MP3 player + Headphones spec <£250

Trifid

Trifid

Trifid

Soldato
Joined
18 Feb 2006
Posts
9,790
As my place of work requires me to catch the bus I am looking for a MP3 player to help pass the dreadful journey. I have come up with a list of the criteria that I would like but accept that they might not all be possible.

  • >60GB
  • Playlists
  • decent random, can random through playlist and library
  • Last.fm
  • portable, Slimmer the better
  • Well made
  • Preferably drag and drop, otherwise syncing through Foobar or Mediamonkey (and Linux support)
  • Very good sound quality
  • good battery lifetime, 18 hours minimum of actual usage including looking for music to play
  • Flac playback
  • Charge from USB.
  • folder.jpg album art

The headphones for it need to be over ear and must not leak sound at moderate volumes I don't want to annoy the person sitting next to me on the bus and I don't really want to hear them. So they must be closed. As I will be wearing these out in public they have to be reasonably good looking and not huge. Discrete? I listen to a lot of classical and post rock so have to be suitable for both of these scenarios.

I don't mind how you split the budget but as long as they both come in under £250 give or take I will be happy.


Thanks for the recommendation. :)
 
Last edited:
Been thinking over this and the best choices appear to be a Zune 120 (~£200) or a iPod Classic 120GB? (£180). The market seems very saturated for high capacity PMP's? It appears these are the only choice?

For the phones either the AUDIO TECHNICA ATH-ES7 (£85) or the Sennheiser HD25 (£110). Really need guidance here on whats good and not. These both seem highly rated though.

Anyone have any comments for either of these items?
 
hd25 are regarded as the ultimate dj headphones plus are thought of highly by hwadphone lovers. i sent my old IEMs bouncing along the road clamped to a car boot and am lookin at some hd25s to replace them as they rugged, no need to buy expensive replacment tips and should sound great, especially when replacing the crap dj steel cable with the senn hd600 copper cable.

ipod is the only way for me too. used to hate em them then the video came along and i came to undersrand how solid and easy to use they are.
 
-Ad- said:
hd25 are regarded as the ultimate dj headphones plus are thought of highly by hwadphone lovers. i sent my old IEMs bouncing along the road clamped to a car boot and am lookin at some hd25s to replace them as they rugged, no need to buy expensive replacment tips and should sound great, especially when replacing the crap dj steel cable with the senn hd600 copper cable.

ipod is the only way for me too. used to hate em them then the video came along and i came to undersrand how solid and easy to use they are.
Click to expand...

As a lapsed Sennheiser fan and former owner of HD580s and HD650s, I agree with the common consensus in the headphone enthusiast community, that the HD25s represent one of the best bang for buck headphones on the market. They're terrific cans and in some respects better than the HD650s. Had I not been tempted to go for the top of the Sennheiser range I may have still been a Sennheiser user. But then I listened to a set of Audio Technica W1000s and found my own particular niche in audio paradise. My main 'phones now are the Audio Technica W5000s.

You'll probably buy the HD25s for good reasons and enjoy them, but do you dare audition the Audio Technics ATH-ES7?

:cool:;)
 
AndyOcUK said:
Creative Zen X-Fi?

http://uk.europe.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=17811
Click to expand...

Now that is one very sexy looking device. If only it had 64GB of space. :cool:

Leporello said:
You'll probably buy the HD25s for good reasons and enjoy them, but do you dare audition the Audio Technics ATH-ES7?
Click to expand...

Tbh I am changing my mind approximately every hour between these 2 atm.


For MP3 player I'm siding with a Zune due to build quality issues with the iPod and their forcing people to 'use' iTunes.
 
Zune Zune Zune Zune ZUNE!

So much nicer to use than an iPod, and no iTunes! Got so many comments from iPod using friends that it seems an incrediable device.

I love my 120 :D

You do have to use the Zune player to sync though...
 
Hxc said:
Zune Zune Zune Zune ZUNE!

So much nicer to use than an iPod, and no iTunes! Got so many comments from iPod using friends that it seems an incrediable device.

I love my 120 :D

You do have to use the Zune player to sync though...
Click to expand...

If the answers to my questions in your thread are of what I want it will be ordered tonight. ¬_¬ Not even seen a Zune IRL...
 
Just replied. I can't take any decent pics atm, phone camera buggered, and can't find a digicam anywhere.

There's a few sites out there with some good pics of the zune 120, it defintely looks less tacky in real life, the flash seems to make it look cheap and toy like.
 
Finally got it all together, a little over budget but worth it (sounds great). One thing I find is it sometimes crashes when changing the track to a very long song (when ~20mins in length, but not always.) The front is a pain for fingerprints. Dropped the pics of the menu system because it had a large clear one from my paw...


A couple of pics:
Headphones (ESW9)
IMG_2828.jpg


Zune 120GB:
IMG_2822.jpg

IMG_2849.jpg

IMG_2850.jpg

IMG_2851.jpg

IMG_2852.jpg
 
I've had a couple of crashes as well... seem to be getting a few green sub pixels as well :( If it gets worse I'll be looking to get it replaced....
 
Hxc said:
I've had a couple of crashes as well... seem to be getting a few green sub pixels as well :( If it gets worse I'll be looking to get it replaced....
Click to expand...

I also have 2 green sub pixels that come and go. It doesn't bother me as I'm not looking at the screen all the time.
 
I use it as a video player on the bus a fair bit and one is in the black bars that surround widescreen videos, so is quite noticable.
 
Wow!, in going for the Audio technica ESW9s you've certainly not taken a tentative first step into audiomania. My suggestion that you try the ATH ES7s seems rather modest in the circumstances. I thought it was only nuts like me who spent so much on adorning their ears. So tell us a bit about how you find your new cans.
 
They are very nice 'phones. Produce a excellent clean sound with excellent separation of instruments. Very addictive and have started to wear my ears down listening to them over the weekend...

I bought them second hand from someone on Head-Fi for £100 so not miles from the budget. He had 30 hours of use from them so still essentially new...

Isolation inwards is very little voices are muffled but you could easily have a conversation with someone, with music playing although they can't hear that you have music playing. This makes them very safe for walking with them, slightly annoying when on the bus or train though.

Efficiency wise they are very good with MP3 players. I have my Zune set between 7 for compressed rock and 11 for the quieter classical music. This is out of 20.

They are very nice pair of HP, very comfortable, look and sound great. Shame they don't sell them in this country.
 
Trifid said:
Shame they don't sell them in this country.
Click to expand...

I agree, I bought my w5000s from America and love them. You probably know that Audio Technics cans are sold in the UK and it's only their higher end products that are not available here. Many people enjoy the less expensive Audio Technicas like the AD700s and they're excellent value for money in their class.

happy listening.:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom