E445 (E340?) vs A729 - both bargains

[snapkracklepop]

After many years with my trusty iriver iFP-799 (!), I’m ready for an upgrade. Overall, the player has served me well and even holds up well in sound tests against my friends Ipod touch 2G. Anyway, it’s time for an upgrade and get with the times - the space, interface and size are just too ‘retro’.

Following some hours of research I’ve narrowed it down to these two players E445 (E340) vs A729. Will there be any difference between the players? I’m not interested in video etc just quality audio in a small package with good battery and UI. From checking out reviews on ABI and various other websites it would suggest the quality is similar if not the same (same DAP). Is this correct? Also, in general how much improvement could I expect over my iriver? Right now I’m using some Denon 351s but will upgrade to a set of Shures later. Additionally, with the A729 I’d undoubtedly do the hidden service tweaks as suggested by The Dark Side. I haven’t read about the same with the E445/340.

Now the main raison-d’etre that settled my decision was the offering at rather low pricing. Originally I was considering the Sansa Fuze (actually my first desire was Cowan i7 but quickly realized the low value/price ratio.) until I came to some irresistible deals for the E445 and the A729 for both £70.

E445 - http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/...jkhn4lu5ge2070 (Ironically this might be a mispricing as the 8GB is more expensive!)
A729 - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SONY-NWZ-A729-...eb68579b#payId

Now something that van potential shift the balance: for the E445 I might be able to get a further £15 with a Sony cashback scheme (http://www.sony.co.uk/article/id/1237476979966) meaning it could be 16GB for a low £55 which together with a further 4% discount on the £70 (via quidco.com) leaving it at a quite incredible value of £52.20! (at least for the UK!)

So which of those would you recommend? Does the A729 have any real additional value as I’m only interested in audio given the UI should be the same, the battery life is similar as are most others? Does it still have the better headphones, EX82/85?

[CrowdAds]

[kiyu727]

If you want audio, then take the A729 since its said that the Amplifier of the E is worse than the A, just my 2 cents >>

since when does the E-series have Features alarm function and timer >>

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by kiyu727

since when does the E-series have Features alarm function and timer >>

Perhaps a little reading is in order.
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2009/10/sony-e340-review.php

[Dreamnine]

Get the A729 over the E any day.

[snapkracklepop]

Originally Posted by Dreamnine

Get the A729 over the E any day.

Could you specify more why? In the review they mentioned that audio was more than decent - and should be the same as the A729(?). I'm assuming this as the S540 should be the same as the A729.(?)

Originally Posted by e340 ABI Review

With the E340 and the S540, the A/B test confirmed what I already expected: the two sound the same. Exactly the same. More so, the "SP optimizer" that the E340 is missing didn't seem to make any difference to the sound quality at all, certainly not enough for anyone to care. Bottom line, the E340 is as well sounding a player as its bigger brother.

The specs for the E445 I believe are marginally different but rather the same. Here they are:
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/...=specification

Alarm clock or timer or even radio are relatively unimportant for me. Features I would really like but neither have is mic recording and line-in recording ...but we're talking about Sony and not iRiver & Cowon. If I need those features I figure I can reach for my ifp799 although less convenient.