Help me decide on a PMP/DAP

A

apextwin146

Adept
Hey guys so i am searching for new DAP to fullfill my potable audio needs.
Some background Info

Music File Type
Flac
320kbps

Music Genre
Jazz - 10%
Trance - 30%
Rock and allied stuff - 60%
I am not a basshead neither do i like shrill trebles. I want to select a player purely on the basis of its SQ alone. So it dsnt matter if its gotta bad UI etc but it should have a expandable memory option.

My budget aint that much so i have ignored the iMod,HiFiMan 801 and Sony X/A Series.
So the things in my budget
Hisoundaudio Rocco
Hippo Gumstick
Nationite S:Flo
HiFi Man 601

I would be pairing this player with IEMs only which rules out the Hisoundaudio products so i am just left with Gumstick($99) and S:Flo 2gb($119 + shipping)
I havent seen a direct comparision between these two players hence i thought of opening up a thread here to gain some more insight to the world of DAP .
So what do you guys think?

P.S. - Got no amp but it is in pipeline ! Also i need some good IEMS to go with it so that will be another thread i guess:p
 
I am not really sure if the SQ of Fuze is that good as compared to S:Flo (Wolfson and Phillips components for DAC etc) and Gumstick which has a class A amplifier strong enuff to drive DT880s(not sure if it was 600ohm)
 
Yup , Fuze won't be as good as the S:Flo or the HiFiMan 601. Out of these two I would say get the Sflo if you are ohk with 6-8hrs battery life. BennySachdev on TE is using a Sflo2 with TF10, you can ask him about its quality etc.

What IEMs do you plan to pair with the player ?
 
Battery Life is a concern but not that high priority as currently i have to use this setup in office and on short trips so 6-8 Hrs should be ok. The only problem is that i think they dont work with Windows 7 :( ..
I have to Buy IEMS with it too. I have read that S:Flo2 isnt exactly a bass monster ,So i was thinking on buying something that would offset this. But then again i am not sure on what to get. Though i am inclined towards getting Fischer Audio's DBA-02 . At $170 Shipped i think they should be a lot better than RE-0/Zero. What do u think?
 
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^In comparison with the S:Flo 2 or the Fuze? Nah I think even a Rockbox'd iPod (talking of the newer gens) wouldn't stand a chance to match those in terms of SQ. With the right pair of IEMs, it starts making a difference.

I am curious about the release of the new iPod Touch 4G. Rumours suggest that it has a new DAC. A teardown should be helpful. :D
 
^ You dont need a detailed comparison , I already told you with a good mid-fi / high-end IEM the Sflo will beat the Fuze SQ in every aspect but if you are investing in something low end it wouldn't make much difference. If sound quality is the most important thing for you right now there nothing as good as Sflo unless you can spend on HM-602 , 801 from HiFiMan . Only issue are minor glitches that of Sflo that you might have to live with.
 
New Ipods cant be Rockboxed so forget Ipods. SQ is pretty bad to boot. My BlackBerry phone sounds much better than my earstwhile Ipod Classic 80 GB.
 
FaH33m said:
^ You dont need a detailed comparison , I already told you with a good mid-fi / high-end IEM the Sflo will beat the Fuze SQ in every aspect but if you are investing in something low end it wouldn't make much difference. If sound quality is the most important thing for you right now there nothing as good as Sflo unless you can spend on HM-602 , 801 from HiFiMan . Only issue are minor glitches that of Sflo that you might have to live with.
Click to expand...
Read up a bit more on the HiFiMen :p

They use 20+ year old DAC chips which are being refurbished and used in these uber expensive pmps. Apparently, the SQ isn't great shakes either :)
 
^ Can't really say until I hear it . I am convinced that it surely isnt worth 800$ etc but I also feel that it sounding on par / worse than Clip+ as said by DKFT is bullshit. Fang @ head-fi is a pretty smart guy .I feel somone who has come-up with the RE-2,RE-0 which are still one of the best in their range wouldn't make a crap sounding brick and sell it for 800$ . It might not be worth that price but it should definitely sound good. By the time its Christmas /Chinese new year they will have the prices of their players dropped to 300-400$ levels and everyone on head-fi will go crazy :p.
 
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