If you’re looking for snake oil, Hi-Fi audio companies will happily sell it to you by the gallon. From expensive plugs to cleanse your power supply, to little gizmos to lift your cables off the ground, to extra special plated HDMI cables that supposedly improve sound quality, there are endless expensive products for sale that will only improve your audio quality through the placebo effect. The segment is filled with companies begging for false advertising lawsuits, if not fraud charges, and it gives a bad look to the whole business. It’s a great shame though, as Hi-Fi audio also has some of the most devoted, decent fans, more than happy to help you with your set-up, and some great companies and products that can really improve the way you listen to musicThe Philips Fidelio X2HR. Courtesy Philips. The basic goal of high-fidelity, or ‘hi-fi’ audio, is to improve the quality of each core component in the audio chain, resulting in music that is as pleasurable to listen to as possible, with detail and texture that is otherwise missing. There are three main parts to improve here; the source audio files, the process that converts them from digital signal to analogue sound, and the device that projects that sound to you.Though hi-fi setups can use record players, fancy amps, and endless arrangements of speakers, the focus here is on the basic set-up; just focussed on music played from streaming services, on headphones.The JDS Stack. Courtesy JDS Labs.To start at the source: the leading music streaming service is Spotify, which compresses music files down for better streaming, losing detail and texture in the meantime. The goal then is to listen to less compressed or uncompressed files; and though you can use CDs and vinyl for this, Apple Music has hi-fi quality, as do Tidal and Deezer. They also have a cleaner, less cluttered interface compared to Spotify.Another view of the JDS Stack. Courtesy JDS LabsHowever, the audio source is arguably the least important part of the chain. If you’re spending thousands on headphones, switching services is a worthwhile change — and it’s not difficult to do, courtesy of services like TuneMyMusic. However, if you’re happy with Spotify and using a relatively inexpensive set-up, the difference is negligible to the average listener, so it’s hardly a necessary switch.The JDS Stack from the rear. Courtesy JDS Labs.Audio quality is mainly improved by your choice in headphones, and the DAC and Amp which power them. A “Digital-to-Analog Converter” takes the digital signal from your computer and converts it, to which an “Amplifier” then adds more power. The headphone jack of a laptop or phone does this, but at a rather low quality. By contrast, a DAC-Amp stack — a pair of small metal boxes which sit on your desk — gives far more power to your headphones, creating a louder soundstage, better clarity between instruments and layers, and more detail.My recommendation is the $272.99 JDS Labs Atom 2 stack. They’re easy to use, compact, and JDS has a track record of reliability and strong customer support. Most importantly, they greatly improve the sound of any headphones you use with them. DAC-Amp stacks can get outrageously expensive, and there are some more budget friendly options, too — for example, the $80 Fosi K5 Pro DAC / AMP combo — but, in my view and testing, JDS is the perfect middle ground of great build-and sound-quality and reasonable price.The Grado SR125X. Courtesy GradoThe final component are headphones. There are endless great options here, but the choice should always be wired. Bluetooth headphones are now the dominant way to listen to music, particularly when traveling, exercising, or out for a walk, but even the best are held back by battery and Bluetooth connection limitations. The two easy recommendations though are the $150 Audio Technical M50X and the $140 Philips Fidelio X2HR. Both accurately capture how the music sounded when recorded, but don’t have too flat or dry a sound profile, and are fun to listen to.The M50X are your classic DJ headphones. They’re not stylish, but they’re tough, famously reliable, and sound fantastic for a closed-back pair. By contrast, the Fidelio are a little fancier, but also less practical. They are open-backed headphones. For the unfamiliar, this means you hear the world around you, and your music bleeds out from them — therefore requiring a quiet, solitary space — but the upside is that they therefore have an enormous soundstage. On closed-back headphones, the music feels right on your ears; but open-back headphones feel like listening in a small studio, with each musician around you.My final suggestion is $175 Grado SR125X. They’re chic, famous, and made by a great New York company, but I wouldn’t recommend them as a first pair of Hi-Fi headphones. I love my pair, but their bass-light, twinkly, very-clear and treble-focused profile isn’t for everyone, or every song. But Grado is an accessible, fun introduction to headphones with character, that have their own very distinct sound, and as you explore, you might find exactly what sound type you like.Just try not to spend thousands in the process.
