Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2012 • Hot Product

Designed to be "the best-sounding portable music player on the market," the HiFiMAN HM-918 ($1000) makes a convincing case for itself. It has audiophile touches, like 32-bit DACs and a stepped pot for volume control -- and plays most lossless music formats. It can also operate as a WiFi music server, and an optional amplifier card allows it to drive a wider array of full-size headphones.

A soon-to-be-available optional base (price not determined) will provide USB input and output, turning the HM-918 into a digital source for an outboard DAC -- and a high-end speaker-based system.