best mp3 player?

want2bmortgage3

my main concern is sound quality.. currently using an archos 1 vision which is small, weighs nothing, but the controls are poor and sound quality noticably poor even with sennheiser earphones.

should i get an ipod shuffle or nano (top of what hifi's best buys) or are there any non ipod alternatives?

Not_a_Newbie

I had a Creative Zen and then a Sony Walkman NWZ thing, but I hate to say it my recently acquired Ipod Touch beats them hands down (and I really did love my Zen!).

eslick

get an ipod touch refurbs here at good prices

http://www.studentcomputers.co.uk/

Stompa

The sound quality on my Sony is very good.

Dreamnine

All mp3 players sound the same, basically; some have better sound enhancements and EQ options than others.

Amongst the best are Cowon, Sony, Sansa (Rockboxed) and Samsung.

nuttywoman

Not_a_Newbie wrote: »

I had a Creative Zen and then a Sony Walkman NWZ thing, but I hate to say it my recently acquired Ipod Touch beats them hands down (and I really did love my Zen!).

Another Zen fan here, had mine for about 5yrs now, going to get another one that will hold more tunes :T

jenniewb

Much of the sound quality of your player depends on the speakers or earphones (or head phones). It tends to matter more then the quality of the actual player.

Having said that, if you do like to mix around with the sound specifics (eg reduce or increase bass or treble) then you'd need a player that would be able to do that. This would mean afaik getting a player which has a screen at the very least so you can mess with the levels and it tends to be the more expensive/well known brand the model the more options and control you have.

I love Sony because they have a good sound but with the option of deep bass which they do very well, but in terms of ease of use its the ipod (I got the '4' thanks to the double-up Tesco deal back in April ) But if I were looking for more professional advice I'd visit the AdvancedMP3Players site as they tend to be reliable and have helpful information. Once you have two brands to compare then maybe googling XXXvs.XXXX and seeing what comes up. Also the AV forums.

I'm trying to search out the best pair of earphones at the moment (similar problem I guess) and it tends to be places like the AV forums or similar forums which offer the most detailed advice which seems often to be in contradiction to many of the professional review pages by magazines (though I've not checked Which?'s website) so IMO I'd not look so much at reviews written by experts and stick to the customer ratings. Each are liable to being abused by company representatives trying to boost their status so read everything with a small pinch of salt and then try see if you can test out the model/s your thinking of before you buy or at least ask questions about any queries you have with others.

want2bmortgage3

thanks for the replies!

i realise earphones make a difference, i first found that out when i bought a cheap matsui walkman many years ago, it sounded awful. that was until i plugged in some panasonic earphones and it was 100 times better!

however, this time i'm seeing the reverse. i've already got decent sennheiser earphones which sound find through my netbook, but through the archos 1 vision, the sound is poor. even adjusting the equaliser doesnt make much improvement. it just lacks clarity and sounds muffled.

i have looked at some websites and reviews and think i'll try the sansa clip+ next, but i will keep the sony and creative zen in mind as i know they are both quality manufacturers. i've had a creative muvo in the past and was impressed with that.

cheltenham_dude

I had a creative Zen for a few years which was pretty good, though I currently carry around a 4th Generation Ipod nano (I don't like the look of the new touchscreen nano - the small screen looks too fiddly for someone with big fingers like me) which is pretty good. One thing though, if you get an Ipod, you might want to get some decent earplugs - I've always found the apple ones uncomfortable.

Dankel

I have Creative Zen 32GB which I really like and would recomend - certainly good value for money for the number of songs you can store, a good sound and easy to use interface.

begyourpardon

Hi, i've had sony and creative mp3players, but switched a few years ago to Apple. I've now got a touch, nano and an iphone and love them all. the sound quality is fine I would recommend upgrading headphones and selecting the highest sample rate when ripping CDs.