Look at the fiio x3.

I love my x5, but I'm curious to listen to an x3. I've heard they sound pretty damned good in their own right and the x5 might not even be worth the price for most people.

I'm dreading the day my iPod Classic kicks the bucket; my first one lasted about 5 years until I dropped it on the kitchen floor and it stopped spinning; I ended up buying a new one basically the last few weeks they were in production/for sale. I carry my current one wit more care than the baby.

The battery on mine sucks now. But I still love it. Can't let it go.

You can expand the memory in the Pono (like most of these things), yeah?

I sold my iPod Classic a few months ago when I needed some cash, I still have some regrets. Have been relying on my phone in the short term but thinking about the Sony NWA35 when I can afford it.

probably

64g internal, with sd slot for additional 64g card.

i like the pono. i ordered one during the kickstarter campaign, so got a unit right away when they were released at the end of 2014. it has done pretty well for me. biggest negative is the slow file transfer times, which got worse over time. i did just send my unit in to fix that issue and they replaced the circuit board. has been working fine since, but it is still a usb2.0 so not the best transferring a lot of large files - i just leave it overnight. biggest plus on the file management side is not having to use any software, you can just drag and drop files like any other external drive.

as for the sound quality, i guess the best example i can relay is this: i downloaded a hi-rez version of the stone's 'let it bleed'. listening to 'country honk' it felt like i was in the room. i don't think i'd ever had that type of listening experience before. i'm sure people can nitpick and find things it does and doesn't do well, but for my money i still feel it was a worthy investment on my part.

edit: and after posting this i looked around and found some other forum's posters noting they've used 128g and even 256g sd cards with no issue https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/the-p ... 3/page-108

I had been interested in one but I'm not sure they're still selling Pono units anymore, it seems like the whole thing ground to a halt.

These are expensive but look sweet as:

https://www.whathifi.com/astell-kern/ak70/specs

Astell & Kern AK70

I was looking at those until I saw the price. My wife still hasn't gotten over my MARTIN Logan ESLs.

That feeling you get when you feel like you're "in the room" is something that is unexplainable. It's one of my favorite things in life. My ESLs do that quite well and often.

I too was devestated when I destroyed my 10th ipod classic and learned they were no longer made. I got a fiio x1. Eh, honestly there is no reason not to just load a micro sd into your phone. It's better than having to carry a classic.

10? Holy fuck man. It is a devistating blow. I've only been through 2. But like I said before, Hi Res music is where it's at.

CHUD, you recommend any accessories? Case obviously but head phone amp, etc?

I don't even use a case. The second generation x5 is built like a fucking rock.

I think I'm going 3rd. The design pulled me in, in addition to the sound quality of course. The interface looks pretty cool with lots of built in swipes/slides/buttons.

Now to pull the trigger.....

yeah the third looks pretty sweet

So if I'm understanding this right if just use"pure mode" it will operate kind of like an iPod classic? I don't web browsing, email, streaming, etc.

I want to load music and listen to it.

Do you have more than one memory card that you swap in and out, chud? And if so, is it easy? I feel like I should start thinking about life after the iPod, but I always have 150GB+ on it, so I can't imagine going below 128GB at any one time, especially if I'm adding hi-res files.

I have one 128gb sd card in it that's almost full. I just add music to it via usb from time to time. When it's full I'll throw a card in the other slot.