Audio mp3 player < 7K

blackpixel0x17

blackpixel0x17

Disciple
Hey guys,

I am looking for a good mp3 player with audio quality as my biggest priority, so I was wondering if I should opt for Sony Walkman. Infact I did zero on Sony NMZ A844, the earphones MDR-NC033 bundled with it offer active noise cancellation coupled with the walkman. So does it mean, other noise cancelling earphones would not work? Now the A844 costs me around 6.5K. However, I have given a bit more thought to this and I am wondering if I should get a low priced mp3 player and instead buy active noise cancelling earphones to go with it. So what say?

Noise cancellation is crucial for me, helps to keep the world out :)

Opinions and suggestions welcome.

And yeah, plz bear with my noobness ;)
 
I should have added this b4, I do have brainwavz M1 earphones...

@drsingh: Can I afford an active noise cancelling earphones to go with sansa clip? I seem to be a bit obsessed with those :)

@hahahari: As I said, I have the M1 so if I have to upgrade, maybe I will opt for something which is far better... what say?

btw no opinions on the sony mp3 player?
 
Active noise cancelling is not so effective as you might expect.It won't provide game changing results for you in lieu of the money you spend.That is why you see so many awesome headphones/IEM that have nothing to do with active noise cancelling.

I would recommend that you get some comply foam tips for your IEM's for better isolation.
I travel by road quite often and i need goooooood isolation to enjoy my music against the wind(i like the wind on my face),my best rtesults are with IEM and right size tips to get perfect seal!
 
I have never used Active Noise cancellation, only noise isolation with IEMs. So cannot say anything about it...

Here are a few reviews you can check out (845 is the 16GB version of 844 and hence should be the same otherwise) -

REVIEW - UK Sony NWZ-A845 - Walkman A Series - abi>>forums

Sony A845 - my short review - Walkman A Series - abi>>forums

Search that Walkman forum for a bit more in case you need any.

No harm in trying a Sony though Sansas tend to be more value for money. Sony house sound is a little different from Cowon and Sansa's (more bass, warmer mids). They tend to be on the costlier side and the good models never make it to India. This particular model seems to have battery life issues. So, read a bit more before plunging in.
 
Hmmm.. the comply foam tips is a nice recommendation. But they seem pretty expensive, don't they? I bought M1 for 1.6K, so the tips would cost me around 35% of its price.. I am sure if you have a $100 earphone it makes sense to get good tips, but does it make sense in my case? Is the cost justified for the increase in isolation?

Maybe, I would have to do some more research... but yeah thanks to you, atleast I now know what aspects to keep in mind while making a decision :)
 
I have got best isolation results using silicon tips.comply tips are good investment if you like the sound signature of your IEM,s and want better isolation.sansas for out of the box sound and cowons for playing around with different sound settings.
 
Sansas are quite famous here and elsewhere because they give better bang for the buck. Out of the box, they have good sound quality (Cowons need you to fiddle around the EQ to find your preferred sound) and offer an additional microSD card slot (which Sony does not), some of them can be Rockboxed (Clip+, Fuze. But Clip Zip port is still unstable, I think). The advantage of Rockbox is that it adds a usable EQ, which (once you know how to EQ properly) is more useful than even the Cowon's. Also you can store more custom EQ presets in Rockbox compared to Cowon's 4 custom EQ settings. Those are the advantages.

However, owning a Sony (E353), I would never say you should not go for a Sony irrespective of all the disadvantages (No microSD slot, cost etc.,). The issue is Sony differs so much from model to model and some of them are not as widely reviewed. The widely reviewed and well received ones (like the X1050/60) were never available in India.
 
Do also take note of the fact that clip plus has poor battery backup. My clip plus rockboxed goes for 10 hours max. Sony walkman series are not as convenient to use but will easily give you over 20 hours playback stock.
 
aka911 said:
My clip plus rockboxed goes for 10 hours max. Sony walkman series are not as convenient to use but will easily give you over 20 hours playback stock.
Click to expand...
+1. Forgot about that. E353 (certain models rated at 50 hrs battery life) can go for 35+ hours with VBR MP3. Cowon C2 should have the same advantage. Battery life rating is done under ideal conditions with 128kbps files. But, if you are using 320kbps / FLAC and other formats, battery life tends to be far less. I'll roughly take 60-70% of the rated battery life as it depends on how much you use the screen and other factors as well.
 
Yeah, if you dig around the forums PristineNote has a separate thread for it

PrisitineNote Comply Foam Tips

Ok guys, seems like I have finally decided. I am no longer opting for Sony but would go for Clip+ (or Zip? maybe RB support later?) to go with my Brainwavz M1. It was kind of a no brainer really, accounting your recommendations, the reviews that I read and my own preferences. But hey, any ideas what to do with the saved money? ;)
 
I'd redirect any money saved towards IEMs first (unless the player you buy has too low capacity compared to your present music library). A microSD card can be added later depending on requirement.

As far as SQ is concerned, only three things are very important: IEM / Headphone (70-80% of the final sound quality), {Source + Source files}. Rest are not always important until you get to the very high end where every tiny bit of enhancement shows through. You will pay 30-40% for 80% SQ and will add another 60-70% for the next 10-12%, thereafter you may need to pay 2X / 3X for the last mile.
 
@tc

Do look into the Nationite N2 offered by PristineNote ... A really good competitor to clip+ ... better in sound ( as said by many threads ) though UI wise clip+ might tend to be better..

Also theyre bundling decent headphones with the player - brainwavz pro-alpha and can bundle better ones at superb rates from pristinNote :-

Check it out :-

http://www.techenclave.com/pristinenote/nationite-nanite-n2-players-special-brainwavz-184680.html

Waise, i was in the same boat... and I went with the N2 :)
 
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