MP3 player advice

[mrsmr2]

I'm a newbie to posting on this forum but it has provided me with a lot of intersting reading so far.

I'm after advice for a replacement to my MZ-R909 MD player which I think is great but I'm getting fed up with real time copying and having to type in track names, letter by letter.

I originally posted this wish list on a couple of other forums:

- sound quality at least as good as my MD player (I would encode MP3s at 256 or 320kbps);

- ability to play OGG Vorbis;

- have long battery life (>30 hours if possible);

- ability to simply connect the player to the PC and drag files over using Explorer

- FM radio would be nice but not too important

- durable so I guess flash would be the best option

My main requirement is audio quality and I would also like something small and durable. My MD player is great but something smaller than that would be great.

iAudio/Cowon were recommended as being about the best for audio quality and I settled on a 4GB D2. However, this isn't out in Europe at the moment so I'm still researching other players.

The NWS706 looks very good and there are good comments about it's audio quality. I know it doesn't meet some of the above requirements but I could live with that if the audio quality was good enough.

General questions on Sony MP3 players:

a) How do Sony's compare to iAudio products for sound quality?

How do Sony players compare to my 909 (I encode at SP or LP2)?

Specific questions on the 706:

1) are the supplied headphones better than my EX70s?

2) does it support ATRAC Type R - or is ATRAC3 plus better than Type R?

3) I had read with older Sony's that the full range of equaliser options was only available with ATRAC files. Is this still the case?

4) if I only play MP3 files, will the battery time be significantly shortened?

Sorry the long post and I would greatly appreciate any responses.

Thanks a lot.

[DSP]

first of all,

welcome to atraclife.

I know a player that meets all your demands from your wishlist: samsung YP-K5.There's just one point. Soundquality.

Soundquality of YP-K5 is really good, but I like my NW-A1200's soundquality a tad better. If you've never heard a NW-A1200, you probably won't notice it, but otherwhise there's a noticable difference and I like Sony's SQ more. I have both players.

( you could wait for the YP-K3, coming in march this year. It's the same player but without speaker)

personally, I don't like cowon players. I think their sound is a bi ''screamy'' and not as warm as Walkmen. But that's my opinion and I have to say I haven't heard much of them.

as for your questions about sony players:

- How they compare to cowon's I don't really know (read above)

- I think modern Sony (NW) players are really better than your 909. SQ is just better.

on the NW-S706: (I own one)

- Yes, the supplied headphones are better then EX70. (from my experiences)

- On the NW-S706 EQ is always available, as far as I know.

- I didn't notice a big drop in battery life If I only play MP3's.

I'd mind you that SQ is something personal. Try to compare players in real life, so that you can make your own judgement.

hope it's helpfull.

greetz

[mrsmr2]

That's very helpful, thanks.

I can find a 706 for £113 and the D2 is likely to be £190.

The D2 has a good screen and can play videos (not really that important for me) plus drag and drop and the ability to play lots of formats.

The 706 on the other hand is much smaller, possibly has a better radio, and very good headphones.

Decisions, decisions.

Are there any mods (like Rockbox) that allow drag and drop?

[mrsmr2]

Just a quick update.

I went for Cowon D2 in the end. The extra flexibility it offered by being able to play lots of formats, that I could connect via USB for drag and drop, its picture viewing, and (surprisingly good) video playback made it worth the extra money.

Audio quality with my Shure E4Gs is also very good.

Regards

[pata2001]

Yeah, Cowon products are very nice in terms of features. Alas, they lack gapless playback capability. Good choice.