He’s talking about firmware limitations. Most of the best players only can see 20,000 files. A stupid, short sighted, limitation. Collection GROW. I have 30,000 and 400 are full albumwrap albums. All mixed mp3’s and flac using 311gb. So, triple that amount for a 1tb card, that could hole around 90,000 + files. Probably around 50-60 thousand flac files.

No problem. We have an article on headphone amps https://www.techsmotion.com/best-headphone-amp/. Not all of them work for phones (and we’ll be updating the article soon), but you can start your search there=)

Thanks for info:) Over a weekend too! Thank you. I’ve never heard of external amps before will give them a search just now. Thanks again:)

From what I was able to find, Xperia 1 ii uses Cirrus Logic CS35L41 amp, while the Sony players on our list have S-Master HX amp. I don’t know how they compare, but I have an older Sony ZX300 and it sounds amazing (at least for my taste). Also, have you tried any external amps with your phone? Maybe they’ll be enough.

SanDisk Clip Sport Plus has buttons and you can create playlists inside the player. It’s not a high-end player but it may be enough.

Hi Ziggy,

Considering such a budget, you can eve try Sony NWZX300/S (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075MV7XRT/). I have one of those and I love it. Also, there is a smaller brother released last December, Sony NW-A55 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08286VLNB/). The first one’s battery is rated 30 hours while A55 is said to last for up to 45 hours which is exceptional. For storage you’ll need to use an sd card. Both of these players support up to 2TB microSDXC cards from what I know (I use 512 GB in mine). Some say that Sony’s menu and navigation is terrible, but I personally don’t have any problems with it.

Also, you can consider Fiio models as the brand usually provides great value for money.

1. Storage capacity. I have a giant music collection that will never be transportable, but I’d like to take as much as possible without needing to swap out cards. I’d be quite pleased with around 500 gb.

2. Quality. I’m not an *audiophile* playing on some 6-digit equipment, but I like my flac to sound like flac, not 192 kps mp3. I’ll be playing mainly flac (16bit cd rips but also some vinyl), the usual mp3 and even random things like some ALAC (but I can get around this if necessary).

That’s pretty much it. I was sold on Onkyo for quality, two slots, and brand name (I’ve been using their equipment for years), but the hardware and battery seems to get atrocious reviews everywhere. Is there anything similar? Or just anything that will fit my needs without breaking the bank.

iPod shuffle tried and tested and failed 🙂
Same for Sandisk (too fiddly).
the AGPTEK looks tiny judging from the pic with the hand in. (She can barely hold anything that small).
The waterproof looks like it’s worth a try, depending on size (just had a quick look, I’ll look at its dimensions tomorrow).
I’m even considering a cheap phone, or a Ghetto Blaster type device.

Thanks for the help.

Hi John,

When I started reading your comment I instantly thought of ipod shuffle but looks like it’s not an option=)

From what’s on our list, you can try SanDisk. Other than that, you can go for AGPTEK G02 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0722KVJM3/) as it’s very simple and the concept is similar to shuffle.

Aaaalso, you can try SYRYN Mp3 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018YKTD1Y/). Yeah, it’s for swimming and you don’t need all the accessories that go with the player but it only has 3 buttons which are big and tactile. It may work=)

Can anyone recommend anything?