I've always been a bit of a sucker for new technology, or falling into new ways of doing things when I find exciting routes to interesting destinations, so when a friend of mine visited and showed me his Hi-Definition music collection, I was a bit smitten. I'm a huge music fan, though not what you'd call an Audiophile. My friend James and I have a thing for quality Sony headphones, but I'd never really thought about the quality of the source or the bitrate of what I was listening to. Silly me apparently!
I conducted a little research, by which I mean I fed questions into Google. Before I invested in some new hardware, I wanted to know just what was available, and what hoops I'd have to jump through to get it. Sure, I can create my own FLAC files from CD's (though that is illegal in the UK so Google tells me), but if I'm going the Hi-Definition route, I want to go full DSD where possible and really blow my ears off!
So, let's go two routes here, Western and Eastern. Obviously as an advocate of the East for 25-odd years I'm going to have some favourites from Japan, Korea and China, but I also love my Western music, so if we start there, what's available?
Amazon has a good selection, and offers a 90 day trial of its HD music collection. Audio quality on this service is very high at 3730kbps (CD is 320kbps), and also comes with lyrics to help you sing along. They have a comparable selection to Google Play for the Western side of things, and some Radwimps, a piano recital album by Yoko Kanno and even tracks by Gackt, Eir Aio, Angela, ChiCO with Honeyworks, Perfume and Lisa. You have to dig for gold here though, it's slim pickings. For Western purists, Tidal is considered the best value for money with a cheap HD library at $9.99 per month, so maybe start there if the oft-unusual Eastern selection is not your cup of tea.
Once we've exhausted these, you have to look further afield to HD specialist sites, especially if you want to listen to some sweet J-tunes.
Let's get the obvious out of the way - the Japanese are notoriously cautious with their IP, and the most popular streaming service, Line Music, is locked down pretty tight. However, you can obtain an account if you're prepared to put the work in, so I'll just leave this little link here for those who want to go guerilla.
Your other option is the AWA service, which you can use for free, making it the best streaming option right now. However, there's no Hi-Resolution audio. AWA has a large selection of anime tracks, and best of all, you can use it for free if you're only streaming. It won't deliver the high definition kick I crave, but it's a solid option to try full songs before you go down the next route - buying your music direct.
Ototoy is a terrific resource for Japanese music. It will region block some tracks and you'll need some help from Google translate, but it offers a wide variety of compressed and lossless formats. While the bulk of the library is indie artists, it does contain a good number of anime soundtracks, and can be a veritable goldmine for the discerning music fan who wants the very best beats on their gear. Carrying FLAC (PC lossless), ALAC (Apple's lossless) and standard MP3 lossy files, there's tons to find on here. I've competed transactions successfully via Paypal, so it's now my go-to for Japanese music. The site updates often with the latest releases, and my last find was the highly appropriate Sloth by Mili (Bry and I love Sloths!). It's a very introspective and sad song, and it really has a lot to say about society (especially online). Take a listen below with lyrics if you fancy something new and unusual. And what about that cover art? Awwwww! 0.0
Very timely for this article, Onkyo music closes its international site on October 6th 2019, so that sucks. However, the Japanese store, e-Onkyo is still alive and well. Be warned that they don't sell outside Japan, so if you want to give them your money, you'll have to do it while in Japan - VPN services don't work either so you can window shop and listen to snippets, but little else.
When digital sales fail, you can always fall back on sites such as CD Japan or Amazon Japan for physical media. It's still rather sad in this global digital age that so many options are illegal - even if you import the physical media, it's illegal to copy it to a digital format in the UK. Bonkers. This reinforces that Ototoy is the best option right now for your fix.
Despite the problems posed by the seemingly endless restrictions, I always prefer to pay artists so I highly recommend at least checking out the above before going all Jolly Roger and finding music elsewhere - musicians gotta eat too.
The Hardware
Ah yes, the DAP, something I hadn't really heard about until Tom walked through the door, and now I've researched the heck out of it. Unlike your phone, a DAP (Digital Audio Player) is a dedicated music player capable of playing lossless audio using advanced chipsets to create the crispest sounds for your delectation.
I spent days going through online specs and reviews before making my decision, which in the end boiled down to a choice of the iBasso X220, which a lot of audiophiles really seem to love, or the FiiO M11 Pro.
The latter was tricky as it was an update of the standard FiiO M11, which itself was very well received and compared favourably to iBasso. However, even at time of writing, the Pro has no reviews of its own yet, so while it should be better, there's no telling how the new mix of chips has turned out. In the end the £200 saving and favourable M11 comparisons tipped me toward the M11 Pro, and it's a beauty (in my ignorant opinion anyway!). A lovely big screen, simple interface and weighty presence all make it feel very premium, and the sound quality does not disappoint. The only drawback is that it operates on Android 7.0 and as such cannot download apps from the Play Store - be aware of this if you want to use some of the streaming services I've mentioned above. At time of writing, E-Onkyo and Google Play are not available. Many others, including Spotify, come pre-loaded. Be aware that iBasso has the same issue, so if streaming is important to you, check the specs of your potential player.
All this aside, the little box was paired to my Sony WHX1000M3 Noise Cancelling cans, which can play HD tracks wirelessly and has a lovely timbre to playback. Firing some Kishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets in Hi-Def is absolutely stunning and makes my ears melt. Totally worth it.
You may already have the means...
You may even be further along than you think - the Samsung S8 upwards has a developer mode that enables HD streaming over Bluetooth in APTX and LDAC, and iPhone/iPad support AAC, so maybe check your equipment specs and see what you might already have!
Even if you don't have the means to fully enjoy lossless audio, the streaming services above are great places to start expanding your tastes, and if you really enjoy yourself you might consider investing - HD players start for under £200 and decent headphones aren't much more expensive. It's a worthwhile investment if music is a significant part of your life, and given that I spend a great deal of time buried in code and writing articles, the increase in quality has really contributed to my feeling of wellbeing, not to mention increased my enjoyment of old favourites, anime-themed and otherwise.
Let me leave you with this from L'Arc En Ciel's 25th anniversary tour - Blurry Eyes, the theme tune to an anime called DNA² from 1994, back when I was already a few years into my anime addiction. They blow the roof off with this track, it's every bit as fantastic now as it was then, and in HD on the anniversary album, it's monstrous. I encourage you find your own J-Rock nirvana!
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