Customer Reviews (100)

Kudakwashe Kadzungura • 2025-03-24T08:47:13.319Z

The sound quality is excellent and has a lot of great features. Keep up the good work. Definitely my new default music player!

Andrej Garbar • 2025-03-23T16:30:03.156Z

Mighty player one of the best. If to nitpick there is some lag on various devices when going through a track to certain section, also from designers standpoint standard thumbnail of track with no artwork needs to be updated to something more music related, the current one looks more like a chart, also some lyrics option would be appreciated, on ibasso Mango player lyrics synced to a track, so it is kind of live lyrics, that would be nice! Also faster thumbnail update time would be great.

Kevin Columbus • 2025-03-22T19:10:07.781Z

Sounds amazing, helps me troubleshoot and verify USB DAC performance, too! The android auto version of this app is literally unusable. It scrolls itself back to the top of anything immediately as soon as you let go of the screen update* thank you for fixing the Android Auto issue so quickly!

Summary of Key Insights

USB Audio Player PRO is a highly-regarded music player, particularly among audiophiles, due to its support for USB DACs, HiRes audio, and various audio formats. The app excels in audio quality and its ability to bypass Android's audio limitations. However, users report issues with stability (crashes, playback stopping), UI/UX clunkiness, battery drain, and certain feature limitations. The overall sentiment is positive, evidenced by a high percentage of 5-star reviews (51%), but the negative reviews highlight critical areas needing improvement.

Key Strengths:

  • Excellent sound quality and bit-perfect playback.
  • Support for a wide range of audio formats and USB DACs.
  • HiRes audio support, bypassing Android limitations.
  • Direct Bluetooth connection with sample rate settings (recent positive feedback).

Key Weaknesses:

  • Stability issues (crashes, playback stopping).
  • UI/UX clunkiness and lack of intuitive navigation.
  • Battery drain, especially when running in the background.
  • Limited playlist management features.
  • Occasional issues with album art display.

Overall Sentiment: Positive, with a strong base of loyal users.

Quantitative Metrics:

  • Overall Rating: Not explicitly provided but inferred to be around 4.0 - 4.5 based on the star distribution.
  • Score Distribution: 1-star (18%), 2-star (4%), 3-star (10%), 4-star (17%), 5-star (51%).
  • 5-star Reviews: 51%
  • 4-star Reviews: 17%
  • 1-star Reviews: 18%

Data & Methodology Overview

  • Data Sample Size: 100 reviews
  • Time Frame: Not explicitly stated, but assumed to be recent based on the version number (7.0.6.1) and mentions of recent updates.
  • Analysis Methods:
    • Sentiment analysis (qualitative assessment based on review text).
    • Keyword extraction (identifying frequently mentioned terms and issues).
    • Categorization of user feedback (grouping reviews by topic).
    • Frequency analysis (counting occurrences of specific issues or feature requests).

Key User Pain Points

  • Stability Issues (Crashes & Playback Stopping): This is a major concern, particularly after updates. Users report the app crashing frequently or stopping playback unexpectedly, making it unusable. This is the most critical issue.
  • Battery Drain: Several users report significant battery drain, even when the app is running in the background but not actively playing music.
  • UI/UX Clunkiness: Users find the interface unintuitive, outdated, and difficult to navigate. Specific complaints include sluggish navigation, imprecise touch targets, and lack of modern UI features.
  • Playlist Management Limitations: Lack of search within playlists, bulk removal options, and advanced playlist creation tools (like auto-playlists based on genre/date) are significant drawbacks for users with large music collections.
  • Album Art Issues: The app sometimes fails to display the correct album art, randomly assigns art, or duplicates albums.
  • Network Playback Issues (NAS/UPnP): Users experience problems with network playback, including battery drain when idle and difficulties navigating between albums.
  • Tidal Streaming Instability: Some users report Tidal streaming issues, such as tracks stopping randomly or skipping parts of songs. Also Qobuz Login problems.
  • Volume Control Issues (with specific DACs): Some users report volume control problems when using specific DACs, particularly with bit-perfect mode enabled.
  • Android Auto Problems: Unusable Android Auto version, scrolling issues.
  • SFTP Support missing

Frequently Requested Features

  • Apple Music/Deezer Support: Users want integration with more streaming services, particularly Apple Music and Deezer, for lossless audio.
  • Improved Playlist Management: Enhanced playlist features, including search, bulk removal, and auto-playlist creation.
  • Spectrum Analyzer: A built-in spectrum analyzer for local music files.
  • Lock Screen Widget Improvements: More comprehensive lock screen controls and widgets.
  • Lyrics Support: Integrated lyrics display, ideally synced to the track.
  • Play Count/Most Played Songs: A feature to track play counts and create "most played" playlists.
  • Dynamic Island Support (on supported devices): Integration with the Dynamic Island feature on newer iPhones/Androids.
  • PEQ txt import (AutoEq or Equalizer APO)

Strengths and Positive Aspects

  • Excellent Audio Quality: The primary strength is the exceptional audio quality, especially when using USB DACs or HiRes audio chips.
  • Bit-Perfect Playback: Users appreciate the app's ability to provide bit-perfect playback, ensuring the highest fidelity.
  • Wide Format Support: The app supports a vast range of audio formats, including less common ones.
  • DAC Compatibility: Broad compatibility with various USB DACs.
  • HiRes Audio Support: Bypassing Android's audio limitations for HiRes playback is a significant advantage.
  • MQA Decoding: MQA decoding capability (though sometimes requiring in-app purchase) is valued by users.
  • Developer Responsiveness: Some users have reported positive experiences with the developer's responsiveness to issues.
  • Direct Bluetooth connection and sample rate settings.

Prioritized Action Recommendations

High Priority:

  • Address Stability Issues (Crashes & Playback Stopping): Investigate and fix the root causes of crashes and playback interruptions. This is the most critical issue impacting usability. Implement thorough testing before releasing new versions.
  • Optimize Battery Usage: Identify and eliminate the sources of excessive battery drain, especially when the app is running in the background.
  • Improve UI/UX: Redesign the user interface to be more modern, intuitive, and user-friendly. Focus on navigation, touch target accuracy, and visual appeal.

Medium Priority:

  • Enhance Playlist Management: Implement search functionality within playlists, allow bulk removal of tracks, and add advanced playlist creation tools (e.g., auto-playlists).
  • Fix Album Art Issues: Resolve the problems with incorrect or missing album art. Allow users to manually assign album art to tracks and albums.
  • Address Network Playback Issues: Optimize network playback performance, reduce battery drain when idle, and improve album navigation.
  • Improve Tidal Streaming Stability: Investigate and fix the issues causing Tidal tracks to stop or skip.
  • Improve Volume Control issues (with specific DACs): Resolve volume control issues with specific DACs.

Low Priority:

  • Add Spectrum Analyzer: Implement a built-in spectrum analyzer for local music files.
  • Improve Lock Screen Widget: Enhance the lock screen widget with more comprehensive controls.
  • Implement Lyrics Support: Integrate lyrics display, ideally synced to the track.
  • Add Play Count/Most Played Songs: Implement a feature to track play counts and create "most played" playlists.
  • Dynamic Island Support: Integrate with the Dynamic Island feature on supported devices.
  • SFTP Support: Add support for SFTP servers.
  • PEQ txt import (AutoEq or Equalizer APO)

Opportunities for Startup Ideas

  • AI-Powered Playlist Generation: A feature that automatically creates playlists based on user listening habits, mood, or activity.
  • Cross-Platform Streaming Integration: An SDK or API that allows other music apps (e.g., Apple Music, Spotify) to leverage USB Audio Player PRO's DAC and HiRes audio capabilities.
  • Hardware-Software Bundles: Partner with DAC manufacturers to offer bundled hardware and software solutions.
  • Advanced Audio Customization Service: A subscription service that provides personalized audio profiles tailored to individual headphones and listening preferences.

Trends and Observations

  • Update-Related Issues: A recurring pattern is that updates often introduce new bugs or exacerbate existing ones, particularly regarding stability.
  • Emphasis on Audio Quality: The dominant theme is the importance of audio quality and bit-perfect playback for the target audience.
  • Feature Requests Reflect Power Users: The requested features (e.g., advanced playlist management, spectrum analyzer) indicate that the user base consists of knowledgeable audiophiles.
  • Language Preference: Predominantly English reviews, with some reviews in other languages like Russian and Spanish.

Conclusion

USB Audio Player PRO is a powerful audio player with a strong reputation for sound quality and features catering to audiophiles. However, persistent stability issues, UI/UX shortcomings, and battery drain problems are hindering its potential. Addressing these issues should be the top priority. Implementing frequently requested features and exploring new opportunities for innovation will further solidify its position as a leading audio player for discerning listeners.

Overall Recommendation: Prioritize stability and usability improvements, then focus on enhancing features and expanding streaming service support.

Original App Link

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.extreamsd.usbaudioplayerpro