensive and gave 30-50 hours of music on a single charge. The only DAP in that vein that Sony is still making (for the UK) is very obviously flimsier than those that came before, and reportedly doesn't sound especially good. But I might be forced to go with it, anyway.

Any of you using something from the 'new' Chinese brands – Hiby, Shanling etc – and how infuriating (or not) do you find it? There seem to be UI and QC issues with most things if you spend enough time looking on hifi forums, but maybe the problems are overstated.

No because for on the go there is nothing better than an iPhone in terms of UX, the sound quality is more than adequate.

If I am not moving about then there is nothing better (that I can afford) than a computer plugged into my Kii Three BXT's in terms of sound quality and UX.

vasselmeyer

I bought a couple of Sansa clip MP3 players a few years ago. They're so small and light that they fit in the soft cases for the wired headphones I use. Even after MONTHS of not being used, the batteries are still charged and if you want to expand the storage using an SD card, there's a slot for one.

barnstorm

Seems to be quite a bit of interest now in modding old iPods, and stupid-simple devices like the Sansa Clip are still popular – but evidently not popular enough for the manufacturers to keep making them. Real shame @vasselmeyer ;;

Given the dearth of options (that I'm aware of) I'd probably get a BNIB iPod Shuffle 4 for £50-60 and accept the size/battery-life trade-off, except anything that's been sitting unused for a decade is going to need a battery replacement, anyway.

I regard my phone as an annoying liability that I have to put up with to navigate modern life, so any phone-based solution is out for me, and anything that resembles a phone is out, too – I don't want the size, the weight, the fragile screen, the power-hungry innards.

Shanling does properly small devices, but refuses to put physical buttons on them meaning you have to use a tiny touchscreen and a side-mounted wheel that seems to break off or stop working in lots of cases. Frustrating.

CarpeDiem

I’m still using a Sony Walkman at the gym. It’s a fraction of the size of a mobile phone, has a good colour screen, battery charges reliably, and the storage capacity is good. I also like the automatic volume limiter system on it to help prevent hearing damage from playing at excessive volume.

Johnnyseven

blobb said:

AK 70 or AK Jr.

I have an AK70 and it's great. Put a 1tb memory card and now it has my entire music collection on it. Doesn't have LDAC or Aptx Lossless codec available if that is important to you.

prowla

thecolourbox said:

I'm also very interested in this kind of thing, albeit I'd fancy one with the Android dubbins so I could use it for Media Monkey for my own files, but also run things like Spotify and Nugs.net, and to have bluetooth so I can use my earbuds. Even better if Dolby Atmos or similar is there too - I know a lot of people don't like it but through my earbuds on the Movie setting I really enjoy the experience - I listen every night before sleeping and the super wide stereo is a sensory treat in my half asleep state.

At that point people just say to buy a phone to be honest, but in my mind my ideal format would be like half the size of a phone vertically, maybe some ability to clip on to something, micro SD card compatible etc.

Appreciate you're after something of the simplicity of old rather than this - it's quite frustrating that there seem to be loads in the sub £100 cheap throwaway clunky android phones disguised as media players, then the next level up is like £800-£1k for audiofiles with very little functionality other than playing digital files. Hopefully there's something inbetween somewhere

I think that using earbuds negates any question about hi-fi quality variations.

barnstorm

Johnnyseven said:

blobb said:

AK 70 or AK Jr.

I have an AK70 and it's great. Put a 1tb memory card and now it has my entire music collection on it. Doesn't have LDAC or Aptx Lossless codec available if that is important to you.

The 'A&K' option that has most potential is the CT10 from sister brand Activo, except it has poor battery life and instead of upgrading it they released the much bigger, more phone-like P1. 

Absolutely optimal sound quality isn't worth paying for to me (especially when it comes at the expense of portability and battery life) when I'm listening on a train or a plane or in a crowded public place with a fairly modest set of headphones.

Only a few years ago that you could still get something like this – really well built, sounded great, 30-45 hours of playback depending on use, for well under £300 new.

Appreciate that moaning about it won't change the fact that most people's listening/buying habits have apparently changed!