Your DAC deserves the bits you paid for.
KraiAudio is a Windows music player built around a native C audio engine. No resampling, no mixer, no garbage collector anywhere near the audio thread — the file's own sample rate, straight to your DAC.
Then US$29 launch price US$39 · perpetual licence · 3 computers
Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. Nothing else to install, no payment details to try it.
Bit-perfect, and honest about it
Most players claim bit-perfect. KraiAudio shows you, per track, what the DAC is actually receiving — and picks the best path it can get.
- WASAPI exclusive mode: Windows' mixer is out of the path entirely.
- The engine switches the device to each track's native rate — 44.1 kHz stays 44.1 kHz.
- A bit-perfect badge that reads real device state, not wishful thinking. When something forces a fallback, it says so.
- Verified on real hardware (Topping DX5 II), not only in a test harness.
Everything else a listening session needs
A real library
Albums, artists, genres, favourites and playlists over a SQLite library, with search and format filters everywhere. Tag editing built in.
Headphone correction
Bring a correction from autoeq.app — search your headphones there, export it, import it here — or dial in the 10-band parametric EQ yourself and save presets.
Headphone simulator
Give it a measurement of your headphones and one of another pair, and it fits the difference — roughly what the other pair would sound like on your system.
Native formats
FLAC, WAV and DSF, decoded in C. FLAC decodes in its native format rather than being widened first.
Nothing to install
Self-contained build: no .NET runtime, no Visual C++ redistributable, no Windows App SDK. Unzip and run, or use the installer.
Offline after activation
The player never phones home. Activate once, then it works with the network unplugged, forever.
Try it first, then one price
Fourteen days to decide, then US$29 during launch and US$39 after. You buy version 1 and keep it — every 1.x update is included, and it keeps working whether or not I ever ship another release.
- Perpetual licence for KraiAudio for Windows v1 — not a rental.
- Activate on up to 3 of your own computers.
- 14-day refund, no questions asked. It is a $29 player, not a mortgage.
- Paid through Lemon Squeezy, which handles VAT and sales tax for your country.
Questions worth answering honestly
- Is there a trial?
- Fourteen days, every feature, no payment details. Whether a player suits you is mostly a question about your DAC and your ears, and neither is answered by a feature list.
- How does activation work?
- After paying you get an order key by email. The player shows a code for your computer; you trade the two on the activation page for a licence key and paste it in. After that the player is fully offline.
- I reinstalled Windows or built a new PC.
- Activate again with the same order key — you have 3 activations. Note that reinstalling Windows changes your machine code, so it costs one. Run out for a legitimate reason and I will add more; just email me.
- Do I need an ASIO driver for DSD?
- Only for native DSD. Without one, DSD files play as DoP over WASAPI exclusive, which nearly every modern DAC accepts, and which is still bit-perfect.
- Will version 2 be a paid upgrade?
- Undecided, and I would rather say that than promise free upgrades forever and walk it back. What is settled: your v1 licence keeps working.
- Is there a macOS version?
- Yes — KraiAudio for Mac, sold separately. It shares the design but not the code, so the details differ: the Mac player reads more formats, this one has the larger parametric EQ and native DSD over ASIO. Your licence covers one of them, not both.