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im after a replacement for my trusty ipod. Needs to play MP3/FLAC, be small and have the longest batter possible. im after something reasonably basic, no need for bluetooth and isnt in the £££ stratosphere of Astell and kern but still has a good sound quality. im doing a 2-3 week bikepacking trip which is why im on the lookout for one.
cheers
An SD card in your phone?
I've got one of the new FIIO JM21s - can't beat it for the price.
https://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/fiio-jm21-portable-high-resolution-digital-audio-player
Sandisk Clip works for me as my gym and jog player. Still for sale on Amazon but no sign of them on Sandisk website so probably no longer made. Will take SD card so holds as much as you want.
I've got one of the new FIIO JM21s - can't beat it for the price.
https://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/fiio-jm21-portable-high-resolution-digital-audio-player
Thats been on my list as well! looking for one for my kids to use. They use my old ipod a lot but would prefer something that streams as well
How you finding it so far?
I did notice a lot of people are moddoing ipods to use bluetooth and newer usb c
The DAP\s wont have the same battery life as an ipod. Are you wanting streaming capability or do you have all your own music?
I'd be looking at upgrading your current ipod with a new battery. The new DAP's are really good but they will be more intensive on the battery than an ipod i would guess
43 hours non stop with new 3000mah battery!
Is there a compelling reason why you can't just use your phone?
How you finding it so far?
It's the only thing that has replaced my iPods. I used modded iPods for years, new batteries, SD cards giving big capacity... until I lost my last one. Then a modded one wouldn't work, so thought its time to move on and tried a Shanling - had too many glitches and touch screen wasn't great, so bought the Fiio when it came out and can't fault it. Well, one fault, a couple of times using it in the car, it came on at 5X speed for some reason. Reboot sorted that, hasn't done it since. Battery life is decent.
I’ll still recommend this:
works great with Bluetooth, even better with a cable.
Brings your existing music collection to life. how do they do it?
compact, but a bit weighty to go in your pocket if running.
i tried the 500gb version, but I couldn’t find an sd card, physically compatible with it (they’d get stuck in the slot).
An old iPhone or the Fiio, don’t bother with Bluetooth, wired is always better, because you can load the device with Lossless files and listen to them through head- or -earphones without having to worry about the battery dying in the ‘phones after a few hours.
Just had a look at the iPod mod site - that’s something I’ve been considering for some time, I’ve got a 7th generation Classic, 160 Gb model, but a 2Tb upgrade with USB-C would be the mutts - I’ve got the site saved, so that might be a birthday present for myself later in the year.
Thanks for the info all. I'm looking at just using my wired shure se535's so don't need Bluetooth. I won't be streaming just uploading my music. Key is size and battery life. I dont want to use my phone as I prefer the sound reproduction of my iPod. Didn't think about have a battery refresh, will look at that.
Only issue is I do t have my mac anymore so not sure about uploading via my PC.
I'm following these answers with interest. My much-loved Cowon M2 is still doing pretty well (90 hours battery life, great sound, small); but they stopped making it about 8-9 years ago so when it goes I need to know what to replace it with!
I dont want to use my phone as I prefer the sound reproduction of my iPod.
If you're on Android look at PowerAmp. If you're on iPhone I doubt there'd be much difference, though I'm not a fruit-based person so I don't know.
Dropping three figures on a dedicated mp3 player seems nuts to me, but YMMV.
What about the new Fiio Echo Mini dap, it’s available for around £40 on aliexpress or £60ish from uk.
Full peq options as well so good value for what you get and the styling is cute, battery life of 15 to 20 hours.
edit - I see YouTube links are now ****ed ?, link above is for a review of the echo mini and the retro nano dac/amp for phone use
Or if you want something a bit more “pro” in build/features then the Hiby R3 ii is good, i owned one to break me back into Dap use and have now moved onto the Hiby R6 iii.
Key is size and battery life
Probably the Fiio M5 then. Hard to find now for some reason.
I've got a Shanling M0 Pro I use running, but not sure I'd recommend as like the other Shanling I had, it can be a bit glitchy and the screen isn't that great. Shame, nothing really beats the iPod.. I still use a Nano 6 commuting. 🙂
Worth checking out the DAP sub reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/DigitalAudioPlayer/
Someone mentioned about a dedicated mp3 player rather than phone. Reason for me is my sons have got into music. We dug out our old ipods and they use the in the car. Obviously its limited by what we have on there and will buy extra tracks so I'm now looking at a DAP which means they can't use the internet,whatsapp or anything else.
Shame, nothing really beats the iPod.. I still use a Nano 6 commuting. 🙂
I still use an iPod Classic Gen 2. Original hard drive, newer battery. The FW400 interface means it is stuck with its current selection of 20GB of music. Which is no bad thing.
I also have an iPod Color (Gen4). I stuck a flash (SD) reader in that when its HDD failed. Having trouble booting it now but I saw that there is a ‘vibrant’ market in refurbished and modded iPods which got me wondering about a ‘new’ one …