15 Best Hi Res Audio & HD Music Player's for Audiophile's (Updated),Features to look for when you shop
WebAug 27, · BEST OVERALL: FiiO M9. FiiO is one of the biggest names in the the high resolution digital audio player space, and its M9 offers all the right features. The one WebMar 4, · Firstly, the conversion of digital music files to an analog signal. This is possible when the device has a built-in digital-to-analog converter called DAC. When AdGet deals on audiophile music player in Electronics on Amazon. Browse & Discover Thousands of products. Read Customer Reviews and Find Best blogger.com has been visited by K+ users in the past month ... read more
The sound is crystal clear when playing even the strongest bass or instrumental tracks. Handling of vocals often highlights that kind of dynamic aptitude, so the personality present in the Powernode 2i is huge to its credit. Another versatile device is definitely the Naim Uniti Star. The developers managed to find the ideal formula for combining external beauty and variability. A distinctive feature of this appliance is the presence of a CD player. Many will not pay attention to this, but true connoisseurs and collectors of CDs will simply be delighted with this feature. The number of streaming options is imposing. This high-end audio streamer includes aptX HD Bluetooth, AirPlay, and UPnP, aka network streaming, as well as embedded support for Spotify, Tidal, and Chromecast. When it comes to a good Audiophile Music Server, you can often hear a lot of references to the best network music player —Bluesound Vault 2i. The presence of built-in 2 TB of hard disk memory makes this device an integral part of many audio systems for tens of thousands of users.
What I love incredibly about this digital music server is the fact that this is a music server that really only works as part of the BluOS ecosystem of products. It can rip CDs direct to its internal storage via the CD player. Unfortunately, there is also a drawback: libraries of content cannot be seen by any other UPnP or DLNA device. The only thing that does not support the device is Google Chromecast, which is a bit disappointing. The interaction of tape drive, network storage and system management tools can be organized in many ways. For example, the use of access at the level of directories and files, or before the use of non-standard proprietary solutions based only on transport network protocols. Please note that DLNA is the most common interoperability standard. To implement this concept, it is necessary to ensure the interconnected operation of three functional modules: DMS, DMR Digital Media Audio Renderer , and DMC Digital Media Controller.
DMS stores and sorts multimedia files, as well as broadcasts a digital audio stream to other modules of the system. In turn, the DMR receives the digital stream from the DMS and converts it into a standard form for transmission to the DAC. The latter, that is, the DMC controls the operation of the system. The streamer itself takes over the DMR functions. Any DLNA software server installed on a computer or NAS in the home network can be used as a DMS. To turn your smartphone or tablet into a DMC, you need to install one of the special applications on it and integrate it into your home network via Wi-Fi. In fact, your best streamer is a specialized computer that reads content from network storage and broadcasts it to an external DAC. The component is usually equipped with functional blocks typical for a computer — a central processor, RAM, and read-only memory, controllers for network operation, and a USB interface.
Аlthough some streaming modules may be used by different brands, keep in mind that the way they are implemented and the quality of the surrounding power supplies and built-in audio circuits are very important to the final sound quality. When choosing an amplifier, you should always rely on the level of the rest of the audio system components. Also, when choosing, it is not recommended to choose expensive devices for entry-level systems. Despite the presence of a standard remote control, the availability of applications for remote control of the device is a real treasure! We can single out the BluOS control system — for the devices of this manufacturer, a mobile application from Naim and HEOS, which incredibly simplify the operation of the devices and, in general, help the user through a clear and simple interface.
The first thing you need to enjoy your music streamer is a stable home internet network. From a weak or no such network, you will not be able to use any streaming services or control your device using a software application. The next question is about choosing a direct-wired connection or wireless one. Avoiding wires is attractive because it makes things easier and easier to work with, and assuming your network is stable, it should work well for a lot of people. However, it is often recommended to use a wired network due to the fact that it is much more stable and will not interrupt during long sessions. Also, Bluetooth is present almost on all types of modern devices. Moreover, you are really lucky if this is the latest version of aptX HD. Also, remember that many streamers have digital inputs, so along with playing USB music files, you can usually also feed optical and coaxial digital channels.
When using a music streamer, you are likely to come across several types of files. There are two main things you need to know about a music streamer. First of all, consider the largest bit depth and sampling rate that it can accept. The sampling rate is the number of times the computer took a digital snapshot of a specific second of a music file. Thus, the more pictures it takes, the more detailed the sound will be. You can find this value in hertz Hz , sometimes with the abbreviation of kilohertz kHz. Bit depth means how much information is contained in each snapshot.
Repeating the sample rate situation, again, the higher the number, the better. Actually, there are many different types of audio files, but the most common are FLAC and MQA files. These files are used by the streaming service Tidal, which easily ranks among the most popular and widespread high definition streaming services. The main value of FLAC files is that they are compressed like MP3s, but they lose very little data. This means they are both fast-streaming and detailed enough. MQA Master Quality Authenticated is a FLAC file when cracked. It creates very high-quality files that are very thin for continuous streaming. When working with a music streamer, you will most often come across these two types of files. Roon works quite simply. This is a specific term for a music streamer that turns out to be compatible with Roon.
I think as users, it will be important to know that a PC or Mac can also be used as a Roon Core. Roon, instead of just displaying track information, turns what you listen to into a fun, well-designed digital magazine with a lot of artist information. In fact, it is an exceptional way to listen to music, which is very rewarding. Unfortunately, there is another side of the coin, and that is the price. You will be forced to pay quite a lot for a lifetime membership. It turns out that only very dedicated listeners who are confident in their investment will use such a program. If you click a link on this page and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Frederick is the senior home entertainment expert and focused on reviews. The truth is I could happily listen to any of these players listed below all day, every day.
As I mentioned above the Ibasso DX is my high res music player of choice as I think it strikes a nice balance of features and price. Oh and not to mention it sounds ridiculously good. Whatever IEM or Headphone I throw at it the DX never seems to lack power and that is very important to me as someone who reviews a wide variety of hi-res headphones. I also love the big screen and smoothness of the Android operating system. I feel like I have never had it crash or lag on me even when sifting through a micro-sd card filled with GB of music.
It works and works well. Finally, the connectivity is on point with high-resolution wireless formats at hand as well as wired ports for balanced connectors and standard 3. The interface is simple in that everything you need for switching settings on the sly is available through dedicated hardware buttons. Build quality is exceptional and despite the high price, I would recommend the PAW gold to anyone who wants to do critical listening on the go. The Kann is my favorite and one that I have personally owned because it is extremely feature-rich. The Kann is offering users dual Sabre DAC's, balanced headphone out ports, and great file support with native DSD, APTX, and MQA. I put the Futura SE below the Kann on this list for one reason. It's really bloody expensive. That's not to say it's overpriced but for many users, it can certainly be considered overkill when we are talking about driving headphones and IEM's to their full potential.
The magic going on here is that you are kind of treated to two high-resolution music players in one device. The SE is a multi DAC DAP. That means there are two DACs on the inside that can be switched to work independently. You can either choose between dual Sabre DACs or an AKM chip and each of those has its own independent amp section. It sounds incredible, easily one of the best in the world right now and it looks gorgeous as well. If you were thinking the above DAPs are expensive then stop right there. This music player is the most expensive on the list by a long way.
Is it worth it? Well, I guess at a point all thought goes out the window when you are looking for completely uncompromised performance. Having spent over a month testing one I can say for a fact it is the best sounding portable music player I have ever used and it puts many of my desktop units to shame. That sound is driven by a pair of dual AKM AKEQ chips and the whole unit runs off an eight-core CPU making it fast and responsive. I want to be clear, I don't think this is something anyone needs but there is no denying how good it is and if you can afford this without having to stretch for it then get it. It's one hell of an experience when paired up with a really good set of headphones like the Focal Utopia or Sony MDR-1ZR. The Fiio M6 gives us a look at the first mid-priced music player on our list.
Despite being much cheaper than the above models it represents fantastic value to budget audiophiles looking to compliment a good set of hi-res earphones or headphones. In terms of specs, it's a little dated with a single ESS DAC unit and only Bluetooth 4. However, it supports High-resolution music streaming through Deezer and Tidal and can be hooked up to your computer to work as an external DAC. The sound is clean and crisp with very little coloration I would say it sounds neutral. Power-wise it does well and in my tests only extreme planar headphones suffered from power draw. Some other plus points of the M6 are the large almost bezelless screen, USB-C charging, and 14 hours of battery life during the review.
Links: Official Fiio M6 Webpage. Another budget music player on this list this time from Hidizs. This is the ultra-light, ultra-portable DAP you have been looking for. It has a bug 2. The Operating system is rock solid even when we had a 1TB micro sd card installed with GB of music. Bluetooth is another draw and it includes support for the LDAC standard but ultimately we just like the sound on this little player. It works great at driving headphones up to ohms and does equally well with all but the most sensitive of IEM's. The only thing it lacked was a balanced output. The Surfans F20 has gained a bit of a cult following. It's a high res DAP with a focus on those who keep their music library on an SD card rather than using lossless streaming apps. It's an old-school audiophile DAP that offers a lot of value for money. All major lossless file formats are included and there is also Bluetooth output should you wish to use it. Sound quality and the low price more than makeup for the lack of touchscreen and apps.
It's a spacious sounding DAP with lots of power and a dark black background. Finally, the last thing I love about the Surfans F20 is the tank-like build quality and tactile clicky buttons, and scroll wheel. It really gave me that throwback to a simpler time where I wasn't tapping on screens and could just use my DAP for what it was meant for. Listening to music. For a long time, Fiio has been in control of the cheap DAP market but in recent years they expanded their line and are considered one of the best music player and amp manufacturers on the planet. The M11 plus is the companies latest mid-priced offering and it's probably their best in terms of price to performance.
The M11 Plus supports a range of high-resolution audio formats such as DSD: DSF: DFF PCM: APE: Flac: WAV: AIFF: ALAC: WMA: PCM: MP3: OGG: ACC. This music player packs a heavy punch for both its size and price and competes with many of AK's entry-level models on sound. The interface is less refined but it's still a hell of a bargain. Just look at this spec list. Stunning doesn't even begin to describe the chassis of the NW-WM1Z. The entire body is milled out of copper and then gold plated making it a premium feeling mp3 player as well as a handsome one. When Sony goes big on any product they really go all out and you do feel that even at the ridiculous price point they aren't cutting corners. The internal cabling is an all-new design with a Kimber design braid. The special FT capacitors made for the player give tonnes of power. Even the amplifier is bespoke with their own S-Master - HX delivering rich detailed sound into the balanced headphone jack. A big beautiful touchscreen adorns the front of the player making it easy to operate and we loved the clean and tactile feedback derived from the physical playback buttons on the side.
To top it off it's another high-resolution DAP with large internal memory GB and a micro SD card slot to expand it by a further 1TB to hold all your high res music files. Link: Sony NW-WM1Z Music Player Webpage. Dethonray blew me away with their Honey H1 which we declare the best portable headphone DAC in or tests. They make end-game products that deliver outstanding sound quality and have loads of power to drive audiophile headphones. The first thing you will notice is there is no large touchscreen on the DAP. It has its own Linux operating system that relies on physical input buttons. With that of course there is no app support.
The screen is also terrible, low resolution, and not that bright. However, the sound is ridiculous and there are a lot of techs that go into it to make it so. For example, there are separate power sources for amp and decoding.
Following the rise in popularity of the hi-res audio player DAP in the past few years, audiophiles have a lot of options and it's getting kind of hard to keep up with all the new devices hitting the market. Lots of you want to know who has the best HD Music Player. Many of these Audiophile players have caught our eye and the range of features you can now get in a portable package is mind-boggling. Plus if you are going to be using some of the best headphones in the world then you don't want to bottleneck the sound with a bad DAP. With ever more competitive pricing, this makes choosing the right one pretty darn complicated. We wanted to make things a little bit simpler so we created this top 10 list of the best hi-res players we could find.
Everything we have listed here has been tested by us and if there is not already a full review up there will be one live on the site soon. Update: Lots of people have been asking, so I will tell you, that this is the DAP I am currently using on a Day to day basis Updated March , I am not saying it is the perfect model for everyone but it is for me right now. It sounds incredible. I have a lot of other units that I also use for testing but that is the one that has seen the most playtime over the past few months.
Of course, it goes without saying that what is right for me might not fit your needs. The truth is I could happily listen to any of these players listed below all day, every day. As I mentioned above the Ibasso DX is my high res music player of choice as I think it strikes a nice balance of features and price. Oh and not to mention it sounds ridiculously good. Whatever IEM or Headphone I throw at it the DX never seems to lack power and that is very important to me as someone who reviews a wide variety of hi-res headphones. I also love the big screen and smoothness of the Android operating system. I feel like I have never had it crash or lag on me even when sifting through a micro-sd card filled with GB of music. It works and works well. Finally, the connectivity is on point with high-resolution wireless formats at hand as well as wired ports for balanced connectors and standard 3. The interface is simple in that everything you need for switching settings on the sly is available through dedicated hardware buttons.
Build quality is exceptional and despite the high price, I would recommend the PAW gold to anyone who wants to do critical listening on the go. The Kann is my favorite and one that I have personally owned because it is extremely feature-rich. The Kann is offering users dual Sabre DAC's, balanced headphone out ports, and great file support with native DSD, APTX, and MQA. I put the Futura SE below the Kann on this list for one reason. It's really bloody expensive. That's not to say it's overpriced but for many users, it can certainly be considered overkill when we are talking about driving headphones and IEM's to their full potential.
The magic going on here is that you are kind of treated to two high-resolution music players in one device. The SE is a multi DAC DAP. That means there are two DACs on the inside that can be switched to work independently. You can either choose between dual Sabre DACs or an AKM chip and each of those has its own independent amp section. It sounds incredible, easily one of the best in the world right now and it looks gorgeous as well. If you were thinking the above DAPs are expensive then stop right there. This music player is the most expensive on the list by a long way. Is it worth it? Well, I guess at a point all thought goes out the window when you are looking for completely uncompromised performance. Having spent over a month testing one I can say for a fact it is the best sounding portable music player I have ever used and it puts many of my desktop units to shame. That sound is driven by a pair of dual AKM AKEQ chips and the whole unit runs off an eight-core CPU making it fast and responsive.
I want to be clear, I don't think this is something anyone needs but there is no denying how good it is and if you can afford this without having to stretch for it then get it. It's one hell of an experience when paired up with a really good set of headphones like the Focal Utopia or Sony MDR-1ZR. The Fiio M6 gives us a look at the first mid-priced music player on our list. Despite being much cheaper than the above models it represents fantastic value to budget audiophiles looking to compliment a good set of hi-res earphones or headphones. In terms of specs, it's a little dated with a single ESS DAC unit and only Bluetooth 4. However, it supports High-resolution music streaming through Deezer and Tidal and can be hooked up to your computer to work as an external DAC. The sound is clean and crisp with very little coloration I would say it sounds neutral. Power-wise it does well and in my tests only extreme planar headphones suffered from power draw. Some other plus points of the M6 are the large almost bezelless screen, USB-C charging, and 14 hours of battery life during the review.
Links: Official Fiio M6 Webpage. Another budget music player on this list this time from Hidizs. This is the ultra-light, ultra-portable DAP you have been looking for. It has a bug 2. The Operating system is rock solid even when we had a 1TB micro sd card installed with GB of music. Bluetooth is another draw and it includes support for the LDAC standard but ultimately we just like the sound on this little player. It works great at driving headphones up to ohms and does equally well with all but the most sensitive of IEM's. The only thing it lacked was a balanced output. The Surfans F20 has gained a bit of a cult following. It's a high res DAP with a focus on those who keep their music library on an SD card rather than using lossless streaming apps. It's an old-school audiophile DAP that offers a lot of value for money. All major lossless file formats are included and there is also Bluetooth output should you wish to use it.
Sound quality and the low price more than makeup for the lack of touchscreen and apps. It's a spacious sounding DAP with lots of power and a dark black background. Finally, the last thing I love about the Surfans F20 is the tank-like build quality and tactile clicky buttons, and scroll wheel. It really gave me that throwback to a simpler time where I wasn't tapping on screens and could just use my DAP for what it was meant for. Listening to music. For a long time, Fiio has been in control of the cheap DAP market but in recent years they expanded their line and are considered one of the best music player and amp manufacturers on the planet. The M11 plus is the companies latest mid-priced offering and it's probably their best in terms of price to performance. The M11 Plus supports a range of high-resolution audio formats such as DSD: DSF: DFF PCM: APE: Flac: WAV: AIFF: ALAC: WMA: PCM: MP3: OGG: ACC.
This music player packs a heavy punch for both its size and price and competes with many of AK's entry-level models on sound. The interface is less refined but it's still a hell of a bargain. Just look at this spec list. Stunning doesn't even begin to describe the chassis of the NW-WM1Z. The entire body is milled out of copper and then gold plated making it a premium feeling mp3 player as well as a handsome one. When Sony goes big on any product they really go all out and you do feel that even at the ridiculous price point they aren't cutting corners. The internal cabling is an all-new design with a Kimber design braid. The special FT capacitors made for the player give tonnes of power.
Even the amplifier is bespoke with their own S-Master - HX delivering rich detailed sound into the balanced headphone jack. A big beautiful touchscreen adorns the front of the player making it easy to operate and we loved the clean and tactile feedback derived from the physical playback buttons on the side. To top it off it's another high-resolution DAP with large internal memory GB and a micro SD card slot to expand it by a further 1TB to hold all your high res music files. Link: Sony NW-WM1Z Music Player Webpage. Dethonray blew me away with their Honey H1 which we declare the best portable headphone DAC in or tests. They make end-game products that deliver outstanding sound quality and have loads of power to drive audiophile headphones.
The first thing you will notice is there is no large touchscreen on the DAP. It has its own Linux operating system that relies on physical input buttons. With that of course there is no app support. The screen is also terrible, low resolution, and not that bright. However, the sound is ridiculous and there are a lot of techs that go into it to make it so. For example, there are separate power sources for amp and decoding. EMI shielding for components. If you have hard-to-drive headphones and want one of the cleanest and most transparent soundings DAP's on the market then this is the one for you. The AP80 Pro by Hidziz is an ultra-portable hi-res music player packed full of features you find on bigger DAPs. It's meant for people on the go who don't want to carry obscene large music players as a second device. It's small and discrete but has enough power to drive most high-end IEM's.
The all-metal body feels premium and durable, it's also available in three separate colors to suit your style Black, Blue, Silver. It has music playback control buttons on the right-hand side allowing you to play, pause and skip tracks. Just above it is a small volume pot to allow you precise control over listening levels. Using dual flagship ESS Sabre DACs the AP80 Pro handles lots of high-resolution music formats including native DSD. On the bottom the even made room for dual outputs with a standard 3. Storage can be expanded to GB via the micro-sd card slot and the battery lasted for 8 hours balance and 12 hours regular respectively during our review. Link: Hidzis Website. This is the second Ibasso player to find its way onto our list and it makes for a great day-to-day listening device.
Best high-resolution digital audio player: Which DAP reigns supreme?,15 Best Hi-Res Audio Players for Audiophile
WebMar 4, · Firstly, the conversion of digital music files to an analog signal. This is possible when the device has a built-in digital-to-analog converter called DAC. When AdGet deals on audiophile music player in Electronics on Amazon. Browse & Discover Thousands of products. Read Customer Reviews and Find Best blogger.com has been visited by K+ users in the past month WebAug 27, · BEST OVERALL: FiiO M9. FiiO is one of the biggest names in the the high resolution digital audio player space, and its M9 offers all the right features. The one ... read more
With both codecs, the player and the headphones you pair with them must be capable of supporting the codec. In fact, your best streamer is a specialized computer that reads content from network storage and broadcasts it to an external DAC. The sampling rate is the number of times the computer took a digital snapshot of a specific second of a music file. In fact, it is an exceptional way to listen to music, which is very rewarding. In terms of specs, it's a little dated with a single ESS DAC unit and only Bluetooth 4.
The special FT capacitors made for the player give tonnes of power. Out of the balanced connector, it can supply headphones with a massive 3 full watts. Stunning doesn't even begin to describe the chassis of the NW-WM1Z. If you were thinking the above DAPs are expensive then stop right there. Lossy formats such as that strip music of its dynamics, detail, and vitality, audiophile digital music player. Oh and not audiophile digital music player mention it sounds ridiculously good. Thus, the more pictures it takes, the more detailed the sound will be.
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