[navin]

Originally Posted by subraiyr

1. Sony NW A35 - 32GB with expandable storage to 128GB

2. Fiio X5 2nd Gen - with 2 expandable storage of 128GB each

I know the Astell and Kern is more expensive but have you looked at their AK100II? If you are into lossless they have the best DACs.

Edit: What if you just use a 256GB pen drive and put all your music on that? Will a car HU recognize the artist/album/track info and display album art?

[condor]

Are iPod's country specific ?

( Reason to ask - I was trying to reset one US specific iphone, but it didnt allow me stating region restrictions. Is this condition / constraint applicable to iPod's too ? 5th gen / 4th gen iPod's) ?

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by navin

What if you just use a 256GB pen drive and put all your music on that? Will a car HU recognize the artist/album/track info and display album art?

Do usual car HUs play high res flacs? I think most are restricted to 16bit 48khz FLAC.

Might be off topic but won't a phone with a good DAC like the LG v20 be better? I use it with a cd mount and it is my media player, navigation unit and everything

And last i remember the v20 was selling for a sub 30k price?

Used to have the 160gb ipod classic in my car but all the hassles of converting FLACs to Apple Lossless and then syncing it with itunes gave me quite a few grey hairs.

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by condor

Are iPod's country specific ?

( Reason to ask - I was trying to reset one US specific iphone, but it didnt allow me stating region restrictions. Is this condition / constraint applicable to iPod's too ? 5th gen / 4th gen iPod's) ?

I don't think so. I have a iphone 6 bought in US and I have reset it multiple times. I have not got any alert regarding region restriction. Did you check the apple forums for that issue?

Even my ipod 5th gen is not having any such issues. Again bought in US.

[Rahul Munjal]

Originally Posted by subraiyr

Let the sleeping thread wake up now

My ipod classic is dead. It cannot charge anymore since my son twiddled with the charging port. It is now a paper weight. And with over 100GB+ of songs, i am in the market for a new DAP. With FLAC files in the kitty, i am looking for a high res player. I have shortlisted 2 and i need expert comments on both

1. Sony NW A35 - 32GB with expandable storage to 128GB

2. Fiio X5 2nd Gen - with 2 expandable storage of 128GB each

Sony comes with a longer playtime - rated to about 40hrs + while FIIO comes with about 10 - 12 hrs, but 2 line outs, coaxial connect and a fairly good DAC.

Anyone has any opinions of these 2 post usage ?

I was in the same dilemma as you. Was a big fan of iPod classic and used it for almost 10 years - updating the generation of the unit as time passed by. Finally when Apple made the classic obsolete I was heart broken after which I switched to ipod touch 128gb. All this while the only thing which bothered me was the music transfer interface via itunes. One fine day my iPod touch refused to sync with the laptop and I couldnt transfer any more songs, it is that day - that I decided to look for another player offering a more flexible interface.
I too just like you had short listed the two players you mentioned and finally plunged in to buy the Fiio X5 3rd Gen.
I have mixed reviews about it starting from the
Cons
1. Short battery life
2. Internal RAM is low(1GB) which makes the player a bit slow.
3. A bit bulky/heavy in hand when compared to ipod classic/touch or your phone.

Three of them are not the deal breakers, as there is a work around. I have selected the option to auto-shut down the player after it finishes the playlist within a prerequisite time period (lets say 30 min), which is able to save the battery drain because the unit is off. And have not installed any apps other than which have come pre-installed which would further slowdown the system.


Pros
1. RED DOT design award,
2. You dont need to buy any more accessories as everything comes in the box (screen guard/two cases).
3. Android based interface, can use Bluetooth and WiFi just like your phone.
4. two built in DAC with a capacity of two - 256 GB micro SD slots.
5. Excellent High Res Audio reproduction, especially with FLAC files and good quality noise cancelling headphones.
6. Connects to your PC like a USB storage and you can drag and drop the music files/folders. Very easy interface!
7. built in DSP - viper, the pre-loaded free version gives you an excellent kick.

https://www.fiio.co.in/products/x5-3...s-music-player

Why I chose Fiio over Sony was purely because of reviews plus bigger storage.
One suggestion I would like to give - if you choose to go for the Fiio, buy it from the authorized dealer online and not from a third party. The dealer is listed both on Amazon and eBay, you just have to do some research. I purchased via Amazon.

Cheers

[heydj]

Originally Posted by subraiyr

Let the sleeping thread wake up now

My ipod classic is dead. It cannot charge anymore since my son twiddled with the charging port. It is now a paper weight. And with over 100GB+ of songs, i am in the market for a new DAP. With FLAC files in the kitty, i am looking for a high res player. I have shortlisted 2 and i need expert comments on both

1. Sony NW A35 - 32GB with expandable storage to 128GB

2. Fiio X5 2nd Gen - with 2 expandable storage of 128GB each

Sony comes with a longer playtime - rated to about 40hrs + while FIIO comes with about 10 - 12 hrs, but 2 line outs, coaxial connect and a fairly good DAC.

Anyone has any opinions of these 2 post usage ?

Do you really need a charge? I have 6th generation and it will work even without charge, just needs to be connected via USB port. Of course if I will disconnect then it will shut down. But since its booting up on connecting via USB port there is no issue in even syncing.

If you are like me are addicted to iTunes then probably look at older model iPhones with high capacity.

Of the two options given I will suggest Fiio X5 over Sony though I don't think using a SD card will give as smooth experience as inbuilt flash storage, hence suggestion of previous iPhones.

[subraiyr]

Hi all

Thanks for your great inputs. So here goes my quick updates

I ditched both Sony & FiiO and jumped on the Cayin - N3. Pretty nifty little device and has best of both the Sony & FiiO. User interface though is not as intuitive. The one peeve i have with it is that everytime you crank it up, by default it goes to headphone setting. One needs to go to settings and change it from headphone o/p to other if you want to connect it to external amp/speakers

On the ipod classic , i sent it to a place called itweak and eagerly waiting for it to come back. Seems a lot of people have faced issues of broken charging ports and this is very common. So the ipod will go into the car since my ICE comes with an ipod cable connected to the HU directly and the Cayin will get connected to the Onkyo at home

[condor]

For an iPod Classic 5g, how does this look ? Any cause for concern ?

[condor]

If an iPod classic was loaded from a Mac, how to transfer the content to another which is accessed on Windows ? iTunes on Windows doesnt read the iPod that was earlier accessed thru a Mac

[swissknife]

Originally Posted by condor

If an iPod classic was loaded from a Mac, how to transfer the content to another which is accessed on Windows ? iTunes on Windows doesnt read the iPod that was earlier accessed thru a Mac

I have used "Syncios" from a windows computer to transfer media from and to an iPod classic. Though it requires iTunes to use its functions, it is not limited to what iTunes can do.

[condor]

Originally Posted by swissknife

I have used "Syncios" .

Thanks, Swissknife. I will check. I was looking at this, but hope your info will be easier to do.

[thirumalkumaran]

Originally Posted by condor

For an iPod Classic 5g, how does this look ? Any cause for concern ?

It doesn't look real bad, but 8 sectors would make me to prepare a backup HDD/ Flash adaptor...

[condor]

Originally Posted by thirumalkumaran

It doesn't look real bad, but 8 sectors would make me to prepare a backup HDD/ Flash adaptor...

Thanks. Though I have the master set on the harddrive, always helps to keep things working.

I wish we had the SSD upgrade services in India

[condor]

Originally Posted by swissknife

I have used "Syncios" from a windows computer to transfer media from and to an iPod classic. Though it requires iTunes to use its functions, it is not limited to what iTunes can do.

This wont work here, because the iTunes as the base wont read a device updated/restored via Mac, on a Windows system.