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I am a huge fan of standalone mp3-players. So much so, that at some point I made a comparison site for mp3-players. But nobody cared. I made comparison sites f

by mg 4y ago

I am a huge fan of standalone mp3-players. So much so, that at some point I made a comparison site for mp3-players. But nobody cared. I made comparison sites for smartphones, laptops and monitors which became quite popular. But for mp3-players, it seemed like I am the only person on planet earth who uses them. Personally, I still use a Sony Walkman NWZ-E585. For me, that is the best mp3 player ever made. It has a nice form factor, feels very good haptically, the navigation interface is ok, the sound quality is great, the noise cancelling too, and you can access the storage without having to install propriatery software on your computer.

tjrDL6MjB2Zwwa 4y ago
Is that player comparison site still around, or do you have a recommendation for someone who has long had the thought of getting a dedicated music playing device? The article listed those as $800, which is ridiculous and there's no way I'm paying that much, but if I can find something at a much more reasonable price (preferably a physical headphone jack) I'd be happy as a clam.
- omnicognate 4y ago
  I used to have one that cost me around £200 and was alright but sounded pretty anaemic. I replaced it with one that cost around £600 and is way better. I love it. Comments of the form "price X is unreasonable because I'd never pay it" are mildly annoying. You're an individual, not a market, and as such don't get to choose what a "reasonable" price is. DAPs (digital audio players) are available at a wide range of prices. The top result for "MP3 player" on Amazon UK right now is £23.99. Choose a price point you're happy with and you'll find something. I love mine at the price point I went for. (I've also had one for around £50, bought a couple of ~£20 ones for my small children and owned a couple of different DAC dongles for my phone. Unsurprisingly, the sound quality is very highly correlated with the price, up to the level I've tried. I expect it levels out not far above, though, and if you decide to pay thousands for a DAP they'll make it out of gold-plated copper because there's nothing else left to use the money on. [1]) [1] https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/walkman/nw-wm1z https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/walkman/nw-wm1z
  - tjrDL6MjB2Zwwa 4y ago
    > Comments of the form "price X is unreasonable because I'd never pay it" are mildly annoying. You're an individual, not a market, and as such don't get to choose what a "reasonable" price is. When my gf wanted an adjustable standing desk the going rate was roughly $600 for anything that had everything she wanted so I built it myself for maybe $200 and the thing is still being used regularly something like 8 years later. When I want a physical copy of an older PS2 game and they're all $100+, I pirate it. If _YOU_ want to outsource personal responsibility for your money, that's on you, don't lecture me because I choose not to. I can conclude that millions for a painting is unreasonable despite many people doing it because they're involved in money laundering just as well as anyone else.
    - omnicognate 4y ago
      I seem to have got under your skin. It wasn't my intention and I apologise if I caused offense, but I don't retract what I said. You've described ways you've obtained things for less than market price in exchange for extra effort or legal risk, not reasons the market price should be anything other than what it is, which is determined by what people will pay, collectively.
      - tjrDL6MjB2Zwwa 4y ago
        two comments made by others in this conversation: > Ok, at that price point (or even a quarter of that) it ceases to be a music player to become a luxury good to be shown by paid influencers on social media. Nothing to see here, move along... > If you think that is bad, check out the Walkman NW-WM1ZM2 (who at Sony thinks that these names are a good idea?) for a cool $3500 Your response is what everyone will sound like once our robot overlords finally take over. It certainly didn't come from an understanding of the human condition.
        omnicognate 4y ago
        Further examples of the same attitude. Such comments are common, which is why I find them "mildly annoying". I suggest you find a healthier pastime than getting upset about what other people are buying. In the meantime, I'll spend my money however I please. Maybe I'll buy a gold plated Walkman. They look shiny.
- fragmede 4y ago
  Did I not read far enough into the article or something? It says $360 in Japan and $430 in the EU to me.
  - fourthark 4y ago
    They discuss a higher end model at the end which costs more than $800.
    - tjrDL6MjB2Zwwa 4y ago
      I was skimming specifically looking for price and must have missed the earlier, cheaper, listings. And when they said that $818 price tag was "relatively cheap" I took that to mean that's the entry-level fee and decided to nope on out. I wouldn't even spend that much on my phone (spent less than half of that) so there's no way I'm spending that on another device, lol.
      - dagw 4y ago
        If you think that is bad, check out the Walkman NW-WM1ZM2 (who at Sony thinks that these names are a good idea?) for a cool $3500
  - k1t 4y ago
    "There's another new Sony Walkman, the NW-ZX700. It's 104,500 yen ($818) in Japan, and while that sounds like a lot for a portable music player, it's actually a relative bargain compare..."
    - squarefoot 4y ago
      Ok, at that price point (or even a quarter of that) it ceases to be a music player to become a luxury good to be shown by paid influencers on social media. Nothing to see here, move along...
- bondarchuk 4y ago
  What you can do is look at the players supported on https://www.rockbox.org/ https://www.rockbox.org/ (open-source alternative firmware for mp3 players) and check which ones are currently available for purchase somewhere. From the top of my head I know at least Surfans F20 and Xduoo X3II shouldn't be hard to come by.
  - tjrDL6MjB2Zwwa 4y ago
    interesting, thank you, I'll have to check that out.
  - BHSPitMonkey 4y ago
    It warms my heart to see Rockbox still alive and kicking. Most of my experience with it took place around 2005-2007 (wow, we're getting old I guess!). Great project.
  - squarefoot 4y ago
    I couldn't second that more. Rockbox is a wonderful 100% FOSS operating system for music players, and they're working hard to port it to new devices, almost always with zero help from manufacturers. HNers, please consider donating to the project, and/or if you have a old player collecting dust somewhere, also consider donating it to them so they'll have more hardware available for testing; when working with undocumented platforms the risk of bricking them is high, so it would help a lot.
- csdvrx 4y ago
  > The article listed those as $800, Oh it's middle of the line then? Because there are far more expensive Walkman models: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B354TW13/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B354TW13/ and https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B45DJ5RQ/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B45DJ5RQ/ > which is ridiculous and there's no way I'm paying that much You forgot "for me" after "ridiculous." I turned myself into an audiophile without even realizing it, but once you hear the difference, you can't unhear it. I have rediscovered some of my favorite tracks. So if your hearing is good (use an app to check if you can still hear the buzz sound, if not check your response curve) and you enjoy music, why not? My regular audio setup (walkman, headphones, cable) cost more than the (very good, top of the line) OLED laptop I'm using. Add all the little extras I use time-to-time, like shoulder headphones for use in the morning, or the sunglasses with integrated bluetooth I use when taking a walk, and it's an obscene amount of money. But music is what moves my soul. You may spend top dollar for your car and consider it a "reasonable" expense because it brings you such happiness everyday? I consider a top-of-the-line NZW Walkman "reasonable" for the same reasons.
  - tjrDL6MjB2Zwwa 4y ago
    [flagged]
Krasnol 4y ago
I wish I would have some use for an mp3 player but I don't. I have my Android phone with me all the time. Sometimes even a second one so my mp3s are on there. The only use I could see would be for a long bike tour where I want to save phone battery time but those are quite rare and the price they call there is ridiculous for that.
- kramerger 4y ago
  When I'm travelling and need to be 100% sure my phone is working, i always bring an old android as mp3 player. I use it to listen to audiobooks.
  - Krasnol 4y ago
    I use a powerbank since I need the phone too. And yes, I use it mainly to listen to audiobooks too.
omnicognate 4y ago
You're not alone and neither is the Walkman. Enough people use these things to support a small market that, having not been killed by mobile phones by 2023, isn't going to be. I have an Astell & Kern one. People may not have been interested in the comparison site because there just aren't that many devices to choose from and the choice comes down more to the sound than features that can be enumerated on a comparison list. Monitors are a mess, with each manufacturer making a zillion variants with cryptic model numbers differing in quantifiable ways. I've actively sought out monitor comparisons, but one for DAPs never occurred to me.
the_third_wave 4y ago
I like to have a separate device for playing audio as well, especially one which is sturdy and waterproof and small enough to fit in one of those small pockets on my sleeve when I'm out in the fields or woods swinging a tractor or an axe. I also like for that device to be able to receive and make phone calls... ...so I just use an old Android device, to be more specific my old Motorola Defy from 2011. It runs Android (Cyanogenmod, the predecessor to LineageOS) 4.4, does the Wifi thing but also the phone call thing, runs DSub connected to my own Airsonic server. It also takes photos, runs Telegram and when in dire need even a browser although it takes patience to wait for it chewing through a Javascript-burdened "modern" site. I have a 32GB microSD card in the thing which is enough given its connectivity options. The battery, also from 2011, lasts for 2 to 3 days of intense use. Small Android devices running Google-free AOSP-derived distributions are a good match for the role of "standalone" music players with the added benefit of allowing connectivity. Total costs for the latter are around €10/year with occasional use (Sweden, "pay as you go" SIM), total cost for the device is zero since I've used it for 12 years.
- chrischen 4y ago
  Play music and make phone calls sounds like an SIM enabled Apple Watch.
  - the_third_wave 4y ago
    No, a SIM enabled Apple watch sounds like an expensive solution to an already solved problem in this case. Apart from being virtually free the Android-based solution also stands out for being open versus the closed nature of the Apple watch. I use (other instances of) the same device as remote-controlled media player (a Defy running MPD connected to a car stereo in a large-ish wooden rectangular box with beefy speakers, a battery and several power hookups and charging ports (including 20W of solar panels to keep the thing going when there's light to be had)) or a trailer camera (a screen-less Defy in a custom wood+aluminium enclosure mounted in the front of my wife's horse trailer, the thing creates its own "cloud" through its Wifi adapter so she can see her nags on the road, it powers up and down based on the trailer hookup being powered with the battery as backup) and other similar contraptions.
jerzmacow 4y ago
What was the name of the site, if you don't mind me asking?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
alganet 4y ago
I can say the same of my NWZ-S730. More than 10 years of usage and it still works great. I wish I could find replacement noise cancelling headphones for it, they were amazing for public transport. It will probably last 10 more years, maybe even more.
nextlevelwizard 4y ago
mp3 players are pretty niche. For normal day to day stuff I already have my phone which has all features any mp3 player has and I want to carry it for other reasons as well. There needs to be a good reason to carry extra device. I could see carrying something that has much better sound quality with amp that can drive some more hobbyist headphones, but I don't know if such devices are made - at least all the mp3 players I've seen are made to be as cheap as possible.
- signaru 4y ago
  I agree, it is pretty niche and I belong to that niche. As a music nerd myself, it was dedicated storage and just being used to having music offline without the streaming services. The iPod nano was so tiny, that it felt like nothing is in my jacket's pocket. I do have some music on my phone, but it's photos that are mostly taking up its storage. I literally have gigabytes worth of music and also audiobooks that are several hundreds of megabytes each. Though I don't have data to support it, I'm also trying to conserve my phone's battery.
- tobz1000 4y ago
  If you listen to music all day, saving phone battery life is a pretty good reason. Plus a non-Android MP3 player can get 40-100 hours on a charge. > all the mp3 players I've seen are made to be as cheap as possible. There are plenty of high-end players which prioritise sound quality and provide a better output than phones. The NW-ZX700 in the featured article looks to be one of these. FiiO is another well-known higher-end brand: https://www.fiio.com/m17 https://www.fiio.com/m17
  - noxvilleza 4y ago
    I wouldn't call FiiO high-end, they have a pretty wide range in most products (including DAPs) that goes from budget to relatively high-end ($1800). Astell & Kern start about one step down from FiiO's high-end, but can take you much higher (their ULTIMA SP3000 is ~$4300).
- csdvrx 4y ago
  > There needs to be a good reason to carry extra device Funny enough, for me that extra device is the phone: I see no reason to carry a "phone" for normal day-to-day stuff as my walkman has all the features I normally need (email, PDF viewer). I want to carry it for other reasons as well: due to its smaller screen size, the walkman limits the use of addictive social media.
dsr_ 4y ago
The best MP3 (and FLAC) player ever made is the Sansa Clip+ with Rockbox firmware. $50 when new. Size of a matchbox -- not the car, the small thing that restaurants and bars used to hand out as advertising. MicroSD slot for storage. 20+ hours of playtime, recharged via USB. Appears as a USB Mass Storage device, too. 3.5mm headphone jack. Small 2-part monochrome OLED display. Physical buttons: D-pad, OK, Menu, power, and volume up and down. After a day you don't need to look at it to pause/play, skip a track, change the volume or turn it on and off. With Rockbox installed (ten minute process), you can play FLAC, use a parametric equalizer, customize the display, change playback speed for audiobooks, and generally do a few dozen things more than the factory firmware. Rockbox lets you do the same on a large number of devices, but the Clip+ is the best.
- gfaregan 4y ago
  I had a Sansa clip of some type and it lasted about as long as the cheap $5 mp3 player I bought next. These days I find it more convenient to use my phone. You can play mp3s just fine on a phone.
  - pera 4y ago
    Phones are awful if you are doing exercises though.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - iamacyborg 4y ago
      Depends. I use my phone to control music when I'm in the gym but when I'm out running or cycling then listening to music is generally a bad idea, IMO, as you lose spatial awareness. I suppose that's more or less important whether you're running in a busy city or out in the countryside though. Either way, recent high end smart/sport watches usually have some sort of music playback support for folks who want to exercise with music but don't want to lug around a phone.
endgame 4y ago
The "problem" I have is that I bought a Cowon iAudio 7 over a decade ago and the thing still has amazing battery life and sounds fine. By the time I need to replace it, they'll all be gone.
- antihero 4y ago
  Why not buy some more now then?
  - vt100 4y ago
    How long does a battery last when unused?
    - ilyt 4y ago
      There is a good chance you can just find similar size enough battery to fit, althought might require soldering
  - endgame 4y ago
    I already have a spare but its capacity is much lower. Will probably attempt a battery transplant when the first one gives out.
aftergibson 4y ago
Still use an iPod 5th gen daily. I would happily use Rockbox but it's lacking any Podcast support which I need, but you're definitely not alone!
- m01 4y ago
  I've not tried it myself, but is this of any use? https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/DataBase#Examples https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/DataBase#Examples All of the database examples talk about podcasts. Especially the last one that uses play counts to split podcasts into old and new "folders" seems useful. (Opinions my own)
orthoxerox 4y ago
I used to use my NWZ-A17 every day until the pandemic started. It was small, light, has physical buttons I could press when it was in my parka's inner pocket, I didn't have to recharge it every night. Now I work from home and I have migrated to my smartphone. I use it infrequently enough that I am not annoyed by what the streaming service tries to get me to listen to. And owning a dumb mp3 player comes with its own drawbacks. If artist A has released 20 albums, artist B only five and I have both discographies on my player, that doesn't mean I want to listen to artist A four times as often when I ask for a shuffled playlist. Back when I owned a 256MB mp3 player (and felt like a king among people with floppies) I would hand-pick a playlist that would fit. With dozens of gigabytes of storage I have no desire to do that and I want the player to come up with a good playlist for me.
this_is_not_you 4y ago
What do you mean by "the noise cancelling too"? I thought that was a feature of headphones and not MP3 players`.
- Tams80 4y ago
  The wired ones use the DAP for the processing. Special (usually only for the DAP in question) headphones/earbuds with microphonesnare needed. They are usually included though, so it's hardly an issue.
sympodius 4y ago
I feel like I'm opening myself up to some abuse by posting this, but I still use my original brown Zune every day. I bought one as soon as they became available and I've always loved it. I've swapped out the original hard drive twice (once early on for a 100 GB HDD until it died, and then for a 128 GB SSD), and I've replaced the battery twice as well. Sometimes I wonder if I just hold onto it out of nostalgia, but I hope it will last a long time to come!
- themadturk 4y ago
  I heard nothing but good about the Zune when it was available. I'm kind of sad it was taken off the market before I had a chance to try it.
- CWuestefeld 4y ago
  I got bit by its leapyear bug while I was traveling, and had to go the whole day without being able to listen to my music :(
antipotoad 4y ago
What’s your comparison site for monitors (assuming it’s still up-to-date)? Interested in something that comes close to Retina in PPI, but doesn’t carry Apple’s hefty price tag. Edit: ah, well that didn’t take much looking. It’s https://www.productchart.com/ https://www.productchart.com/ for anyone else interested. Looks really nice, thanks!
andsoitis 4y ago
> So much so, that at some point I made a comparison site for mp3-players. But nobody cared. Not surprised in the least. People voted long ago, and continue to do so, that a single device that handles communication, entertainment, games, news, photography, etc. is superior to standalone devices you have carry around.
- mertd 4y ago
  Good enough is good enough for the majority of the market. They don't want to hear Vienna Philharmonic's third violinist breathe, they want to listen to autotuned pop music on a pair of $20 headphones and get on with their day.
  - andsoitis 4y ago
    I subscribe to Tidal, which has master quality recordings. One’s headphone choice is orthogonal to the music player you use, so if you can pick a very high quality one for a standalone MP3 player you can use that same one with your phone.
mmh0000 4y ago
Years ago, I would have agreed with you, for the longest time I used an iAudio 5XL with Rockbox. It was the best portable music player. But now... I can have a cell phone with 512GB of storage and run Foobar2000 [1][2]. Nothing else can compete. [1][Android] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foobar2000.foobar2000&hl=en_US&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foobar2000... [2] [iOS] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/foobar2000/id1072807669 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/foobar2000/id1072807669
wintogreen74 4y ago
>> you can access the storage without having to install propriatery software on your computer. I was also a fan when they almost all played from a file system, but even 10+ years ago it was harder and harder to find something that didn't require a store or some terrible music management application. Streaming continues to kill this approach as well. My kids don't know what an mp3 is.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

by mg 4y ago

tjrDL6MjB2Zwwa 4y ago

Is that player comparison site still around, or do you have a recommendation for someone who has long had the thought of getting a dedicated music playing device? The article listed those as $800, which is ridiculous and there's no way I'm paying that much, but if I can find something at a much more reasonable price (preferably a physical headphone jack) I'd be happy as a clam.

omnicognate 4y ago
I used to have one that cost me around £200 and was alright but sounded pretty anaemic. I replaced it with one that cost around £600 and is way better. I love it. Comments of the form "price X is unreasonable because I'd never pay it" are mildly annoying. You're an individual, not a market, and as such don't get to choose what a "reasonable" price is. DAPs (digital audio players) are available at a wide range of prices. The top result for "MP3 player" on Amazon UK right now is £23.99. Choose a price point you're happy with and you'll find something. I love mine at the price point I went for. (I've also had one for around £50, bought a couple of ~£20 ones for my small children and owned a couple of different DAC dongles for my phone. Unsurprisingly, the sound quality is very highly correlated with the price, up to the level I've tried. I expect it levels out not far above, though, and if you decide to pay thousands for a DAP they'll make it out of gold-plated copper because there's nothing else left to use the money on. [1]) [1] https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/walkman/nw-wm1z https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/walkman/nw-wm1z
- tjrDL6MjB2Zwwa 4y ago
  > Comments of the form "price X is unreasonable because I'd never pay it" are mildly annoying. You're an individual, not a market, and as such don't get to choose what a "reasonable" price is. When my gf wanted an adjustable standing desk the going rate was roughly $600 for anything that had everything she wanted so I built it myself for maybe $200 and the thing is still being used regularly something like 8 years later. When I want a physical copy of an older PS2 game and they're all $100+, I pirate it. If _YOU_ want to outsource personal responsibility for your money, that's on you, don't lecture me because I choose not to. I can conclude that millions for a painting is unreasonable despite many people doing it because they're involved in money laundering just as well as anyone else.
  - omnicognate 4y ago
    I seem to have got under your skin. It wasn't my intention and I apologise if I caused offense, but I don't retract what I said. You've described ways you've obtained things for less than market price in exchange for extra effort or legal risk, not reasons the market price should be anything other than what it is, which is determined by what people will pay, collectively.
    - tjrDL6MjB2Zwwa 4y ago
      two comments made by others in this conversation: > Ok, at that price point (or even a quarter of that) it ceases to be a music player to become a luxury good to be shown by paid influencers on social media. Nothing to see here, move along... > If you think that is bad, check out the Walkman NW-WM1ZM2 (who at Sony thinks that these names are a good idea?) for a cool $3500 Your response is what everyone will sound like once our robot overlords finally take over. It certainly didn't come from an understanding of the human condition.
      - omnicognate 4y ago
        Further examples of the same attitude. Such comments are common, which is why I find them "mildly annoying". I suggest you find a healthier pastime than getting upset about what other people are buying. In the meantime, I'll spend my money however I please. Maybe I'll buy a gold plated Walkman. They look shiny.
fragmede 4y ago
Did I not read far enough into the article or something? It says $360 in Japan and $430 in the EU to me.
- fourthark 4y ago
  They discuss a higher end model at the end which costs more than $800.
  - tjrDL6MjB2Zwwa 4y ago
    I was skimming specifically looking for price and must have missed the earlier, cheaper, listings. And when they said that $818 price tag was "relatively cheap" I took that to mean that's the entry-level fee and decided to nope on out. I wouldn't even spend that much on my phone (spent less than half of that) so there's no way I'm spending that on another device, lol.
    - dagw 4y ago
      If you think that is bad, check out the Walkman NW-WM1ZM2 (who at Sony thinks that these names are a good idea?) for a cool $3500
- k1t 4y ago
  "There's another new Sony Walkman, the NW-ZX700. It's 104,500 yen ($818) in Japan, and while that sounds like a lot for a portable music player, it's actually a relative bargain compare..."
  - squarefoot 4y ago
    Ok, at that price point (or even a quarter of that) it ceases to be a music player to become a luxury good to be shown by paid influencers on social media. Nothing to see here, move along...
bondarchuk 4y ago
What you can do is look at the players supported on https://www.rockbox.org/ https://www.rockbox.org/ (open-source alternative firmware for mp3 players) and check which ones are currently available for purchase somewhere. From the top of my head I know at least Surfans F20 and Xduoo X3II shouldn't be hard to come by.
- tjrDL6MjB2Zwwa 4y ago
  interesting, thank you, I'll have to check that out.
- BHSPitMonkey 4y ago
  It warms my heart to see Rockbox still alive and kicking. Most of my experience with it took place around 2005-2007 (wow, we're getting old I guess!). Great project.
- squarefoot 4y ago
  I couldn't second that more. Rockbox is a wonderful 100% FOSS operating system for music players, and they're working hard to port it to new devices, almost always with zero help from manufacturers. HNers, please consider donating to the project, and/or if you have a old player collecting dust somewhere, also consider donating it to them so they'll have more hardware available for testing; when working with undocumented platforms the risk of bricking them is high, so it would help a lot.
csdvrx 4y ago
> The article listed those as $800, Oh it's middle of the line then? Because there are far more expensive Walkman models: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B354TW13/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B354TW13/ and https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B45DJ5RQ/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B45DJ5RQ/ > which is ridiculous and there's no way I'm paying that much You forgot "for me" after "ridiculous." I turned myself into an audiophile without even realizing it, but once you hear the difference, you can't unhear it. I have rediscovered some of my favorite tracks. So if your hearing is good (use an app to check if you can still hear the buzz sound, if not check your response curve) and you enjoy music, why not? My regular audio setup (walkman, headphones, cable) cost more than the (very good, top of the line) OLED laptop I'm using. Add all the little extras I use time-to-time, like shoulder headphones for use in the morning, or the sunglasses with integrated bluetooth I use when taking a walk, and it's an obscene amount of money. But music is what moves my soul. You may spend top dollar for your car and consider it a "reasonable" expense because it brings you such happiness everyday? I consider a top-of-the-line NZW Walkman "reasonable" for the same reasons.
- tjrDL6MjB2Zwwa 4y ago
  [flagged]

Krasnol 4y ago

I wish I would have some use for an mp3 player but I don't. I have my Android phone with me all the time. Sometimes even a second one so my mp3s are on there. The only use I could see would be for a long bike tour where I want to save phone battery time but those are quite rare and the price they call there is ridiculous for that.

kramerger 4y ago
When I'm travelling and need to be 100% sure my phone is working, i always bring an old android as mp3 player. I use it to listen to audiobooks.
- Krasnol 4y ago
  I use a powerbank since I need the phone too. And yes, I use it mainly to listen to audiobooks too.

omnicognate 4y ago

You're not alone and neither is the Walkman. Enough people use these things to support a small market that, having not been killed by mobile phones by 2023, isn't going to be. I have an Astell & Kern one. People may not have been interested in the comparison site because there just aren't that many devices to choose from and the choice comes down more to the sound than features that can be enumerated on a comparison list. Monitors are a mess, with each manufacturer making a zillion variants with cryptic model numbers differing in quantifiable ways. I've actively sought out monitor comparisons, but one for DAPs never occurred to me.

the_third_wave 4y ago

I like to have a separate device for playing audio as well, especially one which is sturdy and waterproof and small enough to fit in one of those small pockets on my sleeve when I'm out in the fields or woods swinging a tractor or an axe. I also like for that device to be able to receive and make phone calls... ...so I just use an old Android device, to be more specific my old Motorola Defy from 2011. It runs Android (Cyanogenmod, the predecessor to LineageOS) 4.4, does the Wifi thing but also the phone call thing, runs DSub connected to my own Airsonic server. It also takes photos, runs Telegram and when in dire need even a browser although it takes patience to wait for it chewing through a Javascript-burdened "modern" site. I have a 32GB microSD card in the thing which is enough given its connectivity options. The battery, also from 2011, lasts for 2 to 3 days of intense use. Small Android devices running Google-free AOSP-derived distributions are a good match for the role of "standalone" music players with the added benefit of allowing connectivity. Total costs for the latter are around €10/year with occasional use (Sweden, "pay as you go" SIM), total cost for the device is zero since I've used it for 12 years.

chrischen 4y ago
Play music and make phone calls sounds like an SIM enabled Apple Watch.
- the_third_wave 4y ago
  No, a SIM enabled Apple watch sounds like an expensive solution to an already solved problem in this case. Apart from being virtually free the Android-based solution also stands out for being open versus the closed nature of the Apple watch. I use (other instances of) the same device as remote-controlled media player (a Defy running MPD connected to a car stereo in a large-ish wooden rectangular box with beefy speakers, a battery and several power hookups and charging ports (including 20W of solar panels to keep the thing going when there's light to be had)) or a trailer camera (a screen-less Defy in a custom wood+aluminium enclosure mounted in the front of my wife's horse trailer, the thing creates its own "cloud" through its Wifi adapter so she can see her nags on the road, it powers up and down based on the trailer hookup being powered with the battery as backup) and other similar contraptions.

jerzmacow 4y ago

What was the name of the site, if you don't mind me asking?

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alganet 4y ago

I can say the same of my NWZ-S730. More than 10 years of usage and it still works great. I wish I could find replacement noise cancelling headphones for it, they were amazing for public transport. It will probably last 10 more years, maybe even more.

nextlevelwizard 4y ago

mp3 players are pretty niche. For normal day to day stuff I already have my phone which has all features any mp3 player has and I want to carry it for other reasons as well. There needs to be a good reason to carry extra device. I could see carrying something that has much better sound quality with amp that can drive some more hobbyist headphones, but I don't know if such devices are made - at least all the mp3 players I've seen are made to be as cheap as possible.

signaru 4y ago
I agree, it is pretty niche and I belong to that niche. As a music nerd myself, it was dedicated storage and just being used to having music offline without the streaming services. The iPod nano was so tiny, that it felt like nothing is in my jacket's pocket. I do have some music on my phone, but it's photos that are mostly taking up its storage. I literally have gigabytes worth of music and also audiobooks that are several hundreds of megabytes each. Though I don't have data to support it, I'm also trying to conserve my phone's battery.
tobz1000 4y ago
If you listen to music all day, saving phone battery life is a pretty good reason. Plus a non-Android MP3 player can get 40-100 hours on a charge. > all the mp3 players I've seen are made to be as cheap as possible. There are plenty of high-end players which prioritise sound quality and provide a better output than phones. The NW-ZX700 in the featured article looks to be one of these. FiiO is another well-known higher-end brand: https://www.fiio.com/m17 https://www.fiio.com/m17
- noxvilleza 4y ago
  I wouldn't call FiiO high-end, they have a pretty wide range in most products (including DAPs) that goes from budget to relatively high-end ($1800). Astell & Kern start about one step down from FiiO's high-end, but can take you much higher (their ULTIMA SP3000 is ~$4300).
csdvrx 4y ago
> There needs to be a good reason to carry extra device Funny enough, for me that extra device is the phone: I see no reason to carry a "phone" for normal day-to-day stuff as my walkman has all the features I normally need (email, PDF viewer). I want to carry it for other reasons as well: due to its smaller screen size, the walkman limits the use of addictive social media.

dsr_ 4y ago

The best MP3 (and FLAC) player ever made is the Sansa Clip+ with Rockbox firmware. $50 when new. Size of a matchbox -- not the car, the small thing that restaurants and bars used to hand out as advertising. MicroSD slot for storage. 20+ hours of playtime, recharged via USB. Appears as a USB Mass Storage device, too. 3.5mm headphone jack. Small 2-part monochrome OLED display. Physical buttons: D-pad, OK, Menu, power, and volume up and down. After a day you don't need to look at it to pause/play, skip a track, change the volume or turn it on and off. With Rockbox installed (ten minute process), you can play FLAC, use a parametric equalizer, customize the display, change playback speed for audiobooks, and generally do a few dozen things more than the factory firmware. Rockbox lets you do the same on a large number of devices, but the Clip+ is the best.

gfaregan 4y ago
I had a Sansa clip of some type and it lasted about as long as the cheap $5 mp3 player I bought next. These days I find it more convenient to use my phone. You can play mp3s just fine on a phone.
- pera 4y ago
  Phones are awful if you are doing exercises though.
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  - iamacyborg 4y ago
    Depends. I use my phone to control music when I'm in the gym but when I'm out running or cycling then listening to music is generally a bad idea, IMO, as you lose spatial awareness. I suppose that's more or less important whether you're running in a busy city or out in the countryside though. Either way, recent high end smart/sport watches usually have some sort of music playback support for folks who want to exercise with music but don't want to lug around a phone.

endgame 4y ago

The "problem" I have is that I bought a Cowon iAudio 7 over a decade ago and the thing still has amazing battery life and sounds fine. By the time I need to replace it, they'll all be gone.

antihero 4y ago
Why not buy some more now then?
- vt100 4y ago
  How long does a battery last when unused?
  - ilyt 4y ago
    There is a good chance you can just find similar size enough battery to fit, althought might require soldering
- endgame 4y ago
  I already have a spare but its capacity is much lower. Will probably attempt a battery transplant when the first one gives out.

aftergibson 4y ago

Still use an iPod 5th gen daily. I would happily use Rockbox but it's lacking any Podcast support which I need, but you're definitely not alone!

m01 4y ago
I've not tried it myself, but is this of any use? https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/DataBase#Examples https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/DataBase#Examples All of the database examples talk about podcasts. Especially the last one that uses play counts to split podcasts into old and new "folders" seems useful. (Opinions my own)

orthoxerox 4y ago

I used to use my NWZ-A17 every day until the pandemic started. It was small, light, has physical buttons I could press when it was in my parka's inner pocket, I didn't have to recharge it every night. Now I work from home and I have migrated to my smartphone. I use it infrequently enough that I am not annoyed by what the streaming service tries to get me to listen to. And owning a dumb mp3 player comes with its own drawbacks. If artist A has released 20 albums, artist B only five and I have both discographies on my player, that doesn't mean I want to listen to artist A four times as often when I ask for a shuffled playlist. Back when I owned a 256MB mp3 player (and felt like a king among people with floppies) I would hand-pick a playlist that would fit. With dozens of gigabytes of storage I have no desire to do that and I want the player to come up with a good playlist for me.

this_is_not_you 4y ago

What do you mean by "the noise cancelling too"? I thought that was a feature of headphones and not MP3 players`.

Tams80 4y ago
The wired ones use the DAP for the processing. Special (usually only for the DAP in question) headphones/earbuds with microphonesnare needed. They are usually included though, so it's hardly an issue.

sympodius 4y ago

I feel like I'm opening myself up to some abuse by posting this, but I still use my original brown Zune every day. I bought one as soon as they became available and I've always loved it. I've swapped out the original hard drive twice (once early on for a 100 GB HDD until it died, and then for a 128 GB SSD), and I've replaced the battery twice as well. Sometimes I wonder if I just hold onto it out of nostalgia, but I hope it will last a long time to come!

themadturk 4y ago
I heard nothing but good about the Zune when it was available. I'm kind of sad it was taken off the market before I had a chance to try it.
CWuestefeld 4y ago
I got bit by its leapyear bug while I was traveling, and had to go the whole day without being able to listen to my music :(

antipotoad 4y ago

What’s your comparison site for monitors (assuming it’s still up-to-date)? Interested in something that comes close to Retina in PPI, but doesn’t carry Apple’s hefty price tag. Edit: ah, well that didn’t take much looking. It’s https://www.productchart.com/ https://www.productchart.com/ for anyone else interested. Looks really nice, thanks!

andsoitis 4y ago

> So much so, that at some point I made a comparison site for mp3-players. But nobody cared. Not surprised in the least. People voted long ago, and continue to do so, that a single device that handles communication, entertainment, games, news, photography, etc. is superior to standalone devices you have carry around.

mertd 4y ago
Good enough is good enough for the majority of the market. They don't want to hear Vienna Philharmonic's third violinist breathe, they want to listen to autotuned pop music on a pair of $20 headphones and get on with their day.
- andsoitis 4y ago
  I subscribe to Tidal, which has master quality recordings. One’s headphone choice is orthogonal to the music player you use, so if you can pick a very high quality one for a standalone MP3 player you can use that same one with your phone.

mmh0000 4y ago

Years ago, I would have agreed with you, for the longest time I used an iAudio 5XL with Rockbox. It was the best portable music player. But now... I can have a cell phone with 512GB of storage and run Foobar2000 [1][2]. Nothing else can compete. [1][Android] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foobar2000.foobar2000&hl=en_US&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foobar2000... [2] [iOS] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/foobar2000/id1072807669 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/foobar2000/id1072807669

wintogreen74 4y ago

>> you can access the storage without having to install propriatery software on your computer. I was also a fan when they almost all played from a file system, but even 10+ years ago it was harder and harder to find something that didn't require a store or some terrible music management application. Streaming continues to kill this approach as well. My kids don't know what an mp3 is.

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