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Showing 1 of 34 conversations about:
ScottD
23
Apr 14, 2018
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Please educate me... why would one want an audio player of this type and cost vs the (likely) high end phone you carry on your person every day? I loved my Sansa e280 mp3 player in 2007, just not sure if a standalone music player (esp at this price point) is relevant in 2018?
raymondehayes1
80
Apr 15, 2018
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ScottDThe key word is MP3 if you're an audiophile reading these pages then you know the real way to enjoy serious music is with both FLAC and Hi-Res files. The difference is the bit rate even if you have the top bit rate for an MP3 that's 320 bits per second. FLAC files usually run between 500-to 1000 bits per second. Hi-Res files can be 1000 – over 5000 bits per second. Most Hi-Res files run between 1500-to 2500 bits per second. What this means is that you're getting much greater clarity and detail in your music it's like the difference of looking at a HD disc versus VHS. Yes it's the same music however it sounds so much better. The reason you need a standalone player is that phones do not have enough memory you're using them for too many other things, the higher bit files take a lot more memory. Plus the sound if you think your phone sounds good wait until you listen to one of the standalone players. Right now I'm using the Fiio X7 Mark II It has 64 GB's of onboard memory and two memory card slots it can take up to 250 gigabytes each. If you want to use it for MP3s you can literally put 5000 albums on there. However with FLAC and Hi-Res files the numbers will be much much smaller because they need a lot more space. If you don't believe me do like I did the player I have now is even more expensive then the Cayin i5. But I started out with a fairly cheap player from a company called Bass Play they have decent players for less than a 100 dollars.https://www.amazon.com/Resolution-Bassplay-P3000-Lossless-Portable/dp/B06W9GJTSK/ref=lp_17540514011_1_1?srs=17540514011&ie=UTF8&qid=1523803231&sr=8-1 They sound great but their software is not the best. However it gives you a good idea of the difference between FLAC and Hi-Res and MP3s. I think once you hear the difference Between Hi-Res and MP3s you won't want to go back .
ScottD
23
Apr 15, 2018
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raymondehayes1Thanks very much for this information! Where does one source FLAC or hi-res files? Can these by ripped from my CD collection? Downloadable through Amazon store, etc?
raymondehayes1
80
Apr 15, 2018
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ScottDThere are more and more sites doing FLAC and Hi-Res. However like the early days in any format they are a lot more expenses than MP3s here's a list of some of the top Hi-Res https://www.sony.com/electronics/best-music-download-sites-hi-res-audios .There are more sites than this of course and if you are more adventuresome there are “free” sites out there that do Hi-Res and FLAC as well.
JoeBi
Aug 4, 2018
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ScottDYou CAN hear the difference with a decent player and good headphones and earphones, even with MP3. I think you need very good ($$$) electronics to hear much difference between FLAC/Apple lossless and higher-res formats. But you can hear the difference between an iPhone and say a Fiio X3 ($189) and $50-100 earphones, which are giving you a cleaner louder signal and better reproduction than stock earphones on a phone.
I'm not sure if a $100 Fiio player does do better, but I would like a Cayin i5 or N5ii.
I'm not sure if a $100 Fiio player does do better, but I would like a Cayin i5 or N5ii.
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