Best Portable Music Player for Audiophiles [2023 Review]

Look no farther than our selection of the best portable music player for audiophiles in the world if you want to save your phone’s memory and battery life or simply want your on-the-go sound to be as high-resolution as possible.

Do you believe MP3 players are a dated technology? Reconsider your position. Here we listed the best portable music player for audiophiles for the ones who are looking for one. The top best portable music players for audiophiles in 2021 are significantly more advanced than you might expect.

Sure, they are not as popular as they once were, but they are far from outdated. If you are interested in these models, keep reading our Best Portable Music Player for Audiophiles review for more information below.

Our Top Pick: FiiO, M11 Pro High-Resolution Digital Audio Player

Features: This is an Android-based player that is easy to use because of the large 5.2-inch edge-to-edge touch screen with 1440 x 720 resolution. The screen is brilliant, detailed, and snappy, and it sits flat against the aluminum casing of the M11 Pro.

The Fiio seems more like a premium, big smartphone than a music player, thanks to the use of Gorilla Glass on both the front and back of the device. There are three headphone connectors on the bottom of the M11 Pro. A 3.5mm analog output that can be switched to digital coaxial, balanced 2.5mm, and balanced 4.4mm, which helps to explain the ‘Pro’ moniker.

A USB C port is also found here, which may be used for charging, data transfer, and so on. The M11 Pro can also be used as a USB-DAC utilizing this socket. With the X5iii now in the rearview mirror, you could argue that there is a certain amount of homage to competing designs and that the overall package is not premium enough.

That has changed with the M11’s new design. It combines the best bezel-less design with the fastest Android system on a DAP that I have seen so far, fully overhauling the X5iii experience.

The gadget features a large screen, a balanced connection, and a full Android OS with DSD upsampling, which you will not find on phones or any other similarly priced DAP.

This is what distinguishes it from other multimedia players in that it serves as a viable backup device on par with, if not better than, phones. We were impressed with the sound quality all the way down to the lowest frequencies.

This was not a player that emphasized bass; if you expect a low-end thud in everything you listen to, the M11 might not be the player for you. If you are looking for the best portable music player for audiophiles, you should give this a chance.

Runner Up: Sony NW-A55/L Walkman NW-A55 Hi-Res 16GB MP3 Player

Features: The NW-A55L can play hi-res PCM files up to 32-bit/384kHz (WAVs are supported all the way up to 32-bit/384kHz, but FLACs are limited to 24-bit/96kHz), DSD songs up to 11.2MHz (which the player converts to PCM), and MQA music.

Whether it is ripped from a CD collection or acquired from a digital music store, that covers practically every digital music file you could ever own. Its 16GB of onboard storage can contain about 400 MP3, 60 CD-quality, or 25 hi-res (24-bit/96kHz) albums, but a microSD card can boost that memory to 2TB.

If you are looking for the best portable music player for audiophiles, you should give this a chance. The NW-A55L is the no-frills player you would expect for the money, save from wide file support. Its basic palm-sized, slimline appearance is remarkable, but you do not want a second device in your pockets to be huge and flashy.

The foolproof interface is a basic affair and useful, and while it is easy to navigate on the touchscreen, it is also a basic affair. The portable music player was doomed from the start, with a smartphone in every pocket. A gadget with multiple functions that competes with a single-purpose player.

A smartphone, on the other hand, emphasizes the importance of a portable music player even more. Smartphone circuitry needs to deal with a lot of processing and noise that interferes with audio playback. A dedicated music player is your best bet if you are a music aficionado who wants to hear your collection in bit-perfect playback.

The A50 Walkman series was secretly released a few years ago, and the NW-A55L emerged in 2019, offering Hi-Res audio to a more affordable price point. A few technical modifications inside the gadget strengthen the A45’s already strong structure.

Sony has marketed these Walkmans as being “precision-engineered for outstanding sound” and they are exactly that.

Best for Budget: Apple iPod Touch

Features: What is currently known as an iPod is essentially a smartphone without a cellular connection. The Touch sports a 4in retina display screen for watching movies and playing games, an 8MP camera for recording HDR photographs and 1080p HD video, and a front-facing lens for usage with FaceTime.

All these features come in addition to its primary use as a personal music player. With a wi-fi connection, you can also use Messages to communicate with anyone else who has an Apple device. If you are looking for the best portable music player for audiophiles, you should give this a chance.

The company’s smart speaker, Siri, is also available with the iPod Touch 7th generation, which runs iOS 12. The iPod Touch’s A10 Fusion chip is capable of being twice as quickly as its forerunner, with three times faster visuals and AR gaming capabilities.

With capabilities few other makers could match in a PMP at any cost, it is a helpful all-rounder for those without a phone, but with our emphasis on music performance, it is good to see Apple’s is there as well.

Setting up iOS is simple these days, whether you use iTunes or not, and if you already have an iPhone, the iPod Touch can instantly pull your Apple login information and preferences from it.

There is neither Touch ID nor Face ID here, so passcodes are the only option — which feels embarrassingly antiquated. When it comes to out-of-date technology, the 4-inch screen is tiny by today’s standards.

Despite the somewhat thick bezels, it is a compact gadget that fits comfortably in a pocket and can be operated with one hand. Apps are crushed and overly small, but it is the ideal size for racers to wear strapped to their arms.

The iPod touch has all of the same apps and services as an iPhone, with the exception of things like Apple Pay, which requires Face ID or Touch ID. Apple Music, iMessage, streaming video, gaming, and other apps all function normally.

How to choose the best portable music player for audiophiles?

Choosing the best portable music player for audiophiles might be a difficult task so we will give some info on it. So, what factors should you take into account when looking for the best portable music player for audiophiles?

The audio codec in which your music library is stored is the most crucial consideration. Anyone who uses Apple Music is likely to have a music library entirely made up of Apple’s proprietary AAC codec, which is fortunately supported by most MP3 devices.

If you are an audiophile, however, you will need support for lossless codecs like FLAC, WAV, and ALAC, which do not use the compression methods used by lossy codecs like AAC or MP3.

You will also need to think about how much music you have in your collection and how much storage you will require when choosing the best portable music player for audiophiles.

This is especially true when utilizing codecs such as FLAC, which use up a lot of space. The greatest MP3 players frequently contain a microSD card slot, allowing you to expand the bundled storage as your library grows – but only up to a particular size, usually around 512GB.

But here is the best part: unlike smartphones, the greatest MP3 players are built to last, so you will not be forced to replace every two years like you would with a smartphone. As a result, it is generally in your best interests to take your time and select the one that is appropriate for you, as you will be using it for quite a while.

Why use a music player in 2021?

Following the surge in popularity of the hi-res audio player (DAP) in recent years, audiophiles now have a plethora of options, and keeping up with all the new devices entering the market is becoming increasingly difficult.

Many of you are interested in finding out who has the greatest HD Music Player. Many of these Audiophile players have piqued our interest, and the breadth of functions available in a small design is astounding. Plus, if you are going to be utilizing some of the best headphones on the planet, you do not want a terrible DAP to stifle the sound.

With ever-increasing price competition, picking the appropriate one is becoming increasingly difficult. We wanted to make things easier for you, so we compiled a list of the best portable music player for audiophiles.

What to consider when buying the best portable music player for audiophiles?

When evaluating the best digital audio players, there are numerous factors to consider. Music fans, of course, will want to ensure that the audio quality is excellent and consistent.

Build Quality

Many current digital audio players are housed in a metal chassis that is both stylish and protective. Because it is more robust than the older plastic models, this is a much better choice. However, it is a good idea to double-check that this chassis is not easily scratched.

Storage

When it comes to storage, the more the better. Although this is not always the case, most digital music players come with some form of built-in storage. It is critical that the player has at least one SD slot so that users can expand their storage capacity.

High-definition audio files can take up a lot of space on your hard drive. In reality, compared to MP3s, the necessary storage space can be tens or even hundreds of times larger.

Screen

A large and responsive touch-sensitive screen should be included with the digital audio player. It would be nice if this panel could display in color, although it is not necessary. The most important criterion is that the screen be simple to read and use.

Sound

The digital audio player you select should provide excellent sound quality. It should also be able to recognize and play any audio file format, whether lossy, lossless, or high-resolution. Choose a DAP that can provide digital audio in typical PCM wave formats with sample rates up to 384 kHz.

Conclusion: Best Portable Music Player for Audiophiles [2023 Review]

Nowadays, portable music players, also known as Digital Audio Players (DAPs), are very popular. Music fans and audiophiles are on the lookout for DAPs that can power their HiFi, Hi-Res headphones, and IEMs so they can listen to music on the go.

If you are seeking the best portable music player for audiophiles on the market right now, you are in luck since there are a lot of options to pick from. We included some of the best portable music players for audiophiles on the market, so you can find the one for you.

There is no such thing as a “one-size-fits-all” DAP; each has its own set of features, benefits, and drawbacks, and the greatest DAP for you might not be the best for someone else. Make sure you know that before buying a music player. We hope you liked our Best Portable Music Player for Audiophiles review and it was helpful.