Music lovers hate to have their music out of reach. And that’s why portable music technology is so essential to them! If you’re looking to improve your portable music experience, look no further.

Getting the right player

There is a tremendous amount of mp3 players these days. For my money, the best of the bunch is still the iPod – provided you can find a classic 6th generation one. The iPod Touch might be perfect for many, but the old-school click wheel, plus the massive 120-180GB storage (compared to modern iPhones’ pathetic 8-32GB storage) is still the leader when it comes to portable devices for aficionados. Unfortunately, Apple discontinued them, presumably because you didn’t need to give them personal data to use them. Still, there are loads of great players out there today. Check out http://gearpatrol.com/2015/05/14/6-best-portable-hi-fi-music-players/.

Buying music

The best way to experience portable music is to actually own the music. Otherwise, you’re just going to be streaming low-quality stuff at expensive data-consumptions rates (more about that later). Actually having the full-quality music files to listen to offline makes the process so much easier. Unfortunately, a lot of people seem averse to the idea of paying for music! Still, there’s no denying that it’s the best way to build your offline, portable library. If you need convincing about buying CDs, read http://www.papermag.com/10-reasons-you-should-still-buy-cds-1426972491.html.

The perfect headphones

Some people are perfectly happy with the ‘phones that you get bundled with your music player, be it an iPod or a phone. But people who are really into their music and care about the fidelity of the experience need something with a bit more oomph. The ‘phones bundled with your (they’ll be earphones as opposed to headphones) are usually worth about $10, if that. People who want really good audio quality from their headphones will often pay triple digits. Instead of specific suggestions, we’ll direct you to http://lifehacker.com/5800772/how-to-choose-the-perfect-pair-of-headphones!

Portable speakers

If you’re going camping, picnicking, or simply hanging out at a friend’s house or in the garden, then portable Bluetooth speakers could be the perfect thing for you. These can come in very handy when you use them with an MP3 player, and they’re definitely useful if you want to play music on your phone. There’s nothing quite as annoying as listening to music that’s being played through those unimpressive phone speakers. Find out more over at http://www.speakerdigital.com/best-under-50/.

Data plans and streaming services

No matter how large the storage on your MP3 player is, there is always going to be more music on streaming services! Some don’t seem to want to move away from free Spotify, but if you like your music portable and ad-free, it’s best to go with something like Tidal or Apple Music. Tidal allows you to download music to your phone so you can play it offline (if you’re using the Tidal app). But if you want full access to these libraries when you’re around, you need to be online – so you should look for a mobile data plan that allows for a lot of data, because an album can often take at least 120mb! Read more at http://www.consumerreports.org/smartphones/best-smartphone-data-plans-for-streaming/.