Best MP3 player 2024: Portable hi-res music players from Astell & Kern, Sony and more

The best MP3 players, you say? Well, we're not talking the 2007 iPod classic I still love any more. No, modern-day versions can do so much more than store and play your lossy MP3 files. The little beauties in this guide are high-resolution audio players with superior digital-to-analog converters able to fully unlock the FLAC, DSD, WAV, MQA and ALAC files your phone can't (whether downloaded or streamed using a Tidal, Qobuz or Apple Music subscription, say) so that you get to hear the files of your choosing at their most detailed, fullest and lossless best. 

The players here (often referred to as DAPs) are meant to be paired with the best wired headphones, though many players support Bluetooth too (including higher-res aptX or LDAC versions) for those who want the convenience of the best wireless headphones. But wired is preferable, because even the newest Bluetooth audio codec compression algorithms cannot truly do justice to hi-res music.

Again, you won't find classics such as the iPod here (Apple discontinued the last surviving iPod Touch in May 2022); instead you'll get brands such as FiiO, Sony, and leviathan of the DAP market, Astell & Kern. Many of these players are quite expensive, but that's because they can do things with your music that your smartphone simply can't do. 

That said, we've still chosen options at a range of prices. Looking to dip your toes into hi-res audio? You've come to the right place. Put one of these on your wish-list. 

Written by
Becky Scarrott
Written by
Becky Scarrott

Becky is a senior TechRadar writer (which she has been assured refers to expertise rather than age) focusing on all things audio. Before joining the team in early 2022, she spent three years at What Hi-Fi? reviewing everything from wallet-friendly wireless earbuds to huge high-end sound systems. Long before all of this though, Becky freelanced as an arts critic alongside a 23-year career as a professional dancer and aerialist – most recently in March 2023, as a soloist in Rusalka at the Royal Opera House. Becky has previously contributed to Stuff, FourFourTwo and The Stage.

The quick list

Want to cut the lengthy explanations and just find out which digital audio players are the best? We get it – below, you'll find a quick roundup of our top picks. You can also jump to a more detailed review of each product, and click through to see the latest deals on your favorite.

Best digital audio players 2024: the list

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The best MP3 player overall

FiiO M11

(Image credit: Ted Kritsonis)
The best MP3 player for most people

Specifications

Storage: 32GB
Formats: WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF, DXD
Battery life: 14 hours
Micro SD?: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Bold, organized and detailed sound
+
Great specification
+
Impressive user interface

Reasons to avoid

-
A hint of treble unruliness
-
Not much internal memory
-
Ordinary battery life

You don’t have to listen long, hard, or through particularly talented headphones to realise the M11S is the genuine article. In every meaningful music-making respect, it's got skills – and in some areas, it’s a certified expert.

The M11S is intuitive enough to make trifling or often transient information apparent, and it can relay the most nuanced, delicate and dynamic variations in a solo instrument with ease. It has more than enough headroom to dispatch bigger shifts without issue and when called upon, it faithfully describes big, wide and properly defined soundstages. The treble is perhaps a little on the bright side, but not so much that we'd consider it a fault – moreover that it's our job nitpick and here, we have noted it. 

There's lots to love here including an Android 10 operating system, a touchscreen that's smooth and responsive, a punchy yet controlled and detailed sound and a resoundingly classy build.

The Fiio M11S does an excellent job of gently undercutting its closest rival, the Astell & Kern a&norma SR25 Mk II (also in this roundup). Not to nudge you either way, but it's easy to look at the saving you'll make here and decide it's worth putting into a nice high-capacity microSD card, instead of its pricier rival.

Read our full Fiio M11S review

The best step up model

Astell & Kern A&norma SR35 held in a hand to show off the rotary volume dial, on colorful background

(Image credit: Future)
Bet step up buy

Specifications

Storage: 64GB
Formats: WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF, DXD
Battery life: 20 hours
Micro SD?: Yes (Max 1TB)

Reasons to buy

+
Poised, articulate, entertaining sound
+
Beautiful build and finish
+
Plenty of end-user options

Reasons to avoid

-
Expensive (and then some)
-
Battery life can vary
-
Not enough internal memory

Look, however much Astell & Kern wants to believe this is an 'entry level' player, it's not – it is really quite expensive in anyone's money. Astell & Kern doesn't do budget options.

But the good news is that the premium nature of the SR35 applies to the specification, the sound quality and the user interface as well as the high ticket-price. It's an exceptional player. It's about the size of a deck of cards and at 184g it isn't the lightest DAP on the market, but believe us when we tell you that the four onboard DAC filters and new amp circuitry are worth a few extra grams – and if you can afford it, the more-than-few-extra dollars you'll pay. 

Also, while the SR35 deserves the best standard of content of content you can afford to load up onto it, it’s less fussy than many rival players. So while you should really be giving it all of the 24bit/192kHz FLAC files, this particular Astell & Kern will readily tolerate and deliver 320kbps Spotify streams better than most. 

Whatever you're listening to, the sound this player is capable of is deft, detailed and fun like you wouldn’t believe. Even the shortest listening sessions will become lengthy deep-dives into much-loved tracks, to see what this beauty of a DAP can do with them. 

Read our full Astell & Kern A&norma SR35 review

The best budget MP3 player

The Sony NW-A306's now playing menu

(Image credit: Simon Lucas)
The best affordable digital audio player with high-end features

Specifications

Storage: 16GB
Formats: MP3, VBR, WMA, FLAC, WAV, MP4, MQA, APE, DSD, AIFF, AAC
Battery life: 4 hours
Micro SD?: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Balanced, detailed and absorbing sound
+
Small in size and in price
+
Can handle very hi-res audio files

Reasons to avoid

-
Hard on weaker-quality files
-
Touchscreen not especially responsive
-
Device heats up quite quickly

Not only is this plucky little player part of Sony’s new (but old… but new!) Walkman lineup, it’s built to handle incredibly high quality audio files for a price that is much more palatable than most of what’s currently out there. The Sony NW-A306 was released in 2023 and we’re so thankful that Sony decided to make a comeback with this admittedly nostalgic audio device – the tape cassette interface is a gloriously retro touch. 

Where the NW-A306 is let down is not in its music-playing skill, but in the slight niggles with its all round usability. The menu can be a little unresponsive at times, the battery longevity can vary and surprisingly, it occasionally struggles when playing a standard 128kbps audio file, which is why we we forced to adjust our star rating under intense review (by half a star to be exact). But there’s no denying that the positives vastly outweigh the negatives here – especially for the money. 

If you’re looking for a dedicated hi-res audio player, the Sony NW-A306 boasts an impressive spec sheet straight from the box. It supports audio files far above CD quality – and more than that, it really shines with them. It also has a slim design that can fit in your pocket, which is not true of many hi-res players in this list. 

Read our full Sony NW-A306 review 

The best money no object buy

Astell & Kern A&ultima SP3000

(Image credit: Future)
The best money-no-object buy

Specifications

Storage: 256GB
Formats: WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF, MQA
Battery life: Up to 10 hours
Micro SD?: Yes (1TB max)

Reasons to buy

+
Audio excellence across the board
+
Uncompromised specification
+
A lovely object as well as an impressive device

Reasons to avoid

-
Stunningly expensive
-
Not as portable as is ideal
-
Not vegan-friendly

The Astell & Kern A&ultima SP3000 is the priciest DAP yet in A&K's arsenal of expensive DAPs. It’s uncompromisingly specified (six DACs and full independent balanced and unbalanced audio circuits are just two of its highlights) and you'd be forgiven for filing it under 'high-end jewelry' in its press shots. But if you think you're basically paying a premium for the casework here (it's available in Black, Silver, Copper or Gold) you really must think again. 

What are you paying for? Simply put, your money's going on the way it sounds. Oh, and its big, beautiful touch-screen. It supports every worthwhile digital format going and the ground-breaking independent audio circuitry (it is the only player to boast it yet) keeps the signal path for the balanced and unbalanced outputs entirely separated.

It is abundantly clear that Astell & Kern decided not to compromise where technical specification was concerned with the A&ultima SP3000. And that’s before we mention the bespoke A&K-designed 'Teraton X' processor that nixes power supply noise and any conceivable audio nasties derived from the numerous DACs. The result? The SP3000 delivers both amplification and sound quality that’s cleaner and more efficient than any digital audio player we've ever heard. 

Read our full Astell & Kern A&ultima SP3000 review 

The best premium MP3 player

the astell & kern sp2000t portable music player

(Image credit: TechRadar)
The best premium MP3 player you can buy

Specifications

Storage: 256GB
Formats: WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF, MQA
Battery life: 9 hours
Micro SD?: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Impressive sound
+
Lavishly specified

Reasons to avoid

-
Pricey compared to competitors
-
Large and heavy

The Astell & Kern A&ultima SP2000T is one of the best portable music players you can buy right now if money is no object. Yes, it's expensive, but it has recently been superseded by the SP3000 (listed above), so if you want a premium digital audio experience that might now be available at a slight discount, know that the SP2000T is still in A&K's current lineup – and it sounds superb.

Two amplifier stages offer seven distinct options, while no fewer than four DACs are deployed to handle two channels of audio information. The SP2000T is unconcerned by digital audio file size or type, and it will happily power any headphones you care to mention.

The control interface is clean and responsive. As for the player itself, it is not so much built as sculpted – hewn or forged, even! – though it is too large to slip into your jeans pocket. Astell & Kern has continued this design with the SP2000s successor, the SP3000 (above), which also comes in a limited edition 24k gold casing. 

Read our full Astell & Kern A&ultima SP2000T review

The best mid-range MP3 player

Onkyo DP-X1A on brown surface

(Image credit: Future)
The best audio player for mid-priced flexibility

Specifications

Storage: 64GB
Formats: AAC, FLAC, OGG, WAV, MP3, ALAC
Battery life: 16 hours
Micro SD?: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Amazing sound quality
+
Android makes for top ease-of-use
+
Two microSD card slots

Reasons to avoid

-
A little chunky compared to the competition

The Onkyo DP-X1A offers plenty of scope for sonic tailoring, an intuitive interface and sound that's nothing short of fantastic. 

OK, the DP-X1A does look a little bit like a phone, unlike most of the other products in this guide, but it is much thicker with two audio ports – one headphone jack and one balanced output for those interested in a cleaner and overall better-quality sound. It also has an easy-to-use volume wheel, physical playback buttons and two microSD card slots for those with a sizeable collection of music. 

The player is built with a full version of Android, complete with Wi-Fi connectivity and the Google Play Store, which results in it being kind of like an Android version of the iPod touch, able to do much more than just play music. However, the Onkyo DP-X1A is built for super-high-quality audio, and it's an absolute dream. It supports a range of music formats, including FLAC, OGG, WAV, MP3, ALAC, and more. In terms of hardware, the device has two chipsets, one to power the overall device, and one to handle the DAC and amplifier – resulting in a noise-free experience. 

We tested the player with multiple pairs of headphones across multiple price ranges, and were stunned with the clarity and exceptional quality of the audio. There’s a reason the Onkyo DP-X1A sits atop this list – it’s a beast in the portable audio world. 

Read our full Onkyo DP-X1A review

The best MP3 player for design

Astell & Kern A&norma SR25 MKII with Radiohead playing, on white background

(Image credit: TechRadar)
A thing of brutalist beauty and a joy to listen to

Specifications

Storage: 64GB
Formats: WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF, MQA
Battery life: 20 hours
Micro SD?: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Expressive, expansive, decisive sound
+
Bright, vivid screen
+
Impressive 20-hour battery

Reasons to avoid

-
Can easily be considered expensive – even though it isn't
-
Angled screen may not suit all viewers
-
The glass back can collect fingerprint smudges

Give this A&K your music, sit back and relax – if it doesn't wow you, we don't know what will. (Well, maybe the SP2000T.) The A&norma SR25 MKII is a gifted digital audio player that will reignite your love of music. And unlike many of the A&K's more pricey players (one of which is listed directly above here), this one is small enough to put in a pocket and will keep you streaming, pinging or downloading once-treasured songs to it, just to see what it makes of them. 

As well as a new 4.4mm headphone jack, the MKII unit (an update on the A&norma SR25, listed below in this guide) also boasts a new Replay Gain function to uniformly adjust volume playback from sound sources up to 24-bit/192 kHz. You're also getting AK File Drop (first introduced in the pricier A&futura SE180 player) for easier wireless file transfers; BT Sink function for simpler connection of the SR25 MKII to an external Bluetooth device and extra internal silver-plated shielding to protect from electromagnetic interference. 

Although it hasn't been shouted about, four new and quite different-sounding DAC filters are also onboard, which will work if listening in 24-bit/192kHz or less PCM (although they won't work in MQA and DSD formats) and they certainly add value and scope for customization at the level. If your budget stretches to this player and not a penny more, you won't be disappointed.

And the final important touch is its unique design, with an off-angle screen and the looks of a deck of cards that's been twisted. Everyone will want to hold it and play with it.

Read our full Astell & Kern A&norma SR25 MKII review 

Other MP3 players to consider

Looking for something else? We haven't tested the MP3 players below ourselves, but they fill niches we haven't touched on above, and come with great customer reviews.

the sandisk clip plus mp3 player in blue

(Image credit: SanDisk)

SanDisk Clip Sport Plus

The best MP3 player for sports

Specifications

Storage: 16GB
Formats: MP3, WMA (NO DRM), AAC (DRM free iTunes) WAV, FLAC
Battery life: 20 hours
Micro SD?: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Ultra-portable and light
+
Inexpensive compared to competitors
+
Easy-to-use

Reasons to avoid

-
Audio quality isn’t as good as others

The best option for working out, this MP3 player is small and light. It only offers 16GB of storage and although that’s not much in comparison to a phone, it still holds plenty of songs. Despite being built for sport, it supports a pretty wide range of audio formats – including MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV, and WMA.

During testing, we found the battery life is impressive at 20 hours. You also get Bluetooth, which is important for exercise so cables don’t get in the way. 

The interface is dated, not as powerful as your smartphone and it’s not touch-sensitive. But it’s easy to navigate via hardware buttons that serve as playback controls. 

As long as you don’t expect full audiophile-level quality here, you'll find the sound very capable. We found it to be slightly muddy with a small dip in clarity, but for most people that won’t matter – especially when you're out on a run or hitting the gym.

The astell & kern ak jr mp3 player in silver

(Image credit: Astell & Kern)

Astell & Kern AK Jr

The second best mid-range MP3 player

Specifications

Storage: 64GB
Formats: WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE(Normal, High, Fast), AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF
Battery life: 9 hours
Micro SD?: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Beautifully designed
+
Audio sounds great
+
Offers Bluetooth

Reasons to avoid

-
Touchscreen isn't responsive enough

The Astell & Kern AK Jr is a great mid-range MP3 player and a serious contender against the more expensive players on the list. You get 64GB of onboard storage and there’s a microSD card slot if you want to expand it. It also supports major audio formats, including FLAC, WAV, MP3, AAC, AIFF, and more – and it’s able to play at sample rates of up to 192kHz.

The interface is easy to control. Tap through options using the touchscreen, and select the music you want to listen to. It could be more responsive, but you get used to it. Battery life is around nine hours, which isn't amazing, but not terrible either. 

Music is dynamic and crisp, with a nice and powerful sound. The soundstage on these, when paired with a great pair of headphones, is huge – that’s to say the left and right are clearly defined, while instruments placed at the center of a mix are given plenty of room to breathe. We enjoyed the guitar solo on AC/DC’s Back in Black, while Eminem’s rap on Lose Yourself cut straight through the mix – exactly the way it’s supposed to.

sony nw 155l

(Image credit: sony)

4. Sony NW 155L

Another great budget MP3 player

Specifications

Storage: 16GB
Formats: MP3, WMA, FLAC, WAV, AAC, HE-AAC, Apple Lossless, AIFF, DSD, APE, MQA
Battery life: 45 hours
MicroSD?: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Good, solid sound performance
+
Bluetooth
+
Great file support

Reasons to avoid

-
Not much storage without a microSD

A high-res MP3 player from Sony that's affordable – especially in comparison to some of the higher-end devices from the likes of Astell & Kern. 

This MP3 player is short on storage with only 16GB internally. But with a microSD card you can bump that up significantly. It boasts an impressive 45 hours of battery life and supports a wide range of formats.

Sound is clear and powerful and although it might not be the best out there, it's a huge improvement over listening to music on your phone.

cowon plenue d3

(Image credit: cowon plenue d3)

5. Cowon Plenue D3

Another fantastic audio player for design lovers

Specifications

Storage: 64GB
Formats: DSD, DFF, DSF, ISO, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, ALAC, APE, MP3, WMA, OGG, DCF
Battery life: 45 hours
MicroSD?: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Great design compared to competitors
+
Small, light and portable
+
Impressive 45 hour battery life

Reasons to avoid

-
Screen is a little low-res
-
No Wi-Fi streaming

This is a small (it's about the size of a matchbox), light and stylish music player with a simple and chic design, plus a screen that covers the entirety of it's front panel. It's an upgrade on Cowon's previous D2 model, this time with a volume dial, Bluetooth and more features.

It also offers exceptional battery life. You'll get 45 hours of playback time with regular MP3 files and more than 30 hours with high-res files – which, again, beats most of the competitors on this list. 

It supports a huge range of formats, including DSD (DFF, DSF, ISO), FLAC, WAV, AIFF, ALAC, APE, MP3, WMA, OGG and DCF. Music sounds brilliant and with Bluetooth, you can listen on a range of different devices – although note that there's no Wi-Fi streaming available, and if you've got hard-to-drive wired headphones you can't expect the world from this tiny player. 

How to choose the best MP3 player

Pair one of the devices in this buying guide with a set of the best wired headphones you’ve got the ultimate in premium, portable music: high-quality sound ready for your road-trip.

So how do you select one? Well, you're in luck. Because the market is increasingly geared towards the audiophile (the kind of people who won't touch Spotify's lossy streams), firms are constantly innovating. These days, ever improving sound quality in the wired and wireless realms, hi-res audio support and seriously impressive built-in DACs (Digital-to-Analog Converters) are making already impressive players even better. 

And there's style to match the substance, with manufacturers also vying to deliver players that look as good as they sound. Fan of brutalist architecture? Astell & Kern is the name for you. Something a bit more colorful? See SanDisk or Sony. Want something about the size of a matchbox? Cowon's Plenue D3 is the badger – see them all in our guide above.

Why do people still use MP3 players?

There are lots of very good reasons to use a dedicated digital audio player. The biggest one is arguably sound quality: depending on the device, you can listen to much higher quality versions of tracks than anything you'll be able to stream from your phone – especially if your device has a headphone jack, which most mobile devices lack. For serious music fans, this is a major consideration: Bluetooth audio quality is getting better, but for full hi-res audio you still need your headphones to be wired. Even Apple's most expensive headphones, the AirPods Max, can't deliver Apple Music's Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless file quality wirelessly.

Another reason to get a DAP is curation of music; not everything you want to listen to is available on the best music streaming services – and not everything that's there today might be there tomorrow, because songs and even artists come and go (or pull their work from your chosen streaming service overnight). By synchronising an MP3 player with your desktop music collection you can always be sure that you can hear what you want to hear. A big bonus for many people is that with your own music collection, you don't need to pay a monthly subscription to listen to it, or to listen to it without ads. 

Although it's less of an issue than it used to be, another reason many music fans preferred MP3 players is because they were designed to do one thing and one thing only: play music. Most smartphones weren't, and thus, the audio performance wasn't brilliant – the inexpensive DAC squirrelled away in the phone could only do so much. Battery life and storage space weren't always great either. 

It's also worth pointing out that MP3 players don't require you to have a mobile phone connection or wi-fi to get your music, so you can happily wander far and wide (or hop on a flight, subway or fast train) without losing your soundtracks.

Is an MP3 player worth buying?

Whether you should buy an MP3 player or not depends on what you want to use it for. If you're trying to avoid being glued to your phone, checking social media or taking work calls when you want to relax and immerse yourself in music, an MP3 player can be a great option to cut ties with the distractions of your phone – and the rest of the world.

Some people enjoy listening to MP3 players when they work out, so they don't have their phone with them. Is this to keep calls and messages at bay while they run, or is it keep their expensive smartphone safe at the gym? We can't say for sure, but they're both good perks. 

Depending on the mobile model and plan you've gone for, you might not have a great deal of space on your phone for downloaded music, so if you want to store music elsewhere a dedicated player is also a great shout. 

MP3 players won't suit everyone; many music-lovers cannot perceive (or are prepared to accept) the difference in audio quality and like the convenience of streaming on their phones, but there are plenty of reasons why an MP3 player is a game-changing buy for some people.

Is MP3 quality as good as CD?

The short answer is no. That's because MP3 is a "lossy" format: in order to make MP3 files as small as possible, some of the audio information is removed – frequencies most of us cannot hear, anything less noticeable to the human ear. This is often described as 'compressed' audio. With a CD, music is stored with a resolution of 1,411 kilobits per second. For clarity, the best possible quality MP3 has a resolution of 320 kilobits per second. So clearly there's a lot less data in even the highest quality MP3 file.

What's clever about MP3 is that it tries to get rid of the audio information you'll miss the least. For example, one of the most obvious signs that you're listening to an MP3 instead of a CD isn't because one of the instruments has gone AWOL. MP3 doesn't do that. But you'll probably notice a lack of really deep bass, and a more "splashy" sound on higher frequencies such as the drummer's cymbals and hi-hats. The lower the quality, the more obvious these things become – and at the very lowest quality, MP3s sound like someone's playing them on a really bad radio.

For many people the convenience of MP3s – you can fit more on your device, streaming uses less mobile data and you don't need a really good internet connection – outweighs the loss of sound quality, especially if you're listening on the move. But MP3 is a fairly old standard now, and there are better options.

As the name suggests, lossless audio is any music file that has been recorded, packaged, stored, unlocked and played in a way that doesn't incur any 'loss' to the musical information, and 'hi-res' files are those boasting greater than 44.1kHz sample rate or higher than 16-bit audio bit depth – ie. better-than-CD quality.

How we test the best MP3 players

We test dozens of hi-res portable music players every year at TechRadar, and that means we know exactly which features, specs, file support and wireless audio codecs to look for. It's important for us to compare the performance of these players against the claims made by their manufacturers, which is why we take the time to make sure the stamina, durability, connectivity and sound quality claims are legit.

We make sure to test each product against its chief competitors too, so you can be sure that if we say so, the product is the best bet for the money. We live with these players for weeks and we run them in religiously so that the components have 'bedded in' before we commence our tests, and we don't finish testing until we are certain of the sound quality.

On this, we test the audio performance using a range of musical genres and with both wired and wireless headphones – and streamed and downloaded music from various sources, to ensure that these products can handle everything from thumping dance tracks to softly-spoken podcasts in whatever format we throw at them. 

After more collective years in this game than we'd care to divulge, we are truly confident that our star-rated reviews are the best indication of the quality. There are no sales teams involved in our verdicts and we're not getting paid bonuses to hand out extra stars, which gives us complete impartiality. It also means if we don't like it for sound, design, usability and features, we simply won't recommend it here. 

The latest updates to this best MP3 players guide

January 30, 2024
Added the Astell & Kern A&norma SR35 and the Astell & Kern A&ultima SP3000. Re-ordered to reflect the newer products and updated copy throughout. The SR25 MkII and SP2000T remain in this list because although older, they're still in the current lineup at A&K and they may well receive certain discounts in upcoming sales events. 

December 6, 2023
We still haven't yet reviewed Astell & Kern's SP3000 but with a new limited edition gold casing being released, that may very well soon change. For now, though, our list has remained unchanged. 

September 25, 2023
Added new navigation features to make it easier to find particular models. Updated the list based on our latest reviews, and removed models no longer available to buy.

Becky Scarrott
Senior Audio Staff Writer

Becky is a senior staff writer at TechRadar (which she has been assured refers to expertise rather than age) focusing on all things audio. Before joining the team, she spent three years at What Hi-Fi? testing and reviewing everything from wallet-friendly wireless earbuds to huge high-end sound systems. Prior to gaining her MA in Journalism in 2018, Becky freelanced as an arts critic alongside a 22-year career as a professional dancer and aerialist – any love of dance starts with a love of music. Becky has previously contributed to Stuff, FourFourTwo and The Stage. When not writing, she can still be found throwing shapes in a dance studio, these days with varying degrees of success.  

With contributions from