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I want to buy an audio player that satisfies these conditions:

  1. MicroSD slot which can read 64GB card or has device memory of at least this size
  2. Hardware buttons which I can use without unlocking the display
  3. No lags when navigating between songs
  4. At least average audio quality
  5. FLAC support
  6. Price limit: 500$

Can you recommend me any device which meets these conditions?

EDIT: I don't want to hack anything - replacing firmware etc.

EDIT 2: Price limit raised. I've tried these two devices so far

  • FiiO X1 2nd gen
  • Astell & Kern JR Sleek Silver 64GB

Both had the same problem: when I transferred about 3000 songs to the player (to a card in case of FiiO) and played them, it had huge lags between songs (after pushing the next button).

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  • I'm just curious, why do you want one? Most people just listen to music on their smartphones nowadays.
    – Keshav Srinivasan
    Commented Feb 21, 2017 at 9:22
  • 1
    @KeshavSrinivasan I used to listen to music on my smartphone, but I've stopped recently. The phone audio output always stopped working after about one year of usage. In all such cases, I got a refund or a repaired phone, but it was very inconvenient anyway. So now my strategy is to have a different device for listening that I can send for repair without loosing my smartphone.
    – Fido
    Commented Feb 21, 2017 at 13:01

4 Answers 4

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SanDisk Sansa Clip+ enter image description here

  • $50 for 4gb and $100 for 8gb anyway both have SDcard slot.
  • MicroSD card slot.
  • Robust file support.
  • FM radio and recording.
  • Rechargeable battery lasts up to 15 hours.
  • MP3, WMA, Secure WMA, FLAC.

I tried it before the sound quality really good.

Edit: The maximum Memory size MicroSD card is 16GB according to this article

Or Sandisk Fuze enter image description here

The Fuze and all SanDisk's players (Fuze+ included) will work well with cards up to 32GB. You can hack the newer 64GB cards (which are a new format, SDXC or exFAT) by re-formatting to FAT32 and use them too, but it isn't officially sanctioned by SanDisk (or any manufacturer).

Resource link

You can change the firmware from here to unlock the number of files + to run 64GB external SDcard

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  • 1
    Using a 64 GB card in the Clip+ may be complicated. You will probably have to format it as FAT32, not the default ExFAT. There is also a limit on the number of tracks it can index (with default firmware). Changing it to Rockbox firmware may help.
    – vclaw
    Commented Feb 21, 2017 at 2:13
  • Hmm it's true! according to this article the maximum MicroSD should not pass 16GB forums.sandisk.com/t5/Sansa-Clip-Sansa-Clip/…
    – Narzan Q.
    Commented Feb 21, 2017 at 2:28
  • downvote due to not meeting necessary requirements of on board storage capacity, or expansion (without performing actions that would void the warranty)
    – NZKshatriya
    Commented Feb 21, 2017 at 5:21
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I would go with the following: FiiO X1 High Resolution Digital Lossless Media Player

Professional quality Texas Instrument PCM5142 DAC and Intersil ISL28291 OP amp

Bright and easy to read 2" color LCD display. Custom user interface with color themes

Durable lightweight aluminum chassis, metallic buttons with concentric grooves, scroll wheel of textured rubber

Internal 1700mAh battery for over 12 hours of use on a full charge. Charges through micro USB port

MicroSD slot that supports SDXC cards, currently up to 128GB, large enough to hold your entire music library

Not too bad @ 79.99 on Amazon with prime shipping available.

The step up from that is the X3-II

Native DSD Support All new digital audio architecture means the new X3 can now handle DSD decoding natively, giving listeners access to this highly regarded digital audio format. Of course, the X3 also supports all of the popular lossless formats in your music library, including WAV, FLAC, APE, WMA, ALAC, and AIFF.

Dual Crystal Oscillators The X3 makes use of two crystal oscillators, one each for the 44.1kHz and 48kHz frequency multiples. This no-compromise design ensures the lowest jitter and highest precision for playback of music at all sample rates, eliminating all conversion artifacts.

Audiophile-Grade Architecture Utilizing the Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC coupled with our painstakingly tuned low-pass filter, the X3 realizes extremely low noise and phase distortion. The X3's analog circuitry utilizes premium tantalum capacitors with minimal internal resistance for the best uncolored sound signature.

Again, takes up to an 128gb MicroSD card

@ 169.99 prime available, but only 3 available currently (as of this posting).

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    I've already tried FiiO X1 2nd gen and I had to return it because it had a slow and buggy UI. I doubt that the first gen would be better...
    – Fido
    Commented Feb 21, 2017 at 8:15
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Finally, I've found the right device. It's Fiio X5 3gen. It handles playing files in big folders (10000+ files) without any delay even if the random mode is on.

It has all features I wanted, sometimes it's even more than I expected (two card slots).

The only disadvantage I've found so far is that the device is quite big (it's a lot thicker than average phone)

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  • how is it being big a disadvantage? Harder to lose that way lol.
    – NZKshatriya
    Commented Apr 3, 2017 at 3:33
  • @NZKshatriya I have tight pockets :)
    – Fido
    Commented Apr 3, 2017 at 8:00
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I can just say about my device and can fully remommend it to your needs:

SanDisk Sansa Fuze V2 with rockbox firmware -- no touch screen, so no "unlocking"-problem at all, small, with rockbox about 20hrs battery life continuos play. The Wiki Page on rockbox.org seems to have quite outdated information, but in the last year or two there was new active development on CPU frequency scaling and power saving codes. With rockbox, battery life and audio quality is better than with original firmware, and can play many audio formats, also flac.

In another answer there is already a picture of the Fuze, so I don't need to add one here.

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