22 Free Audio Player Software Pieces for Audiophiles [2019]
Look at audio player list on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS and other for audiophiles and compare the software.
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WARNING: This table can contains errors. It is not offer or advertizing. We are not affiliated with listed products. We guarantee nothing. If you found wrong information, contact us, please. To get exact information, contact with the software developers and/or vendors.
Supported sample rate and bit depth may depend on file format.
High resolution audio player software list 2019
| Audio player | Operation system | License | Supported file types | Sample rate | DAC interface | Description |
|
Audio players Windows, Mac, Linux |
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| AIMP | Windows | Free | CDA, AAC, ac3, APE, DTS, FLAC, m4a, ogg, mp3, WAV, WMA, WavePack, DSF, .DFF, other, web radio | DirectSound, ASIO, WASAPI | ||
| Amarra Luxe | Windows, Mac | Commercial | DSF, mp3, AAC, MQA, WAV, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, streaming service, other | DSD to PCM | ||
| Audiogate | Windows, Mac | DSF, DFF, WAV, FLAC, BWF, WMA, ALAC, mp3, other | up to DSD128 | DAC limitation for the software activation | ||
| Audirvana | Mac, Windows | Commercial | DSF, DFF (including DST), SACD ISO, WAV, FLAC, ALAC, AIFF, WavPack, APE, MQA, streaming service, other | DoP, DSD to PCM | Windows 10 compatible. | |
| Daphile | Run as firmware (Linux based) from flash stick memory | Free | DSF, PCM | up to 384 kHz / 24 bit, up to DSD512 | Music server. Stereo only | |
| Foobar2000 (with sacd input plugin) | Windows | Free | DSF, DFF (including DST), SACD ISO, FLAC, WAV, mp3, ALAC, WavPack, AAC, other | up to DSD512 | ASIO, DSD to PCM | |
| Fostex Audio Player | Windows, Mac | Free | DSF, DFF, WAV, FLAC, mp3, AIFF, ALAC | up to DSD128, up to 192 kHz / 24 bit | ASIO, DoP | Demands certain playback hardware |
| Gom Audio | Windows | Free | cda, MPL, mp3, ogg, WMA, APE, FLAC, WAV, m4a, WavePack, AIFF, DSF, DFF | |||
| iTunes | Mac, Windows | Free | WAV, ALAC, AAC, mp3, AIFF, CD-audio | |||
| JRiver | Windows, Mac, Linux | Commercial | DSF, DFF (including DST), SACD ISO, mp3, WAV, FLAC, AIFF, other | ASIO, DoP, DSD over DLNA, DSD to PCM, PCM to DSD | Gapless playback | |
| HQ Player | Windows, Mac, Linux | Commercial | DSF, DFF (non-compressed DSDIFF), CD-audio, FLAC, AIFF, other | up to DSD1024 | DSD to PCM, PCM to DSD, ASIO, DoP | |
| Hysolid | Windows | Free | DSF, WAV, FLAC | up to DSD256, up to 384 kHz | ASIO, DoP WASAPI | To work on music server PC with smartphone app control |
| Logitech Media Server | Windows, Mac, Linux | PCM, DoP PCM files | Bit-perfect PCM output of DoP | Need additional hardware and pre-conversion DSD files to PCM DoP files. How to adjust and use the software. | ||
| Media Player Classic | Windows | Free | PCM, DSF, DFF | |||
| MusicBee | Windows | Free | ASIO, WASAPI | |||
| moOde audio player | To run on Raspberry Pi | Free | Here information about DSD settings | |||
| Pine Player | Mac | Free | mp3, FLAC, APE, AAC, m4a, WAV, AIFF, ogg, WMA, DSD, SACD ISO, other | up to 768 kHz / 32 bit | ||
| Resonic Player | Windows | Free, Commercial | WAV, AIFF, FLAC, WMA, mp3, ALAC, WavePack, MID, DSF, DFF, other | up to DSD512 | ||
| Roon |
Windows, Mac; server on Windows, Mac, Linux |
Commercial | Audio files and streaming service | Bit-perfect, DSD to PCM | Sevrer may be installed on network area storage (NAS) | |
| TEAC HR Audio Player | Windows, Mac | Free | DSF, DFF, PCM | up to DSD256, up to 384 kHz / 32 bit | ASIO, DoP | |
| Technics Audio Player | Windows, Mac | DSF, DFF, WAV, FLAC, mp3, ALAC, AIFF |
up to DSD128, |
USB driver | Read the software license agreement about using limitations | |
| Volumio |
Run as firmware from flash stick memory on PC, Raspberry Pi, other |
Free | MP3, FLAC, WAV, AAC, ALAC, DSD | UPNP\DLNA, Airplay, DoP | Open source music server | |
| VLC | Windows, Mac, Linux, other | Free | mp3, AAC, MLP / TrueHD, DTS, WMA, FLAC (including uncompressed), ALAC, ATRAC 3, WavPack, APE, WAV, other | |||
| Vox | Mac | Free | DSF, WAV, AIFF, FLAC (including uncompressed), ALAC, mp3, other, network radio | |||
| Wtfplay | Linux | Free | WAV, FLAC, DSF |
up to DSD128; DSD256, DSD512 are experimental, |
DoP | |
|
Audio players Android and iOS (mobile applications) |
||||||
| AIMP | Android | Free | APE, mp3, WAV, ogg, AAC, FLAC, mp4, m4a, WavePack, DSF, DFF, other | |||
| Amarra Play | iOS (iPhone, iPad) | Free, In-App Purchases | AIFF, AIFC, MP3, ALAC, FLAC, MQA | MQA Decode up to 96 kHz with Amarra Luxe license | No DSD. Amarra Luxe unlock some features. Amarra Play must be running on same wireless network as computer. | |
| FiiO Music | Android, iOS | Free | DSD, PCM | up to 384 kHz / 24 bit | Raw DSD output | Support HWA (LHDC) Bluetooth transmission |
| Foobar2000 | Android, iOS (iPhone, iPad) | Free | MP3, MP4, AAC, Vorbis, Opus, FLAC, WavPack, WAV, AIFF, Musepack | Gapless playback, playback/downloading music from UPnP media servers. | ||
| HibyMusic | Android, iOS (iPhone, iPad) | Free | DSF, DFF (including DST), ISO, WAV, FLAC, AIFF, M4A, AAC, mp3, ogg |
up to DSD256, up to 384 kHz / 32 bit |
net driver (Dropbox/DLNA/LAN) native DSD, DoP, DSD to PCM | |
| Hi-Res music player-NePLAYER | iOS (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch) | Commercial | ALAC, FLAC, WAV, mp3, AAC, HE-AAC, DSF, DFF | up to DSD256, up to 384 kHz / 32 bit | DSD to PCM, DoP | Check DSD replay issues at online store page |
| HYSOLID | Android, iOS | Free | WAC, FLAC, DSD | up to DSD256, up to 384 kHz | ASIO, WASAPI, DoP, native DSD | Music server control application |
| Neutron Music Player | Android, iOS (iPhone, iPad) | Commercial | mp3, ogg, FLAC, AC3, AAC, M4A, MP4, 3GP, 3G2, ALAC, APE, WavPack, WAV, AIFF, other, DSD | UPnP/DLNA, USB DAC, DoP, native DSD, DSD to PCM | There is evaluation version "Neutron Music Player (Eval)" on Android | |
| Onkyo HF Player | Android, iOS | Free, In-App Purchases | DSF, DFF, mp3, ALAC, AAC, WAV, AIFF | up to DSD256, up to 384 kHz | AOA 2.0, DoP, DSD to PCM | Some limitations of free version. Sample rate depend on format and In-App purchases. |
| TEAC HR Audio Player | Android, iOS | Free, In-App Purchases | FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, ogg, DSF, DFF | up to DSD256, up to 384 kHz | DoP, DSD to PCM | |
| USB Audio Player PRO | Android | Commercial | WAV, FLAC, ogg, mp3, AIFF, AAC, m4a, APE, DFF, DSF, other | up to 384 kHz / 32 bit | DoP, DSD to PCM, native DSD playback | |
| VLC | Android, iOS (iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch) | Free | ogg, FLAC, WavePack, AAC, other | |||
| Vox | Free, In-App Purchases | FLAC, ALAC, mp3, DSD, other | ||||
Download hi resolution audio converters >
Check DSD music site download list (also FREE downloads there) >
Read about DACs >
I says right now: it is personal choise. Below I want to talk how to make the choice.
Sound quality
Playback modes
Audio player may works at 2 base modes:
- bit-perfect (transmitting data from audio file to DAC without altering);
- processing mode (resampling, room correction and other).
In bit-perfect mode, sound quality is defined by DAC and next audio devices.
This mode consume minimal computing resources and is desirable for non-powerful computers.
Processing mode sound quality depend on player and/or processing plug-in.
This mode may consume many computing resources (more quality = more resources), and, sometimes, can't works at lower-performance computers. Also this mode consume more electrical energy for calculations and cooling, than bit-perfect one.
When fans works in intensive mode, they cause more noise.
Gapless playback
Some albums (operas, live concerts, etc.) should be played back as continuous stream.
Some players are able to begin next song without DAC re-initialization.
This ability is called as Gapless playback.
It may be applied for as bit-perfect as processed modes (see "Playback modes").
Also played back audio files may be pre-converted in gapless mode too.
This mode have sense when audio files are resampled or DSD files are processed.
Gapless conversion have sense, when audio player works in gapless mode.
Functionality
One of widespread demands to players are:
- album artwork dysplaying;
- text metadata dysplaying;
- search in song database;
- web radio/streaming playback.
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