Sub £50 mp3 player - options?

SideWinder · 3 Jun 2014 at 18:17

Had a quick browse but can't see much around that is highly rated.

I would like the below:

- screen
- 4Gb or above
- obviously good sound quality for the price
- looks clean/smart

Ideas? Thanks.

rids57 · 3 Jun 2014 at 18:27

Sandisk Sansa Clip 8GB about £30 from the rain forest

Cookeh · 4 Jun 2014 at 01:27

As above. Sansa Clip+ with Rockbox is untouchable until you start getting towards Cowon J3 territory.

stuie · 4 Jun 2014 at 12:04

Ive got a clip zip whats the benefits of rockbox?

Psycho Sonny · 4 Jun 2014 at 13:00

second hand ipod touch (older models with the old dock connection)

+

fiio l9

+

topping nx1

absolutely fantastic from when i used mine yesterday for an hour, will be testing it more and more in future but it's brilliant for the money.

proper amp to open up headphones/iem's.

you get the apple UI which is what most people love.

you get a brilliantly clear line out signal due to the decent dac's in ipod touches. mine is a 3rd gen model and i think it's DAC is regarded as one of the better ones.

i think ipod classic though is the option most people go for though because it can be modded and hold more songs and is cheaper.

Cookeh · 4 Jun 2014 at 16:24

Clip+ > iPod touch. Longer battery life, better sound imo, more file support (e.g. FLACs), cheaper, expandable memory (up to 40GB with 8GB version + 32GB SD Card).

Rockbox adds a whole bunch of features, highly recommended - see here

rids57 · 4 Jun 2014 at 16:28

I'm tempted to get one of these myself, just to slap Rockbox on it. I have a 7 or 8 year old Cowon D2 which is still in good working order but I don't think they ever got Rockbox running properly on it.

Psycho Sonny · 4 Jun 2014 at 17:20

Cookeh said:
Clip+ > iPod touch. Longer battery life, better sound imo, more file support (e.g. FLACs), cheaper, expandable memory (up to 40GB with 8GB version + 32GB SD Card).

Rockbox adds a whole bunch of features, highly recommended - see here

ipod touch's are well regarded when it comes to sound quality. however their amps are designed to be used with crappy IEM's, so the line out cable and separate amp solves this major problem of weak crappy amps in small portable multi use devices.

if you were to compare stock clip+ with a stock ipod touch it would be close in terms of SQ.

but a ipod using line out with a decent portable amp, nothing will come close apart from high end portable players from cowon, fiio, etc.

all comes down to whether or not OP can source an old ipod for £25 or less otherwise yeah the clip+ is probably the best one to go for in that price bracket. if he pushes his budget up slightly then ipod, line out and amp is better.

Cookeh · 4 Jun 2014 at 18:31

Thats the point, it would be close (slightly in Clip+ favour imo), but compare the prices. Stock, at a new price point, the Clip+ is what, 8x cheaper?

Clip+ will also scale upwards with the addition of an amp, and excludes the need for the L7/9, again furthering keeping costs down, whilst also offering a 3 year warranty, having a better battery, better file support (including those all important and epic FLACs), and a smaller footprint.

New Clip+ w/ RockBox vs old iPod touch is a non-contest. Ok, the iPod isn't bad by any means, but iTunes is, its file support is mediocre, and I'd hate to think what condition a £25 iPod touch is in.

C64 · 5 Jun 2014 at 22:55

No such thing on budget if you want included good earphones too apart from the sony players that come with semi decent sony ones no idea if you need earphones in this budget.Sansa clip + and get a fiio e6 amp to go with both are tiny.Only get the amp if you intend using good quality earphones obviously or is a waste.