<p>I am wondering which HDD Mp3 player has the best sound quality? Looking to buy one for my cousin and she is a pretty hardcore audiophile. I have a IAudio X5 which has pretty amazing sound. I considered an Ipod however when I checked an Ipod video out the sound was disappointing. Does anyone know a with HDD mp3 player with phenomenal sound quality? If not I guess Ill go get another IAudio...</p>
<p>Most of the problems with sound come from the headphones that are included in the stock package. Many of them are soo bad it is not even funny.
Otherwise, my Zen Touch has phenomenal sound quality. They are made by Creative.</p>
<p>ipod is pretty good, but if you're not into apple, then definitely creative. Creatives are THE ipod killers.</p>
<p>the only thing besides the file and the headware that will affect sound quality is electric interference inside to machine rite? and there shouldnt be any in a dedicated music product... or maybe thats just marketing hearsay...</p>
<p>lixuelai: Cowon's are amazing. Check out the A2. They should have a new one coming out soon too.</p>
<p>the main issue with sound quality is the decoder chip used in the media player. Both creative and apple have good decoders. Id prolly go with creative if u want to watch video on the player. its compatible with more formats of video than apple's device.</p>
<p>in my opinion creative spoils too easily and too fast</p>
<p>ipod all the way. everyone at college uses itunes anyway so you can share and download other peoples music without torrents or sketchy p2p programs using myTunes.</p>
<p>I have a Creative Zen Microphoto and I love it! I would definitely go creative. It's cheaper than Apple and it is just as good if not better! Definitely go Creative.</p>
<p>Same here, I also have a Creative Zen Xtra and the sound quality is kick ass, plus I don't have to use crap iTunes when I want to put music, it has native support from Windows and files are swappable both ways due to lack of restrictions (unlike iTunes, where you can't drag files off the iPod). HIGHLY recommended, you would be part of the crowd without an iPod, and sometimes that's a good thing.</p>
<p>what about the Sandisk Sansa- is that one bad b/c Im thinking about buying one</p>
<p>"the only thing besides the file and the headware that will affect sound quality is electric interference inside to machine rite? and there shouldnt be any in a dedicated music product... or maybe thats just marketing hearsay..."</p>
<p>Sorry to bring up an old thread, but of course there is plenty inside the player that will affect the sound quality. The files are stored digitally, so there must me a DAC (digital to analog converter) inside the player if it outputs an analog signal. Considering people pay thousands of dollars to get high quality dacs, don't assume that iPod is going to sound very good with a good pair of headphones. If you really care about sound quality you should look for a player with an optical out and use an external dac. Of course then you're going to run into problems with jitter. Really, I would recommend just buying a half decent pair of headphones and an iPod, and never listen to anything better so you won't know what's missing. Trust, it will save you a lot of money. Ignorance is bliss, as they say.</p>