Greatest transportable music gamers: fast menu
Whether or not you need to save your telephone’s reminiscence (and battery) or want your on-the-go sound to be nearly as good as it could possibly presumably be, look no additional than our choose of the most effective transportable MP3 gamers on the planet.
Regardless of the demise of the iPod (Apple waved goodbye to the final remaining mannequin in Could 2022), the normal standalone transportable music participant has under no circumstances been consigned to the scrap heap.
Whereas smartphones now fulfill most customers’ demand for on-the-go musical supply, there are nonetheless dozens of devoted gamers that may go even additional in delivering high-quality and high-resolution audio out of your pocket. The skilled evaluate workforce at What Hello-Fi? has tried and examined each one in every of these music gamers, so you may relaxation assured you may discover the perfect one for the suitable value.
We have examined many gamers from Cowon, FiiO, Sony and extra through the years, though the extra premium Astell & Kerns are having a stellar 12 months (or two) and proceed to dominate our greatest lists – for the second. Under, we have rounded up the present finest transportable hi-res music gamers throughout a variety of costs to make sure you know precisely what to search for and the place to seek out it.
The short record
1. Astell & Kern A&customary SR35
Greatest transportable music participant total
All you might ever anticipate or need from a transportable music participant at this stage, the SR35 is an absolute stonker.
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Greatest finances transportable music participant
It’s not good, however this inexpensive participant delivers a mature, even-handed efficiency at a beautiful value.
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3. Astell & Kern A&futura SE180
Greatest premium transportable music participant
Astell & Kern’s modular participant isn’t for everybody, however its engrossing sound and customisable design that permits you to change the DAC make it onerous to beat.
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Greatest transportable music participant total
The SR35 stretches the definition of ‘entry stage’, sitting a rung or two up the ladder from the inexpensive Sony NW-A306 (under) and even pricier than the earlier ‘entry stage’ (and Award-winning) SR25 MKII it replaces. However there is not any arguing with the astonishing stage of efficiency you get from it.
The superb SR35 boasts lots of the options that made its five-star, What Hello-Fi? Award-winning predecessor so profitable – together with three headphone outputs (3.5mm, 4.4mm and a pair of.5mm), native playback of MQA, DSD256 and PCM as much as 32-bit/384kHz recordsdata, 64GB of built-in storage (expandable by as much as 1TB through a microSD card), and the neat skill to make use of the participant as a performance-enhancing DAC between your wired headphones and, say, laptop computer.
There’s not an opportunity of the SR35 lacking a beat with the music you ship its method. The five-star participant has the punch and rhythmic drive to maintain you tapping alongside to upbeat tracks, and the perception to attract you into the main points of these calmer ones. The presentation is vastly likeable, with a tonal steadiness barely on the wealthy aspect, and a mix of energy and finesse that feels very mature for a supply at this stage that the majority headphones will get alongside simply tremendous with. Comfortable days throughout.
Learn the total evaluate: Astell & Kern A&customary SR35
Greatest finances transportable music participant
As a transportable music participant, the NW-A306 suits the temporary completely. It is compact and suits in palms and pockets alike comfortably, and we love the scalloped textured again that offers us grip with out sacrificing type.
The NW-A306’s connections are minimal, however that is no unhealthy factor: the USB-C cable enables you to cost, switch recordsdata and use the Walkman as a DAC, whereas the three.5mm headphone jack can be utilized with a wide range of good-to-great headphones. The out there onboard storage is fairly small compared to different gamers, however it’s attainable to develop the storage due to the microSD slot.
Internally, NW-A306 is packed to the gills with options: the hi-res file help is in depth and glorious at this inexpensive value, the total Android OS means it successfully operates equally to a smartphone (for higher or worse) and allows you to obtain your favorite music streaming app, and it even helps LDAC and aptX codecs over Bluetooth.
The Sony participant is adept sufficient to show its hand to varied genres and may even discern the variations in file qualities, whereas all sounding comfy to hearken to for lengthy intervals. It is a pleasingly detailed and clear efficiency. In reality, there’s a familial throughline from the high-end NW-WM1ZM2 participant to the A306 when it comes to how mature and evenly balanced it sounds. It will possibly additionally play at loud volumes with out ever sounding harsh or confused. We would like extra dynamic punch and drive to songs that want it although; the Sony can sound a contact reserved when a tune calls for outright enjoyable or aggression.
Nonetheless, this can be a succesful hi-res participant worthy of your consideration in case your finances doesn’t stretch to the extra premium Astell & Kern SR35 participant.
Learn the total evaluate: Sony NW-A306
Greatest premium transportable music participant
How a few customisable PMP with interchangeable DAC modules? That is the concept right here – and we appreciated it a lot, we gave it What Hello-Fi? 2021 and 2022 Awards. The SE180 is the third mannequin in Astell & Kern’s near-flagship A&futura vary, following the inaugural SE100 and SE200, each of which gained Awards from this very publication in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
To personally tailor your sound, the SE180 goes one step additional than the marginally older SE200 (which has two user-selectable DAC configurations constructed into the participant) in that it options an interchangeable DAC module design. The idea: Astell & Kern releases a collection of DAC modules, all with completely different sonic characters, in order that homeowners can buy them and swap them in over the usual equipped module, in the event that they so want.
After all, these may be thought of optionally available extras; experimental paths that may be taken or fully ignored. In any case, the SE180 is an all-in-one participant in itself, with the default module containing the ESS ES9038PRO DAC. It helps 32-bit/384kHz PCM, native DSD256 and MQA audio and has 2.5mm, 3.5mm and 4.4mm outputs to cater for a variety of headphones.
With built-in wi-fi in addition to direct entry to streaming service apps in its menu, the SE180 doesn’t make onerous work of your music nonetheless you want to play it. Whether or not you contemplate the modular design helpful or not, even straight from the field, the SE180 is without doubt one of the finest performance-per-pound choices within the firm’s line-up.
Learn the total evaluate: Astell & Kern A&futura SE180
How to decide on the most effective transportable music participant for you
No matter your finances, you’ll be shocked at what you may get on your cash as of late. Each participant right here helps MP3 and AAC recordsdata in fact, however we are able to all do higher than that in 2023. All the fashions above additionally help high-resolution audio recordsdata, from 24-bit FLAC and PCM recordsdata and even DSD.
Some additionally add native MQA playback to that compatibility record, so you may hearken to hi-res Tidal Masters by way of appropriate gamers and playback downloaded MQA music in the most effective sound high quality attainable.
Have an intensive digital music assortment? Many of those MP3 gamers have microSD reminiscence slots, so your assembled throng of tracks and artists want by no means cease rising. Expandable reminiscence additionally means you may maintain all your music on the highest high quality attainable, with out worrying about these giant file sizes taking on all your participant’s cupboard space.
There are even MP3 gamers right here that may double up as a DAC to reinforce the sound between your smartphone/laptop computer and headphones/audio system. Some have built-in entry to streaming providers, too, whereas others have much more performance that mirrors a smartphone’s (for higher or worse).
However the entire merchandise on this record have one factor in frequent: glorious sound high quality. And in the event you’re right here, that’s in all probability the side that is most vital to you in a transportable MP3 participant.
How we check transportable music gamers
We have now state-of-the-art testing services in London, Studying and Tub, the place our workforce of skilled, in-house reviewers checks nearly all of hi-fi and AV equipment that passes by way of our door, together with the higher-end transportable music gamers that may effectively be utilized in a transportable hi-fi or desktop state of affairs.
These music gamers are positioned in our pockets through the evaluate interval too, in fact, so we are able to gauge how transportable and straightforward to make use of on the fly they are surely.
Most vital in our reviewing course of is that every product is in contrast with the most effective in its value and sophistication. What Hello-Fi? is all about comparative testing, so we maintain our Award winners close by to allow comparisons between new merchandise and ones we all know carry out extremely within the class.
We’re at all times neutral and do our utmost to ensure we’re listening to each product at its absolute best, so we attempt loads of several types of music (and music recordsdata) and provides every loads of listening time (and time to run in). We use a variety of headphones at ranges prone to go well with a sure participant, too.
It isn’t nearly sound high quality, in fact. If a product has noteworthy options – equivalent to battery life, built-in streaming providers and DAC-performing skills, within the case of transportable music gamers – we at all times guarantee a part of our testing includes testing the claims made by its makers.
All evaluate verdicts are agreed upon by all the workforce, fairly than a person reviewer, to eradicate any private choice and to ensure we’re being as thorough as attainable. There isn’t a enter from PR corporations or our gross sales workforce on the subject of the decision. At What Hello-Fi?, we’re proud to ship sincere, unbiased critiques – one thing we’ve been doing constantly for greater than 45 years.
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