I’ve been craving a truly retro-style MP3 player lately.

[jsjcjsjc]

Something inspired by the design language of the iPod Classic and Teenage Engineering would be amazing. I even mocked up some concepts with AI for the look.

In terms of size, I’d love it to be similar to the iPod Classic — that form factor just feels perfect in hand. Maybe a bit taller is fine, but please keep it slim. A lot of modern DAPs are just way too thick.

The footprint of something like the iPod Classic or even the Chord Mojo feels about right. If size constraints become an issue, I wouldn’t even mind if it could stack nicely with something like a Mojo.

As for sound, it doesn’t have to be groundbreaking — honestly, for that kind of design alone, I’d gladly pay an extra $100.

Do you guys think this is something that could work as a crowdfunding project? Any chance a major brand would be willing to take this on?

 

[Joe Smith]

Nice design! I just bought a 32gb iPod Touch 5th gen for $50 with a new battery. I do think a clean and simple player design would sell…

 

[kemmler3D]

Cool mockup, I started looking on Aliexpress to see if any good options already exist.

Not exactly, but there are some 'retro' or at least different looking designs. And you can't get an iPod, but apparently you can get an "iPod".

If you are serious about a crowdfunding campaign, look before you leap. Do very serious homework on costs before setting up the campaign.

Speaking from experience, you would think the hard part of a crowdfunding campaign like this would be getting the device built. Realistically, if you partner with the right factory, they handle the hard stuff. A design and a well thought-through spec can be enough. The hard part is marketing / advertising the campaign at a low enough cost per acquisition that you can actually make money and still afford to pay up front for the first production run. At the peak of my ad management skills I was still barely in the black on the last campaign I ran.

If you can, you should spend a very long time collecting emails of likely backers in a passive low/no cost way via organic channels. Going viral on socials is a way to do this, albeit more like lottery than sound investing. Still, If you can email a million people on day 1, you won't need to run too many ads.

 

[Joe Smith]

Fosi should make a DAP...that would not be a bad addition to their lineup. Would be nice to lave a line out in addition to headphone out.

 

[SigbergAudio]

I'm sure there are use cases that I don't have, but I'm curious why you would need a device that is not your phone.

 

[Dialectic]

I'm sure there are use cases that I don't have, but I'm curious why you would need a device that is not your phone.

I don't want to use my phone to listen to music. When I listen to my phone, it is usually to podcasts during physical exercise or chores.

That said, I am not interested in the device above, and I very much doubt that a mainstream manufacturer would make it.

The design also looks derivative of the iPhone 4, and the display resembles that on the Punkt phone - a little too obvious for my taste. A more creative design would perhaps look to other influences.

 

[SigbergAudio]

I don't want to use my phone to listen to music. When I listen to my phone, it is usually to podcasts during physical exercise or chores.

Hm, okay.

 

[DAP chap]

I'm sure there are use cases that I don't have, but I'm curious why you would need a device that is not your phone.

It's like asking why I need a vehicle that is not my pickup.

 

[Redacted]

How many devices do people want to carry around?
I have budget phone and it plays MP3's and FLACs fine from a 256GB card... So in my case, one device is enough.

If anyone in the UK is interested, I have an old iPod 64 I'd be happy to sell, model number MC547BT/A with the stainless steel back. Leather case & original Apple USB lead (with the daft connector that looks like a small lego brick). If there is interest, I'll put it in the For Sale section.

 

[SigbergAudio]

It's like asking why I need a vehicle that is not my pickup.

Not really.

 

[Joe Smith]

I do like having an MP# player (in my case, an iPod anTouch 5th gen with a new battery) in my car, I have it loaded with jazz and classical genres from my old ripped AAC files from the iTunes era, and I can build playlists for the 28gb or so that's on there. Just leave it wired in to the USB jack, which sees it as an iPod. For walking around or working out, I use my iPhone 16 with Tozo wireless earbuds now.

 

[Redacted]

On my super-budget car, I load a £26 512GB SD card (in a fact micro-SD in an SD adapter) with some of my music and ~126 playlists and leave it in the slot on the radio until I want to update it with new stuff. . It's far more music than I can play in a year of driving. The thing will never get stolen (it's barely visible) and won't break easily, and if I lose it, it's no drama - I keep the file structure elsewhere so I can fill up a blank card easily (but not quickly!).

There's also a USB port, but that's too bulky to my eye!

 

[somebodyelse]

ROCKbox might be of interest for breathing new life into some older hardware that's now struggling with software support. It's a firmware replacement with non-proprietary connection.

 

[DAP chap]

How many devices do people want to carry around?
I have budget phone and it plays MP3's and FLACs fine from a 256GB card... So in my case, one device is enough.

If anyone in the UK is interested, I have an old iPod 64 I'd be happy to sell, model number MC547BT/A with the stainless steel back. Leather case & original Apple USB lead (with the daft connector that looks like a small lego brick). If there is interest, I'll put it in the For Sale section.

Well, we all have different tastes and preferences, but I agree in spirit with you, and mostly behave accordingly: Except when I travel, I never "carry around" more than one device. Otherwise, I leave home exclusively with my 512GB phone loaded with my ~250GB digital music collection, and I listen pretty much only through bluetooth in my car sound system to which it connects automatically on ignition. If I need navigation (in my loved old car), I launch my nav app along with a music app. At home, my phone is sitting on my desktop or elsewhere, ready for any of many phone tasks, and I "carry" only one of my DAPs when I wish to listen to music. (Note, while my phone is necessarily loaded with many apps to carry out all its tasks, my DAPs are loaded ONLY with music files and music-playing apps, regardless of their capacities/features.)

When I travel, I do have to "carry around" both a phone to be ready to carry out many phone tasks, and one of my two most portable DAPs to listen to the same music collection. (Device one is for when I only want to listen to my own music; the other also has streaming capacity for when I want that as well.) If it's a car trip only, I typically again only "carry around" my phone.

Finally, because I opt to use DAPs for most portable music listening, I also have never even thought to "carry around", or dangle a dongle and necessary cables from my phone to enjoy my nice music.

 

[HalSF]

It’s not perfect, but the FiiO M21 has successfully satisfied my yen for an iPod-vibes non-phone dedicated music player with excellent sound and various retro touches (like the simulated-Walkman cassette screen).

 

[mrehorst]

I think my last mp3 player was a Sandisk E280 unit with a liquid metal housing. I had loaded an aftermarket OS so it would play flac files. It was great. I can't remember what happened to it. The liquid metal was really nice. Apple bought the patent on liquid metal and then buried it.

 

[somebodyelse]

If you feel like building one there are a few open projects to do something iPod-like:
https://cooltech.zone/tangara/
https://hackaday.io/project/192376-music32-v2-portable-music-player#menu-details
https://www.instructables.com/JPLmp3-ESP32-Based-Modern-Digital-Music-Player/

 

[JeffS7444]

It’s not perfect, but the FiiO M21 has successfully satisfied my yen for an iPod-vibes non-phone dedicated music player with excellent sound and various retro touches (like the simulated-Walkman cassette screen).

Have you tried the PEQ functionality at all? That seems like it could be a good excuse for an upgrade.

 

[HalSF]

Have you tried the PEQ functionality at all? That seems like it could be a good excuse for an upgrade.

Oh yeah, I’ve got EQ presets for all of the headphones and IEMs I use set up with the M21’s Equalizer app. Also has both standard and balanced outs

 

[RexrothPigeon]

I don't want to use my phone to listen to music.

Any reason or just a personal idiosyncrasy?