Music Player
Music Player
I'm looking for a BIFL (or at least last me for a while) music player that can play .wav files, has a lot of storage, is portable, and the parts are able to be replaced/upgraded. I've heard about using iPod classics but it seems like they're unable to play .wav files. Any reccomendations?
Hmmm, I've been wanting something similar but haven't had any luck finding new good options (closest bring those premium expensive Sony's, but not repairable). It never occurred to me until now, I could probably just build one using a Pi Zero or something similar
If you replace the firmware on an iPod classic with Rockbox, it supports wav out of the box!
That’s cool but uh… that’s pretty far from out of the box.
You can source a modified iPod (5.5 Gen with Wolfson DAC) that comes with:
- Rockbox preinstalled
- an upgraded battery(3 days continuous playback, tested this week)
- 256GB or 512GB solid-state drive
With 4,756 CC tunes, it makes for an excellent compact jukebox.
Sony Walkman are the only company that takes making music players seriously today that I can think of. Probably not repairable so not really BIFL but worth taking a look.
Without running afoul of the BIFL ethos, I wonder why you can't just use your smartphone?
No smartphones are BIFL, but you're always going to have one, and even if you insist on WAV instead of MP3 or FLAC, you can still fit a pretty big music collection in local storage.
No headphone jack, and I want a dedicated device so I'm not as reliant on my phone.
No headphone jack
This doesn't address the phone reliance bit, but you can stick a passthrough USB-C audio interface on the end of your headphones cable.
Stuff like this:
https://www.amazon.com/JacobsParts-Headphone-Charging-Passthrough-Converter/dp/B09HJQJSWY
Then you don't tie up your USB-C jack.
A Qudelix solves the first part but not the second. Though you might be able to bluetooth it to your computer if you're at home and your place is small.
Mine is scheduled to be shipped on 31 Jan! I bought it exactly because it seems like a BIFL music player!
Pretty excited to see mine show up in checks notes march of next year.
I just got done watching a video where a dude built a TinyLlama computer to install DOS and a DOS based MP3 player. Since it's DOS based, you should fairly easily be able to install a WAV file player on it instead, or in addition to an MP3 player..
The player software in that video, MPXPlay supports WAV "out-of-the-box", so to speak.
That's cool 👍
I was the commenter that mentioned to him that Nullsoft, the developers of Winamp, also made DOSamp, a DOS based MP3 player. Unfortunately it only plays MP3s, but given that their mascot is a llama, it definitely should be installed on the TinyLlama as well.
WinampDOSamp, it really whips the llama's ass!
Oooh, thank you. I'll check it out.
Check out fiio or other audiophile portable players. Maybe more pricey but I think some of them will fit your needs
Ive owned 2 Hiby devices, and bought one for my Mother for a Christmas gift. Honestly its such a niche piece of tech that there's not really a pro repair company making DAPs, I think IBasso make DAPs with somewhat removable batteries but they charge a pretty penny, maybe hold out till post 2027 to see if some companies conform to EU regulations with user serviceable batteries.
Alas, HIBY are my favourite go to, the R4 is a value king around 250 and my personal DAP currently, the R3 ii is also a good choice at 150/175. But if thats too much, they do cheaper models at 90-ish for the R1.
Monodeal CD707 is a discman that can play WAV/FLAC/MP3 from flashcard or CDs. Can cast to FM or Bluetooth. Headphone jack. USBC charging.