Best Media Player to play MP3 & FLAC primarily for audio

[andy78]

Guys I'm looking to buy a media player which will primarily be used to play audio files like FLAC, MP3 and any other formats which are of high quality. Also maybe if they could play some of the mkv formats etc. But primarily they should play the audio files. Budget is anywhere around 3-5k but I'm willing to extend it further provided I will get better results with higher one. Later I will hook up a decent 2.1 Speakers system.
Currently have Asus o Mini in mind but read somewhere it may not be great with respect to Audio.
Eventually I want to build a decent enough setup which will let me play audio for not that much.

 

[aashish351]

All media players in the 3 - 5K range will be more or less equivalent in audio & video performance. And Asus is one of the good ones. Just make sure it has Digital Out (Optical or Coaxial) so that you can add a DAC later when you start your decent enough setup.

 

[andy78]

106 views and only a single reply?
Come on guys!

 

[Amarendra]

Had experimented with ASUS O Play Air but wasnt too impressed. Finally went for HRT Music Streamer II ($ 149) with Laptop and Foobar. Most media players use a moderate quality DAC and u also may have to keep the TV on for song selection.

 

[koushik]

@Andy78 That is because there are lot of similar discussions in the forum. Please check the threads you will get your answer and more information.

There are hardly any media player at the range of 3-5 or even around 10K that will produce decent analog out. All are more or less same when it comes to digital out. Just get yourself a good DAC when you intend to use it as stereo music player.

 

[kaushik]

Ok ok quality Squeezbox ..others dont even think ! putting FLAC to a crap device will not do magic.

 

[girish_sutar]

Western Digital Live TV Hub, is which I would suggest. Well it is beyond the budget you quoted, but then this is one thing which you would never ever ever regret in life buying it, infact I am proud to own it. Plays any media file I have put on it and with firmware updates from WD Team, it stays updated. I got it for 12k some 6 months back.

Definitely worth giving a look, if you wish....jus a thought....

 

[BLASTO]

Your requirement is bad..
If it is music, dump the media players and look elsewhere.

 

[sivasarjun]

How will a mediaplayer do if you add a decent dac?
Digital out from mediaplayer to a dac should work theoretically?
Any experience?

 

[nandac]

couple of days back i saw an article in the hindu about an indian owned uk company selling a laptop for 5k INR.

 

[madbullram]

at 3.5k budget, there arent any media players that play music well. You need to look at 10k if you want a media player with decent music capabilities. I am using WDTV with DacMagic and its good.

 

[sam9s]

^^ madbullram, is WDTV that good, which gen are you talking about here. I have a first WDTV with me, eating dust in my rack. I used to use it for my movies when I did not have my HT, LCD, HTPC and all, since I have assembled all this, WDTV is not used at all. If its that good I might as well try to use to for my Music Needs. I have Polk Floorstands. What the best approach for this. How Much would DacMagic be in India ..??

 

[madbullram]

WDTV first gen is what I have. I am pretty happy with it when combined with my warm Dac Magic, it might not be the best but its okay

 

[malvai]

logitech squeezebox is what i'd recommend... @about $270 it is pretty good... as good as a CDp worth about 35k...

it has a touch screen and will read HDD & display its contents too... its in built DAC is decent.

unbeatable at its price point...

 

[sam9s]

WDTV first gen is what I have. I am pretty happy with it when combined with my warm Dac Magic, it might not be the best but its okay

Since I already have it I might give it a try. Which DAC you suggest, under 10-15K.

 

[andy78]

Your requirement is bad..
If it is music, dump the media players and look elsewhere.

Where should I look?

logitech squeezebox is what i'd recommend... @about $270 it is pretty good... as good as a CDp worth about 35k...

it has a touch screen and will read HDD & display its contents too... its in built DAC is decent.

unbeatable at its price point...

I still haven't been able to figure out the main purpose of this.

 

[madbullram]

Sam: At under 15k we need to look at DIY DAC KITs or look in used market. I dont see anything good in that range.

Andy: Its simple, its the VFM audio player in market. Connect it to a USB stick or hard drive and it plays all your music. It can also play FM stations from internet. Perfectly meets your purpose but costly

check this thread: http://www.hifivision.com/media-streaming-players/25637-media-player-audio.html

 

[andy78]

@madbullram,What about the speakers?

 

[jaudere]

I think there are 2 DACmagics on sell on forum itself.

 

[andy78]

I think there are 2 DACmagics on sell on forum itself.

What's that?