Top 5 Cheap HD Audio Players, DAPs & Music Players Under $100 - Audiophile ON (2023)

The Quest for the Best Hi-Res Music Player Under $100

This article is the 2022 audiophile list of the best HD audio players under $100. We list the best models and give tips on what to look out for when buying cheap audiophile DAPs.

So you don't want to break the bank? You have a tight budget. However, you still value sound and want to buy the best sounding Hi-Res music player or MP3 player for under $100. Let me tell you that it is possible to have audiophile quality high definition music for little money.

Top 5 Cheap Hi-Res Music Players for 2022

• happy r2

• sony nwe394

• FIWWAT portable music player

• Sansa clip zipper

• XUELIN Audio HiFi790

Hiby R2: A feature-rich portable music player

The Hiby R1 is a compact and affordable music player that supports high definition playback.

Advantages:

• Very feature rich

• colored touch screen

• excellent sound quality

Opposites:

• The operating system is a bit clunky due to the size

review

Hiby has always received a lot of praise for its ability to deliver excellent feature-packed high-resolution audio players for people on a budget. The company's R6 players have been a huge hit with the audiophile community, and Hiby has passed many of the high-end features to this more affordable model.

While it might not be able to match the all-around performance of more expensive devices, it's an incredible sounding player that far exceeds its weight.

I love the design of the R2 with its clean lines and simple touch interface. It is well made and so small that it fits in your pocket. The hardware is excellent as the ES9218 DAC can handle a variety of modern music formats. In addition, it uses state-of-the-art Bluetooth codecs such as Aptx and LDAC to ensure high quality sound when using wireless headphones.

The audio player R2 is small and weighs only 85g. It's well-made and extremely portable with a magnesium alloy body and 2.45-inch touchscreen. Battery life is a solid around 10 hours and it has USB-C connectivity for charging and use as an external computer DAC. Oh, and if you're worried about storage space, peace of mind knowing that the R2 supports micro SD cards up to 2TB.

If money was at stake and sound quality was a priority, I would choose the Hiby R2 as my sub-$100 player of choice.

Advantages:

• Ultra-portable design fits easily in your pocket

• Classic Sony sound with Xbass

• 35 hours of battery life

Opposites:

• The internal memory is small and cannot be expanded

review

There's a lot to love about this device, and it's hard not to start with the super clean looks. The style is on point despite being a few years old. Sony packed quality components into a small package to make the NWE394 feel like a premium device. Then you will see that the price is often well under $100.

Features are solid but not as advanced as some of the other digital music players on the list. Battery life in our tests showed an impressive 32.5 hours at 70% volume, with a full charge taking just under 2 hours. That's crazy at this price and size.

The sound is good as long as you use easy-to-drive headphones. It has a fun and energetic voice that is typical of Sony consumer devices.

If you are just looking for an easy to use player with good battery life, then this is for you. If you're looking for the latest and greatest in file support, the other options we'll discuss here are more appropriate.

fiWWAT player is old school cool with great battery life.

Advantages:

• Excellent battery life (20 hours)

• Ultraligero (50g)

• Bluetooth included

• State of the art file support

In contrast

• The boxy body is awkward to drive.

review

The FIIWAT is a strange little beast. I had never heard of this cheap music player, but when I took it to the office for a full review I was blown away. It seemed to have more than enough power to drive my headphones and handled a lot more lossless files than I expected. Take a look at this list as FIIWAT DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 (.dff and .dsf), FLAC (up to 192kHz/24bit), ALAC (up to 192kHz/24bit), APE (up to 96 kHz/24-bit), WAV supported (up to 192 kHz/24-bit.

The body also caught my attention as it was very small but made from armor-like materials. The buttons were nice and responsive with the simple but functional operating system. Oh, and I love the fact that they include a physical volume control that you can use to make fine adjustments.

There are two versions of this player and if you only spend a little more you can get the version with bluetooth audio so wireless headphone lovers can also use this DAP.

It supports 256GB micro SD cards and performed well in our 17-hour battery drain test at 70% volume. A limitation for some is that it doesn't work well with Apple computers, but that's not a problem if you put your files on the micro SD card.

Sansa Clip Sport Go - The Myth, The Legend... Continued

Advantages:

• Cult following and a strong supportive community.

• Powerful with balanced sound

• well refined design

Opposites:

• Some features are missing

The old standard of budget audiophiles and avid MP3 players for many years before the DAP market really took off. When MP3 players were full of junk hardware and distorted sound, the Sansa Clip stood out with its wonderfully flat and balanced sound. your music player.

The new Clip Sports Go is the evolution and not just a cheap MP3 player for running. Instead, it's an overall more refined version of the original that does everything a little better and sounds fantastic.

It works well with most headphones and earbuds and plays many high-resolution formats out of the box.

You'll also find MicroSD card support, multiple playlist features, and equalizer settings to tweak your sound.

The Clip is the cheapest music player on this list, and it sounds good for starters.

Advantages:

• amazing design

• Huge file support, including DSD

• incredibly small

  (Video) Budget DAP Review: SURFANS F20 HiFi Music Player

• Balanced 2.5mm headphone jack

Opposites:

• The screen is very small.

review

Balanced headphone jack...need I say more. This is a powerful little device and the only budget player with a balanced output that I can recommend this year. if you use headphones or headphones that need a little more juice (Like the timeless 7Hz)

This little player might look a bit odd with its small screen, but in a range of colors and a metal body, I think it's a really nice design and has gained a cult following with its incredible list of features and sound quality.

It offers amazing codec support and can handle DSD64, DSD 128 and DSD256 as well as other lossless music standards like FLAC, ALAC and WAV. You also get that physical volume slider that lets you seamlessly make adjustments while playing.

Alternatives:

Did you know that you can turn your phone into a Hi-Res music player with an external DAC and amplifier?

Ok, these aren't DAPs, but a lot of people don't even know these products exist. Most people probably carry their cellphones with them everywhere, but with the disappearance of headphone jacks, they feel like they've lost the ability to use quality wired headphones. That's no longer true, and some audio companies are producing tiny audiophile dongles with DACs and amp chips inside that can turn your smartphone into a Hi-Res audio player.

My favorite external DAC actually has Bluetooth and a balanced jack so you can use it untethered from your phone.

The Audioquest Dragonfly (Original review here) is one of the most popular of all time and is a thumb drive sized amp/DAC unit that greatly expands your phone's audio capabilities. Similar,Nextdrive hat die X spectrum, jCozy has the bar-C. These are all great options that improve the sound tremendously while still allowing you to use Spotify and Tidal.

Not compatible with any decent audio player under $100Spotifyand tidal playback, so using your phone as a transport device is a huge benefit. Of course, the other big benefit of this method is that these DACs use the excellent ESS Saber DAC, something found in daps over $400. Sounds great and costs nothing.

Tips before buying a cheap DAP!

Your priorities need to be in order, there are steps you can take to get better sounding music, and there are multiple pieces of the puzzle that go into creating good sound.

Use well-mastered music

Start with quality master tracks. Music produced to a high standard will always sound better, and no amount of money spent on headphones or MP3 players will improve poorly mastered music. In cases where the source material is bad, a good pair of headphones really shows how bad the music is.

Upgrade your music file formats to improve sound quality for free

Next, it is always better to have high quality source music files. That means choosing file formats that degrade the sound of the original recording as little as possible. For example, low-speed MP3 files compress music files so much that the music loses much of its detail and nuance. Our suggestion is to get high quality files like high bitrate MP3s in FLAC and even DSD. Lossless or near-lossless music formats are important here, which greatly improves the result when combined with other audiophile components. We suggest that you read aloudList of the best music formatsto better understand your options.

Why is it worth buying cheap HD music players?

In the two areas above, you'll get 60-70% of your sound improvements in a portable audio setup. Despite what some people profess to believe, the real improvement in sound is when you switch from one of these budget audiophile DAPs (digital audio players) listed below to one of our bestHi-Res-Music-Player-Listit is relatively low.

Budget DAPs are amazing and have come a long way in the last decade. Although they lack some of the features of more expensive units, they usually have solid DAC and amp sections and that's what counts most at this price point.

You'll see a more dramatic jump if coming from something like a cheap cell phone or MP3 player. Switching to one of these dedicated music players designed for sound quality will make a significant difference.

There are also some additional benefits to using a dedicated audio player to listen to your music on the go and being able to handle a wider range of formats compared to more basic devices. Also a dedicated independent unit with increased drive powerHigh impedance headphonesit can also be a significant benefit for some. Don't forget that using a separate audio player saves your smartphone battery on the go.

Many factors go into making a great-sounding, full-featured DAP, and these are my top 5 picks when money is a little tight. The best portable audio player solutions are currently under $100.