Types of Audio Players

The portable devices that play audio files are usually called digital audio players (DAP). Today the most popular ones are the MP3 players. These are able to store, organize and play music in MP3 format and some other file formats. Among other formats there are: Windows Media Audio (WMA), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), FLAC, Ogg Vorbis and Speex.

But when you are looking for the player that will fit you perfectly, in most of cases your concern is far from the formats it reads. The point is : there is no player to fit everyone!

Players are usually valued for:
design - they need to match the lifestyle of the owner.
interface functionality - no one would ever enjoy a player which takes time to find your favorite album within a tricky menu.
sound quality - it especially matters if you are a professional DJ, or simply a day-by-day listener.
battery life - this is just crucial, especially if you are on your way all the time.

So before you choose a player, have a look at the above mentioned criteria. Also you should be aware that all digital audio players are divided into three major types:

1. Hard Drive-based Players

These are devices with a high capacity of digital audio files storage. They can store from 1.5Gb to 160Gb of music files, these being read from the hard drive. This means that an MP3 player can store thousands of songs.

Some advanced models of hard drive-based players (Apple iPod and Creative Zen) can also display video files and images. Many consider them convenient in use because of their large screens and lots of features. Still they are usually larger and heavier than other devices (being usually built around a 1.8-inch hard drive). Players of this type use rechargeable batteries lasting from 8 to 20 hours per charge.

2. Micro hard drive-based players

There also players which combine features of flash-based and hard drive-based players. They call them micro hard drive-based players. These players feature a mini hard drive of about 1 inch or less in diameter. The capacity of such players reaches up to 8Gb. They are smaller and lighter than high-capacity players, but still differ from flash-based players.

3. Flash-based Players

These players have a relatively low capacity of storage (from 128Mb to 8Gb). The capacity can be extended with additional memory (the 2nd generation iPod Nano). These devices are solid-state (no moving parts) and carry the digital audio files on memory cards (internal or external). They are highly appreciated for shockproof and ultra compact features. Very often you can find flash-based players built in various USB devices.

The flash-based players are protected against dropping or fragmentation. As they have no moving parts, their batteries last longer. Most of the models feature such functions as voice and line-in recording. Some consider that flash players have a more complex interface which makes them harder to use.

4. MP3 CD Players

These are portable devices that can play CDs. These players rather play MP3 and other digital audio files than store them. They support far more formats than MP3: WMA, AAC, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, Speex. MP3 CD players are priced lower than any other type of MP3 players. Plus, they use cheap replaceable media (CD-R/RW discs). What makes them look less attractive to users is that they are larger and can skip when jogging.

Actually this is not about the worse or the best digital audio player. It is about different players for different people! It depends on what you want from your player. If you need huge capacities of storage that hard drive-based players are for you. On the contrary, if you would like to listen to your music everywhere then a flash drive-based player will do just great. It is the matter of preferences!