Pioneer XDP-100R

Wow, check out the screen on that phone!

Erm, it’s not a phone – but you probably won’t be the only one who’s fooled by the massive 4.7-inch display on this high-res audio player – and to make things even more confusing, it packs the Android 5.1.1 operating system.

We’ve seen Android-based audio players before, so what makes this so special?

The XDP-100R is the only one to offer a full version of the Google Play store, giving you unfettered access to every available streaming service, as well as a bespoke music-playback app designed for locally stored high-res audio files. The inclusion of Tidal from the outset is key because even though it’s not HRA-certified right now, that’s all about to change…

Sounds exciting, but how will Tidal be able to stream high-res audio?

The magic is going to come from the upcoming MQA format. Tidal is set to become one of the first streaming partners for the new high-res audio file format, and the XDP-100R is one of the first devices in the world that can support it.

What exactly is MQA?

MQA, or Master Quality Authenticated, is, as the name suggests, a method of folding up studio-quality audio files into far smaller, lossless packages. That means services such as Tidal can stream full studio-master editions of its music in a way that only requires a little more bandwidth than its current CD-quality streams. It also means that the Pioneer XDP-100R can store far more high-resolution files inside it. And with a potential storage capacity of 432GB, we’re talking about a lot of files!