Comparison

Nyquist Player vs KiruLaya

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Bit-perfect playback
  • True gapless transitions
  • Network streaming (UPnP/DLNA)
  • Advanced track analysis
  • On-device search
  • Large library management
  • NAS support
  • Portable playlists
Read full description

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.

About

KiruLaya

Features
Read full description

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

Nyquist Player4 screens
KiruLaya4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Nyquist Player versus KiruLaya: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNyquist PlayerKiruLaya
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJose De Jesus GarfiasSatheesh Kumar Mahalingam

In-app purchases

None

Nyquist Player

No in-app purchases

None

KiruLaya

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Nyquist Player free?
Nyquist Player is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is KiruLaya free?
KiruLaya is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Nyquist Player or KiruLaya have ads?
Neither Nyquist Player nor KiruLaya shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Nyquist Player or KiruLaya?
Nyquist Player ships an update every 2 weeks, and KiruLaya every 3 weeks. Most recently, Nyquist Player was updated on October 21, 2026 and KiruLaya on October 25, 2026.

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