It's simple - if you want the best sound of all time, buy this. I've played music on dozens of MP3 players, including the iPod (snore), the latest Samsung P3, the Cowon S9, the amazing-sounding previous generation iRivers, etc. - and I come back to this one every time. No other player can render this level of fidelity, with this full a sound, with this rich and well-rounded a bass. My litmus test is to 1) play a superb yet dynamically demanding recording (e.g., disc 2 of Hybrid's Soundsystem 01 - a very dense and complex techno recording that requires a good player to do justice to all of the detail), 2) with superb buds (Shure SE530), and 3) without EQ or FX of any kind. Only the Sony is able to do full justice without any sound augmentation. And it does it time and time again, on any kind of music you throw at it. Yes, i have some nits - the inability to change the speed at which one can fast-forward through a long piece key among them. But ultimately what I want from an MP3 player is awesome sound and this delivers it in spades. Also, the physical construction is simply excellent - it is wonderfully slim, yet dense thanks to the significant steel component. The dedicated volume rocker is perfect. Finally, battery life is unreal. The accompanying earbuds are also very good but definitely toast up the bass a lot -- too much so in my view.
(Note -- the more currently available and similar-looking NWZ438F does not deliver as good sound as this one - as I found to my disappointment. Very curious if the new touch-screen Sony players have the same sound circuitry as this one - if so, I'll get in line once prices come down a bit.)Get more detail about Sony 4 GB Walkman Video MP3 Player (Pink).
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