Any good audio/mp3 players?

[KAKAN]

That is old and pretty much an unicorn now. It even came with a wrist strap. The closest sized small player would be the pricey Shanling M0 Pro.
I have been on the search for a player which can use AA/AAA battery and saw this imported listing -
https://amzn.in/d/89YclIM
Obviously it's cheaper in US.

Shanling M0 Pro? The FiiO one is that small? It kinda looked like iPod Nano size in the picture lol
Also yeah, AGPTEK would be a great pick if they were not double or triple the price of what they originally sell at haha

 

[alap4m]

"Transcend MP350". I might be the only one with this MP3 player still with me.
In its heyday, it was one of the most affordable and reliable battery-backed MP3 player.
Simple yet amazing controls, decent display, 3.5mm headphone jack, compact size, and long battery life. And that translucent body....
Someone should reinvent these MP3 players. Perhaps even Transcend?
Seems like Bluetooth speakers without a display are ruling. Someone could even slap on a display on these BT speakers and call it a day. They already have the necessary controls and software.

 

[KAKAN]

"Transcend MP350". I might be the only one with this MP3 player still with me.
In its heyday, it was one of the most affordable and reliable battery-backed MP3 player.
Simple yet amazing controls, decent display, 3.5mm headphone jack, compact size, and long battery life. And that translucent body....
Someone should reinvent these MP3 players. Perhaps even Transcend?

MP350 was so good. I can go on and on about it. I don't remember its audio quality or anything, just the memories of using it lol
And damn, congratulations! It's rare having one of the OG MP3 Players still working with you (I was very rough with mine lol)
I wish I still had mine haha.

Seems like Bluetooth speakers without a display are ruling. Someone could even slap on a display on these BT speakers and call it a day. They already have the necessary controls and software.

Check out @B_the_B's reply a few posts earlier in this thread. It's basically what you're looking for:

Also, check out a portable speaker called the pagaria grenade. It has a tiny display capable of displaying basic info like folder name, song name, etc. essentially making it an mp3 player. It sounds pretty good too. Only negative is that the headphone output could have been better (slightly lacking in bass). It's not as bad as the Chinese one, but still not as good as a modern smartphone.

I am considering it for purchase during BBD. There likely won't be any offers on this, but doesn't hurt to wait a few more days haha

 

[raksrules]

I am sure I have the rockboxed Sansa Clip+ somewhere in my home but no clue where. Brought it through a GO on TE thanks to Katamandude (KMD).

Edit: For people who don't know, GO means "Group Order" and KMD was the user here who would help procuring stuff from US based websites. We all paid him money before hand after he would quote price per piece. As more people would get added, price per piece would get little reduced.
This is the time before we had SNS and aramex and all these global shipping options.

 

[B_the_B]

@KAKAN @alap4m The audiocular m61 seems to be getting good reviews on Amazon. Should be worth trying as it only costs 2k. I would like to remind you that the Pagaria grenade is a good choice only if the music is played out through the built in speakers as the headphone output on it can be a little disappointing.

 

[KAKAN]

@B_the_B I think AUDIOCULAR is Concept Kart's in-house brand? They probably import the same thing that Ruizu does and brand it as AUDIOCULAR. Though yes, it does seem pretty cheap!
The best part/why I'd consider those are because they appear to last long on each charge and are Type-C.
However, Concept Kart kind of has a reputation for hiding bad reviews on their own site. I wonder if this is true for M61 as well.

If you're considering buying this, do note that there are reports online saying they slow down a lot if you use a microSD card in them. So I'd recommend keeping your library small and not using MicroSD if possible.

Ugh, if only the Sony E394 was Type-C...

 

[B_the_B]

I think AUDIOCULAR is Concept Kart's in-house brand? They probably import the same thing that Ruizu does and brand it as AUDIOCULAR. Though yes, it does seem pretty cheap!
The best part/why I'd consider those are because they appear to last long on each charge and are Type-C.
However, Concept Kart kind of has a reputation for hiding bad reviews on their own site. I wonder if this is true for M61 as well.

This gets confusing. I have read several reviews on Amazon.com for mp3 players by a brand called AGPTEK (A-02 and A-02X ) that were unanimously positive about the sound quality.

And then you have RUIZU models that look pretty much the same but the reviews are mixed about the sound quality.

And now there's Audiocular which also looks the same and the reviews found on amazon (only few though) seem to be positive.

Unless someone bought all three and compared them side by side, we may never know if they're the same.

If you're considering buying this, do note that there are reports online saying they slow down a lot if you use a microSD card in them. So I'd recommend keeping your library small and not using MicroSD if possible.

However, my quest for an mp3 player came to a stop last month or so when I fixed up my old iPhone 5c to use it as a standalone music player, and It's been doing a stellar job so far. The only issue with it is the meagre 16gb of storage. So I plan to get a modded iPod classic with 256gb or higher storage, if I find one for a good price. Until then, I'll be sticking to the 5c.

 

[KAKAN]

This gets confusing. I have read several reviews on Amazon.com for mp3 players by a brand called AGPTEK (A-02 and A-02X ) that were unanimously positive about the sound quality.

And then you have RUIZU models that look pretty much the same but the reviews are mixed about the sound quality.

And now there's Audiocular which also looks the same and the reviews found on amazon (only few though) seem to be positive.

Unless someone bought all three and compared them side by side, we may never know if they're the same.

I cannot say for certain what AUDIOCULAR does, that's just my guess. I'm just shying away from them since Concept Kart has a reputation for not displaying negative reviews on their site. And since they offer it for the lowest price, not sure how many people were buying it off of Amazon in the first place.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IndianGaming/comments/1ehcpzq

However, reading the Head-Fi forum makes it look like Ruizu/AGPTEK sell the same hardware. You can even load AGPTEK's Firmware into Ruizu, and it'll work (that's the way to get the most updated firmware for those players apparently lol)

The reason Ruizu has mixed reviews is probably because there are a lot of fakes of that brand.

Here is the link to that thread (page 49, which is where the above post is screenshotted from):

The Ruizu X02 DAP thread

I'm not Leo but that's the AGPtEK A02, their 'almost the same as' version of the Ruizu X02 player. Personally I'd get the AGPtEK A20 instead if I wanted an AGPtEK player. I think it sounds better than the X02 yet still has decent battery life and more useful / convenient controls.

www.head-fi.org

Headphone Zone seems to be the most genuine website for Audio products, but their cheapest DAP starts at over 10K haha
At that point, might as well just buy a new phone and use my old one as a music player

And yeah, I've kinda stopped looking for a mp3 player now. I'm eyeing the E394 and hoping Sony releases a Type-C version of that xD
Either that, or the Kindle comes down in price so I buy a Kindle and forget about MP3 players