TOKYO, Oct 20 — The Pioneer XDP-100R can handle most 32-bit resolution formats, boasts a premium aluminium case and, at US$500 (RM2,130), is only the same price as an iPhone, but will that be enough to get audiophiles to listen?

This year marks the 36th anniversary of the Sony Walkman and this month, the original iPod turns 14. And while both may have been the must-have tech devices of their day, they’ve also been more or less completely consigned to the history books thanks to the ubiquity and flexibility of the smartphone, a decent set of headphones and, most recently, a subscription to one of the myriad streaming services from Spotify to, of course, Apple Music.

And yet, standalone music players are proving to be stubbornly holding on. The growing popularity of streaming has bought with it a growing concern, among the audio-obsessed community at least, that sound quality is suffering.

In Japan, there is still a strong niche demand for music players that can deliver better than CD-quality music playback, and clearly this need for higher fidelity is not confined to Southeast Asia.

Rock legend Neil Young is so disappointed in the digital compression of both streaming and MP3s that he took to Kickstarter to raise funds for his high-resolution, 32-bit music platform — The Pono Player and Pono Store.

And Sony has launched a new digital Walkman, the NW-ZX2, which from its gold-plated internal wiring to milled aluminium exterior is focused purely on delivering the best possible sound. However, with a retail price of over US$1,200 it’s only for the most affluent audiophiles.

Pioneer’s high-resolution player runs Android and promises 10 hours of battery life, plus compatibility with most lossless (i.e., high definition) file formats, from FLAC to DSD. It has 32GB of on-board storage, which isn’t huge considering how large 32-bit music files can be, but it supports expansion via two MicroSD card slots so different cards could be used for different artists or playlists, etc.

As for price, it sits very nicely in the middle. It will cost the equivalent of US$500 when it goes on sale, in November, initially in Japan, making it US$100 more than a Pono Player and US$700 less than Sony’s flagship NW-ZX2. — AFP-Relaxnews