I tried a Hi-Res Audio player for the first time – and it's a game-changer

Getting into hi-res audio can sometimes feel less like looking at a rabbit hole and more like staring into a swirling void – it's very easy for research to carry you away into a world where the only way to listen to music properly involves spending thousands on the best possible system. Whether you've got the budget for that or not, you might want to try things out at a more doable level first.

For the longest time, Astell&Kern wouldn't be much help there, since even its most affordable digital music players cost a bomb, but it's re-launched a sub-brand called Activo to help bridge the gap. The Activo P1 digital player is its first hardware in years, and it looks like a pretty superb new music player for the money. I've been using it for a few weeks to see if it could turn me into an audiophile overnight.

How much does a Hi-Res Audio player cost, then?

This gets one of the P1's big boasting points out of the way early doors – it's available now from a variety of stores, and can picked up for $430 or £399. That makes it half the price of Astell&Kern's most affordable mainline music player (the SR35).

So, that hardly makes for a truly affordable player, but given how many people use their phones as music sources, it's likely that most people shopping for a standalone player will be impressed by that price compared to much of the competition.

Divisive but stark design

Is a dedicated audio player worth carrying around?

The Activo P1 is clearly intended to look clean and simple, rather than fussy and technical, and it largely succeeds in that aim. Activo only offers the P1 in a single colour, white with silver aluminium, and the overall impression in the hand is a little like if an iPod Classic got the iPod Touch's screen grafted onto its front.

The front of the player is all screen, with a disappointingly chunky bezel at the bottom. Turning the player over reveals a two-tone back. The lower two-thirds of the P1 is of clean brushed aluminium, but the top third is sturdy white plastic, jutting out a little with an embossed logo.

Whether you like how it looks is a matter of taste – and I'm honestly still a little torn. I like its simplicity and the little shelf provided by the white plastic bump is actually comfortable for holding the player. Equally, the plastic sections don't feel all that high quality, and a harsh view would be that there's something a little generic about the whole thing.

On the left side of the player, there are pleasingly tactile volume keys, while the right side houses a power and menu button pairing. The top of the device offers up both a 3.5mm unbalanced and a 4.4mm balanced wired connection, while the bottom has a USB-C charging port and a slot for your microSD card of choice.

You will probably end up putting a microSD card in, as I'll get to, and doing so is fairly easy, although I don't love how the card still pokes out by a tiny amount when fully inserted. It underlines the fact that this isn't the sort of player I'd want to use in the rain, or in any conditions where it might get damaged.

What features does the Activo P1 offer?

A player like this lives and dies by the features and codecs it supports, of course, and this is probably where Activo most hopes to win people over with its pricing structure. The P1 uses a ES9219Q SABRE Dual-DAC and has a built-in amplifier system – the Astell & Kern Teraton Alpha.

That's important because the Teraton Alpha is the same system that A&K puts in even far more expensive players that it offers, not just the step-up SR35. So, you're quantifiably getting a pretty sophisticated amplifier in a demonstrably less expensive player.

You get dual-band Wi-Fi support, and Bluetooth 5.3 with support for wide range of wireless codecs: SBC, AAC, aptX HD and LDAC are all catered for. When it comes to playing files, it has native support for basically every file type you could find: WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF and MQA will all work, while files of up to 32-bit/384-kHz and DSD256 resolution are supported.

That's a bit of a salad of acronyms, but the key point is that if you have a library comprised of any of those file types, it'll work seamlessly on the P1 using its built-in software. This runs on Android and is extremely easy to navigate through, with simple controls and a lot of customisation options at your fingertips.

You can also use the Play Store to download hi-res streaming apps, and I found it extremely straightforward to download Apple Music and take advantage of its lossless streaming. Downloads work fine, too, and this should be the same across the likes of Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify and others).

Intriguingly, the P1 can also be plugged into your computer via the USB-C cable to act as a wired DAC for it, which is a use-case that I can't imagine that many people will exploit. Still, it's a nice bonus for budding musicians, DJs or enthusiasts. File transfers are a little fiddly at times, though – my M3 MacBook Pro wouldn't let me access the P1's files no matter what I tried, using the included transfer cables and others, so I had to use a microSD card instead.

The P1 gets around 20 hours of battery on a single charge, which I'd rank as very solid for this sort of player. That said, it's a little slow to recharge, taking at nearly a couple of hours to power back up to full, which could cramp your style if you're not an organised recharger.

Is Hi-Res Audio truly better?

When you get your hands on audiophile gear after a period of using your phone and some wireless earbuds, the hope is that your favourite music will sound radically different. Lossless streaming has narrowed the gap compared to a few years ago, but there's no doubt that the Activo P1 sounds pretty phenomenal compared to the standard streaming experience.

I tested using wired and wireless earbuds – the excellent Technics EAH-AZ100 for wireless playback and Activo's own new Q1 IEM earbuds on the wired front (they'll get their own review very soon). I used a variety of file types, including MP3 and FLAC files of songs that I know inside and out. I also used Apple Music to stream hi-res lossless tracks and downloaded a variety of albums to see how they held up when saved. In pretty much every case, I was really pleased with the results.

I always head to Justice's debut album for low-end bass testing, and the P1 was able to summon up the crunchy detail in its glitchy, distorted layers perfectly. The duo's later work has a wider stage, and the player similarly has the scope to really make it shine. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, meanwhile, had the depth and eclectic noise that I'd hoped for, but with the detail to let me pick out the many individual parts throughout a varied album.

The difference when moving from AAC over wireless audio to a balanced 4.4mm wired FLAC experience is noticeable, too, with songs gaining that extra bit of verve and power that really elevates things. The highs are detailed and piquant, the lows roll nicely without blowing things out, and you'll be able to hear the mids with extreme clarity – what more could you want?

That choice between wireless audio and wired excellence does mean there's a bit of "your mileage may vary" to account for here – after all, every audiophile knows that a good player is pointless if paired with the cheapest earbuds you can find. Still, the flexibility offered by the P1 is a key selling point. It can just as easily accompany you on a train journey with your choice of travel earbuds as it can with a fireside evening of quiet solo listening in a controlled environment with the best headphones you can buy.

The P1 is also fairly snappy to use and really intuitive. Activo's own player is responsive and stripped-back in a way that really did remind me of using an iPod in the best way. Its processor ensures that the device doesn't really lag, even if it's palpably not as responsive as one of the best phones available right now. If I have one hesitation to share it's that it does get pretty warm in regular use, and downright hot when recharging.

Will I keep listening?

The Activo P1 feels like a device that accomplishes exactly what Astell&Kern was hoping for. It offers an immediate and more entry-level option for those looking to dip their toes into audiophile-grade tech, without compromising much at all in terms of quality.

It also establishes Activo as a brand (or sub-brand) to pay attention to over the next few years, and it'll be fascinating to see how it positions itself in the market as time goes on. If you're looking to see what a dedicated digital player can do for your music, this is a brilliant place to start – and it might prove something of a gateway drug.