10 Best Music Players for Windows PCs,How to choose the best MP3 player for you
WebA hassle-free, easy to use, and free media player. Free Download for Windows. VLC Media Player is a free-to-use, robust, and feature-packed software that plays a wide range of WebFeb 7, · Best MP3 player for portable music players from Astell & Kern, Onkyo and more. By Becky Scarrott. Contributions from. Olivia Tambini, Christian de Looper. AdFind and compare the best products based on price, features, ratings & reviews. Stop wasting time compiling reviews & use our list to make an informed purchase AdMillions of Deals on Furniture, Homewares, Appliances, Tech and More! Unbeatable Deals on Audio Players with Free Delivery on Eligible OrdersGreat Deals · Amazing Value · Independently Reviewed · Enormous RangeTypes: Bed & Bath, Kitchen Appliances, Animals & Pets, Gym & Fitness, Matresses, Wine AdSavings on Big Brands You Love. Shop Australia's Favourite Brands on Catch Today. Anything You Want, Everything You Need. Enjoy the Savings. Fast Shipping blogger.com: Ecology, Gioia Casa, Global, Joseph Joseph, Maxwell & Williams, R ... read more
But with a MicroSD card you can bump that up significantly. It boasts an impressive 45 hours of battery life and supports a wide range of formats. Sound is clear and powerful and although it might not be the best out there, it's a huge improvement over listening to music on your phone. Why you can trust TechRadar Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test. So how do you select one? Well, you're in luck. Because the market is increasingly geared towards the audiophile the kind of people who won't touch Spotify's lossy streams , firms are constantly innovating. These days, ever improved sound quality, hi-res audio support and seriously impressive built-in DAC s Digital-to-Analogue Converters are making already impressive players even better. And there's style to match the substance, with manufacturers also competing on design to deliver players that look as good as they sound.
Fan of brutalist architecture? Something a bit more colorful? See SanDisk or Sony. Want something about the size of a matchbox? Cowon's Plenue D3 is the one — see them all in our guide above. We test dozens of hi-res portable music players every year at TechRadar, and that means we know exactly which features, specs, file support and wireless audio codecs to look out for. It's important for us to compare the performance of these players against the claims made by their manufacturers, which is why we take the time to make sure the stamina, durability, connectivity and sound quality claims are legit. We make sure to test each product against its chief competitors too, so you can be sure that if we say so, the product is the best bet for the money. We live with these players for well over a week and run them in religiously so that the components have 'bedded in' before we commence our tests, and we don't finalize our testing until we are certain of the sound quality. On this, we test the audio performance using a range of musical genres, using both wired and wireless headphones and streaming or downloading music from various sources, to ensure that these products can handle everything from thumping dance tracks to softly-spoken podcasts in whatever format we throw at it.
After more years in this game than we'd care to admit, we are truly confident that our star-rated reviews are the best indication of the quality of the hi-res MP3 players in this list. There are no sales teams involved in our verdicts, which means if we don't like it for sound, design, usability and features, we simply won't recommend it here. An iPod is a type of MP3 player. It's the name for Apple's range of portable music players, but you'll find plenty of other MP3 players from other brands — many of which are listed in our guide below. There are lots of very good reasons why people still use dedicated MP3 players and similar devices. One is sound quality: depending on the device, you can listen to much higher quality versions of tracks than anything you'll find on streaming services — especially if your device has a headphone jack, which many phones lack.
For serious music fans that's a major consideration: Bluetooth audio quality is getting better, but for full hi-res audio you still need your headphones to be wired. Even Apple's most expensive headphones, the AirPods Max, can't do fully lossless audio wirelessly. Another reason is that not everything you might want to listen to is available on the various streaming services — and not everything that's there today might be there tomorrow, because songs and even artists come and go. By synchronising an MP3 player with your desktop music collection you can always be sure that you can hear what you want to hear. A big bonus for many people is that with your own music collection, you don't need to pay a monthly subscription to listen to it, or to listen to it without advertising. Although it's less of an issue than it used to be, another reason many music fans preferred MP3 players is because they were designed to do one thing and one thing only: play music.
Most smartphones weren't, and audio performance of some of them wasn't brilliant; battery life and storage space weren't always great either. And MP3 players don't require you to have a mobile phone connection to get your music, so you can happily wander far from mobile signals and Wi-Fi without losing your soundtrack. Whether you should buy an MP3 player or not depends on what you want to use it for. If you're trying to avoid being glued to your phone, checking social media or taking work calls when you want to relax, an MP3 player can be a great option to listen to music while staying cut off from all of the distractions of your phone — and the rest of the world. Some people enjoy listening to MP3 players when they work out, so they don't have their phone with them. Whether that's also to keep calls and messages at bay or keep their phone safe.
Others might not have a great deal of space on their phone if it's an older model, so want to store music elsewhere, and some people might not want to use up battery or data when they're on the move. MP3 players won't suit everyone, many prefer the convenience of having all of their music on their phones, but there are plenty of reasons why an MP3 player is a great idea for some people. The short answer is no. That's because MP3 is a "lossy" format: in order to make MP3 files as small as possible, they remove some of the audio information.
With a CD, music is stored with a resolution of 1, kilobits per second. With the best possible quality MP3, the resolution is kilobits per second. So clearly there's a lot less data in even the highest quality MP3 file. What's clever about MP3 is that it tries to get rid of the audio information you'll miss the least. For example, one of the most obvious signs that you're listening to an MP3 instead of a CD isn't because one of the instruments has gone AWOL. MP3 doesn't do that. But you'll probably notice a lack of really deep bass, and a more "splashy" sound on higher frequencies such as the drummer's cymbals and hi-hats. The lower the quality, the more obvious these things become — and at the very lowest quality, MP3s sound like someone's playing them on a really bad radio.
For many people the convenience of MP3 — you can fit more into your device's storage, streaming uses less mobile data and you don't need a really good internet connection — outweighs the loss of sound, especially if you're listening on the move. But MP3 is a fairly old tech now, and there are better options: Lossless Audio and Hi-Res Audio. As the name suggests, Lossless Audio doesn't sacrifice any of the musical information: the successors to the WAV format used in CDs, which is also lossless, use more advanced technology to take the audio information and make the file smaller without compromising on quality. There are several versions of Lossless Audio including Apple Lossless, FLAC and WMA Lossless, and as you'll see from our guide above you'll often find that the best MP3 players support at least some of those formats. Hi-Res Audio is capable of even better quality than CD: 9, kbps, which is seven times more information than a CD contains.
There's plenty of Hi-Res Audio music to listen to thanks to the likes of Qobuz, TIDAL and other high-end audio services. It's probably overkill for listening to on the bus, but if you want the ultimate in digital music quality then Hi-Res Audio is where it's at. Sign up to get breaking news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more, plus the hottest tech deals! Becky is a senior staff writer at TechRadar which she has been assured refers to expertise rather than age focusing on all things audio. Before joining the team, she spent three years at What Hi-Fi? testing and reviewing everything from wallet-friendly wireless earbuds to huge high-end sound systems. Prior to gaining her MA in Journalism in , Becky freelanced as an arts critic alongside a year career as a professional dancer and aerialist — any love of dance starts with a love of music.
Becky has previously contributed to Stuff, FourFourTwo and The Stage. When not writing, she can still be found throwing shapes in a dance studio, these days with varying degrees of success. Other versions of this page are available with specific content for the following regions:. Open menu Close menu Tech Radar Tech Radar TechRadar The source for Tech Buying Advice. opens in new tab opens in new tab opens in new tab opens in new tab. NZ Edition. North America. Reviews News How To Phones Laptops TVs Components More Tablets Cameras Computing Audiovisual Gaming Wearables Car Tech About Us Tech Radar Pro.
Tech Radar Gaming. Trending Samsung Galaxy S23 Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Broadband deals iPhone Editor's Note: February Matt Bolton, Managing Editor — Entertainment. Our expert review:. Specifications Storage: GB. Formats: WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF, MQA. Battery life: 9 hours. Micro SD? Reasons to avoid - Pricey compared to competitors. Specifications Storage: 64GB. Battery life: 20 hours. Reasons to avoid - Can easily be considered expensive — even though it isn't. Onkyo DP-X1A. Download Groove Music Player for free. SEE ALSO: Best Video Player: Top 5 Windows Tools Compared. iTunes is a standard player of Apple computers.
Pros: iTunes has a very good looking interface and allows you to easily sort and organize your music and videos. Recently iTunes has got an iCloud integration. It means that every track you have in iTunes will now show up in your music library, whether or not it has been downloaded. The mini player is now smaller and more comfortable to manage. You may customize your media library by adding a colored background for each individual album. Besides, iTunes offers you to listen to radio stations and podcasts, burn your music tracks to CD, rip audio CDs, compress audio files , create iPhone ringtones and many more. SEE ALSO: How to Make a Podcast Yourself. Cons: Many people find iTunes hard to use. Moreover, the number of supported formats is not that huge. Download free iTunes. Pros: VLC can play a lot of video files including BluRay and HD, and almost every music file type and it supports 10bit decoding. It is open source, but it is still updated on a regular occasion.
In spite of the program is free, it does not have ads. VLC can stream media files from the Internet. Both the library and playlist features are not up to modern standards and are beaten by the more popular and mainstream players. Some people complain that it crashes on their system, but it is not a common complaint. Download free VLC. Foobar is one of the most popular music players adored by Windows users for its great customization and a variety of features. Pros: Foobar is a lightweight player with a clean minimalistic interface that can be easily changed with a number of skins. It can play the majority of popular audio formats and grab the missing meta-data from the Internet. The player lets you easily organize your music library and tracks any changes in a specified period of time.
The software creators allow developers to add their own plugins to the app to expand its functionality. Foobar also plays CD discs, HDCD, and can be used as DVD ripper for audio DVD discs. Cons: Advanced features like skin changing and add-ons installation may seem a bit difficult for a beginner. Supported formats: MP3, MP4, AAC, CD Audio, WMA, Vorbis, Opus, FLAC, WavPack, WAV, AIFF, Musepack, Speex, AU, SND. Download Foobar for free. MediaMonkey is an audio player for a serious music collector. The interface is highly customizable. It allows you to have different skins and rearrange the layout to better suit your needs.
Pros: The software has a built-in auto-DJ feature, called Party Mode, that automatically plays tracks based on set criteria. With this tool you can rip CDs, download podcasts and meta-data for your music tracks. As well as Foobar, MediaMonley scans your music collection and updates it when you delete the songs. Cons: At the first view the software may seem a little bit difficult. Supported formats: MP3, WMA, OGG, AAC, M4A , MPC, APE, FLAC, VQF, WAV, and audio CDs. Download MediaMonkey free version. Clementine player is an outstanding music tool famous for its support for Google Drive, Dropbox, Spotify, and Grooveshark tracks. It supports all most popular audio formats and gives an advanced music library management.
Pros: Clementine is a great choice for those who like to listen to podcasts and want to stream music from their cloud accounts. Clementine also syncs with your USB devices and can add music to your phone or player. Moreover, the player gives you an Android app for remote control. Download Clementine for free. MusicBee is a lightweight yet powerful music player for Windows PCs with beautiful and highly customizable interface. Pros: The software lets you import music libraries from iTunes and Windows Media player and organize your music collection in a very simple way. MusicBee automatically fills the missing metadata of your tracks when you are connected to the Internet.
One more great thing about MusicBee is numerous plugins that you may install to get more features.
Most people buying a dedicated music player today are looking for a higher-quality options, since the majority of people are perfectly happy listening from their phones — however, we still have some cheaper models in our list here too. The best MP3 players might sound like old pieces of tech. But although several of their once trailblazing features can now be handled by your smartphone, this guide features several impressive music players that give you a reliable way to listen to high-res audio on the move — aka in better quality than you'd get from just your phone. Most people now turn to music streaming services, smartphones or smart speakers if they want to listen to music. In fact, you should take a look at our best smart speakers guide and best music streaming services guide if you want to refresh the way you enjoy your favorite tunes.
For many people, streaming music sounds good enough. But not everybody thinks good enough is good enough, especially if you've invested in some of the best headphones : high quality headphones often expose the flaws in streaming music, and in poorly recorded music too. With a few exceptions, streaming services can't match the quality of high-res audio downloads. And phones aren't made with music in mind: the digital-to-analogue converters in smartphones aren't aimed at audiophiles and Bluetooth doesn't have the bandwidth to match a wired headphone connection. For many years we'd have included an iPod towards the top of this list. But Apple discontinued its last MP3 player, the iPod touch, in May But while the Cupertino giant has left the MP3 market it helped create, other big names haven't — and they're making some of the best audio hardware we've ever heard. The SPT sounds superb. Two amplifier stages offer seven distinct options, while no fewer than four DACs are deployed to handle two channels of audio information.
The SPT is unconcerned by digital audio file size or type, and it will happily power any headphones you care to mention. The control interface is clean and responsive. The player itself is not so much built as sculpted - though it is too large to slip into your jeans pocket. Even the battery life is half-decent. As well as a new 4. The Onkyo DP-X1A isn't the most compact device on this list, but we think it's one of the best MP3 players you can buy, offering lots of customizability, an intuitive interface, and fantastic sound. The DP-X1A looks a little bit like a phone, but much thicker with two audio ports — one headphone jack and one balanced output for those interested in a cleaner and overall better quality sound. The device has an easy-to-use volume wheel, as well as physical playback buttons and two microSD card slots for those with a sizable collection of music. The player is built with a full version of Android 5. Unlike the iPod, however, the Onkyo DP-X1A is built for super-high-quality audio.
Speaking of the sound quality, it's an absolute dream. It supports a range of music formats, including FLAC, OGG, WAV, MP3, ALAC, and more. In terms of hardware, the device has two chipsets, one to power the overall device, and one to handle the DAC and amplifier — resulting in a noise-free experience. We tested the player with multiple pairs of headphones across multiple price ranges, and were stunned with the clarity and exceptional quality of the audio. Read the full Onkyo DP-X1A review. Apple took us all by surprise when it announced the iPod touch 7 in , the first upgrade to its portable music and video player since And Apple surprised us again when it discontinued it in There are still quite a few available on sites such as eBay, and if you can get one for a sensible price it's not a bad buy.
This iPod supports the FLAC codec as well as Apple Lossless, giving you more options than ever when it comes to accessing audiophile-quality music provided you use wired headphones: Apple's Bluetooth doesn't support any hi-res audio codecs for wireless audio. The strings had a warm and natural quality, while soprano vocal duets soared sweetly above the mix without ever sounding harsh. In our review we also tested out the inbuilt speaker at the bottom of the iPod touch, and it packs quite a punch despite its size. If you need a new MP3 player, and you don't mind using Apple Music, the iPod Touch will do just fine. It's also optimized for gaming, so check out our guide to the best Apple Arcade games. Read the full iPod Touch 7th Generation review. The interface is easy to control. Tap through options using the touchscreen, and select the music you want to listen to. It could be more responsive, but you get used to it. Battery life is around nine hours, which isn't amazing, but not terrible either.
Music is dynamic and crisp, with a nice and powerful sound. The best option for working out, this MP3 player is small and light. Despite being built for sport, it supports a pretty wide range of audio formats — including MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV, and WMA. During testing, we found the battery life is impressive at 20 hours. Because it has recently been superseded by the MKII variant above which tweaks the build ever-so-slightly and adds a 4. With an off-center design and aluminum body, it certainly looks the part, and its touch screen is bright and easy to use. With Wi-Fi connectivity, you have access to streaming services including Deezer and Tidal , while Bluetooth aptX ensure listening with wireless headphones needn't sound inferior to wired connections. Looking for something else? We haven't tested the MP3 players below ourselves, but we'd still like to recommend them based on their excellent specs and customer reviews.
This is a small, light and stylish MP3 player with a simple matchbox-like design and a big, wide screen. It's an upgrade on Cowon's previous MP3 player model, this time with a volume dial, Bluetooth and more features. It offers exceptional battery life. You'll get 45 hours of playback time with regular MP3 files and more than 30 hours with high-res files — which still beats most of the competitors on this list. It supports a huge range of formats, including DSD DFF, DSF, ISO , FLAC, WAV, AIFF, ALAC, APE, MP3, WMA, OGG and DCF. Music sounds brilliant and with Bluetooth, you can listen on a range of different devices. Although there's no Wi-Fi streaming available. This MP3 player is short on storage with only 16G internally. But with a MicroSD card you can bump that up significantly. It boasts an impressive 45 hours of battery life and supports a wide range of formats.
Sound is clear and powerful and although it might not be the best out there, it's a huge improvement over listening to music on your phone. Why you can trust TechRadar Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test. So how do you select one? Well, you're in luck. Because the market is increasingly geared towards the audiophile the kind of people who won't touch Spotify's lossy streams , firms are constantly innovating. These days, ever improved sound quality, hi-res audio support and seriously impressive built-in DAC s Digital-to-Analogue Converters are making already impressive players even better. And there's style to match the substance, with manufacturers also competing on design to deliver players that look as good as they sound.
Fan of brutalist architecture? Something a bit more colorful? See SanDisk or Sony. Want something about the size of a matchbox? Cowon's Plenue D3 is the one — see them all in our guide above. We test dozens of hi-res portable music players every year at TechRadar, and that means we know exactly which features, specs, file support and wireless audio codecs to look out for. It's important for us to compare the performance of these players against the claims made by their manufacturers, which is why we take the time to make sure the stamina, durability, connectivity and sound quality claims are legit.
We make sure to test each product against its chief competitors too, so you can be sure that if we say so, the product is the best bet for the money. We live with these players for well over a week and run them in religiously so that the components have 'bedded in' before we commence our tests, and we don't finalize our testing until we are certain of the sound quality. On this, we test the audio performance using a range of musical genres, using both wired and wireless headphones and streaming or downloading music from various sources, to ensure that these products can handle everything from thumping dance tracks to softly-spoken podcasts in whatever format we throw at it. After more years in this game than we'd care to admit, we are truly confident that our star-rated reviews are the best indication of the quality of the hi-res MP3 players in this list. There are no sales teams involved in our verdicts, which means if we don't like it for sound, design, usability and features, we simply won't recommend it here.
An iPod is a type of MP3 player. It's the name for Apple's range of portable music players, but you'll find plenty of other MP3 players from other brands — many of which are listed in our guide below. There are lots of very good reasons why people still use dedicated MP3 players and similar devices. One is sound quality: depending on the device, you can listen to much higher quality versions of tracks than anything you'll find on streaming services — especially if your device has a headphone jack, which many phones lack. For serious music fans that's a major consideration: Bluetooth audio quality is getting better, but for full hi-res audio you still need your headphones to be wired.
Even Apple's most expensive headphones, the AirPods Max, can't do fully lossless audio wirelessly. Another reason is that not everything you might want to listen to is available on the various streaming services — and not everything that's there today might be there tomorrow, because songs and even artists come and go. By synchronising an MP3 player with your desktop music collection you can always be sure that you can hear what you want to hear. A big bonus for many people is that with your own music collection, you don't need to pay a monthly subscription to listen to it, or to listen to it without advertising. Although it's less of an issue than it used to be, another reason many music fans preferred MP3 players is because they were designed to do one thing and one thing only: play music.
Most smartphones weren't, and audio performance of some of them wasn't brilliant; battery life and storage space weren't always great either. And MP3 players don't require you to have a mobile phone connection to get your music, so you can happily wander far from mobile signals and Wi-Fi without losing your soundtrack. Whether you should buy an MP3 player or not depends on what you want to use it for. If you're trying to avoid being glued to your phone, checking social media or taking work calls when you want to relax, an MP3 player can be a great option to listen to music while staying cut off from all of the distractions of your phone — and the rest of the world.
Some people enjoy listening to MP3 players when they work out, so they don't have their phone with them. Whether that's also to keep calls and messages at bay or keep their phone safe. Others might not have a great deal of space on their phone if it's an older model, so want to store music elsewhere, and some people might not want to use up battery or data when they're on the move. MP3 players won't suit everyone, many prefer the convenience of having all of their music on their phones, but there are plenty of reasons why an MP3 player is a great idea for some people.
Download Audio Player For Windows 10 - Best Software & Apps,VLC media player
AdSavings on Big Brands You Love. Shop Australia's Favourite Brands on Catch Today. Anything You Want, Everything You Need. Enjoy the Savings. Fast Shipping blogger.com: Ecology, Gioia Casa, Global, Joseph Joseph, Maxwell & Williams, R WebA hassle-free, easy to use, and free media player. Free Download for Windows. VLC Media Player is a free-to-use, robust, and feature-packed software that plays a wide range of WebFeb 7, · Best MP3 player for portable music players from Astell & Kern, Onkyo and more. By Becky Scarrott. Contributions from. Olivia Tambini, Christian de Looper. AdSoftonic is the largest software and App discovery destination. 25 years on the market! At Softonic you can download and consult reviews and news about your favorite programs AdMillions of Deals on Furniture, Homewares, Appliances, Tech and More! Unbeatable Deals on Audio Players with Free Delivery on Eligible OrdersGreat Deals · Amazing Value · Independently Reviewed · Enormous RangeTypes: Bed & Bath, Kitchen Appliances, Animals & Pets, Gym & Fitness, Matresses, Wine AdFind and compare the best products based on price, features, ratings & reviews. Stop wasting time compiling reviews & use our list to make an informed purchase ... read more
If you need a new MP3 player, and you don't mind using Apple Music, the iPod Touch will do just fine. QuickTime is a popular multimedia player. Even Apple's most expensive headphones, the AirPods Max, can't do fully lossless audio wirelessly. Download Groove Music Player for free. It offers exceptional battery life.
SanDisk Clip Sport Plus. MusicBee 4. In terms of audio players, the device has two chipsets, one to power the overall device, and one to handle the DAC and amplifier — resulting in a noise-free experience. Battery life: 21 hours, audio players. With a few exceptions, streaming services can't match the quality of high-res audio downloads. If you need a new MP3 player, and you don't mind using Apple Music, the iPod Touch will do just fine, audio players.
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