[ear8dmg]

Been using my SE w850i as my portable player but the hiss in quieter sections is driving me nuts. So I need something with at least as good SQ and much better SNR.

I'm thinking of getting a Sansa Clip but any other suggestions would be welcome. Spotted the Creative Zen in a local store and I'm tempted by the 4GB. Is it worth it?

Will be used mainly with some S-Jays IEMs at work and possibly stock jobbies in the gym if they stay in (body microphonics probably an issue with s-Jays and I don't want to sweat all over them). May occasionally use it with Goldring NS1000, DR50 or Creative Aurvana Live full size headphones.

Had a quick look around and these are my options:

Sansa Clip 1GB £18
Creative Zen Stone 4GB £23 (local pick up)
Sansa Clip 2GB Pink £23
Sansa Clip 2GB Black £30 (local pick up)

Tempted to go for a local pick up so I can use them this weekend. Any thoughts would be much appreciated (the quicker the better).

Edit: The other option is just to dust off my old Sony MD walkman. Never tried it with decent IEMs or headphones. Still have a bunch of blank MDs I never used. Very tempting to transfer some CDs / Flac files over to Minidisc, maybe with Dolby Headphone added by my Xonar. Hmm...

 

[Kayito-san]

As much as this may aggravate some, I would suggest saving up and getting an iPod. There are hacks, online I'm sure, that allow you to play different file types, and if you have a decent adapter and amp, you could probably get quite a bit out of them.

But I'm not an expert, so if somebody more experienced makes a more appropriate suggestion, disregard this claim.

 

[Peyotero]

You'll be perfectly fine with the clip. Super fine, even, if the SE W850i sounds anything like my SE k800i.
You can't beat the Clip with anything at those price ranges. **** loads of positive reviews and even with a higher budget it all comes down to personal perference rather then "pure SQ" (whatever the fook that means in our subgective audio world).

The clip just sounds good. Though, if you like messing with your sound (EQ, sound effects etc), look elsewhere. A Cowon maybe.

The clip/fuze is sorta known for its clean neutral sound. But the ****ty equlizer and the lack of coloration may scare potential patients off

Personally I find it's neutral sound sig an advantage. If I wanna add some coloration I rather do it the way I want it (aka through an amp in, swap cans, add resistors etc..), not the way the manifucaturer thinks I should.
Or maybe it's just because I like to start everything from blank that leads me into this logics..

 

[walkingman]

Just get the Clip if you are on a budget. Sainsbury's also have the A816 4GB for £33, but you may experience the same hissing problem you had with your S-E. PCWorld once had the 8GB Clip for £40, which is a bargain. Not sure if they still do, but if there is one nearby I think it is worth checking it out.

 

[ear8dmg]

Well - bought the Zen Stone Plus and promptly stuck it on Ebay, when I realised it didn't do gapless. The Clip doesn't do it either, right?

I've heard firmware may be in the works for the Clip that will allow gapless playback in future. If they get gapless sorted on the clip or Fuze I'll be very interested.

I did dig out the old MD player and SQ was very impressive compared to the phone. Seems to have a decent headphone amp circuit in it and it does a much better job of driving Creative Aurvana Live! headphones than my PC soundcard (haven't tested it with others yet).

I have a bunch of unused minidiscs so may just transfer a few albums over. Time consuming though... I think minidisc will do for work for now. Might stick to the phone or the wife's old cheapy 1GB mp3 player for gym use.

 

[Ricardo Dawkins]

Gapless and cheap ?
Try getting a discontinued but still supported Zune 4 at Circuit City. You can get one for 70 USD.

 

[ear8dmg]

Just a note on the walkman phone. Added a Fiio e5 and by having a high volume on the phone and a low one on the clip, it's all but cleared up the hiss.

Only a few minutes in, and it seems like the E5 has turned the phone into a half decent portable player.

Will see how it does with RF interference etc but first impressions are good.