New PMP and DAC question

[Haaspac]

I am moving to Germany in a month or two and I am looking to replace my 5+ year old ipod(finally). I am leaning towards a Cowon or a Zune. All it needs to do is have lots of space, long battery life, and great audio quality to match well with my beyerdynamic dt800 32ohm headphones. All three of those requirements point toward the Cowon X7 but its out of stock at amazon currently

Also would a NuForce Icon uDAC-2 be a good item to get to hook up with my laptop and headphones, or dont bother and just plug my headphones directly into my laptop.

 

[MinusTheBear]

I am moving to Germany in a month or two and I am looking to replace my 5+ year old ipod(finally). I am leaning towards a Cowon or a Zune. All it needs to do is have lots of space, long battery life, and great audio quality to match well with my beyerdynamic dt800 32ohm headphones. All three of those requirements point toward the Cowon X7 but its out of stock at amazon currently

Also would a NuForce Icon uDAC-2 be a good item to get to hook up with my laptop and headphones, or dont bother and just plug my headphones directly into my laptop.

I would personally wait and lean towards to the Cowon. They have the best batteries by far when it comes to PMP's. The X7 is a beast in that regards. The video quality on Cowons are superb as well. Excellent headphone out section and audio customization (equalizer) is superior.

Is Wi-Fi important? The Cowon J3 should also meet your needs if you would use the expandable memory. The J3 is a nice unit and cheaper.

 

[Haaspac]

I will snatch that X7 if it is in stock before I leave, but if it isnt then I need a back-up plan. Wifi isnt that important, never had it before. Space, battery life, and audio quality are all im looking for. Cowon has so many nice players that its tough to narrow one down.

 

[MinusTheBear]

I will snatch that X7 if it is in stock before I leave, but if it isnt then I need a back-up plan. Wifi isnt that important, never had it before. Space, battery life, and audio quality are all im looking for. Cowon has so many nice players that its tough to narrow one down.

Definitely go for the Cowon if those are your main needs. They are awesome PMP's.

 

[Haaspac]

Bump for the question about the laptop DAC

 

[MinusTheBear]

Also would a NuForce Icon uDAC-2 be a good item to get to hook up with my laptop and headphones, or dont bother and just plug my headphones directly into my laptop.

I have had good results with just plugging similar low impedance headphones such as the Audio Technica AD700, Alessandro MS1 and Shure SRH440 straight into headphone section on the laptop/computer. I sometimes also run a y splitter from the headphone jack so I can use 2 headphones at once.

How do you think those 32 ohm Beyers sound plugged directly to the laptop? Can you achieve good volumes?