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Ask HN: What's the best MP3 player I can buy today?

5 points by segasaturn ↗ HN
I'm looking to buy an MP3 player. My reason for not using my phone as an MP3 player is that there simply aren't any good MP3 player apps on the iOS App Store. Everything either a streaming app, or "free with ads".

Criteria isn't strict, but no devices that are just an Android with the cellular modem taken out, which I see a lot of listings for. Rockbox support is preferred but I've had no luck finding anything in their supported devices list that's not an iPod, used or new. I'll probably get a used iPod if nobody has an alternative recommendation.

15 comments

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accrual
I've been out of the loop on MP3 players for a while, but when I was in the scene I really liked FiiO's products, e.g.:

https://www.fiio.com/m11s

iPods are still a really awesome device for pure music listening in my opinion. There are a lot of mod options to bring high-capacity modern storage to them, even Bluetooth and haptics. Lots of good info in the sub:

https://old.reddit.com/r/ipod/

segasaturn
FiiO is a great recommendation! I used to have one of their players but the firmware was buggy and I resold it. These players look like they have high quality construction though.
talldayo
Posts like this make me so sad. There are dozens of open-source and excellent MP3 players on Android but people apparently can't have the same on iOS because Apple refuses to accept sideloading.

What an absolutely abominable state of personal computing.

segasaturn
It's horrible. Consequence of all the App Store and developer fees I guess. I hope to get out of Apple's "ecosystem" soon.
porcoda
If you read the original post carefully, side loading wouldn’t solve the issue. The issue is app developers on iOS either focus on streaming or fill their apps with ad garbage. There is nothing stopping developers from building an app that focuses on the local library and doesn’t do ads, but nobody is offering any quality ones.
NaOH
I've long used old iPhones as MP3 players and have been quite happy with the US $3 app Cs Music Pro. I would prefer an actual MP3 players with hardware controls, but I haven't found one and it's hard for me to justify the price difference for a dedicated device.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cs-music-pro/id924491991

Two4
The VLC media player app is pretty decent - not the best UI ever, but it's pretty good for what it is. It'll play almost any audio file you throw at it, plus most video files to boot. On iOS it's easiest to load media via the local webserver it runs for exactly that purpose, as apps are quite ringfenced when it comes to accessing data.
beretguy
Sandisk used to offer basic old-school mp3 players but looks like they shut them down. Can still find used on Amazon/ebay.

iOS has KMPlayer which was good the last time I used it: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/kmplayer/id835776444

Also Plexamp if you want to use Plex.

Walmart has a big selection of mp3 players: https://www.walmart.com/search?q=mp3%20player&typeahead=mp3%... However, i was not able to find good enough one that I would recommend. You can try searching yourself.

I personally use Plexamp and Musi.

getwiththeprog
I have the SanDisk and it is pretty good. very good for the price. Sony make an expensive MP3 player.
Suppafly
>My reason for not using my phone as an MP3 player is that there simply aren't any good MP3 player apps on the iOS App Store.

Don't they have itunes? Or is it not good?

segasaturn
Technically the Apple Music app will play local files, but only MP3, AAC and ALAC. No FLAC, ogg, opus, etc. Plus it advertises at you to subscribe to their music service.
WheelsAtLarge
I got 2 of these cheap mp3 headphones with a sd card slot. One charges while the other is in use. The charge is usually good for a few hours. I have a few SD cards with my playlists that I insert on the headphones as desired. They also have Bluetooth capabilities which is a plus. The FM function is mostly useless for me. It's a bit primitive but it works for me. I have no need to pay monthlies and don't care if there's an internet connection. Plus, I don't have to carry additional hardware.

BS19C Bluetooth-Compatible Headset Sports Music Headphone TF Slot FM Radio

https://www.ebay.com/itm/364453819724

firecall
Plex Amp is actually a very good player app!

You need to run a Plex server I believe.

But is great and works like you want an MP3 player to work!