When comparing so many models out there in the market, is there really a difference in sound quality?

Comparing ipods vs mobilephone vs sony/samsung/china brand mp3 players, each have different earphone quality and different test mp3.

How to choose best sounding player?

Not all players are created equal.
Bottom line: You get what you pay for..
Use your ears to decide!

1st ur ear matters: if ur ears cannot differenciate, then anything will do
2nd then the player itself, the chipset, the quality, and so on ....
3rd ur earphone, there is diffrence depends on ur ears
4th ur input file quality, in short the mp3 song itself ... the bitrate, the conversion process, etc ....

conclusion. if u think its good, then its ok. if u think it doenst fit yr ears, means u might need to get a better ones ... no need go for a super expensive ones when u cant differenciate the difference...

my 2 cents ...

of course the player and headphone plays a significant role in providing good quality sound.

you should equip yourself a good headphone. Then, try the headphone with all different type of players. Then, you'll have a better gauge of the sound quality of the player.

That's a good suggestion, but what about the mp3 source? Different bitrate and quality, can't compare properly

if can't compare using ears, just forget it, any bitrate will do...

So which mp3 player has best play quality?

any branded mp3 will do a fine job.
if you can find zune cowon or iriver in malaysia then grab it.
if not, just look for those sony, samsung
the most important part is ur source.

and your budget!

How is the significance of zune cowon or iriver ?

i heard zune owned a great internal amp...

Lets just say its among the best in the world.. Sound wise no 1 can tell u... U have to hear them urself..

i can feel the different when i pair my earphone to my laptop and my sony mp3

so which one better?

Samsung mp3 players is the best sounding. Their tech is said to be used by apple.

Apparently Apple's iPods don't sound spectacular (without mods).

Looks, colour, battery life and your state of mind.

u forgot about meizu!!
actually everything matters, and earphones matters A LOT!!
bad earphones will cause even the best player to sound shit!

And good ear/headphones cannot save lousy mp3 players.

Earphone/headphone >> players = Source

of course, do not compare Ayam brand to branded(sony/samsung/ipod,iriver..etc)

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Added on December 20, 2008, 12:48 pmto be honest, can save a lot.

This post has been edited by coolkwc: Dec 20 2008, 12:48 PM