I've always been a fan of high quality mp3 players. Throughout the years, I've invested as much as I could in them. Sadly, they have been replaced by smartphones. I don't like this as I prefer to have all my music on a separate player that has a very high quality DAC and amplifier inside. However, there are benefits to using a smartphone. Firstly, you only need to carry one device, and secondly that device is almost always more powerful and offers a huge variety of music players. But that first point is mute if you cherish high quality audio, as the amplifiers and digital-to-anlogue converters that a phone uses are generally poor in comparison to a £300 Sony Walkman, or even a £200 Cowon/FIIO. This isn't a huge problem as you can add something like the FIIO Q1, JDS Labs C5/C5D, or the Beyerdynamic A200P, depending on your needs and budget. With a good pair of headphones and your favourite music player app on your smartphone, that's as good as it's going to get unless you branch out into the £1000 HiFiMan portable players and alternatives.