You might have heard the word “audiophile” thrown around lately, but you don’t have to identify as such to want to get the best experience possible when you’re listening to your music. If you’re looking for some great technology to enhance the listening experience, or perhaps looking for some gift ideas for the music lover in your life, here’s some technology that’s worth looking into.
Headphones
Headphones are a great investment if you love listening to music when you’re on-the-go. The best fitting earbuds will stay put even if you go for a run, as well as help to block out some of the outside noise. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, take a chance on some canalbuds and experience even better sound quality.
Record Players
If you want something a little more old-school, pick up a record player! Connect with your music in a whole new way by taking some new or old LPs for a spin, plus enjoy the oversize album artwork. Modern LPs sound great; some swear they even beat CDs in terms of audio quality. For those who want the best of both worlds, many vinyl records even come with CD versions of the album or a digital download, meaning you can take the music with you when you’re on-the-go.
Subscription Services
If you’re – like most people – tired of buying, storing, and transporting a massive CD collection, then you might want to consider a music subscription service such as Spotify or Google Music. Some great features of these services are the ability to create custom radio stations based on your favorite artists, as well as to play your favorite songs and albums on-demand, all for a low monthly subscription price.
iPods
![Eduardo López, Wikimedia Commons [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons](http://www.techsurprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/IPods_2010.svg_.png)
It might be all about the iPhone these days, but iPods are still the gold standard when it comes to dedicated devices for portable music listening. The iPod Shuffle offers a quick and easy way to throw together a workout playlist, or to just create a new, random soundtrack for each day. The larger-capacity iPod Touch gives you many of the features of an iPhone without the phone contract.
Speaker Systems
If stationary music listening is more your thing, you might want to consider upgrading your speaker setup. The best speaker systems use a separate sub-woofers and between two and five “satellite” speakers. Quite a few artists these days are releasing their music as 5.1 (surround sound) mixes, so it’s a great time to invest in a home theater system with surround sound; you’ll be able to listen to your music in a whole new way.
These are just a few ideas, but rest assured: there are hundreds of great technological breakthroughs out there just waiting to make your musical life even better.
