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

Are u kidding me?IMO even apple SQ does not rank among the best...Its just slightly above mediocre...

1st of all..everything matters...
From ur mp3s, to ur player, to ur amp (if any) to ur output (EP,IEM,heads)
just go to a store, bring ur own earphones (at least of okay quality)
test the various mp3 players...if u can hear a difference...good..buy the one u like most
If u cant...then LOL buy the cheapest 1 there is...since its the same to u

try irivier or meizu or zens with EQ are not bad too

well... if u have a decent budget...

u can get a decent mp3 player... then paired with a decent earphone ( get bijou lar )

it's quite true that if ur mp3 player is decent.. but ur mp3 source is low bitrate... n ur earphone are suck... it's not so good lar.

ya , get bijou la...

mp3 source is crucial , then is the player.
After the player, most important is the phones..
after tat, depends whether u wan amp or no amp..

It depends on your ears... If you feel it's good then it's ok for you!
For example, some ppl say iPod sound quality is not so good... But if you are ok with the result, go ahead!

all play an important role... but the most i think is the ear...u must clean ur earwax first..wakakaka

1U roadshow sold ipod 8gb at RM399 !

trust me...use a decent brand like sony enough already...the more your mp3 and earphone cost,then you will need high end amp to push it to play well...IMHO,get a bijou and sony player enough d...enjoy the music...juz make sure your mp3 files are 190 bit rate above then the sound will be nice already
whyi wont support ipod?juz like the older sony prob sonicstage...they still need to convert the files only then it could be played by the player...if you are not going for Gmod or Imod,dont go for ipods

This post has been edited by icyfawkes: Dec 22 2008, 09:26 AM

imod cost a bomb ler
ipod however it is very suitable for amp cos of dock line out
get an older ipod and rockbox it to flac then u have no headache transfer to pc or other source
it has a cleaner signal and bypass all the equalizer if u r getting an amp for it
i try all the players and ipod somehow excel in pairing with amp
other players well like cowon and meizu they added a bit of warm touch on it and colorize the music
jus imo

that means you still need to spend a fortune on amps...
if you get a slimmer sony with another earphone then that is what i call portability...
if i get a ipod,amp and earphone is the whole rig count as a portable rig anymore?
even with the smallest amp sich as pico,the weight itself is a burden if you need to run lolz...
oh yeah,the main thing is...once you imoded or gmoded you ipod,the volume wheel wont work and you cant plug the earphone directly into the ipod...coz it will fry it...

This post has been edited by icyfawkes: Dec 22 2008, 11:32 AM

lol
run with yur portable rig?
omg onli ppl i know late for work or rushing back will do that lol
yup that y imod is so exp noler wheel can be used ler
u need a dock line out with bypass caps inside or it will fry yur amp as well....
btw any amp u aledi targeted?

yah the wheel can use...but to increase or reduce volume no effect d...
im looking foward for the secret amp...

Yes it matters, it might not be obvious from your earphone, but compare the same mp3 from the computer and same speakers, then plug in to your speakers AUX input (if any) or the main input and compare

Sony mp3 has great sound quality than iPod. Check out Sony NWZ-A726. The sound quality is unbeatable especially with their introduction of noise cancelling feature. I has a good feel for the buttons too.

I tested it myself... bravo...

This post has been edited by IceFire: Dec 26 2008, 09:28 AM

Yah, sony sounds better than ipod. Cheaper too. Same gb category, retail price different by rm100.

mp3 source 1st!

then the player.

then the earphone.

but if your ear is fulll of wax. all of the above is no use.

LOL.

I personally find that the new Ipod Nano is quite good, the songs sound better than my Nokia 5310. Using Creative EP-630 to try it.

lol

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Added on December 26, 2008, 8:04 pmer... handphone can never fight with mp3 player.

handphone main function is to make calls / send SMS... the mp3 player & camera is just extras...

This post has been edited by moniqee: Dec 26 2008, 08:04 PM

You will be surprise some handphone can beat a $200 portable mp3 player. Not telling which ones.

I second that BCurve!

My previouos samsung g600 beats the crap out of ipod, sony, creative, nokia, etc. that I've tried so far.

hehe..if u want phone 2 be ur mp3 player..find for moto rokr e8,then hack it and install mgx rockbox application on it..very super duper good.. or buy da sony s series..can get free noise cancellation earphone that cost rm100..

This post has been edited by fhir: Jan 5 2010, 02:07 AM

iPod Video + Soundmagic MP21 seem like good combination for my ear.

I have an Iriver H320 player..yea I know its old..but my friends who owns iPod and Creative and other players LOVE my Iriver muahahaha!!!

Change your Iriver firmware (Rockbox) and play FLAC on that player..lagi chun!!

This post has been edited by deejay220989: Jan 6 2010, 09:55 AM