Topic: Oddest question of the year.

[darkfry]

Would a Sony Pcm M10 sound better playing back mp3's / wavs through headphones when compared to a Sony Mp3 player?

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665940177#specifications

Now I know the Sony Pcm m10 is a audio recorder and not audio player. 

I'm just curious.

[hi and lo]

Has more to do with the quality of the headphone output stage. The m10 is ok and I've certainly heard worse, but it's no better than your average iPod/mp3 player.

Ive never tried to listen to mp3s not recorded directly by the m10 and not sure how it would work, if at all. You will certainly miss the general features a dedicated mp3 player provides (I.e. Music libraries, shuffle, playlists, etc.)

An interesting idea. I'm sure the decoded audio is the same.

[morst]

if the MP3 player is pretty bad then the M10 will compare. M10 does NOT have a great-sounding D/A stage, but it's fine for MP3's in the car.