So, and this is probably a doomed question, where are the people who are into MP3 players hang out and discuss minutae? Because it seems like they would be the ones to ask about finding something to fit each person's specific requirements (headphone jacks? Battery life? UX? Avoidance of Android under the hood? Decent DACs? File formats? Playlist types supported? Gapless playback?) amidst the absolute sea of jankety choices out there.

My prediction is that -- if there isn't such a forum, one will start soon. It's too big of a niche and I'm told that Apple filled it reasonably well.