#askFedi my son would like a portable digital audio player.

[oblomov@sociale.network]

#askFedi my son would like a portable digital audio player. I've been looking for information online and I've seen the HiBy mentioned often as a good option. Does anybody have hands-on experience or is it just #astroturfing? Any recommendations?

EDIT: Thank you all for the comments and recommendations, found a potential candidate, let's see how it goes.

[groupnebula563@mastodon.social]

@oblomov if you just want something that plays music I would get one of those S1-based iPod knockoffs from aliexpress, they can do a lot for their price. obviously not high quality audiophile stuff, you get what you pay for, but if you just want to listen to MP3s on the go without having to use your phone then they work pretty dang well

[ozzelot@mstdn.social]

@oblomov I've used an XDuoo X3ii, which runs some kind of HiBy software. It is a good one for my relatively non-demanding use (just play a flac and don't be noisy ya dingus). Also can do USB DAC, and Bluetooth in and out if you're a bluetoothy sorta person.
I've also spent time with a HifiWalker H2 (v.1) and a host of Sansas running Rockbox. And iPods of course.

[oblomov@sociale.network]

@GroupNebula563 thanks, I'll look them up. TBH my only requirements are (1) USB-C charging without risk of blowing up the port it gets connected to (2) support for the FLAC audio format (in its own and in Ogg container) and (3) removable storage (microSD or whatever). Audio quality as long as it's decent isn't that important. Bonus if it can withstand being handled by a hyperactive preteen.

[ozzelot@mstdn.social]

@oblomov ("iPods have been coopted by hipsters", complains hipster who was coopting iPods before it was cool)

[oblomov@sociale.network]

@ozzelot thanks, I'll check that out. FLAC support is indeed one of the important features I've been looking for (curiously, not all players advertise it, but I've read that often they do support it even if it's not declared)

[groupnebula563@mastodon.social]

@oblomov I believe some models can do FLACs (it might not decode them losslessly but they should sound good enough), there are a good few I’ve seen with removable storage, and ones with type C started to pop up a year or so ago. shouldn’t be too hard to find one with all three of those features with enough looking! p.s.: here’s those lyric files in action: https://youtu.be/UrbYa_I7G4w

[ozzelot@mstdn.social]

@oblomov If it's in any sort of hifi category, it will definitely do FLAC. If it's supported by rockbox, it will play FLAC too, when rockboxed.

(with the exception of the first Archoses rockbox was made for - but those are a janky historical curiosity, I'd barely label a functioning example as a comfortably usable player these days :D)

[machinelordzero@mastodon.social]

@oblomov I've got an R4. It's nice. I haven't wanted to hurl it out of a car window nearly as many times as its predecessor.

[snoozyrests@infosec.exchange]

@oblomov I've used the HiBy R4 and I can say its pretty great. It is very bulky though, its like carrying around another phone that's also twice as thick. Ive recently been using a Snowski Echo Mini and I really like it. It plays FLAC, its no bigger than a matchbox, holds days worth of charge, and takes both 3.5mm and 6.35mm headphones.

[oblomov@sociale.network]

@ozzelot oh I had forgotten about Rockbox, checking out what they support could be a good idea actually, thanks!

[charette@mstdn.ca]

@oblomov I keep seeing Tangara come up. Open hardware and open source. And some (all?) of the team is here on Mastondon. I happen to follow @jacqueline who can probably tell us exactly where to pick one up?

[oblomov@sociale.network]

@charette @jacqueline oh that's an interesting one, thanks for making me aware of it!

It's a bit on the pricey side for the budget we're considering at the moment, but I'll keep it under consideration, thanks.

[charette@mstdn.ca]

@oblomov @jacqueline I'm looking for the price and where to get one, and cannot find an answer to either of those questions. Where did you see the price?

[ozzelot@mstdn.social]

@oblomov
A good amount of even modern/modernish players is supported. (Some of the aliexpress-type hifi players are all the same platform -looking at you, Aigo Eros and friends-, so that helps Rockbox a good bit :D)

[ozzelot@mstdn.social]

@oblomov
Rocking this right now. The display clearly wants to die, but eh, it plays. (Freaked out yesterday with some SD card corruption, but all is good now.)

[oblomov@sociale.network]

@charette @jacqueline the Crowd Supply campaign https://www.crowdsupply.com/cool-tech-zone/tangara (yes I am aware it's over)

[davva23@kolektiva.social]

@oblomov
Would an old mobile phone with sdcard and vlc player do the job?

[oblomov@sociale.network]

@davva23 if we had one, that would actually be a pretty good idea, but we're the kind of people that keep onto things until they are unrecoverably b0rked 8-D