I recently bought an MP3 player because I was so sick of Sonos fucking me around, messing with Bluetooth for a few minutes every time I wanted to play a song, losing or breaking my USBC to aux adaptors, no local storage for music, subscriptions, etc.
$100 and this thing has dual DAC chips, can be used as a desktop DAC, has a micro SD card slot, 3.5 AND 4.4mm aux output, and USBC rechargeable. (And Bluetooth but I’m not touching that.) It’s genuinely so good that I’m thinking about dumping all “smart” crap and just going full Y2K with my tech.
A premium option for an MP3 player would be the Tangara. open hardware, open software and even has a wheel like the old iPods, plus the team is on the Fediverse
Yep. I have .flacs .wav etc. Plays em all. They call em DAPs (Digital audio players) now instead of MP3 player because they can play most music formats.
I’ve really been enjoying it, and it sounds great. I’ve been using the desktop DAC mode for gaming because it genuinely sounds so good.
The iems are actually Jade audio jh13 (also made by fiio). They were like $50 and probably have the best sound quality I’ve ever had in buds. And I used to have some expensive earbuds back in the iPod days.
I don’t need an audiophile smart phone. But the main draw back in the day was you could declutter your pockets. But then they removed functionality after everyone got rid of all the extra devices. Like the aux port, expandable storage, removable batteries etc.
In this case I bought one of the cheapest DAPs I could find. It just happens to also have noticeably great sound quality. I just wanted an aux port and enough storage to have my music stored locally so I wasn’t relying on the cloud or a subscription. I was sick of fucking around trying to get wireless stuff connected all the time. It never works right in my experience.
I want to buy something like this but two of the things I always look for with MP3 players are touch screen and Android so I can download Musicolet, or whatever other apps I want. Players like yours sometimes come with touch screen (sometimes not) but they never have Android.
And unfortunately the ones that fall within those parameters are a crap shoot. Just had one fail after one summer of light use (SD card slot). Previous one lasted a few years before failing (3.5mm jack).
They’re all made by companies with Chinese names with absolutely no online presence whatsoever other than the Amazon page they’re sold on.
The more premium models from Fiio are all touch screen with Android. I specifically didn’t want Android and they were out of my budget anyways. HiBy comes recommended too from the research I did and I think they are all touch screen with Android as well.
I haven’t done it yet. But they did an announcement that they are supporting it on more devices going forward. I think they have one device that is going to have Graphene by default
Not sold in Australia. I’ve had that issue a lot with smart phones over the years. The one time I bought one from a different retailer I spent $2k on the damn thing and the stock phone case shattered the glass body fresh out the box, and it stopped charging after 6 months. Asus refused to service it because it wasn’t covered by warranty in Australia, completely ignoring Australian consumer protection laws. Nothing came of my legal complaint either, they just took the fine they received. Never buying Asus again, or a model that isn’t covered in Australia.
Yeah I have first gen Sonos. I heard they had bricked em before my app upgraded and I disconnected them from the internet before they got to mine. They’ve just been offline since, only used on the tv.
I recently bought an MP3 player because I was so sick of Sonos fucking me around, messing with Bluetooth for a few minutes every time I wanted to play a song, losing or breaking my USBC to aux adaptors, no local storage for music, subscriptions, etc.
$100 and this thing has dual DAC chips, can be used as a desktop DAC, has a micro SD card slot, 3.5 AND 4.4mm aux output, and USBC rechargeable. (And Bluetooth but I’m not touching that.) It’s genuinely so good that I’m thinking about dumping all “smart” crap and just going full Y2K with my tech.
A premium option for an MP3 player would be the Tangara. open hardware, open software and even has a wheel like the old iPods, plus the team is on the Fediverse
That might be an open source model, but it’s definitely not the premium option.
There are some very expensive models out there. Astell & Kern for one, even the brand I got my $100 DAP from has a model that’s a few thousand dollars
Does it play FLAC and OGG files? Make/Model please?
Yep. I have .flacs .wav etc. Plays em all. They call em DAPs (Digital audio players) now instead of MP3 player because they can play most music formats.
Fiio Echo
Thanks for the pic and details! That’s a nice bit of kit there.
This thing popped out in my feed in the last days and I was tempted, would you suggest it?
P.s. is that a KZ / KBear cable I see?
I’ve really been enjoying it, and it sounds great. I’ve been using the desktop DAC mode for gaming because it genuinely sounds so good.
The iems are actually Jade audio jh13 (also made by fiio). They were like $50 and probably have the best sound quality I’ve ever had in buds. And I used to have some expensive earbuds back in the iPod days.
Dank
Ass
Player
EDIT: Another highly recommend player is the HIFI WALKER H2. Some people are putting custom firmware on it, if you don’t like the stock.
And this is why phones don’t need 3.5mm jacks.
If you really want it so bad just buy a DAC/DAP.
Wouldn’t need it if I could buy a phone with a jack and SD card slot. This is the problem smart phones were supposed to solve
Smartphones are supposed to be general purpose, not catering to a specific niche like audiophiles. Wireless and/or dongle works for most people.
It’s kinda like saying you wouldn’t need to buy a camera if only smartphones had interchangeable lenses.
I don’t need an audiophile smart phone. But the main draw back in the day was you could declutter your pockets. But then they removed functionality after everyone got rid of all the extra devices. Like the aux port, expandable storage, removable batteries etc.
In this case I bought one of the cheapest DAPs I could find. It just happens to also have noticeably great sound quality. I just wanted an aux port and enough storage to have my music stored locally so I wasn’t relying on the cloud or a subscription. I was sick of fucking around trying to get wireless stuff connected all the time. It never works right in my experience.
I want to buy something like this but two of the things I always look for with MP3 players are touch screen and Android so I can download Musicolet, or whatever other apps I want. Players like yours sometimes come with touch screen (sometimes not) but they never have Android.
And unfortunately the ones that fall within those parameters are a crap shoot. Just had one fail after one summer of light use (SD card slot). Previous one lasted a few years before failing (3.5mm jack).
They’re all made by companies with Chinese names with absolutely no online presence whatsoever other than the Amazon page they’re sold on.
The more premium models from Fiio are all touch screen with Android. I specifically didn’t want Android and they were out of my budget anyways. HiBy comes recommended too from the research I did and I think they are all touch screen with Android as well.
2025 Motorola 5g Stylus. Aux port and SD card slot. It’s fantastic. And Motorola supports grapheneOS
Graphene on that phone?
I haven’t done it yet. But they did an announcement that they are supporting it on more devices going forward. I think they have one device that is going to have Graphene by default
Not sold in Australia. I’ve had that issue a lot with smart phones over the years. The one time I bought one from a different retailer I spent $2k on the damn thing and the stock phone case shattered the glass body fresh out the box, and it stopped charging after 6 months. Asus refused to service it because it wasn’t covered by warranty in Australia, completely ignoring Australian consumer protection laws. Nothing came of my legal complaint either, they just took the fine they received. Never buying Asus again, or a model that isn’t covered in Australia.
Ah no, booo urns!
I would never touch a Sonos after what they did to the people with the first gen hardware.
It’s my biggest fear with cloud crap and then they went and confirmed it.
Yeah I have first gen Sonos. I heard they had bricked em before my app upgraded and I disconnected them from the internet before they got to mine. They’ve just been offline since, only used on the tv.