[Dan Driscoll]

I'm going to be traveling more and I want to put together a portable system with the best sound quality possible within a $200-$225 budget. I have little or no interest in video performance, sound quality is primary. Whatever I get, it must have SD/SDHC expansion and it must play FLAC files. My musical tastes are somewhat varied, but primarily classic rock with some jazz, country and classical. Favorite artists are Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Buddy Guy, Sam McClain, Dixie Chicks, etc.

I've narrowed my search down to a few players and isolating earphones. As I mentioned, these will be primarily for travel, but also on the elliptical or treadmill, weight machine, etc. They will not be used for running or cycling. I already have a number of SD and microSD cards, so they don't need to be included in the budget.

Players: Cowan D2; Sansa Fuze; iRiver E100

Earphones: Sennheiser CX-500 or CX-95; Etymotic ER6i; UE Super.fi 3; Shure E3c

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

[Gaara]

Might want to take a look into the Trekstor Vibez for the player, supposed to be one of the best DAPs out there for FLAC.  I had one and loved it, but downgraded to the Sansa Clip.

[whubbard]

I belive your current players are fine, but you might want to look for an amp, thats what I'm doing.
Also, I might recommend you go over to head-fi.org. About a week ago was the the first time I posted there, but they are really knowledgeable in anything portable/headphones. I hate to send traffic over there, but it is the same way I would direct someone on head-fi.org to audiocircle if they wanted to talk about home audio.

-West

[mcgsxr]

Dan my brother has a Cowan and is very happy with it.  He uses FLAC files, and the stock earphones.

I would recommend better phones, the Ety's you have listed are nice.

[Dan Driscoll]

I belive your current players are fine, but you might want to look for an amp, thats what I'm doing.

An amp would be nice, but would not fit into my current budget. It might be a future upgrade.

Also, I might recommend you go over to head-fi.org.

I posted this question the day before I posted it here. No replies yet.

[Dan Driscoll]

Might want to take a look into the Trekstor Vibez for the player, supposed to be one of the best DAPs out there for FLAC.  I had one and loved it, but downgraded to the Sansa Clip.

I took a look at it. Interesting player and it has some very attractive features, but there are a couple of issues that take it off my list. First, it's HDD based instead of flash, second, there's no storage expansion.

[Dan Driscoll]

Dan my brother has a Cowan and is very happy with it.  He uses FLAC files, and the stock earphones.

I would recommend better phones, the Ety's you have listed are nice.

The D2 has moved to the top of my list, but the Sansa Fuze is pretty close. I've just about dropped the iRiver from consideration.

[rydenfan]

I believe Trekstor is supposed to be releasing a flash version this month? Not positive though...

[Dan Driscoll]

I believe Trekstor is supposed to be releasing a flash version this month? Not positive though...

Thanks, but unless it has an expansion slot I still wouldn't be that interested.

[DanTheMan]

I'm using a Shure/Sansa combo that sounds great! with lossless files.  It's actually my reference system.