Your Guide to High Res Audio Players [Funk Radio E106]

Today we introduce a couple of portable “high resolution” music players on the market. MP3 is far from the best audio quality out there, but how much (or little) does that really affect our everyday listening?

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We’ve talked a couple of times before about the range in quality you can find in various audio formats, spanning from analog vinyl to the ubiquitous digital MP3. This time around we’re exploring the recent trend of portable hi-res music players, such as the reportedly $1200 Sony Walkman NW-ZX2 and Neil Young’s Kickstarter-funded PonoPlayer. A device like these is essentially an iPod that supports uncompressed digital file formats such as FLAC or another proprietary format that accomplishes the same thing. So are these players just a marketing gimmick? Or are we really missing out on the true “studio” listening experience that the musicians intended? We’re here to answer any questions you may have about this, but you’ll have to be patient because we also segue into televisions, smart phones and Starbucks.