December 6, 2024

IntecStudio

Buzz The Music

The best MP3 player for 2024: top portable music players

The best MP3 player for 2024: top portable music players

Best MP3 players: Quick Menu

Calling this guide the ‘best MP3 players’ doesn’t really do it justice. Why? Because we’re not talking the 2007 iPod classic I still love any more. No, modern-day versions can do so much more than store and play your lossy MP3 files. The little beauties in this guide are high-resolution audio players with superior digital-to-analog converters able to fully unlock the FLAC, DSD, WAV, MQA and ALAC files your phone can’t (whether downloaded or streamed from Tidal, Qobuz or Apple Music, say) so that you get to hear the files of your choosing at their most detailed, fullest and lossless best. Oh, and if you want clarification on the audio file types you’re streaming and how you could get better, our audio file format explainer can help

The digital audio players here (often referred to as DAPs) are meant to be paired with the best wired headphones, though most players now support Bluetooth too (including higher-res aptX or LDAC versions) for those who want the convenience of the best wireless headphones or best earbuds. But wired is preferable, because even the newest Bluetooth audio codec compression algorithms cannot truly do justice to hi-res music.