Looking for a new media player(Ipod suggestion not welcome)

I use a Nokia Lumia 520 that I picked up from an Amazon Gold Box deal for $29. The 520 doesn't have a custom equalizer but pretty much all of the other Lumia phones do. The 630 can often be found on sale for less than $50. All the Lumias that will take an SD card will work with cards up to 128GB. The default music app has artists, albums, songs, genres, playlists and radio(FM) as options. Easy to use with a Windows PC as it can be accessed as an external storage device.

Recently, I asked about a new music device on another forum, and the users there mentioned both Cowon and Fiio as brands that have produced excellent players. Has anyone here heard of those brands, and, if so, what do you think of them?

After much research and deliberation, I have decided that the Fiio X1 player is the best device for me, since it is no more than $100.00 in price and has all the features that I seek. The only negative aspect of it is that it does not have internal storage, which, given that flash memory has become very inexpensive in recent years, is inexcusable. However, it shall not be a major concern for me to purchase an SD card to use with the device.

Having said that, can anyone here recommend a good micro SD card to use with the device, one that balances capacity, speed, price, and reliability?

I would look for one with a class UHS-1 or faster. UHS-1 cards are pretty common now, so you should be able to find one fairly cheap. I can't find any mention of what classes the device supports, but they're backwards compatible, so worst case the player will be your bottleneck.

As far as what manufacturer, SanDisk and Samsung are usually my go-to manufacturers if performance is key. Otherwise, I usually get the Microcenter house brand, but that's just because I have one near me. The speed classes are standardized, so any in the same class should perform pretty much the same.

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Originally Posted by x88x

I would look for one with a class UHS-1 or faster. UHS-1 cards are pretty common now, so you should be able to find one fairly cheap. I can't find any mention of what classes the device supports, but they're backwards compatible, so worst case the player will be your bottleneck.

As far as what manufacturer, SanDisk and Samsung are usually my go-to manufacturers if performance is key. Otherwise, I usually get the Microcenter house brand, but that's just because I have one near me. The speed classes are standardized, so any in the same class should perform pretty much the same.

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Yes, that makes sense, and I am considering this card, here, since two of the computers in my house have Samsung SSD's, and I have been very pleased with their performance, thus far. However, I am not certain whether I should purchase the 32 gigabyte card, or the 64 gigabyte card; I currently have 13 gigabytes worth of music on my computer, and I am frequently adding more, and I also plan to keep the player for as long as possible, so possibly the 64 GB card is better. However, it has taken me over a decade to gather that much music, so I imagine that it would take at least another decade to add another 13 GB of music to my collection, so perhaps I should save myself some money and get only the 32 GB card. What do you say about that?

The nice thing about removable storage is that you can always upgrade later if needed. The prices on the higher capacity cards drop substantially every time they add larger ones to the lineup so I find that buying something that will give you some room to grow in the short term then replacing it later is my preferred strategy. I paid roughly the same for the 32GB card I put in my phone 8 months ago as for the 2 year old, 8GB card it replaced.

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Originally Posted by TheMainMan

The nice thing about removable storage is that you can always upgrade later if needed. The prices on the higher capacity cards drop substantially every time they add larger ones to the lineup so I find that buying something that will give you some room to grow in the short term then replacing it later is my preferred strategy.

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:stupid:

Buy the 32GB. By the time you need more space, the 64GB will probably be cheaper and faster than the 32GB is today.

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Originally Posted by x88x

Buy the 32GB. By the time you need more space, the 64GB will probably be cheaper and faster than the 32GB is today.

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Yes, that is what I shall do; I shall likely purchase the player on this Saturday, and, after I receive it and have used it, I shall let you know my opinion of it.

I am about to purchase the device, but Amazon is offering a three-year coverage plan, to protect the player in the case of damage, for only an additional $16. Should I purchase that, as well? Is the insurance worth the price?

I jut ordered the player, as well as this SD card, here. I currently have 13 gigabytes of music on my computer, which has taken me over a decade to accumulate, and I imagine that it shall take at least another decade to collect another 13 GB, so 32 GB shall be more than sufficient, for me. I also did purchase the protection plan, because it is better to be safe than sorry, to use a common phrase.

The player should take approximately a week to arrive, and, when it does, I shall post my thoughts about it.