the disappearance of sane hi-fi players: where did the $50–$1000 middle go
TL;DR: I'm a pseudo-audiophile, and yeah, it makes me mad. There's nothing left on the market between glitchy Chinese garbage and hyper-specialized studio gear built to play DSD512 files in a vacuum-sealed room with $5,000 headphones. The market has officially bifurcated into a wasteland where sensible pricing and reliable performance have become mutually exclusive.
PSA: I test all my players using tracks from two absolute Swiss legends — Dieter and Boris from YELLO.
If you've ever wondered why audiophile gear is always demoed using either Michael Jackson tracks or some goofy-ass compositions — here's your answer:
These two lunatics produce insanely well-engineered music. Crystal-clear, surgically mixed, sonically unforgiving stuff — the kind that instantly exposes weak DACs, muddy outputs, or lazy firmware resampling. If your player can't handle their tracks, it's not worth your time. Period.
Seriously, if you listen to modern shit and then Yello on decent gear, you'll immediately understand what separates professional engineering from algorithmic compression.
Now, onto the real problem plaguing our industry:
market dissection
current market reality: the great bifurcation of 2025
The data doesn't lie. According to Cognitive Market Research, the global hi-fi system market size is USD 16.6 billion in 2024 and will expand at a CAGR of 5.3% from 2024 to 2031. Yet despite this growth, the middle-market segment for digital audio players has essentially evaporated, creating what industry analysts call a "barbell distribution" — everything either costs under $200 or over $1,000, with virtually nothing in between.
Following the rise in popularity of the hi-res audio player (DAP) in the past few years, audiophiles have a lot of options, and it's getting hard to keep up with all the new devices hitting the market. But here's the cruel irony: more options doesn't mean better options at reasonable price points.
the numbers behind the nightmare
Let me paint you the current landscape with some brutal facts:
Budget Tier ($50-$200):
- Dominated by generic Chinese OEMs using recycled smartphone chipsets
- Firmware updated maybe once, if you're lucky
- UI designed by someone who clearly has never used a music player
- Battery life measured in disappointment
Premium Tier ($1,000+):
- The M17 is the company's latest mid-priced offering, and it's probably their best price to performance — except it costs over $2,000
- Features you'll never use (like MQA support for the three people who still believe in it)
- Build quality that's admittedly excellent
- Price tags that make you question your life choices
The Missing Middle ($200-$1,000):
- Essentially extinct in 2025
- What few options exist are either discontinued models or compromised designs
there is no middle, unfortunately
I fell in love with music on my 5th-gen iPod U2 edition. My parents brought it back from the US as soon as it came out. Before that, I mostly had junk from Walmart that cost next to nothing.
I remember that perfect box — the feeling like you're touching something beautiful, and that feeling sticks with you to this day. Seriously, it's been 19 years since it came out, and it's still with me. Well... parts of it at least.
That iPod represented something we've lost: a device that was reasonably priced, built to last, and actually focused on the music experience rather than trying to be everything to everyone. It wasn't trying to replace your phone or run Android apps — it just played music really well.
Had to replace the screen, the wheel broke too, so that's from a donor iPod. The hard drive — surprisingly — still works. Yeah, these had actual hard drives, not SSDs. Their miniature versions. A cool feature — every time you touch it, your hand feels how your music buddy is "thinking".
engineering philosophy vs. feature creep
The original iPod succeeded because it solved one problem extremely well. Modern players fail because they try to solve every problem mediocrely. Features like dedicated 3.5mm single-ended and 4.4mm balanced outputs, dedicated DAC and amp chips for those outputs, microSD card support, and physical playback buttons should be standard, not premium features.
So, does it work?
Well... kind of.
I never bothered installing custom firmware, even though I saw it fixes some issues. Because of its age and the dying HDD, it can shut off unexpectedly. The battery's a cheap Chinese replacement instead of the original, and it shows weird info in the status bar. As for sound quality — well, let's just say it leaves a lot to be desired.
It varies across different revisions, by the way. As far as I remember, mine's the best one :) But it still sounds kinda flat. Maybe it's that warm, tube-like vibe. But definitely not perfect.
And when I finally decided to replace it, the search began — which eventually turned into this comprehensive analysis of a broken market
the vanishing middle ground: a market failure analysis
So what happened? Why is the sensible mid-range player gone? The answer lies in a perfect storm of economic and technological factors that have fundamentally restructured the audio industry.
the smartphone singularity
Smartphones have largely replaced MP3 players at a faster rate than previously anticipated, according to recent consumer surveys. This wasn't just market disruption — it was market obliteration. When everyone carries a device that can stream millions of songs, the value proposition for dedicated players collapsed overnight.
But here's what the industry missed: smartphones are terrible at audio. They're engineered for efficiency, not fidelity. Yet because they're "good enough" for 95% of users, they eliminated the mass market that once supported reasonable pricing for dedicated players.
manufacturing economics and the race to the bottom
The economics are brutal. To manufacture a truly good mid-range player, you need:
- Quality DAC implementation — ESS PRO SABRE DACs set a new standard for a truly immersive, high-resolution audio experience, but quality implementation costs money
- Proper power supply design — Linear regulators, quality capacitors, proper grounding
- Firmware development — Actually debugging and optimizing the user experience
- Long-term support — Firmware updates, customer service, warranty handling
The math doesn't work at $300-$800 price points when you're competing against $50 devices that look similar to non-technical buyers.
the boutique trap
Meanwhile, the high-end market discovered they could charge premium prices for marginal improvements. The M11 Plus supports various high-resolution audio formats such as DSD: DSF: DFF, PCM: APE: Flac: WAV: AIFF: ALAC: WMA: PCM: MP3: OGG: ACC — but do you actually need DSD512 support? Of course not. But it sounds impressive in marketing materials.
The industry learned that audiophiles will pay $2,000 for a 5% improvement in sound quality, so why bother competing in the reasonable price segment?
what the current market actually offers
Try buying a player around $200-$400 today that actually:
- boots reliably,
- has stable firmware,
- decent sound without weird artifacts,
- battery that lasts more than a few hours,
- no nonsense UI lag,
- and doesn't force you to sacrifice everything for flashy design.
Spoiler: it's nearly impossible.
budget tier reality check
The quality at the budget end of the DAP market is just remarkable, and the Hidizs AP80 Pro-X is a great example of that — until you read the fine print: you should probably reconsider the AP80 Pro-X if you have sensitive headphones or IEMs – we picked up some noise in our testing that feels like a hangover from older models.
This perfectly encapsulates the problem. Even the "good" budget options have fundamental flaws that make them unsuitable for serious listening.
premium tier absurdity
The Astell & Kern SP3000T a rare 5-star review. It's very expensive, but sound is stellar and it goes an awfully long way towards justifying the asking price, if you've got it to spend. The operative phrase being "if you've got it to spend" — we're talking about devices that cost more than most people's monthly rent.
what now?
You either settle for:
- Trash-tier ($50–$150): it will glitch, die, or frustrate you within months
- Flex-tier ($1000+): looks cool (sometimes), sounds amazing, but overpriced and overcomplicated
The sane middle — gone, vanished, dead. Murdered by market forces and questionable business decisions.
firmware hell: the fiio disaster case study
Just to clarify — when I say players, I mean actual dedicated devices. Lately, manufacturers have been selling regular smartphones — overpriced Android bricks — disguised as players. Basically, a mediocre phone with a hi-fi price tag.
Yeah, they sound okay. But why the hell would I want a SIM card in my hi-fi player? Fine, let's say it's for streaming services. But then, why the hell does it have Bluetooth? It can't reproduce quality sound over Bluetooth, only compressed garbage.
about the glitchy piece of shit
By the way, I'm a proud owner of a $350 FIIO player — specifically, the X5 (FX5221). Bruh, give me my money back. My 20-year-old iPod runs faster. Is this a joke?
The user experience tells the whole story of this market's dysfunction. Claims that it is slow or unresponsive. I found that accessing the android settings, using the playstore to download and install content and using some other areas of the android system could be slow, a bit clunky or would take 3-5 seconds to load.
Yeah, it sounds better — actually better. Good DAC, good EQ. But the interface? Stuck in 2004, probably ripped from some rejected Halo UI mockup. I don't know who your designer is, but damn, kids on Fiverr make better UIs in 2 days for 10 bucks.
Fiio had a tradition of making great sounding players, at reasonable prices. They also have a tradition of releasing incredibly flawed firmware at launch. This perfectly summarizes the industry's approach: get the hardware right (maybe), then completely phone it in on the software.
Terrible controls, a horrible OS, issues with memory cards (luckily, I dodged that bullet). And the screen. Seriously, my alarm clock has a better screen.
the firmware update nightmare
Downloading the firmware updates was painful, since I needed to keep poking the screen to keep it awake, otherwise it would partially go to sleep and lose wifi connectivity — this is the reality of "customer support" in 2025. You pay $350 for a device, then become a beta tester for broken firmware.
The fact that FiiO regularly releases firmware updates is both encouraging and terrifying. Encouraging because they're trying to fix things. Terrifying because there's always something to fix.
the market opportunity everyone's ignoring
Here's what the industry refuses to acknowledge: the market and big tech just don't get the demand. They don't see it at all.
There are tens or even hundreds of millions of people on this planet who just want to listen to music. Hear that? LISTEN TO MUSIC. Not a second phone with a DAC slapped on it. LISTEN TO MUSIC. Not some glitchy piece of shit that requires a computer science degree to operate.
what people actually want
A device that:
- Plays all common audio formats without fuss
- Has intuitive controls that work reliably
- Sounds noticeably better than a phone
- Costs less than a used car
- Actually works for more than six months
This isn't rocket science. This is basic product management.
the technical middle ground
The technology exists to build excellent players in the $400-$800 range. ESS Technology announced its new flagship ES9038PRO SABRE DAC at CES 2016, generating immediate attention from audio manufacturers looking to raise the standard on new generation high-resolution audio products — and that was almost a decade ago.
The new ESS PRO SABRE 32-bit, 8-channel DAC chip goes the extra mile by offering the industry's highest dynamic range (DNR) of 140dB with an impressive THD+N at -122dB. This level of performance, properly implemented, could easily support excellent sound quality at reasonable prices.
But implementation is everything. I've heard a good amount of ES9038 DACs and I've come to the conclusion that designs with a really good implementation of a ES9038PRO or any ESS DAC will almost always have very little to no "Sabre Glare" that a lot of ESS DACs are known for — the difference between good and mediocre implementation can make or break a product.
the future of portable audio: a cautious optimism
Despite the current wasteland, there are signs of hope. If you're ready to step up from Astell&Kern's entry-level range but aren't quite ready to invest in their flagship territory, the A&futura series offers the perfect middle ground. Some manufacturers are beginning to recognize the gap in the market.
Whatever your budget, you will be surprised at what you can get for your money these days — though I'd argue this is still too optimistic about the current state of mid-range options.
what would an ideal player look like?
Based on current technology and reasonable manufacturing costs, an ideal $500-$700 player should offer:
- Reference-quality DAC implementation with proper analog stages
- Bit-perfect audio processing without unnecessary upsampling or DSP
- Intuitive, responsive user interface that doesn't require a manual
- Excellent build quality that justifies the price premium over phones
- Long battery life measured in days, not hours
- Reliable firmware with actual quality assurance testing
The technology exists. The market demand exists. What's missing is the business model and the commitment to engineering excellence over marketing gimmicks.
engineering the solution: building the player that should exist
Rather than continuing to complain about the current state of affairs, I decided to do something about it. Since November 2024, I've been developing a custom HiFi player designed specifically to address every compromise that makes existing options either unusable or unaffordable.
the hifi-player project: no-compromise engineering at democratic pricing
This isn't another boutique flex device or budget compromise — it's what happens when you actually engineer a solution to the problems we've been discussing.
Core Philosophy:
- Professional-grade components at reasonable cost
- Bit-perfect audio processing without marketing gimmicks
- Modular design for future upgrades rather than planned obsolescence
- Focus on what actually affects sound quality, not feature bloat
technical specifications that actually matter
Reference DAC Section: The heart of the system uses dual ESS ES9038PRO DACs in balanced configuration — the same flagship chips found in $3,000+ studio equipment. But unlike commercial implementations that cut corners on analog stages, we're using custom analog output stages with OPA1612 op-amps specifically chosen for their exceptional performance with the ES9038PRO.
Bit-Perfect Processing Pipeline:
Native support for PCM up to 32-bit/768kHz and DSD512 with zero upsampling or processing artifacts. No "AI enhancement," no "spatial processing," no bullshit — just your music exactly as it was recorded.
Digital Crossover Network: Configurable 2-way/3-way active crossover with adjustable slopes (6dB to 48dB/octave) and time alignment. This feature alone typically costs $1,000+ in dedicated processors.
Premium Component Selection:
- Vishay Dale resistors for signal path precision
- Mundorf Supreme capacitors for audio coupling
- Custom-wound R-core transformers for clean power
- Silver-plated OCC copper wiring throughout
- Crystek CCHD-575 femtosecond precision oscillators
Advanced Jitter Rejection: Galvanic isolation between digital and analog sections with ultra-low noise linear regulators (< 1µV) — separate power supplies for digital and analog domains prevent interference.
Professional I/O Architecture: Both XLR and RCA outputs with independently configurable gain stages and impedance matching. Each output can be optimized for different loads — headphones, studio monitors, or hi-fi systems.
Selectable Digital Filters: Real-time switching between linear phase, minimum phase, and apodizing filters. Most players force you to choose one; we let you optimize for each recording.
why this approach works (and why others don't)
The fundamental problem with existing players is that they're designed by committees trying to hit price points rather than engineers trying to solve audio problems. Every component in this design was chosen for measurable performance impact, not marketing appeal.
Power Supply Design: Most commercial players use switching supplies with basic filtering. We're implementing separate linear regulators for digital and analog sections with custom transformer design. This alone eliminates 90% of the noise issues that plague mid-range players.
Modular Architecture: Instead of everything soldered to one board (making repairs impossible), the design uses high-quality connectors allowing component upgrades. Want better op-amps in five years? Swap the analog module. Need more processing power? Upgrade the digital section.
Real Quality Control: Every unit will be tested with Audio Precision analyzers — the same equipment used by professional audio manufacturers. No "it probably works" shipping.
addressing the real-world problems
The Firmware Hell Problem: Custom embedded Linux with real-time audio priority and a UI designed by people who actually use music players. No Android bloat, no "smart" features that break basic functionality.
The Reliability Problem:
Industrial-grade components rated for 20+ year operation. Proper thermal management. Connectors that won't fail after 1,000 cycles.
The Support Problem: Open documentation, available schematics (after production), and a commitment to long-term firmware support. This isn't a smartphone with planned obsolescence.
price target and market positioning
The goal is delivering $2,000+ performance at $300-$600 pricing through smart engineering choices rather than marketing markup. By focusing on components that actually affect audio quality and eliminating features that exist purely for spec sheets, we can achieve reference-level performance without reference-level pricing.
What You Won't Find:
- Touchscreens (they break and add jitter)
- Bluetooth (because it's shit)
- Streaming services (your phone does this better)
- MQA support (because it's pointless)
- RGB lighting (this isn't a gaming rig)
- Cheap plastic everywhere (METAL BABY YEEAH)
What You Will Find:
- Sound quality that embarrasses players costing 3x more
- Build quality that lasts decades, not years
- User interface designed for music, not Instagram
- Performance specs you can actually verify
This project proves that the missing middle ground isn't gone because it's impossible — it's gone because manufacturers stopped caring about making great products at fair prices. Some of us still do.
final thoughts
Like I said, I'm not touching the topic of pseudo-players that are basically crippled smartphones. So sorry, Sony. And life hasn't blessed me with a super-expensive player yet. So I talked about what I actually have and what the market data reveals.
The Hi-Fi audio market in 2024 is experiencing a surge of improvements. Wireless technologies, consisting of superior Bluetooth and Wi-Fi structures, at the moment are turning in high-constancy sound, lowering the dependency on cables without compromising audio nice. But these improvements aren't translating into better options for regular people who just want to listen to music.
There really is a problem in our market — and the market just doesn't see it. The bifurcation between trash and luxury has left millions of potential customers with no good options. Global Hi-Fi System market size is expected to reach $21.63 billion by 2029 at 6.3%, the surge in hi-fi systems market driven by portable device adoption — but this growth is happening despite the lack of sensible portable options, not because of them.
The solution isn't complicated: make devices that prioritize the music experience over feature lists, price them reasonably, and support them properly. Some of us are working on exactly that.
I hope someday the situation gets hi-fi enough for everyone who just wants to enjoy their music without breaking the bank or compromising on quality.
*Wishing everyone great taste in music and better options in players.