I want to get less reliant on my phone and go out more without it. One of the big use cases for my phone is music.
I have a lot of local music files and I would like to transfer them to a mp3 player. I would prefer something offline that I can drag files too. Also Bluetooth would be a plus so I can continue to use my earbuds.
Something easy to navigate would be ideal too. Basically like what iPods were like with a small screen where you can navigate easily and see album artwork.
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I’ve been looking for a descent DAP that plays .flac files and supports 2tb micro SD but they’re all pretty pricey.
I went through this a year or two ago.
You can get an expensive MP3 player, which I didn’t really want to do cuz I think MP3 players should be relatively cheap, largely because they take a beating as you carry them around with you. Or get lost.
You can get a cheap Chinese knock-off brand MP3 player on Amazon, which is what I ended up doing. I have some regrets, but it’s still working, so whatever. The main thing you need to understand about cheap MP3 players is they may not properly power your headphones if you have a nice set of headphones. I only really use my MP3 player with my bluetooth speaker, so it didn’t matter for me. But it absolutely sucks when I’m trying to use headphones with it. Sound is super low, even when maxed out.
Or you can just buy a relatively cheap phone, never activate cell service on it, and use it as an MP3 player, which is probably what I’ll do next time. Even cheaper phones have tons of storage and decent specs for powering at least ear buds, if not actual headphones.
Ask yourself if you want a touch screen. That was my main thing. I wanted a touch screen like the iPod Touch so I’m not using some awkward buttons to navigate my huge music library. And I wanted Android so I could install whatever apps I wanted for playing my music. The cheap knockoff MP3 player I got came with an old version of Android, probably on purpose to limit resources used. But I can’t update it, so I can never update the apps I threw on it when I first got it. When I was looking I didn’t see any of these cheap MP3 players with a modern Android version on it. So they’ve gotta be using cheap hardware that just can’t handle running modern Android versions.
The one really good thing about my cheap MP3 player is it came with a 120gb SD card. So all my music is stored on that. If the device eats shit, I could take that SD card out, put it in another SD card compatible device, and boom, all my music is still there, still organized into the folders I put them in. If you choose to use a cheap phone as your MP3 device, I don’t think any are going to have the SD option anymore.
I guess ideally the best device would be a high-end MP3 player with a touch screen and modern Android. But when I was looking, I wasn’t really seeing any that had touch screen and Android. And they’re pricey.
I’m not a huge Apple fan, but the iPod Touch really hit the right spot. Maybe not that great of a battery life, but whatever. My cheap MP3 player does have a pretty big battery.
All in all, my search was pretty frustrating as I felt like I couldn’t find anything that ticked all my boxes. So I’m basically just posting this to give you an idea of what to take into account as you’re looking. Good luck.
Sony Walkman NW-A55. It’s a great, non-android device from a reputable brand. They make tons of versions, but they’re not available in the US. I got mine off ebay and just changed the region with a simple program (just google, it’s real easy). It has radio, a special section for language learning playback, and a ton of features for audio quality without being intrusive.
SanDisk Clip Sport Go! 32GB memory, very small and great for training because of the clip. It has a microSD slot if you need more memory.
I loved my sansa clip+ before it stopped working.
I don’t want to think about how long ago that was.
You could most definitely buy some old thing. You could legit buy an iPod, actually, in the 2nd hand market.
Why go modern, when the old stuff is good enough?
Especially when you can update them with stuff like Rockbox.
I’ve been meaning to replace the battery on my 1st generation iPod, getting a firewire card, and putting Rockbox on it.
tbh I didn’t like rockbox. I used a random program called FooBar2000 with some 3rd party plugin found on a dead forum to let me drag and drop .mp3-s on it.
I don’t have the exact link but this guide seems pretty similar https://www.howtogeek.com/24473/how-to-use-your-ipod-with-foobar2000/
rockbox seems like a dope project, it just wasn’t for me.
How dare you enjoy something different than my suggestion! /s
FooBar2000 is a classic program, wild it’s been around for over 20 years and is still being developed!
It’s still the best Windows music app. It is one of the only things I miss from Windows.
Loved Rockbox, installed it on my Sansa Clip+ back in the day and was able to scrobble through it
I second this. Get an iPod Classic on eBay or local marketplace. Go heavy on the storage. It works perfectly!
Heck, my teenie tiny iPod Shuffle 3rd gen still works and I have no idea how!
Just keep in mind you can run into issues with some of the highest capacity cards. There are limits to how much music an ipod can handle depending on the generation which aren’t immediately obvious. Dankpods mentioned it in one of his older videos.
If you’re on a Mac, I think ipods are still recognized and you can use their software to sync and manage music. You can only sync over music you own so no apple music obviously.
How about a Tangara?
Definitely the thing with the most hacker cred of the options recommended here, if that’s a consideration.
Fiio makes good stuff. I have one of their monster ones, the M15S, and it works great. Don’t get that exact one, though, they have MUCH more affordable and portable ones.
Just get an old phone that doesn’t have a SIM in it, uninstall any apps you don’t want want that could be used locally, forget your wifi networks, load it up with music via usb, connect it to your Bluetooth headphones and go.
And if you use the Universal debloater, you can kill almost anything.
Get the Universal Android Debloat Utility, it’s pretty good at letting you know what can be disabled.
I have a Hiby R3 and have enjoyed it. https://store.hiby.com/products/hiby-r3-ii-2025
It’s smaller than a phone, but the screen is still large enough to scroll through your collection with. Also, it’s not running Android, which I like. (For some reason I’m just irked by the fact that everything around me is running Android these days.) So there aren’t any apps – it’s just a music player, which I also like.
The R1 is also good if you want something a bit cheaper.
It does look nice. The R1 wasn’t available when I bought my R3, but if it was, I think I would have gone with an R1 instead. I don’t really need the 4.4 mm balanced output jack that the R3 has, and although the aluminum of the R3 does feel nice, the R1 is quite a bit lighter.
Nice. I also wanted a DAP that didn’t run Android and I ended with the fun and ultra gimmicky Mixxtape (you can use the device itself as a cassette tape). It was only $60-ish, so don’t expect top tier build quality or interface, but I am pretty happy with it.
Wow, that is a very creative idea, I love it! :D
Apparently called “Digital Audio Players” nowadays:
They’ve always been called DAPs by technical people and audiophiles. PMPs have gone the way of the dodo too thanks to the modern smartphone. They were basically DAPs with a larger screen for consuming video content.
I think the full circle comeback to these dedicated devices has to do with the removal of the headphone jack, and the poor DACs in the USB-C dongles. That and slow pushback against the subscription model and a return to simpler times where you controlled your media. I for one have very fond memories of my PMP.
Personal music player?
Personal Media Player
I’ve given up on dedicated daps. They may have superior audio components but you won’t ever appreciate them when you’re on the go. I just use my phone. I make sure they have an sd card slot and a headphone jack. For OP, they can use an old phone that doesn’t have a sim card.
I mean, if money is no issue…
But they also have cheaper options, including a wearable player if you want absolute minimalism.
Get an iPod…or your phone and just don’t use it for anything other than music…
Honestly, if you have an old phone laying around that accepts micro SD cards then just throw VLC on it and put your music on a mSD and you’re set.
I’ve had terrible luck finding a good music player at an affordable price that plays FLAC files which is like 90%+ of my library. So I’m looking into getting a raspberry pi 4 with maybe 4 or 8 gigs of RAM and making an music player (I will be printing the case with a 3d printer)
Very cheap phone, disassemble, remove all radio antennnas. Voila! Untrackable pocket computer (and also as a MP3 player).
In the US, you can get carrier-locked prepaid phones for like $20 USD, you don’t need service to get pass the set up (except for Verizon ones apparantly, even tho their MVNOs work fine).
I don’t know how much you’re willing to spend but elite obsolete has refurbished pods with increased battery life and storage or with microSD cards. Along with selling parts and tools to upgrade them yourself if you have an old one sitting around.
I haven’t bought from them myself but it’s worth giving them a look.
