Travel like a What Hi-Fi? editor with these 5 portable audiophile devices
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Mary Poppins' magic bag would come in very useful for travelling audiophiles: they could just slide in their hi-fi system and unpack it at the other end... and spend hours setting it up.
OK so maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea.
Thankfully, plenty of dedicated audio devices have been designed to see them through their holidays. I have used all kinds of portable audio on my personal and business travels, and below is a travel checklist for my favourite tried-and-tested music-listening methods on the go.
(And if you do have, or end up having, several devices to take away with you, it is always a good idea to pack a USB powerboard in case your accommodation has limited sockets.)
For convenient in-flight listening: wireless earbuds with a neat plane feature
In-flight entertainment systems on newer planes designed for long-haul trips now offer Bluetooth connectivity so you can connect your wireless headphones to it as you would your phone, but most still depend on a good old 3.5mm jack – or, on older planes, the double-ended jack that has you instantly crossing all your limbs that you remembered to pack your adaptor (apparently the double-jack was designed to put people off stealing the airline-provided headsets which couldn’t be used with anything else).
That’s all well and good if you use wireless headphones, but if you favour true wireless earbuds, which typically have no means of cabled connection, you’re out of luck. Unless, that is, you buy one of the few pairs (I’m surprised there aren’t more of them around) whose charging case has a jack that can accept sources via a supplied 3.5mm-3.5mm/USB-C cable, and Bluetooth-transmit them to the buds.
I can vouch for the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 at their current discounted price of ￡249 / $242 – there are no problems with sound, latency or stability – although some ‘Plug & Wireless’-supporting LG Tone Free models also offer the rare feature.
Happy with the wireless earbuds or headphones you have? Bluetooth transmitters like those from AirFly can plug into the entertainment system and connect wirelessly to any Bluetooth headphones. It’s something else to buy and pack, of course, but they tend to be pretty affordable and compact.
For serious downtime listening: DAC & wired headphones...
Wireless noise-cancelling headphones are as obvious a travel companion as a neck cushion – and you can get pretty close to wired-headphone-quality these days if you are willing to pay for a top-end pair. But if you’re going away for a while and share my opinion that a holiday isn’t a holiday without some real quality music-listening time, a DAC and wired headphone combo can satisfy discerning audiophiles while being compact enough to pack.
Something fairly serious such as the Chord Mojo 2 DAC (which I personally tend to take with me) or next-model-up Hugo 2 are hand-luggage friendly and, paired with cans like the Austrian Audio Hi-X55, Beyerdynamic T5 or (in-ear) Shure Aonic 5, won’t have you missing your hi-fi system at home too much, but cheaper DAC/wired headphones combos are naturally available.
...or replace your phone & DAC with a music player
I listen to music on my phone so much during my travels that a portable battery pack, for keeping it juiced up for everything else I rely on it for, is pretty much third on my packing list after my passport and Monzo card.
You can, of course, take the phone (and DAC) out of the music-listening equation with a portable music player that is first and foremost designed for this very job. It's a neater set-up – just add headphones! – with the benefit of being able to carry thousands of local files – microSD slots in phones have long gone, after all – if you aren't an avid streamer or have rare or niche music the services don't.
For taking your music collection with you: Roon ARC app
You can't take your hi-fi system on holiday, but you can take your music library without purchasing any additional hardware (like a music player)... if you're a Roon subscriber, that is. The music management platform (think of it as a fancy, feature-rich and performance-first iTunes) has an ARC app that essentially connects to your Roon Server to give you access to all of the music in your library or let you download it when your phone is offline, wherever you are. That includes your curated playlists, too. Admittedly I am yet to experience Roon ARC, but it's certainly on my to-try list.
For social, casual listening: suitcase-friendly portable speaker
Something unsuitable for the flight journey – unless you want to royally pee off your neighbours and get a ticking off from the cabin crew – but ideal for your hotel room is a Bluetooth speaker. Obviously a portable speaker that is small enough to fit easily in your suitcase won’t be a replacement for the audio set-up you likely have at home, but I like to have music playing when I’m relaxing between sightseeing and getting ready – and to me, nothing’s more infuriating than having to do that from a phone or TV speaker.
I typically pop my JBL Flip 6 in my carry-on luggage, but if you have more room and weight to play around with and have a large living room Airbnb space to fill, either the JBL Charge 5 or Bose SoundLink Max is what I’d be wrapping with clothes.
For holiday TV bingeing: video streamer… or HDMI cable
Some hotel TVs have built-in cast technology you might be able to use, but if you need your Netflix fix on holiday like you need your poolside cocktail and don’t want to risk going without, packing a cheap, compact video streaming stick from, say, Amazon or Google means you can take your video apps with you.
That said, I’ve been caught out with a hotel’s wi-fi network not playing ball with an external streamer, and having forgotten the wall-wart when the TV’s USB port couldn’t sufficiently power it, so sometimes it’s just easier (and largely foolproof) to pack an HDMI cable to directly connect your laptop to the telly (or an HDMI-to-USB-C adaptor too to connect your phone instead).
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