Topic: Need recomendations on a good portable music player

[OldNeumanntapr]

Hey all,

I drive a delivery route for a wholesale auto parts company. Two years ago I was issued a 2019 Ford Transit van with both bluetooth AND a USB port. It would play flac with text and even artwork! After years of not having a way to listen to my music in my van this was amazing! I could put flac on a flash drive and take a week's worth of music to work. (I drive about 1,300 miles a week on the route.)

Sadly, the transmission in the van went out and instead of repairing it they got gid of it and bought a new van. This one is a 2017 Ford Transit van and it lacks both bluetooth and a USB port. All it has is an am/fm radio with an 1/8th" AUX jack.

I am really bummed out now because I have lost the ability to listen to flac at work. I thought about buying a portable music player and running it through the AUX jack, but most of them have terrible reviews. I used to have a Fiio X3 player that I really liked but it died after not quite two years and I never replaced it. I have a couple of mini SD cards left over from the Fiio that I could reuse.

Someone at work suggested playing music on my phone but I don't see how that would work, as I have an iPhone 8+ with no headphone output.

All I need is something to play gapless flac with tags. Most of these players that I have looked at on line have a lot of bells and whistles I don't want or need.

I would like something that would work with my iMac, and not be over $250 -$300, Any ideas?

Thanks,

ONT-

[rocksuitcase]

https://helpguide.sony.net/dmp/nwa50/v1/en/contents/TP0002342857.html

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-NW-A55-Walkman-Hi-Res-Grayish/dp/B08286VLNB

I just this week put into play one of these. I don't need library shuffles etc, JUST flac file playback like you. Seems great so far, a bit weird with .jpgs, but I think it is how I tag things, not the player which WILL display cover art. So far I am testing it out as far as folder structure, display items etc and only have 6 shows loaded on it. All 24/48 flacs

[OldNeumanntapr]

Cool. Is it able to play gapless flac?

I'm in the van six + hours a day on the road and would hate not to be able to listen to my music.

[rocksuitcase]

Cool. Is it able to play gapless flac?

I'm in the van six + hours a day on the road and would hate not to be able to listen to my music.

yes

[OldNeumanntapr]

Good. Does it play shows in folders? Drop and drag to load it up?

[rocksuitcase]

Good. Does it play shows in folders? Drop and drag to load it up?

Sorry was feeling low last night.
Yes, it does the basic folder organization in MAc or WIndows. I use Windows so do not know 100% about MAC. Check teh help guide I sent. It shows how to do transfers etc. for the money I think it is a sweet player. all those $1000 and up players have phones and streaming ability which I do not desire

[unidentified]

I really like the small and inexpensive ($200) Pioneer XDP-30R-S.

[kindms]

Hey all,

I drive a delivery route for a wholesale auto parts company. Two years ago I was issued a 2019 Ford Transit van with both bluetooth AND a USB port. It would play flac with text and even artwork! After years of not having a way to listen to my music in my van this was amazing! I could put flac on a flash drive and take a week's worth of music to work. (I drive about 1,300 miles a week on the route.)

Sadly, the transmission in the van went out and instead of repairing it they got gid of it and bought a new van. This one is a 2017 Ford Transit van and it lacks both bluetooth and a USB port. All it has is an am/fm radio with an 1/8th" AUX jack.

I am really bummed out now because I have lost the ability to listen to flac at work. I thought about buying a portable music player and running it through the AUX jack, but most of them have terrible reviews. I used to have a Fiio X3 player that I really liked but it died after not quite two years and I never replaced it. I have a couple of mini SD cards left over from the Fiio that I could reuse.

Someone at work suggested playing music on my phone but I don't see how that would work, as I have an iPhone 8+ with no headphone output.

All I need is something to play gapless flac with tags. Most of these players that I have looked at on line have a lot of bells and whistles I don't want or need.

I would like something that would work with my iMac, and not be over $250 -$300, Any ideas?

Thanks,

ONT-

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMX62AM/A/lightning-to-35-mm-headphone-jack-adapter

i run my iphone 7 this way 1/8 stereo to car port. cheap and simple solution.

flac on an iphone via VOX (app is free) if you need flac


Edited to add.
You could build yourself a player for pretty cheap with a raspberry pi and that would give you plenty of dac and gapless playback options
They are powered by 5v the draw depends on which version

you could build one with a touch screen and case etc for under $200 i bet

[nulldogmas]

I've often used an iRiver (cheap used, plays FLACs, uses regular directory folders, has a 1/8" output, long battery life) as a portable music player.

[unidentified]

I've often used an iRiver (cheap used, plays FLACs, uses regular directory folders, has a 1/8" output, long battery life) as a portable music player.

I love my Rockboxed IRivers - built like little tanks, very steampunk. 

[firemt66]

I dropped shows on my Samsung phone and play them  all day long at work no gaps plays the whole show from beginning to end

[goodcooker]

I dropped shows on my Samsung phone and play them  all day long at work no gaps plays the whole show from beginning to end

I use an old Samsung phone for this. plays 24 bit FLACs in VLC player and I get a pretty long road trip out of a single charge. Bluetooth doesn't last as long as headphone out.

[OldNeumanntapr]

I'm buying the Sony. Thanks for the advice!

ONT-

[Scooter123]

Used iPod or iPhone.  $100

[Colin Liston]

You might want to consider a cheap android phone (without cell service) with a micro sd card slot. The phone will have bluetooth and wifi for uses in other cars or at home and a lot of the new phones can take 256, 512 or 1TB cards.
Xiaomi makes great phones with good specs for cheap.

For example
https://www.amazon.com/Xiaomi-Redmi-9A-Display-Unlocked/dp/B08CH6X6M5/ref=sr_1_17?crid=9CDZ7QG4G3QV&keywords=xaomi%CC%87&qid=1641847284&refinements=p_n_feature_twenty-one_browse-bin%3A21596696011%2Cp_89%3AXiaomi&rnid=2528832011&s=wireless&sprefix=xao%2Caps%2C1005&sr=1-17