At typical encoding rates, this means that tens of thousands of songs can be stored on one player. These players have higher capacities as of 2010 ranging up to 500 GB. Hard drive-based players or digital jukeboxes: Devices that read digital audio files from a hard disk drive (HDD).Some of these may be styled just as USB flash drives. Because they are solid state and do not have moving parts they require less battery power, are less likely to skip during playback, and may be more resilient to hazards such as dropping or fragmentation than hard disk-based players. Due to technological advances in flash memory, these originally low-storage devices are now available commercially ranging up to 128 GB.

Flash-based players: These are non-mechanical solid state devices that hold digital audio files on internal flash memory or removable flash media called memory cards.This article focuses on portable devices that have the main function of playing media.ĭigital audio players are generally categorised by storage media: Portable DVD/BD players are still manufactured by brands across the world. Increasing sales of smartphones and tablet computers have led to a decline in sales of portable media players, leading to most devices being phased out, though certain flagship devices like the Apple iPod and Sony Walkman are still in production. Some players also include FM radio tuners, voice recording and other features. Generally speaking, they are portable, employing internal or replaceable batteries, equipped with a 3.5 mm headphone jack which users can plug headphones into or connect to a boombox or shelf stereo system, or may be connected to car and home stereos via a wireless connection such as Bluetooth. The PMP term was introduced later for devices that had additional capabilities such as video playback. In contrast, analogue portable audio players play music from non-digital media that use analogue signal storage, such as cassette tapes or vinyl records.ĭigital audio players are often marketed and sold as 'MP3 players', even if they also support other file formats and media types. The data is typically stored on a compact disc (CD), Digital Video Disc (DVD), Blu-ray Disc (BD), flash memory, microdrive, or hard drive most earlier PMPs used physical media, but modern players mostly use flash memory. From left to right: Sony's Walkman A810, and Apple's iPod Nano (5th generation) - two flash memory type PMPs from the late 2000s.Ī portable media player ( PMP) or, digital audio player ( DAP) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files.

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