Portable audio device that can play FLAC files.

[oj113]

Pretty much as the title suggests, I rip purely to FLAC and am after a player that can playback these files. I realise that I can spend an absolute fortune on such hardware but I've set myself a budget of around £200.

Can anyone recommend anything, have experience with such things? And know where I can find somewhere to buy one, preferably in the UK?

[Finlandia]

Pretty much any player will play FLAC, except iPods AFAIK. Sony, Cowon, iBasso, Fiio, Sansa, all make great sounding players. Advanced mp3players is a good place to start looking.

[C0ffin D0dger]

Err my phone does it - Samsung Galaxy S4 + Poweramp app. Pretty much any modern Android phone can.

[davek_964]

C0ffin D0dger said:

Err my phone does it - Samsung Galaxy S4 + Poweramp app. Pretty much any modern Android phone can.

I rip to FLAC for my home hifi, and MP3 for the car iPods and my phone (S5). Never thought to use the FLAC files on my phone, but might try swapping over.

[NDA]

The Filo range is pretty good.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/FiiO-X5-MP3-Player-DAC-bl...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/FiiO-X3-Lossless-Portable...

[kingston12]

The Fiios are good as mentioned above. I have got a Sony A15 with a 200Gb card giving 216Gb total space in a pretty tiny package.

You will need a good amount of space for FLAC files, so I'd only recommend going for something with an SD card slot.

[telecat]

You can Use the Onkyo HF player App on a iPhone. With a special cable or the Arcam iPhone6 cover that will play FLAC at 24/192 if you have them. It also handles DSD quite nicely.

[oj113]

Thanks all for your input. Whilst I fully understand you can play Flac files on smartphones, I prefer not too for a number of reasons, including that of hardware, file size. Call me a Luddite but I like equipment that has been designed from the outset with music playback in mind rather than it being a side thought.

Am liking the look of one of the Fiio units, already have a couple of 128Gb memory cards, so should be plenty of space for my needs.

[Podie]

I'm looking to upgrade from my AK Jr (to the new AK 70), and I'd part with it for £200 if that's of interest?

Edited by Podie on Monday 31st October 06:54

[Podie]

oj113 - tried to PM you, but you don't accept them - can you drop me a line?

[MikeGoodwin]

Do some research, use headfi foums as well.

DAC quality moves on fast so even something like a Samsung Galaxy S6 running poweramp would be a good shout, if you have an android phone it would be worth testing...... Apple products are st. Also dont forget the sound will only be as good as your weakest component.

[George111]

I've just bought a Chord Mojo DAC which also has a rather good headphone amplifier built into it. I was sceptical at first, it's small (portable), looks a bit odd and doesn't look like a "proper" DAC but it seriously does what it says on the tin ! The reviews are very good and rightly so, What HiFis product of the year.

It's just astonishing, for a small, battery powered device it's the equal of many DACs costing 3x or 4x the price and drives HiFiman headphones very well. Awesome performance - wish I'd found it earlier. It's also recognised as a Roon endpoint if that's of use to you.