Nyquist Player vs KiruLaya
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Nyquist Player
A file-first music player for audiophiles with large local libraries. It offers bit-perfect playback, true gapless transitions, and advanced track analysis tools. Stream to network receivers and manage huge libraries with ease.
- Bit-perfect playback
- True gapless transitions
- Network streaming (UPnP/DLNA)
- Advanced track analysis
- On-device search
- Large library management
- NAS support
- Portable playlists
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Nyquist is a native, file-first music player for audiophiles who keep large local libraries on SSDs, external drives, and NAS shares. It is not a streaming app — it is a fast, precise playback tool built for people who care about sample rates, bit depth, and an honest signal path. WHY NYQUIST • Bit-perfect intent — On macOS, Nyquist matches your DAC's hardware sample rate to each file (44.1 → 88.2/176.4, 48 → 96/192) and waits for the clock to re-lock so CoreAudio performs no resampling. No cross-family conversions are ever forced on your music. • True gapless playback — Sample-accurate transitions between tracks of the same format, so albums by Pink Floyd, Tool, Daft Punk, live sets, and classical recordings flow without a single gap. • Network play — Discover UPnP/DLNA receivers on your network (Denon, HEOS, and friends) and stream the original file straight to them, with gapless hand-off on receivers that support it. Network devices sit right next to your DACs in the output picker. • Track analysis — A built-in lab for every file: a whole-track waveform with peak, RMS, and dynamic-range readouts; EBU R128 / BS.1770 integrated loudness with ReplayGain; a long-term spectrum that exposes upsampled "hi-res" and lossy-sourced "lossless" files; a full spectrogram; plus live spectrum, level meters, and a stereo goniometer — each with a plain-language verdict. • On-device search — A private, persistent index of your saved locations, with filters by file type and metadata field (title, artist, album, genre, composer, label, year, format). Nothing leaves your device. • Built for huge libraries — Folder-first browsing that behaves like a high-performance file browser, not a slow database. Lazy-loaded discovery means no full-library scan before you can press play, even across 50,000+ tracks. A topology view classifies your folders into artists, albums, EPs, singles, live sets, compilations, box sets, and discs. • NAS-aware — Add SMB shares directly or through the Files app. Remote tracks start instantly while a background copy makes seeks immediate, and the next track is prefetched for seamless rotation. • Playlists — Organize your music into groups and playlists saved as portable .m3u8 files in a folder you choose. Point every device at the same folder — including a NAS share added through the Files app — and your playlists stay in sync across Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Build them from tracks, whole folders, or the current queue, then reorder and edit them anywhere. • Background playback — On iPhone and iPad, playback keeps going when you lock the screen or switch apps, with working lock-screen and Control Center transport — including while streaming to a network receiver. • Flexible volume — On iPhone and iPad the slider follows your device's system volume; on macOS, choose software gain, your DAC's own hardware volume (bit-perfect at any level), or a fixed 100% for maximum purity. An optional limiter caps the level across every output — even against the hardware volume buttons — to prevent accidental loud jumps. • Exclusive (hog) mode — Optionally take exclusive ownership of your DAC during playback on macOS. • Flexible output routing — On macOS, choose the exact CoreAudio output device (USB DAC, built-in, and more); your choice is remembered across launches. On iPhone and iPad, send audio to AirPlay, Bluetooth, or wired outputs with the system route picker. • Deep technical transparency — Inspect format, sample rate, bit depth (with FLAC/ALAC recovery), channel count, codec, and a live signal-path view showing source rate, output rate, and bit-perfect / resampling / exclusive status. • Memory-friendly — Tracks are streamed from disk frame-by-frame, never decoded whole into RAM, so even 24/192 material stays light on resources. SUPPORTED FORMATS FLAC, ALAC, MP3, AIFF, WAV, and AAC today. The engine is format-agnostic, with DSD and SACD ISO planned.
KiruLaya
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KiruLaya is a premium, on-device music player for the collection you already own — built to play it honestly, at its very best. TRUE HIGH-RESOLUTION SOUND • Plays your local audio in high resolution — FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, AAC, MP3 and more • An honest output meter shows the real sample rate reaching your ears — gold when it's bit-perfect, never faked • True gapless playback — no silence between tracks • ReplayGain for consistent loudness, read from your own tags • A 5-band parametric EQ, adjustable live YOUR LIBRARY, BEAUTIFULLY ORGANISED • Album-aware — groups by album-artist, handles compilations and classical • Queues, playlists, and context-aware repeat • The now-playing screen gently takes on your artwork's colour • Full background and lock-screen playback VIDEO → AUDIO • Add a video and KiruLaya keeps just its soundtrack — bit-identical, no re-encode — so your favourite live sets, concerts and talks live in your music library as clean audio. BREATHE — A PRANAYAMA PACER • A calm pranayama breathing pacer that plays right over your music. Choose your rhythm, press play, and breathe — then return to your listening without ever leaving the app. • A quiet, one-of-a-kind companion for a mindful moment between tracks. HONEST ABOUT YOUR STORAGE • A clear Storage view shows exactly what KiruLaya uses on your device — referenced files, kept copies and duplicates — with nothing hidden. • Most imports play in place from your originals, so your library adds almost no space. Free it up any time. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • Everything stays on your device — no account, no sign-up, no upload. • No ads, no analytics, no tracking. Your music, and how you listen, are yours alone. Just you and your music.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is device support: Nyquist Player at 3 against KiruLaya's 1. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Nyquist Player ships an update every 2 weeks, KiruLaya every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Nyquist Player | KiruLaya |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 13 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jose De Jesus Garfias | Satheesh Kumar Mahalingam |
In-app purchases
Nyquist Player
No in-app purchases
KiruLaya
No in-app purchases









