Guys..I'm torn between the hippo gumstick and the clip zip. Has anyone heard both, and which should I go for? I prefer not carrying around an amp when on the go.

The Hippo Gumstick IIRC has enough power for most things. Powered up my Radius DDM1, Sony MDR-EX300SL, Hippo Shroom EB and SoundMagic PL50 and PL30 pretty well. Has good bass and some colouration which gives it a bit more musicality without sounding too artificially enhanced. Also it sounds more dynamic.

The only Sansa I've ever compared it to was the Fuze+, which according to reviews sounds a little less fuller compared to a Clip+ (which is said to have a similar sound to the Clip Zip, according to a review I read at least). Comparing the Fuze+ and the Gumstick, the fun sounding one is the Gumstick. The warmer and more neutral (some would call it flat, incl. me) is the Fuze+. The Gumstick worked better with very warm IEMs like the Radius DDM, while the Fuze+ works well with analytical ones.

In terms of power both can drive IEMs pretty loud without cracking so no probs there. Practicality wise I'd say Sansas with the better UI and longer battery life wins. Both sound good, it's just a matter of preference.

Sansa Clip/+, Fuze/+, Zip seems to share a similar sound sig, although sounding a bit different here and there....that is if you can detect those difference.

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Added on May 17, 2012, 10:56 pmScratch Gumstick as it has terrible radio reception.
If my memory serves me right, the Fuze+ I had did have a good radio reception. Displays quite nice too on the screen. Dunno about the smaller Clip Zip. The 4GB Fuze+ should be priced around the same as an 8GB Zip (or maybe cheaper).

This post has been edited by tunertoobe: May 17 2012, 10:56 PM

Thanks for the detailed description! I've read somewhere that the Gumstick has some UI bugs (playing the wrong song, etc.)

Is it a big enough issue for me to reconisider the gumstick?

Those UI bugs are minor from my experience and rarely happens. If, however I scroll really fast and select really quickly I do get stuff like wrong button response and lag. If you buy it from Jaben they have a great customer support for warranty, for when something really bad happens to the player (like it won't turn on for example). Oh and visibility under strong light, really is as bad as they say...just so you know. I never did mind that, always have my hands blocking the light away.

Oh and I dunno if there are newer firmware for the Gumstick, but FLAC files that have a high compression level doesn't work well with it. They often don't play. If there is like a firmware revision recently that fixes this, then it's great.

This post has been edited by tunertoobe: May 18 2012, 12:37 AM

That's cool. I don't think the glare would be much of an issue. thanks for the info again! think I'll just try to bundle the e17 with a Gumstick

Can get ALL local radio transmission?

Yeah pretty much. That is for the Fuze+ though. Not sure about the others.

This post has been edited by tunertoobe: May 18 2012, 08:55 PM

Thanks.

Bought Ando PMP.

Can not get shite radio channels

EDIT: Onda PMP; typo

This post has been edited by Raikkonen: May 21 2012, 03:51 PM

What PMP is that?

My bad.

Onda 570



Clip Zip would be great.
Small...light.

Hey that's a pretty good player for Full HD video...I'd keep that in mind.

hye. im searching for portable audio player.

i want to pair it with superlux hd661. previously own ipod shuffle but i think i am not satisfied with the sound. i am not an audiophile and dont have wide knowledge in sounds.

however i am more interested to bass and trance music.

my budget is around rm200 only.

please suggest anything. thank you guys

If you don't mind the small and limited capacity, the new Sony B-series aren't that bad considering your type of music. For RM200 you can get the 4GB. It's got the bass enhancement and although very coloured for a non-audiophile who looks for fun, the player is it I guess. Good battery life too, and navigating through the player is easy.

Or if you are the kinda guy who can stand a bit of UI shortcomings and bland 2 line OLED screen for navigation, and minor bugs here and there, the Cube C30 is perfect. It's got BBE enhancements that actually works in making the music engaging, it actualy is fun to use. It's got 4GB with a microSD slot so you can expand the storage capacity, and the battery life is good to at around 20 hours.

Summary:
Sony - Good UI, better controls, bass enhancement, great battery life.
Cube - Clunky UI, BBE enhancement, expandable storage, good battery life.

fair enough. thank you bro.

before this, i am looking at hippo gumstick but since it is such a rare item now, i am looking at sony B170.

thanks bro

Any good and cheap mp3 player around the corner ?
Budget RM 150 - RM250, Max RM300
Require an lcd panel to display what music I'm playing
Storage at least > 8gb
Many thanks ya !

Sansa Fuze+ came to my mind. Search for it here in the Tradezone section. Have to pay a bit more for shipping. Be warned, the touch control can be a bit of a pain to use if you're the type who can't adapt very quick. I myself have a bit of annoyance with the player when I had it.

I can't think of others that have that much storage at that price, that sounds at least decent. The other is the Clip Zip. Much better button controls and has a tiny screen, enough to show you the album art and stuff. A bit small though, about the size of a matchbox.

Another one is the Cube C30, but only 4GB but with expandable memory (uSD slot). Has a tiny two line OLED screen though, and can get very annoyingly illegible under strong light. Controls are alright with a few occasional bugs. The better sounding player IMO than the Fuze+. I won't recommend this unless your priority is sound quality.

Forgot one more, but I don't have any experience with it, and reviews regarding its sound quality is mixed. The Teclast X19HD. A small 8GB player (with no memory expansion) with hardware bass boost. Said to be the most powerful of its class and size. You might wanna look at it. Being a Chinese designed player, be ready for bugs in UI and controls. I just thought I'd inform you about it to open up your options.

If you can find early Creative mp3 players, they're rather good. Simple and plays music well.

This post has been edited by tunertoobe: Jun 5 2012, 08:56 PM

Thank You for your input, Mate
I am considering C-30 before, seen some people complaint on the software issue beofre. Hmm
How bout this ?
Creative MP-4 M300

Those look alright. My experience with Creative players are rather good, if rather bland. But that was with a Zen Mozaic. They are generally trouble free.

the x19hd's signature is Fun with a capital F. don't expect neutrality with it. there are bugs now and then but nothing that a off and on won't solve. at least for me.

Hehe, if it sounds good I won't mind that at all.