Paradise for music lovers: mp3 players for every taste

The popular manufacturer of solid-state storage devices SanDisk can rightfully be proud of its compact mp-3 player Sansa Clip Jam 8Gb, which has been relevant and in demand among music lovers around the world for many years.

The player, no bigger than a matchbox, is made of a glossy plastic that is pleasant to the touch and is offered in 5 colour solutions. It has a simple push-button operation and a bright display with a diagonal of 1 inch, sufficient to see information about the songs being played. On the back panel of the case there is a clip for attaching to a belt or backpack strap. In short, ClipJam is positioned as a model for sports, and in fact it is.

The player plays all the main formats of audio files, which you can listen to without ceasing for 18 hours, the battery here is quite capacious.

The volume of ClipJam's internal memory is 8 GB, which is not so much, especially for WAV files. So, for fans to always have large archives of music or audiobooks with them, the size of which can sometimes reach several GB, the manufacturer has provided a slot for a memory card. He also paid attention to fans of FM receivers. A trifle, but pleasant.

Among the disadvantages, we note the lack of support for the lossless FLAC codec, and very limited-sounding in-ear headphones included. But, on the other hand, for such a price, they could not be here at all.

Otherwise, the player is the optimal low-cost solution for listening to your favorite songs and audiobooks without increased requirements for sound quality.

The M1 audio player model from the famous Chinese manufacturer Shanling was designed to surpass the popularity of its older brother , which she almost succeeded. M1 attracts the sophisticated consumer not only with its compactness and portability, but also with a very decent sound for its price.

The square case is made of glass, aluminium and glossy plastic imitating glass. The 2.35-inch colour screen covers almost the entire area of the front panel and displays information vividly and legibly at almost any angle and in any light.

On the sides of the player there are power/lock buttons (on the right), track switching and return (on the left). I was impressed by the manufacturer's non—standard solution — to control the menu navigation using a wheel located in the upper corner of the case, just for the thumb. In general, the control is quite convenient, and the feeling of the player in the palm of your hand is pleasant. I was also pleased with the leather case included. The M1 looks even more solid in it.

A memory expansion slot up to 256 GB solves all problems with a lack of space for your favorite recordings. Memory access and charging are carried out via a modern USB type C connector. Bluetooth support is also pleasing, not only as an outgoing, but also as a receiving signal, which allows you to "stream" music to the device itself.

M1 is a powerful modern Hi-Fi harvester with support for all major lossy and lossless formats. The built-in 24-bit DAC produces a very good, although not powerful (35 MW per channel) sound in the range of 20 — 20000 Hz. Given the developers' emphasis on compactness and portability, the best result could hardly be expected. Good headphones will even out the situation a little, especially since they are not included in the kit, so you still have to buy.

M1 also cannot boast of good battery life. 9 hours of continuous work is a fairly average indicator, and one could close one's eyes to it if a full charging cycle did not take up almost half of this time — 3 hours and 50 minutes, which, in our opinion, is too much for such a baby.

The third generation of the X5 line from FiiO is a real Hi-Fi harvester based on Android 5.1. with support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and microUSB 2.0.

Without further ado: at the prestigious international design competition IF design awards, the model received the main prize, and there was something for it. The player is made of durable glass and a matte metal pleasant to the touch, which makes it weigh almost 200 grams and feels pleasantly heavy in the hand. The 4-inch touchscreen display has a good response and a decent resolution of 480x800 pixels. We were also pleased with the leather book case and silicone case included, in which the device looks even more stylish and reliably protected.

The X5 model runs on Android 5.1.1 with the use of Pure Music Mode functions, which guarantee the user stable, reliable operation of the system with advanced control capabilities: touch and push-button. Separately, it is worth noting the volume wheel, which makes the process of adjusting the output signal level as simple and convenient as possible.

The player received 32 GB of internal memory and 2 slots for microSD memory cards with a capacity of up to 256 GB. Why so much memory can be understood. After all, the device shows a rather modest battery life, working from one full charge for less than 10 hours, and this is with a battery capacity of 3400 mAh. Obviously, most of the charge is taken away by the screen and hardware.

The latter, to my credit, the player is on top. Unique 32-bit sound processing processors allow the device to reproduce frequencies in an unprecedented wide range — from 5 Hz to 55 kHz, which, although it goes far beyond the capabilities of human hearing, emphasizes the depth of the sound picture.

We didn't find headphones in the kit, they need to be bought separately, but given the powerful functionality of the player, the manufacturer's reluctance to limit its capabilities to the base model is quite understandable. In addition, you can connect not only wired, but also wireless Bluetooth headphones to the device, whose adherents are becoming more and more every day.

On the other hand, not everyone will like adding the cost of headphones to the cost of an already expensive player.

The Sony NW-A35HN model is a successful attempt to combine maximum functionality and compact dimensions. Excellent quality, intuitive controls and crystal clear sound are the hallmark of this model from the Japanese electronics flagship.

The compactness of the player, as for a Hi-Fi combine, is impressive. Sony has done its best here. The Japanese did not disappoint with the touch screen either. It is large (3.1"), occupies almost the entire front, and despite the fact that it is capacitive, it has a good response. However, physical buttons for blind control are implemented on the right side panel.

The player received 16 GB of internal memory and an expansion slot up to 256 GB. This is enough to accommodate numerous uncompressed audio files such as FLAC or DSD. To complete the picture, the manufacturer has provided an FM receiver, a 6-band graphic equalizer and, most importantly, a 24-bit DAC to play audio files with maximum sound quality.

The battery of the NW-A35HN is quite capacious and is designed for 22 hours of listening to music in high quality and up to 45 hours in 128-bit. Against the background of such battery life, the duration of a full charge cycle of 4 hours does not bother at all.

There is support for Bluetooth and NFC, and, according to the manufacturer, the sound quality when played via Bluetooth is practically not lost, thanks to the proprietary LDAC data transfer protocol. The statement in itself is very conditional, since to implement a high bitrate (up to 990 kbit in total) compatible wireless headphones are required, and this is already a problem in the form of additional expenses. In addition, wired headphones with an active noise reduction system and a frequency range of 20 — 40,000 Hz, included in the kit, win the competition by a wide margin.

The picture of an excellent combination of compactness and functionality is spoiled by a proprietary 24-pin connector for charging and connecting to a PC. Why it was impossible to use a regular USB remained a mystery to us.

Otherwise, the model turned out to be worthy of the attention of all lovers of high-quality sound, although a little expensive.

The trendsetter in the niche of portable Hi-Fi players — the South Korean company Astell & Kern presented its newest development, the Kann model, to the users this year.

The design of the player is quite extravagant due to the fluted back surface of the pyramidal shape, which makes the case of the device seem too big for some. Separately, we note a large touchscreen display with a diagonal of 4" and a resolution of 480x800 pixels, as well as a volume control wheel on the right side panel in the shape of a tube.

A 32-bit processor and a built-in analogue amplifier are responsible for the quality and power of the output signal. Not only does the player reproduce almost all known audio formats, it does it with the highest possible quality through balanced and unbalanced line outputs and headphone outputs.

KANN supports Wi-Fi connection via the AK-Connect application, which allows you to switch with other mobile devices, as well as Bluetooth and USB type C for battery charging and data transfer, moreover, the sound quality via Bluetooth connection is very high, so that "blue-lipped" headphones can be bought safely.

In addition to the internal memory of 64 GB, the device has 2 slots for SD and microSD memory cards with a capacity of up to 256 GB. Thus, the maximum total amount of memory supported by the device is 572 GB, which automatically eliminates the problem of working with large volume files.

For the impatient, there is a fast charge, 60 minutes of which will be enough to be able to enjoy your favorite music for 6.5 hours. For those who have the patience and time to wait for a full cycle (about 2.5 — 3 hours), we recommend charging the device completely — and then it will work at least 15 as a reward.

In conclusion, we add that if KANN were not so massive and expensive, it could really become a player for all occasions, as Astell & Kern is trying to present it to the consumer.