LESS IS MORE

If you want to get the best from your digital audio files or your music streaming subscription, this is the way to do it. Minimal equipment, maximum enjoyment

1 FIIO FH19

If FiiO is charging premium money for a product, you know it's going to be pretty special. And with the FH19 the company has laid the specification on with a trowel: a pair of 13.7mm dynamic drivers plus six balanced armature units per earbud are doing the audio business, and the 'buds themselves are made from titanium and aluminium. The company call it a significant upgrade. You even get 22 (!) different pairs of eartips. And the sound? It's basically ideal.

£549, fiio.​com

2 SENNHEISER HD 620S

Open-backed headphones are popular because of the spacious way they tend to sound. They're unpopular because they leak as much sound outwards as they send towards your ears. But somehow Sennheiser has managed to create a pair of closed-back (and thus not antisocial) headphones that have all the sonic openness, airiness and spaciousness of an open-backed design. And without charging an arm and leg, either. Witchcraft? Sennheiser.

No £299, sennheiser-hearing.​com

3 ACTIVO P1

Of course, Astell & Kern realises its products are out of the reach of many. That's why it's created its Activo sub-brand - so we lesser mortals can get a piece of the action. So while the P1 has none of the bling of its more illustrious siblings, it most certainly has it where it counts: sound quality, battery life and ergonomic good sense. The P1 is an exemplary digital audio player for the asking price; to get the full benefit you'll need good quality cans or earbuds.

£399, activostyle.​com

4 ASTELL & KERN SP3000T