Most of us today listen to music the same way we do everything else: through our smartphones, with wireless earbuds acting as our constant companions. The era of physical music players is all but gone, replaced by streaming services and Bluetooth convenience.
And yes, Bluetooth audio has improved dramatically over the past decade. We now have codecs like LDAC, aptX, and others that promise near-lossless fidelity, provided your hardware supports them. That’s a big caveat. For example, Qualcomm’s aptX codec lineup is widely praised, but rarely implemented in mainstream phones from Apple, Samsung, or Google. Instead, it’s more likely to show up in brands like Xiaomi or Huawei, which have their own set of problems importing and using in North America.
Even with support for better codecs, Bluetooth still comes with inherent limitations. It compresses the audio stream. The transmission itself sacrifices detail, even if you’re streaming a lossless FLAC or ALAC file. And while compression algorithms have become far more sophisticated, they’re still making trade-offs. You might not hear the difference while walking the dog, but if you sit down with decent headphones and a quiet room, you will.
This isn’t meant to be a screed against Bluetooth or streaming. I use both, daily. But I’ve started to feel like I’ve been compromising too much, and I truly miss something from the dedicated music player days, which I’ll get to.
My Pixel 9 Pro phone, Apple Music subscription, and my EarFun Air Pro 4s offer a seamless experience. Yet something is missing. The experience feels detached, like I’m listening from behind a glass wall. Also, being connected to my phone, I’ll often have my music interrupted by a notification sound or other pops, tings, and sounds that something else is happening, requiring my attention. When I’m listening to music, I don’t want interruptions.
All this made me think back to a time when music felt more personal, more immersive, more focused.
The iPod Shuffle 2nd Generation was my Pinnacle
That little device was the pinnacle of minimalist, personal, focused and quality audio for me. Roughly the size of a postage stamp, it packed 2 GB of storage (fairly amazing for 2005) and a surprisingly capable digital-to-analogue converter (DAC). It delivered clean, punchy audio with a neutral character that earned it serious respect from audio enthusiasts. I remember audiophiles of the day said it sounded “analog”, which was high praise.
The signal-to-noise ratio of the iPod Shuffle 2nd Gen is 90 to 95 dB, impressive for 2005. Total harmonic distortion hovered around 0.01 to 0.02 percent. By Apple’s own standards at the time, it had one of the best audio outputs of any iPod.
The Shuffle could drive low-impedance headphones with ease. Its output at 32 ohms was in the range of 15 to 30 mW per channel, which is more than sufficient for high-quality in-ear monitors. For the first few years, I used Apple’s included earbuds, but around 2010, I paired the iPod Shuffle 2nd Gen with the SoundMAGIC E10 IEMs, which were a revelation at the time. The difference in clarity, depth, and stereo separation compared to Apple’s bundled earbuds was night and day. I also rocked them with a higher end set of wired Sony full cans.
Of course, the format mattered too. I loaded it with Apple Lossless (ALAC) files, typically around 50 to 60 megabytes per song. That limited me to around 50 tracks, but they were always the right 50 tracks. It forced a kind of intentionality that’s missing from streaming culture today. You couldn’t carry your entire library, but what you had was curated and deeply familiar.
The device itself was part of the charm. Clip it to your shirt, press play, and forget about it. No notifications, no apps, no distractions. Just music. Even the shuffle function worked properly. Unlike modern streaming apps, which seem to confuse “shuffle” with “cycle through these 40 songs from your 350 song playlist, forever,” the iPod Shuffle genuinely picked tracks at random. It felt spontaneous.
I’ve kept my iPod Shuffle 2nd Gen for nearly 20 years. In 2015, I had the battery replaced, though the technician cracked the internal frame in the process, which still annoys me. When Apple ended support for syncing music to older devices, I bought a 2011 baseline MacBook Air with a cracked screen just to run an old version of iTunes. It cost me $65. It was worth every penny.
But time catches up. These days, even after an overnight charge, I’m lucky to get 10 minutes of playback even if it does power up at all. Def the battery again, but I suspect it’s simply the end.
So I’ve started researching modern digital audio players. I want something small, focused, and well-engineered. Ideally, it would include both Bluetooth and a 3.5 mm headphone jack, with a modern DAC that can hold its own. I don’t need apps. I don’t need a screen the size of a paperback. I just want a device built for one thing: listening to music, properly. Does it exist?
Turns out, it does. Sort of.
A Modern Hi-Fi Music Rig for 90 Bucks (Because Who Needs Apple Anyway?)
Let’s get one thing straight: the big boys like Apple, Samsung, LG, and even ol’ faithful Sony no longer give a flying MiniDisc about dedicated music players. They’ve all moved to subscription-based streaming empires, smart-home surveillance, and folding phones that still cost more than your rent. Want a minimalist music player from them? Forget it. But there are a few companies that still care. You just have to look beyond the usual suspects.
Enter Shanling and Hidiz. Two Chinese brands that have somehow kept the dream of tiny, high-fidelity music players alive. Both of them cram a wild amount of audiophile-grade tech into pocket-sized digital audio players (or DAPs, for those who remember acronyms not made up by marketing interns).
I landed on the Shanling M0S, mostly because of te size, and it being stupidly cheap. Their M0 line is basically the tiniest thing out there right now, and the M0S version is a slightly less powerful, single-DAC edition of the M0 Pro. Translation: it’s got enough juice to drive all my headphones, no sweat.
I picked one up in Titanium Grey on AliExpress for $71. Yes, it’s on Amazon too, but you’ll pay the Trump Tax on that, so figure around $90 for now, and possibly a lot more in a month or two.
The M0S is the smallest full-colour touchscreen DAP being made right now. It’s got a Cirrus Logic DAC inside that delivers a THD of 0.007% and a signal-to-noise ratio of 126dB. If those numbers mean nothing to you, just know they’re bonkers good. Like “leave the iPod Shuffle crying in the corner” good, and remember, that was my previous baseline.
Depending on what spec sheet you read, it spits out either 60mW or 80mW at 32 ohms. Either way, that’s way more than enough power for everything I throw at it.
Codec support? It’s got the whole buffet: Bluetooth 5.2, aptX, LDAC, and it plays every format from FLAC to DSD and Ogg Vorbis. It’s even got a two-way Bluetooth feature, so you can either beam music to your wireless speakers or receive audio from your phone and funnel it through your wired headphones. And yes, it also moonlights as a DAC for your laptop. Handy.
Storage is via micro-SD. No internal storage, which isn’t a deal breaker at all (we all probably have a spare micro SD lying around). It’ll handle up to 2TB cards, but a solid 256GB one will run you maybe $12 to $15.
Connectivity is straightforward: USB-C and a 3.5mm jack. The 1.5-inch touchscreen works… fine. Not “Apple in 2015” fine, more like “Android in 2012” fine. It also has one physical control: a scroll wheel on the side that doubles as a button. You can customize single, double, and triple taps, which makes you feel just enough like a DJ to be dangerous.
The only thing missing is balanced output, but you’ll get that if you fork out another $30 for the M0 Pro. I didn’t. No regrets.
Now let’s talk about the ear candy. I own a borderline irresponsible number of headphones, from $300 Sony over-ears to my beloved Earfun Pro Air 4s (which, by the way, are criminally underrated). But the $22 pair I grabbed for this setup might just be my new favourites.
They’re called the Linsoul Crinacle ZERO:2 IEMs. I won’t go into review mode here; just know they look good, feel great, and sound like someone sprinkled magic dust on your music. Considered some of the best IEMs under $100 (and way under!), these things are practically legendary. Crinacle, by the way, is some revered audiophile from Asia who tuned these. I don’t know who he is, but I trust him with my ears.
So, for roughly $90 (plus the cost of whatever SD card you dig out of a drawer), I now have my “iPod Shuffle” experience back — only now it’s smarter, sounds better, and doesn’t require me to use iTunes. Which is reason enough to celebrate.
What did I give up? Honestly, not much. Sure, the interface isn’t exactly butter-smooth. The touchscreen can be a bit finicky, like it’s not quite sure if it wants to acknowledge your existence. But the big one? Compared to my old iPod Shuffle (Gen 2), the Shanling M0S is… kinda huge. Not old iPod huge, but definitely not “clip it to your gym shorts and forget it’s there” tiny. It makes you marvel at how much Apple was able to do with their design and tech back in the day.
Still, I’ll take a bit of extra bulk if it means better sound, better control, and zero Apple planned obsolescence involved. And the best part is, I have my dedicated music experience back!
