Are MP3 players even a thing these days?

[jalefkowit@vmst.io]

@dangoodin They are, but they're more of a niche thing these days. The term to search for is "digital audio player" or "DAP".

The best DAPs for 2026, tested and reviewed by experts

Our team of experts reviewed the best DAPs from top brands. Find out which digital audio players made the cut to play deep cuts today!

Popular Science (www.popsci.com)

[wdenton@cosocial.ca]

@dangoodin I got a FiiO JM21 recently, when my Sansa/SanDisk players all finally died. It cost a lot more but does a lot more and sounds a lot better.

[jalefkowit@vmst.io]

@dangoodin If you're looking for specific brands, others have already mentioned FiiO, so I will mention South Korea's Astell&Kern, which was spun out from iRiver (a name you may remember from the golden age of MP3 players).

https://www.astellnkern.com/

[aleteoryx@labyrinth.zone]

@dangoodin

there's a shitton of used MP3 players on the ebay of various makes that can run rockbox. rockbox kicks ass

[meejah@mastodon.social]

@dangoodin https://www.crowdsupply.com/cool-tech-zone/tangara is cool but not sure if it'll "be for sale" after the campaign is fulfilled (many things on crowd supply do go that route)

[maitre@mastodon.online]

@dangoodin I just went through pains to copy some MP3s onto my old Essential PH1 phone (on which I recently replaced the battery), 128GB should be enough for everyone right? Now, if only this phone had a headphone jack…

[almonds@mastodon.mit.edu]

@zak Did the firmware update do something special? I like my Snowsky Echo Mini a lot, except it can't do scanning, and I wonder, if a firmware update would fix that, it'd be perfect

[brinazarski@app.wafrn.net]

@dangoodin@infosec.exchange

the ipod community is still alive and thriving

r/ipod old reddit link | redlib link

dankpods covers ipods and mp3 players as well

dankpods youtube | unofficial archive.org dankpods archive

[bloodripelives@federatedfandom.net]

@dangoodin probably depends what you want it for but I want something 🤏 teeny so I love my sandisk clip jam. I have the wired one but they also have bluetooth

[foobarry@mastodon.social]

@dangoodin there's a few like this that i've been tempted by https://www.amazon.co.uk/MECHEN-Lossless-Resolution-Portable-Player%EF%BC%8CSupport-Gray/dp/B0B4NCSPNX

[zak@infosec.exchange]

@almonds It did add a bunch of stuff (like new Artist > Album sorting views) as well as massively improve the stability of the device, which was a major complaint when it came out. There have been a ton of updates for it in the last few weeks, so I just went from an old version to the latest one and got all of it. They've been great about releasing updates.

[reiddragon@fedi.catto.garden]

@dangoodin Everything I'm aware of is basically just an Android phone without a SIM card

[baloouriza@social.tulsa.ok.us]

@jalefkowit

[baloouriza@social.tulsa.ok.us]

@jalefkowit Serious question: Are these just Android phones without the phone?

@dangoodin

[jalefkowit@vmst.io]

@BalooUriza @dangoodin It's not uncommon for companies to use Android as the OS for non-phone devices. Lots of handheld game players run Android, for instance. It's just a convenient OS optimized for mobile devices that you can pick up and use without a lot of licensing hassle