Ask HN: Any recommendations for a portable music player

6 pointslaserstrahl10mo ago7 comments

Hey HN,

Can you help me which portable DAP to buy? I used the rockbox derivates. But dunno which one I should use. The modern ones would be too pricey. Like the shanling etc. But maybe you can tell me how do you listen to FLAC music on the go? Is there anything I can buy?

7 comments

sandreas10mo ago

If you are really into good quality audio, I'd recommend a used

  Fiio M11 Plus

It's really good, but even used about 450 bucks. This might be too pricey, so you could then go for a

  Surfans F20

like already recommended (https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/AIGOErosQK). It has no balanced output, but is about 120 bucks and supports Rockbox.

If you more into Android and streaming, you could take a look at the

  Hiby M300

which is also a budget device, but has a pretty modern Android and is a bit more portable than a smartphone.

Maybe it's also worth mentioning Qobuz (https://www.qobuz.com/), the high res music streaming service. Many audiophiles are into this, while I'm not using streaming services at all.

I personally use an old iPod Nano 7g and as backup device my Android phone with Substreamer / DSub and self hosted navidrome. Not hi-res, I don't need this :-)

shoo10mo ago

another ($250) option is https://www.crowdsupply.com/cool-tech-zone/tangara

> Tangara is a portable music player. It outputs high-quality sound through a 3.5 mm headphone jack or Bluetooth, has great battery life, and includes a processor that’s powerful enough to support any audio format you can throw at it. It’s also 100% open hardware running open-source software, which makes it easy to customize, repair, and upgrade

carlosjobim10mo ago

Warning against Shanling devices. I bought a M0 Pro and it worked fine for about a year and then stone dead. No customer support at all.

Now I'm looking at the Sony Walkman waterproof headband MP3 players. They were released almost 10 years ago, but price, function and quality seem to be good. No FLAC for you though.

pwg10mo ago

Do you carry a smart phone?

If yes, then this:

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/ch.blinkenlights.android.van...

will play flac from your phones local storage (you have to transfer the files to the phone of course).

shoo10mo ago

similarly, apps such as pulsar in the android play store support playing audio files (incl flac) from storage

Rotundo10mo ago

If you want a new device, these are not too expensive and well supported by Rockbox: https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/AIGOErosQK

Or get a used iPod. That's what I did.

FisherKK10mo ago

iphone5s

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

7 comments

sandreas10mo ago

If you are really into good quality audio, I'd recommend a used

  Fiio M11 Plus

It's really good, but even used about 450 bucks. This might be too pricey, so you could then go for a

  Surfans F20

like already recommended (https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/AIGOErosQK). It has no balanced output, but is about 120 bucks and supports Rockbox.

If you more into Android and streaming, you could take a look at the

  Hiby M300

which is also a budget device, but has a pretty modern Android and is a bit more portable than a smartphone.

Maybe it's also worth mentioning Qobuz (https://www.qobuz.com/), the high res music streaming service. Many audiophiles are into this, while I'm not using streaming services at all.

I personally use an old iPod Nano 7g and as backup device my Android phone with Substreamer / DSub and self hosted navidrome. Not hi-res, I don't need this :-)

shoo10mo ago

another ($250) option is https://www.crowdsupply.com/cool-tech-zone/tangara

carlosjobim10mo ago

Warning against Shanling devices. I bought a M0 Pro and it worked fine for about a year and then stone dead. No customer support at all.

Now I'm looking at the Sony Walkman waterproof headband MP3 players. They were released almost 10 years ago, but price, function and quality seem to be good. No FLAC for you though.

pwg10mo ago

Do you carry a smart phone?

If yes, then this:

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/ch.blinkenlights.android.van...

will play flac from your phones local storage (you have to transfer the files to the phone of course).

shoo10mo ago

similarly, apps such as pulsar in the android play store support playing audio files (incl flac) from storage

Rotundo10mo ago

If you want a new device, these are not too expensive and well supported by Rockbox: https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/AIGOErosQK

Or get a used iPod. That's what I did.

FisherKK10mo ago

iphone5s

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse