Simple Explanation

A person who loves high-quality sound and wants music to sound as realistic and detailed as possible.

Concise Technical Definition

An individual passionate about high-fidelity sound reproduction who aims to experience music as accurately as it was recorded.

Layman-Friendly Analogy

Like a wine connoisseur—but for sound. An audiophile savors every detail, tone, and nuance of music.

Industry Usage Summary

Audiophiles invest in high-end playback systems—often including turntables, tube amps, DACs, and acoustically treated rooms—to reproduce recordings with extreme detail, realism, and spatial accuracy. Their preferences can shape trends in headphone design, speaker voicing, and lossless audio formats.

Engineering Shortcut

Audiophile = sound purist; obsessed with accuracy and detail.

Full Technical Explanation

An audiophile is someone who pursues the highest possible audio quality in playback systems. Their focus is on achieving accurate, high-fidelity reproduction of recorded sound—free of distortion, coloration, or compression artifacts. This pursuit typically involves specialized gear such as high-end DACs (digital-to-analog converters), low-noise amplifiers, wide-range speakers or headphones, and precise room acoustics. Audiophiles often value lossless formats (e.g., FLAC), analog sources (e.g., vinyl), and minimal signal path interference. While sometimes viewed as subjective or obsessive, their passion has driven significant innovation in the consumer and professional audio industries.