BEST DIGITAL AUDIO PLAYR PORTABLE

BEST DIGITAL AUDIO PLAYR PORTABLE

He says it’s called the HM-901, and what I’m looking at is not just another generation kick in the pants of models they’ve made before, but a top-end, take-no-prisoner’s portable audio system one where what’s inside counts for a whole lot more than any cosmetic styling. He comes in and sits down, we order and he pulls out a plastic box that looks a lot like a retro-type iPod, with controls on the front and side, a LCD screen and a knurled volume control indented at the top front (shades of toy walkie-talkie communicators from the 60’s). Bian at Mel’s - because his still-being-developed portable audio player is supposed to remedy all that. The results have been a “dumbing” down of what is expected when playing tunes from a portable player, be it Apple or otherwise now.

Of course Apple hedged their bets by making their also-lousy earbuds a mainstay for those listening. But along with the positives came the negatives: weak digital to analog converters that pretty much wreaked audio quality when compared to the original content being played through an amplifier and a pair of big, quality stereo speakers. Now Apple wasn’t the first to create a MP3 player (remember Creative Labs, anyone?), but they sure did push it into the forefront of the consumer’s mind. If you want an audio player that’s solar powered, check out our Sony Eclipse media player review. Or how it now sounds so bad in that ubiquitous player that pretty much everyone uses, the portable digital audio player. Amidst a nostalgia where record players were once king, and where juke-box controls sit on the walls of booths quietly until some coins are dropped in, what better place to talk about how digital audio’s replaced analog. Fang Bian, Founder and CEO of HFIMAN Corporation, to meet me at Mel’s Drive-In restaurant in SoCal, CA.

The advent of digital audio seems to have meant a downgrading not just in the quality of the audio file, but in the expectations of those listening to it.

Best digital audio playr