The weakest performer in this test is clearly the Maycom Merit MP-100. Sound quality is poor and we dislike the bits and pieces it comes with. The Philex Mpress3 player is a good attempt and deserves consideration. It looks certainly looks great. But the competition here is stiff.

The Pine D'Music player is terrific but is let down slightly by its software which lacks elegance, although is easy enough to use. We also felt that the two AAA batteries it demanded might prove irritating after a while.

All of which makes the Diamond Rio 300 the winner. The sound quality is just great and the software, although tricky at first, does the job very well. It's getting on in age (read our review of its potential replacement here), but is still one of the best out there.

Company: Pine

Contact: 01908 218812

Company: Maycom

Contact: 01392 429469

Company: Philex

Contact: 08700 558 458

Company: Diamond

Contact: 01189 444400

Tags: compact disc digital audio player multimediacard fm broadcasting sound recording and reproduction multimedia music and audio audio formats