I love mine and use it almost all the time. Its a Surfans f20 with rockbox native installed. Makes it feel like I’m using my old ipod lol
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Rockbox is great. Used to have a Sansa Clip mp3 player with Rockbox and it was perfect. Replaced it with a Shanling Q1 (which can run Rockbox) and I don’t leave home without it.
I see very little reason to use these over a regular smartphone 🤔 but the same is true for watches and people still rock those as well, so you do you! It does look like a nifty gadget.
The reason is quality. Many smartphones have poor audio output quality. It’s all about the DAC (for digital to analogue conversion) and finding a phone you want (and can afford) that also has a good DAC leads people to invest in a stand-alone device. There are some LG devices, Sony obviously, but with phones dropping 3.5mm jacks they are becoming rarer.
If you look at the comparisons here you’ll also notice that the prices get up there. Now, once you go hi-res DAP, you don’t go back. I am a bit of an audiophile, but I’m also a cheapskate. When I finally decided to get an OK DAP I went for entry-level device and entry-level in-ear (hi-res) buds and now I realise that I was not, in fact, an audiophile because now I notice the difference between lossy and lossless audio.
Also, battery! I want to save my phone battery for phone stuff. My DAP lasts 7 or 8 days of going back and forth to work. Maybe more. It has a 20h battery. It also functions as a USB DAC, so I can plug it into a computer and it replaces the sound card so it is multifunction.
Those are all fair points! I guess my priorities are just different, in the sense that I care about the convenience of having to carry just one device in my pocket.
On the topic of audiophiles, does quality really have such a big effect on the enjoyability of a song? Personally I’m perfectly fine with listening to 320kbps or even 256kbps through Bluetooth headphones.
A 320kbps or 256 VBR mp3 is pretty decent, and if it is going over BT then the BT headphones play the role of the DAC in a way. So, if the headphones are OK then the sound will be OK. So far I only notice differences on my favourite albums and certain genres. Like country, folk, and especially bluegrass sound a lot better when I find a lossless 24bit version than the 320kbps mp3. Metal as well, and a handful of electronic and classic rock albums.
I’ve always found it interesting that I cannot stand Nine Inch Nails on my BT headphones, but I really enjoy The Downward Spiral on my father’s good studio headphones.
Oh NIN… One of my first albums was Further Down the Spiral. Wow. What a discovery. Mind blown.
Trent Reznor is a peculiar one though. He is opposed to digital music and thinks music should be enjoyed on a CD or vinyl. It wouldn’t surprise me that his work is mastered in a way that favours certain formats.
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Some ding dong thought it would be a good idea to remove headphone jacks from new phones so I might be going back to an MP3 player in the near future. I used one for many years.
I was always curious in these. I would follow sites like anythingbutipod back in the day. Cowon was usually the big one that I always wanted to try. But I could never justify the pricing to play lossless audio and also invest in quality headphones to take advantage.
I just added the Surfans f20 to my amazon list of things to buy, thanks for bringing the topic to my attention.
I have the surfans F20 as well. Good sound quality for sure. It is the best in it’s class for that.
I still miss my old iRiver with Rockbox… definitely been thinking about getting a proper PMP again.
I have a Hiby R6, in some ways it’s like having a phone that can’t make calls but also it’s great having a dedicated device for audio.
