[dropdedfwed]

Hey Audiophiles out there!

Anyone know a GOOD MP3 player that is Mac compatible? I was looking at getting the Nano, but I have been reading reviews that the sound quality leaves a little bit to be desired. I use Shure E2g, Sony MDR-XD300 or Sennheiser PX200 headfones (depending on listening location), and will soon upgrade to either Sony MDR 7506 or Grado SR-60's or something in those lines... so sound quality IS noticeable... my poor little iPod shuffle really sounds as though it is "lacking" in these phones!

I have been looking at the Creative Zen V Plus and the Toshiba Gigabeat U, which are similar size wise, and supposed to have much better sound output quality, but they aren't compatible with Mac I don't care too much re volume, mostly a good, solid sound reproduction

My budget and specs/size desires are in line with the Nano or Zen V Plus..

any suggestions??

DDF

[jayinhongkong]

Check out the Meizu players on Dealextreme.com. Grado SR-60s are a good choice, but no good outdoors. The Nano is supposed to be among the best sounding of the iPods, interestingly enough.

[blueagles]

Originally Posted by jayinhongkong

Check out the Meizu players on Dealextreme.com. Grado SR-60s are a good choice, but no good outdoors. The Nano is supposed to be among the best sounding of the iPods, interestingly enough.

jay, that's a good web site. have you ever ordered from there? are they reliable?

[tofufever]

Not sure why you would consider anything other than an iPod if you own a MAC. The ipod one handed control is one of the greatest designs ever. Also itunes syncing is great. On a PC i totally understand if you're looking at other stuff, but on a MAC, it's pretty much iPod or nothing.

[dropdedfwed]

Hey Jay,

Thanks for the link. Had a bit of a google re those players, the sound is supposed to be great, but the UI a bit of a let down... would be good to see one in the "flesh"...

Tofufever - the iPods are great for Mac, but the sound quality is not as good as some other MP3 players.. and yes, some of us appreciate the better quality sound!

[FilipH]

Originally Posted by dropdedfwed

Hey Jay,

Thanks for the link. Had a bit of a google re those players, the sound is supposed to be great, but the UI a bit of a let down... would be good to see one in the "flesh"...

Tofufever - the iPods are great for Mac, but the sound quality is not as good as some other MP3 players.. and yes, some of us appreciate the better quality sound!

If you have a Mac, I'd still choose an Ipod or Iphone. If you get quality airbuds, your ears should be more then satisfied. The ones that come with the Ipod aren't the best around, but easy to replace ...

[ontheroad]

I have to agree... the later generation Ipods have great sound, it's all about the speakers/headphones...

[dropdedfwed]

I think it looks like it will be the iPod, purely for the ease of use with Mac... and it looks cute

ontheroad and Filip - I could not agree more re headphones. I do have a few decent sets of headphones, which is why the sound quality is important... the Shure E2g IMHO are one of the best things for the MTR etc. you can have the MP3 volume quite low, as the foam buds block out a large amount the surrounding noise so you don't have to pump the sound up... or you can just sit there in near silence with a silly smile on your face...

BTW, sorry if I offended someone by saying I like good quality music, and thankyou for the negative feedback!

[tofufever]

yeah actually the sound isn't that great. Probably the way the audio decodes but man just the way it syncs with itunes... i'm a big convert. You can really hear the difference when listening through ipod and through itunes on macbook pro. However the design and the functionality is too great. However i buy my MP3's through Amazon now, 256 kbps and DRM free. Yeah i know I know i buy MP3's, but I work in the media industry.. i support the future of media and VOD.

[jayinhongkong]

Go for any iPod except for the Classics and the SQ should be a non-issue. Apple is currently in trouble over the iPhone too. I highly recommend the Grado SR-60s. I have tons of headphones, but my favorites are the Alessandro MS-1s. They're absolutely no good when commuting though. I use Sony EX-90LPs on the move. Don't buy Shures either. The sound quality sucks. :P

If you really want to squeeze all the SQ possible out of your iPod, consider getting a line-out dock (LOD) and a portable amplifier. I use this setup with my Creative Zen Vision:M and it sounds a lot sweeter that way than through the headphone jack. Check out headfi.org if you want to learn more, but be prepared to spend some money.