Does anyone know of any high-end digital audio players (MP3 players) on
the market? As far as I know there are no companies with audiophile
ambitions who make digital audio players.

August

"August Karlstrom" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Does anyone know of any high-end digital audio players (MP3
> players) on the market? As far as I know there are no companies
> with audiophile ambitions who make digital audio players.
>
> August

MP3 and high end in one sentence???

Edmund

On 1 Aug 2010 14:03:20 GMT, August Karlstrom <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

> Does anyone know of any high-end digital audio players (MP3 players) on
> the market? As far as I know there are no companies with audiophile
> ambitions who make digital audio players.

MP3 is not high-end.

On 2010-08-01 18:42, Edmund wrote:
> "August Karlstrom"<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Does anyone know of any high-end digital audio players (MP3
>> players) on the market? As far as I know there are no companies
>> with audiophile ambitions who make digital audio players.
>>
>> August
>
> MP3 and high end in one sentence???

I used the term MP3-player (in parentheses) to make myself understood.
All portable digital audio players I know of can also play uncompressed
audio files.


August

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
August Karlstrom <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> On 2010-08-01 18:42, Edmund wrote:
> > "August Karlstrom"<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> Does anyone know of any high-end digital audio players (MP3
> >> players) on the market? As far as I know there are no companies
> >> with audiophile ambitions who make digital audio players.
> >>
> >> August
> >
> > MP3 and high end in one sentence???
>
> I used the term MP3-player (in parentheses) to make myself understood.
> All portable digital audio players I know of can also play uncompressed
> audio files.

Yes, you are looking for a music (or media) server. Familiar high end
names include Linn and McIntosh. Also Sooloos, Olive, Logitech, etc.

Or you could get a hifi iPod dock from Wadia or Krell.

Stephen

On 2010-08-01 22:13, Stephen McElroy wrote:
> In article<(E-Mail Removed)>,
> August Karlstrom<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
[...]
>> I used the term MP3-player (in parentheses) to make myself understood.
>> All portable digital audio players I know of can also play uncompressed
>> audio files.
>
> Yes, you are looking for a music (or media) server.

No, I'm looking for a *portable* digital audio player, commonly referred
to as an MP3-player although such devices are typically able to play
uncompressed music files as well.


August

On Aug 1, 1:54=A0pm, August Karlstrom <fusionf...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I used the term MP3-player (in parentheses) to make myself understood.
> All portable digital audio players I know of can also play uncompressed
> audio files.

Do you want a portable player, or something to plug into a high-end
audio system?

As a practical matter, most digital players offer very high fidelity
(subject to the limitations of the medium). It's the speakers/
headphones that constrain quality here. So if you're looking for a
portable, my advice would be to buy whatever player works best for you
(for most, this seems to be an iPod), and then buy the best earphones
you can afford. For plugging into a system, what matters will be the
system, not the player.

bob

On Sun, 1 Aug 2010 10:54:32 -0700, August Karlstrom wrote
(in article <(E-Mail Removed)>):

> On 2010-08-01 18:42, Edmund wrote:
>> "August Karlstrom"<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> Does anyone know of any high-end digital audio players (MP3
>>> players) on the market? As far as I know there are no companies
>>> with audiophile ambitions who make digital audio players.
>>>
>>> August
>>
>> MP3 and high end in one sentence???
>
> I used the term MP3-player (in parentheses) to make myself understood.
> All portable digital audio players I know of can also play uncompressed
> audio files.
>
>
> August
>

There are lots of music servers on the market which allow you to play your
"ripped" music library from a hard-disc through your audio system. The Apple
TV box is an affordable one (less than $250), it will play MP3 and lossless
compressed music files from it's built-in hard drive and will sync with
iTunes. There are others out there as well, but most are a lot more expensive
than the Apple TV box.

On 2010-08-02 00:10, bob wrote:
> Do you want a portable player, or something to plug into a high-end
> audio system?

The former.

> As a practical matter, most digital players offer very high fidelity
> (subject to the limitations of the medium).

As far as I know most players do not use audiophile-grade DAC:s and
headphone output stages.

> It's the speakers/
> headphones that constrain quality here. So if you're looking for a
> portable, my advice would be to buy whatever player works best for you
> (for most, this seems to be an iPod), and then buy the best earphones
> you can afford. For plugging into a system, what matters will be the
> system, not the player.

Using expensive headphones with a mid-fi portable digital audio player
will only highlight its shortcomings.

August

Thanks for your replies but what I am looking for is a high-end portable
digital audio player to be used with headphones, that is a player with
audiophile-grade DAC and headphone output stage.


Regards,

August