Today when I had a break in mathematical analysis, a student asked me if I had gotten the PMP I was waiting for, and then he asked to try it out. Now this guy is a music nerd, he has no hobbies, hates playing games (any kind, they are a waste of time according to him). When he's asked about his hobby he says "listening to music". So the guy is really into that. He borrows my headphones, puts on "Miles Davis - Flamenco Sketches" in FLAC of course (the PMP is a Cowon J3).
And after a couple of minutes he's about to explode, he says he hasn't heard anything that even compares to the audio quality of this setup. He says that he can't believe that anything could sound this good.
Also, I have some mp3 on my PMP (for rare stuff I haven't been able to find in FLAC, even got hold of CDs of it but they were scratched which ruined the RIP) and the difference is very very audible.