When it comes to performance, none of the other three PMPs can really hold a candle to Apple’s tiny Shuffle or Creative’s Zen Stone Plus. This does prove our theory that a bigger, costlier player with a display unit does not necessarily equal unbeatable sonic performance.

Both these PMPs leave the others far behind in terms of overall music quality and the difference is so noticeable that one did not need the much acclaimed "golden ears" to spot the differences. Both these players do well with the highs, but we noticed a bit of extra treble that could be termed as both brightness when the music was playing and sibilance with some female vocals, particularly on the higher notes. The mid-range is sweet – clear, precise and with barely a hint of being recessed.

The bass is punchy and extends pretty low. Overall, the mid-range is where most of the action takes place and both these PMPs should be considered for classical and country music buffs where the midrange and lower highs are really well rendered. While channel separation is good on both these PMPs, it’s the Creative Zen Stone that gets the nod over the Shuffle for panning sounds. Therefore this MP3 Player has a much more accurate and wider sound stage.

However, for the sheer enjoyment or reproduction of most types of music, the iPod Shuffle is better than the Creative Zen Stone Plus. Although it does not handle complex passages well and things get a little muddled at the top, the Philips GoGear SA2825 also did reasonably well. The bass is not as punchy as the leaders of the pack, neither is the mid-range well presented. Both the Mitashi players were not really bad. In particular, the MW

I-4GA sounds good on its bundled earphones. The only disappointment was the absence of a 3.5-mm jack. The only issues we found on both these PMPs in terms of audio quality was that the bass, while boomy, was not focussed and rather slightly flabby. The mid-range was also recessed while the treble has a little extra sparkle that comes from an unfocussed top-end.

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