Play time

A new portable audio player is a rare thing to encounter these days, so Ed Selley enjoys getting to grips with the DTR1+

- Ed Selley

Portable audio players have settled into a niche role after having been squeezed by smartphones and portable DACs for more serious use. The Prelude DTR1+ is built by Dethonray; a China-based company that produces a small range of electronics and earphones.

The DTR1+ uses a Linux-based operating system called Ocelot (not Android), intended to read stored content from a micro SD card - up to 1TB is supported. There is no internal memory beyond that required to run the playback software. In turn, there are no apps for streaming services or wireless connectivity.

The good news is that it is fairly unconcerned about what format you store the files in. The DTR1+ supports every routinely encountered lossless and hi-res format and sample rates up to 32-bit/192kHz. This includes DSD64 and 128, but it's important to ensure the SD card you're using has a higher class rating - as I experience some stuttering with a lower speed card. Decoding is handled by an AKM AK 4490EQ chip and made available to two 3.5mm outputs - one fixed, the other variable.