View Full Version : Colorfly C4 Pocket MP3 Player - any good?
Resident techies/gadget freaks,
I need your advice! A mate of mine is interested in buying one of these doo-dahs:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Colorfly-Pocket-HiFi-C4-Pro-32-GB-24bit-192kHz-MP3-Player-AMP-Hi-Fi-DAC-10-Award-/121031274231?pt=US_Portable_Stereos_Boomboxes&hash=item1c2e06aef7
...and wanted to know if it deserved the awards it's being given, or if there was something better, of a similar type of thing, he should be spending his money on instead?
He will consider any other options that are viable. However, sound quality and portability are the most important considerations, so bear that in mind when you're offering your suggestions.
I await receiving your wisdom! :)
Marco.
StanleyB
31-01-2013, 22:02
One of my customers own one of them. He swears by it. I'll send him an email and see if he is prepared to give his input.
Mark Grant
31-01-2013, 22:06
For your 'mate' :D ;) :) I never thought I would see the day :D ;)
It does look good but for me loading stuff into memory is a bit of a faff, Spotify on a decent mobile phone sounds surprisingly good if set to the highest quality.
StanleyB
31-01-2013, 22:09
It does look good but for me loading stuff into memory is a bit of a faff, Spotify on a decent mobile phone sounds surprisingly good if set to the highest quality.
I am using a Nokia 808 mobile phone for music on the go. Its true 16 bit audio performance is astonishing.
For your 'mate' :D ;) :) I never thought I would see the day :D ;).
:lol:
That's an extraordinary amount of money for a portable player, Marco (it also looks like a dog's dinner). You may find that one of these gives you 95% of the quality for peanuts. I have one and it's excellent.
http://www.sandisk.co.uk/products/music-video-players/clip-plus/
For your 'mate' :D ;) :) I never thought I would see the day :D ;)
Ha - honestly, it is for him... I have little interest in these things! :lol:
You may see him on Sunday.
Marco.
One of my customers own one of them. He swears by it. I'll send him an email and see if he is prepared to give his input.
Cheers, Stan! :)
Marco.
That's an extraordinary amount of money for a portable player, Marco (it also looks like a dog's dinner). You may find that one of these gives you 95% of the quality for peanuts. I have one and it's excellent.
http://www.sandisk.co.uk/products/music-video-players/clip-plus/
Hi Martin,
Cheers for that. I'll be showing him this thread when he visits tomorrow (and on Sunday) - all advice is welcome! :cool:
Marco.
Daniel75
31-01-2013, 22:32
Im very happy with old iPod Classic and Fiio dac/amp driving lovely Bayerdynamic 250:) It is portable to me:) Looks like this
http://www.headfoneshop.com/eshop/image/cache/data/FiiO-E07K_iphone-800x800.jpg
Stratmangler
31-01-2013, 23:21
The Colorfly looks a right dog's breakfast.
Perhaps you should recommend an iPod/iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy to your friend :eyebrows:
Hi Chris,
Churz! What is the Galaxy? An MP3 player, phone, both or what? And does it sound better than the Colorfly? :)
Marco.
Mr Kipling
01-02-2013, 08:06
It's one of them new-fangled mp3 players, Marco. If you don't like the sound of it, you can eat it.
Lol... That may be an option!
What I'm trying to get to the bottom of is if there's anything uniquely desirable that justifies the cost of the Colorfly, or if my mate would get more 'bang for his buck' by buying some other music player.
Therefore, based on that, does the Galaxy qualify, and if not, what does? :)
Marco.
daytona600
01-02-2013, 08:22
the daddy of portables is the AK100 astell & kern from iriver , but 500quid
think more of a very good portable digital player not a super ipod
can get your " mate " one to try , waiting on my sample to arrive
http://www.iriverinc.com/product/productOverView.asp?pn=ak100
The Grand Wazoo
01-02-2013, 08:28
I wouldn't say that 'bang for buck' is a likely outcome of buying that Marco - a walnut body is hardly going to help out in that regard!
the daddy of portables is the AK100 astell & kern from iriver , but 500quid
think more of a very good portable digital player not a super ipod
can get your " mate " one to try , waiting on my sample to arrive
http://www.iriverinc.com/product/productOverView.asp?pn=ak100
How much is the AK100, Scott? Btw, he does exist, LOL, so no need for the inverted commas!! :eyebrows:
He's the electrician who installed the dedicated mains for my hi-fi system, whom I know well, and only lives down the road. He came to do another job, non-hi-fi related, and asked me if I knew anything about this Colorfly thing.
I told him no, but I knew some people who might! :)
Marco.
I wouldn't say that 'bang for buck' is a likely outcome of buying that Marco - a walnut body is hardly going to help out in that regard!
Yup, but he also appreciates quality and things that are a bit different from the norm, after falling in love with my Copper amp!
Marco.
The Grand Wazoo
01-02-2013, 08:37
Well, that's good - he can be safely reassured that it's different from the norm!
It's a terrible piece of industrial design I think. There are so many examples of good design in the portable music player market that it makes that thing seem like a thorn among a lot of roses.
daytona600
01-02-2013, 08:46
How much is the AK100, Scott? Btw, he does exist, LOL, so no need for the inverted commas!! :eyebrows:
He's the electrician who installed the dedicated mains for my hi-fi system, whom I know well, and only lives down the road. He came to do another job, non-hi-fi related, and asked me if I knew anything about this Colorfly thing.
I told him no, but I knew some people who might! :)
Marco.
£ 500 marco , list is £ 569 , only kidding about the commas Sir
can borrow mine , just typing this at a cafe having a cuppa with this months hifi world , guess what reviewed by noel kenwood with 5 stars
sorry commas again
" a portable high definition player with fabulous sound quality "
line output of the AK100 fed into icon MB845 monos into Quad Esl 2812
sq225917
01-02-2013, 08:47
Marco the A&K is £500 and the big difference between them and Colorfly is that they will still be around in a few years time for service and warranty as they are part of iriver.
However if you want the best portable sound quality, then you'll struggle to beat the discontinued Sony HD players, they were so far ahead of the competition it wasn't funny. Shame about the shit interface and software root kits.
Well, that's good - he can be safely reassured that it's different from the norm!
It's a terrible piece of industrial design I think. There are so many examples of good design in the portable music player market that it makes that thing seem like a thorn among a lot of roses.
Lol - I do agree (certainly not my thing) and suspect that Matt will too, once he appreciates what he's getting more and also what the competition has to offer! :)
Marco.
Marco the A&K is £500 and the big difference between them and Colorfly is that they will still be around in a few years time for service and warranty as they are part of iriver.
However if you want the best portable sound quality, then you'll struggle to beat the discontinued Sony HD players, they were so far ahead of the competition it wasn't funny. Shame about the shit interface and software root kits.
Cheers, Simon - and noted. I hear you about the Sony HD players, and if it were me, that's likely the way I'd go. However, I think Matt would like something that's current, and technically, is going to be supported for a few years.
The A&K is looking like the one. No doubt it sounds good, but it also looks much smarter than the Colorfly and overall I think would be a better bet. I'll let you know what Matt thinks when I show him the feedback here :)
Scott, thanks for the offer of a loan - I'll run that one by him. The only thing that might scupper things is that someone he knows is offering him a Colorfly for £300, so it'll depend if he nabs that to get a 'bargain', or sees the greater potential of the A&K.
Marco.
daytona600
01-02-2013, 09:11
never heard of the colourfly one , quick google seem to be chinese and around 300 quid
AK one getting lots of good comments from iriver in korea and does 24/192
hifi world used it as a pre into 845 monos/quads , must have a very good line stage as well
Marco, does your friend have a smartphone? Android or iPhone specifically...
I'd suggest he wait a little while, FiiO are set to release the E18 portable DAC and headphone amp for Android phones, which in conjunction with the latest handsets (Galaxy S3 for example) will utilise the USB for data streaming FLAC to the E18.
Or...
An iPhone/iPod with the FiiO E17, which already provides digital DAC/headphone amp capabilities.
I use my HTC Sensation as a mobile music player, with 64Gb of lossless FLAC cds on board (about 150)...I'm eagerly awaiting the E18 :cool:
I don't like carrying too many devices around...
The Samsung Galaxy is just one of hundreds of phones that can play music files. Presumably your mate has already investigated and discarded these.
The Sansa is a dedicated music player and sounds considerably better than my phone, it also generates quite considerable headphone volume for such a small beast.
As you can see, to go upmarket takes considerably more money. For the low price of investigation, I suggest he buys a Sansa Clip+ and tries it out. I doubt he'll be disappointed.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Sansa-Player-Expandable-MicroSD/dp/B002NX0ME6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359711829&sr=8-1
Stratmangler
01-02-2013, 11:41
Hi Chris,
Churz! What is the Galaxy? An MP3 player, phone, both or what? And does it sound better than the Colorfly? :)
Marco.
The Galaxy I referred to is a smartphone.
I haven't got a clue whether it sounds better than the Colorfly, 'cos I haven't heard one, and I'm unlikely to do so.
The Colorfly's user interface is a shambles - it has a face that even its mother would find difficult to love :eyebrows:
Martin's suggestion is a good one too.
A lot of the poor sound quality claims against many of the portable players out there are due to the poor standard of rip stored on the player.
My son's iPod Touch (Gen 5) sounds great, but all of the music on it was ripped properly to AAC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding) at high bit rates by me (well my computer did the bit shovelling, but I pressed the buttons to make it do it).
Similarly here, Chris. I use the LAME encoder with EAC and set it for high quality high bitrate encoding. The rips sound superb on headphones.
What language are you speaking Martin, me know understandee??? :scratch: ;)
Similarly here, Chris. I use the LAME encoder with EAC and set it for high quality high bitrate encoding. The rips sound superb on headphones.
...I just use FLAC, no need for fannying about :)
Mr Kipling
01-02-2013, 12:59
What about Fanny Wang headphones?
Thing Fish
01-02-2013, 13:34
Sorry not heard a Soundfly. I use an ipod with a Neco soundlab amp myself but everyone on headfi was banging on about this being the daddy of DAP players recently - http://www.ibasso.com/en/products/show.asp?ID=78
What language are you speaking Martin, me know understandee??? :scratch: ;)
EAC is Exact Audio Copy, the best audio file extractor for CDs, even damaged ones. LAME is a free mp3 encoder generally acknowledged to be the best sounding one. It can be called from inside EAC. So you have an all-in-one extractor and mp3 encoder for Windows. Set it for high quality and a suitable variable bitrate (e.g. 256k) and the sound quality is excellent for portable and car use.
reetgradely
01-02-2013, 22:04
Hi,
I have a Colorfly C4 as Stan mentioned and I did a lot of research before taking the plunge and buying one. From a purely audio point of view I haven't regretted it one bit. It sounds superb.
Even listening to WAV files recorded over t'internet from Radio 2 everything is crisp and sharp where it needs to be and the bottom end is tight without the wooliness that some players can suffer from.
I have a lot of recordings of the much missed Mark Lamarr's show God's Jukebox and he played everything from Reggae and 50's rock through to Punk, Samba and Motown with a live session band thrown in every week. It all sounds good on the Colorfly.
FLAC files (especially classical orchestra recordings) sing in all the right places. The beginning of my WAV copy of Wagner's Das Rheingold is without doubt the best I've ever heard it on a portable player. At first I did have to remind myself that I was indeed listening to a portable music player (I can't bring myself to call it an MP3 player as I hate MP3s and just can't listen to them).
I use it at home on my system (I won't name my components as it's frankly embarrassing looking at all the kit that you guys have, I do have one of Stan's superb Beresford DACs though) as well as out on the road and it drives just about any pair of headphones superbly well. Paranoid alert - before anybody discounts my thoughts because I haven't spent thousands on my system at home I should say that live audio is how I make my living and it has been for the past 25 years so I do know what I'm listening to and what sounds good and what sounds rubbish. There, said it, moving on....
I use a combination of headphones depending on my mood and environment. They are: Shure 535s with ear moulds, Bose Quietcomfort 15s and my trusty, industry standard, never go anywhere without them Sennheiser HD25 SP IIs.
There are 2 headphone outputs but I tend to use the 6.3mm output which is rated at 13.3mw and, as I said, will drive just about anything. Very loudly if that's your thing.
The micro SD card slot is a real bonus allowing you to swap entire musical libraries in one go. I do wish they had put some sort of small holders or pockets on the protective leather case to store more cards in on the move, but that's just me.
It allows you to 'upsample' your audio output with various options. The lowest output setting is 16 bit/44.1KHz and then it scrolls through 24/88.2, 24/96, 24/176.4 up to 24/192KHz. You can hear the difference as you scroll through each one. A little bit more detail here. A little less 'grunt' there. I use different settings depending on what I'm listening to.
There's also some preset EQ settings - Rock/Pop/Classic/Bass/Jazz - but frankly they aren't up to much. They just nip out a few frequencies by about 12db or so and then it sounds like something's missing. I just leave it on Normal.
The menu is astoundingly simple and retro to go with its looks and it's a very simple drag and drop affair to transfer music from your computer as it just appears as a hard drive.
There are downsides to this player and it may bother you if you are looking for true all day portability.
The main one is that the battery will only last about six hours which isn't great. I carry the charger with me in my bag but then I'm away from home a lot so I carry lots of chargers around anyway.
The other thing that I've encountered once or twice now is that there is no 'keylock' feature that stops it from coming to life in your bag when something else presses against the power button. This means I've taken it out of my bag at the start of a journey and found the battery has been completely drained so no music for me which is a tad annoying. I'm aware of it now though so I try to pack it where it can't happen so much.
And the main one - which is why Stan and I first got talking - is very weird.
I found that when I used the SPDIF output it would only work ON THE CENTRE PIN. When the mains charger was plugged in it wouldn't work at all. As soon as any part of the USB lead from the charger touched the casing then the audio would mute. Ah, thought I (and Stan), could be an earthing issue, but the really weird bit is that it shouldn't work at all if it's only centre pin of the SPDIF in contact. As soon as the outer ring touched the unit, it muted.
I have since updated the firmware and I think that may have been the issue and I had some success with the 16/44.1 setting but I literally had to rush out the door to go away on a job so I can only tell you more when I get home and test it again.
So, if you want to find something better sounding than this that is truly portable then good luck to you, but you won't do it.
If you want something that lasts all day then this isn't for you. I sometimes fall back to my iphone with a filo amp like Daniel75 has posted below. I have to use the EQu app with it though as iPhones aren't exactly cracking, even using the dock output.
I notice that you in Wrexham. If you really want to hear one so you can tell your friend what it's like then I am in Manchester this weekend. Bring your favourite headphones. Stan has my email.
What about Fanny Wang headphones?
...what a bizarre brand name, particularly for the UK
Woks or cookware perhaps...but headphones!!!?
Some marketing company probably made a small fortune coming up with that one :doh:
Even if they were any good you'd be embarrassed to own a pair...
Stratmangler
02-02-2013, 12:30
...what a bizarre brand name, particularly for the UK
Woks or cookware perhaps...but headphones!!!?
Some marketing company probably made a small fortune coming up with that one :doh:
Even if they were any good you'd be embarrassed to own a pair...
It's all a matter of perception.
In China, Wang is a common name.
Now this restaurant name makes me smile every time ...:eyebrows:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3387/3572113729_1f880269aa.jpg
It's all a matter of perception.
In China, Wang is a common name.
Now this restaurant name makes me smile every time ...:eyebrows:
Indeed Chris, but given it's a Californian company, and a completely made up name...:doh:
By the way this is where I lived in Hong Kong in the mid 90's...
Appt 23 Fook Kee Court :eyebrows:
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=fook+kee+court+hong+kong&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x3404007a6760fc49:0x7282e377c3de1f5a,Fook+K ee+Court,+6+Mosque+St,+Hong+Kong&gl=uk&ei=8ggNUcSTI6uR0QWDmIDYBA&ved=0CHIQtgM
Fook is a common name too Chris, I took this in Hong Kong which made me smile.
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w63/greatgig/fook_zps3c281d47.jpg
Sorry Marco, slight thread drift :o
I also have a Sansa Clip+ like Martin and they are excellent value and the SQ is superb - I use it every day on my walk to work. I really like that they can play FLAC so I just drag music from my library to the device, very simple to use and no software needed. Its not really necessary to play FLAC as 320 mp3 is ample, but it saves me having to convert anything. It has a sound EQ setting too which is handy and paired with some Soundmagic IEM's (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=soundmagic+headphones&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=13684332468&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=984542936451864504&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_3b11s4iq7_b) you have a very small, affordable and portable system which has the flexibility of adding your own MicroSD cards for a large music library.
I have nothing to add about the unit you linked too as its new to me, but it looks awful if I'm being honest. Cowon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/280-8141198-0268864?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=cowon&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acowon) make extremely good portable players which are highly regarded, but they are not as cheap as the Sansa.
Rare Bird
02-02-2013, 12:53
Hi have a sansa Clip for FLAC's on the go..
i think 'FOOK' means Blessing..
Stratmangler
02-02-2013, 12:56
Indeed Chris, but given it's a Californian company, and a completely made up name...:doh:
By the way this is where I lived in Hong Kong in the mid 90's...
Appt 23 Fook Kee Court :eyebrows:
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=fook+kee+court+hong+kong&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x3404007a6760fc49:0x7282e377c3de1f5a,Fook+K ee+Court,+6+Mosque+St,+Hong+Kong&gl=uk&ei=8ggNUcSTI6uR0QWDmIDYBA&ved=0CHIQtgM
On my first working visit to London I nearly wet myself laughing when I saw "Ho Lee Fook" above a Chinese restaurant.
That restaurant was on The King's Road - it did exist :)
Fook Kee Court - you couldn't make it up, could you? :eyebrows:
daytona600
02-02-2013, 13:01
best name in audio
best name in audio
I have a mate who vowed he'd call his first born son 'Gaylord Elvis', thankfully he only had 2 daughters...India, and Iolanthe (after reginald iolanthe perrin) :doh:
Ooops thread creep...
Only just seen this thread.
I also have had one of these for a couple of years.
It probably says a lot about me but I just -love- the steam-punk styling.
It is a bit of a PITA to use, for me, since my music library is in AIFF which have to be converted to WAV to go on the C4.
The sound quality is fantastic, and the headphone amplifier seems superb too.
My opinion is rather along the same lines as Matt - perhaps the only other person to have posted on the thread to have heard one???
I haven't heard any of the other "higher end" players, but this certainly is in another class from any of the phone/ipod/MP3 player devices I -have- heard including when trying an added headphone amp to them.
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