Portable HiFi players?

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

Hi all,

I haven't posted here for an age. Looks like everyone who used to post regularly here still does.
Recently i've started a new audio production class and have been getting into listening to more quality sounding music files through increasingly higher quality gear. I was told at the start of the course that I would have to buy myself a good pair of 'audiophile' class reference headphones for when we start looking at mastering techniques. After a but of research, the most affordable pair of quality headphones I found were a set of Sennheiser HD 650. Very nice, such a pleasurable difference to listen to, even if I do have to use an external amp to get volume.
Now, it seems, though, I can actually notice the difference between what my phones/iPod's actual sound quality is like compared to the hi quality sound we get in class when hooked up to expensive listening gear, so i've been looking at HiFi portable media players. It's strange when looking for this specific corner of the market, the technology seems very limited and kind if old/second hand and klunky when compared to modern smartphones and iPod/Mp3Players. Just from what i've researched recently.

For example: http://www.colorfly.eu/    -Looks like the kind of media player that someone would of had back in 2004. Really large and bulky, button ui (although I particularly like the fader style volume, which apparently is a 'nostalgia' item on the device) as opposed to touch, although it's ability to accept micro SD for expandable storage is a nice addition. Also, the timber case is very nice, haha. The same company has a touch version of the device, although it's not much better. Still very bulky and large, use of older technology such as mini usb instead of micro usb. -http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/COLORFLY-CK4-24bit-192KHz-8GB-internal-AMP-HiFi-Music-Audio-Video-Player-/261126983548?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ccc618f7c&_uhb=1#ht_3909wt_1037

Was wondering if anyone had any experience with HiFi (24bit/192KHz) media players, and if you could point me at a device that's a bit more technologically advanced.

Cheers,
Connor

 

[Steve_Karl]

Try looking for a modern "field recorder" as in what would be used to record audio on a pro level movie shoot.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

Try looking for a modern "field recorder" as in what would be used to record audio on a pro level movie shoot.

Trying not to sound rude, but why? Just from the name and a bit of quick Googling, I see they have an inbuilt mic which would kind of seem irrelevant for my purposes.  I'm more of less just looking for an iPod, but with better sound quality that can also power higher impedance headphones (the Senn's are 300Ω).

I found a few more players today, but they still seem kinda off the mark:
http://www.hisoundaudio.com/products/players/2012/0508/10.html
http://www.iriver.com/product/view.asp?pCode=001&pNo=91
The iriver one looks pretty good. I had one of their 'MP3' players in the 6th grade,  :laughing7: Didn't know the company was still around.

 

[TBurst Std]

Connor, may I ask what formats will you be listening to? If it is simply mp3, you know you are already dealing with a lossy format right?

If you want to max it out, what you want to locate is a seperate DAC unit and allow the iPod to be your "transport". But the DAC in an iPod is actually not that bad.
With a headphone amp with a more correct impedence, you could go further.

Check out head-fi.org  It is a forum for just listening through headphones, etc.

 

[stubhead]

The power to drive decent headphones may be at the heart of the dilemma. I save audio files in AAC minimum, if it's an Mp3 I don't really want it. And iPod's can handle bigger, badder audio files, at the expense of size. But to drive a decent headphone offa them tiny batteries? Hmmm. As a matter of course, at home I run my iPods through an "Alesis Protrack 16."

https://www.alesis.com/protrack

not for the recording - I do that to a big Tascam hard drive unit - but just for the AC juice to run the headphones.

 

[pabloman]

The DAC and the ability to drive a pair of high impedance is what makes a portable player "HiFi". Check out HiFi man. I've heard good things but no experience myself. I have seen portable DAC's for as little as $40.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

Connor, may I ask what formats will you be listening to? If it is simply mp3, you know you are already dealing with a lossy format right?

Well, a whole range of files. Alot of my music that i've downloaded (payed for!) from the net actually is in FLAC format as I try to source it, but anything that is available to me really. WAV, WM, ACC, MPEG 4.

I don't really want any 'external' devices to boost the performance of my current iPod and smartphone, I just want to overhaul that completely. Get one device that's stores my higher quality files, can play them, and power my headphones. One device. Just an upgrade of my current portable setup, for personal pleasure and appreciation of listening.

Admittedly, I am a sucker for the flashier looking devices aswell which is why I keep looking at that iriver device. Looks real nice. From reading the reviews, it seems to have some OS issues.


EDIT: As a contradiction to myself above, I just found this...  Looks pretty great to me!

http://www.head-fi.org/t/655315/v-moda-vamp-verza-metallo-discussion-feedback-reviews-pics-crowdsourcing-ideas

 

[AndyG]

Unfortuately, this is what it all boils down to ....

 

[Dan025]

no reason not to use a smart phone if you ask me. the samsung galaxy s series use high quality dac and headphone amp chips, the galaxy s 2 used a yamaha chip that was said to have some popping issues when you change volume and the driver was proprietary so it can't be fixed, butit is a high quality dac, they also use it in the galaxy player series..

the sgs, nexus s, and sgs3 use wolfson chips with open source drivers available, though the sgs has some proprietary libraries that filter the sound. the best case scenario being the nexus s which doesn't have proprietary libraries that alter the sound, add the "voodoo sound" app for some extra wolfson driver interface features but the nexus s is a little out dated. the galaxy s 3 is 44.1k native. there is no up/down conversion to or from 48k in the signal path like most android phones. it may be the best modern phone for headphone use. a lot of other phones out there are using software "enhancements" because the majority of people like there music perverted with compression and equalization. i like that samsung, although not perfect makes a high quality phones for music without audio gimmickry or even advertising the listening experience. the earbud that come with samsung products are good for stock but certainly not high end. still i find them less harsh sounding than the $100+ retail monster audio "beats" series that htc supplies.

we'll have to see what the galaxy s4 brings to the table this year though. it'll be a tough choice against the likely slightly slower htc one with it's metal case and light sensitive camera and stereo front facing speakers, and less proprietary nexus 5 that may sport a nikon camera.