hello,

i collect music recordings, in physical format.

once upon a time in the not too distant past, there was a transition in the music industry from 12" black discs to smaller, shiny ones.

you couldn't play those new discs on your existing hardware.

also, less mainstream records and artists were not well represented in the new medium or were released on "labels" of somewhat dubious providence e.g. Sundazed.

i remember buying off the newsstand (does anyone here remember those?) the Schwann Compact Disc Catalog which at the beginning was maybe a bit over 100 pages in digest format. looking to see if an album (quaint term in itself) i wanted was now available in the new format, which at least didn't wear out with each listen.

why buy physical media? if a label goes under there is the chance that you may be able to still find and purchase a recording you want as it exists as a physical object. if a streaming service goes under and holds an exclusive on something the odds lessen i would think.

also, i own both the content and the container, and am not hostage to a service offering me a "license" on the music i enjoy.

do i actually play CDs? not very often. the usual pattern is rip to Apple Lossless (we are hostage to our iPods) and listen via the computer or on a portable device.

with maturity, the CD market caught up with vinyl on selection and some older, o.o.p. stuff was released that hadn't been pressed in a very long time.

is it "perfect sound forever"? not even close. but is having a recording of music better than not having it at all? of course it is.

will the playback hardware continue to race to the bottom in the consumer space? sadly i think so before disappearing all together.

the promise of digital archiving seemed to me to be an opportunity to preserve older cultural material for the foreseeable future. i'd love to be able to watch George and Gracie with my kids, but its not all there.

i am well aware that the CD's days are numbered, i just wonder how much recorded music will be lost as "there just isn't enough market for it."

(for irony's sake i will put forth that i am totally committed to e-books and e-readers.

one fourth of my working life was spent as a bookseller. i also have an MLS.

booksellers buy a LOT of books. i have no open walls in my living space that are not home to Ikea Billies.

why e-books? [which do not smell as good as the real thing.]

the ability to alter font size depending on conditions [fatigue, time of day, content] is a god send!

and its a hell of a lot easier when it comes to packing them to move.)

My next transport will probably be something like this:



The QLS QA660 SD Card Digital Audio Player. It's even got I2S output! 

RJ45 ethernet, by the looks of it.





Features&Specification:

Streaming music data flow from the SD card to the digital outputs with Ultra-low jitters and high accuracy by the single threaded software framework together with 2 sets of independent sampling clock circuits (44.1K/44K) and mono-system-aspect-design in separated power supply systems and grounding systems.
Audio format supported:
  - WAV         :   16/24bit, 44.1~192 kHz.
  - FLAC       :    16/24bit, 44.1 kHz~48 kHz, compression level 0~8.
  - APE         :    16 bit, 44.1 kHz, compression level fast and normal.
  - WAVPack  : 16 bit, 44.1 kHz, compression level fast mode and high quality.
  - MP3         :    16bit, 44.1/48 kHz, 96k bps~320k bps, CBR/VBR/ABR encoding.
  - CUE         :    ANSI / UNICODE / UTF-8 Encoding.
Digital Output:(outputs can be used at the same time without interfering each other)
  - I2S/IIS
  - Optical
  - EBU/AES
  - RCA Coaxial
  - BNC1 Coaxial
  - BNC2 Current Mode Coaxial(needs a 75Ω ground resistor to convert the current signal to voltage signal so the DAC catches the digital input, some DACs may not have this resistor)
Support SD/SDHC/SDXC up to 128GB SDXC with FAT32 (upgradeable with further firmware upgrade)
OSD supports English, simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese.
Support Software(Firmware) Upgrade.
Output voltage: Coaxial (0.5V p-p), XLR (5V p-p balance)
Digital output formats: PCM / Dolby Digital / DTS
Total hamornic distortion: < 0.00002% @ 20-20k Hz
Dynamic Range: >140dB
S/N ratio (unweighted):>140dB
Power: 9-11W
Input Voltage: AC 110V and AC 220V selectable
Dimensions: 290x240x90mm (11.4" x 9.45" x 3.54") (with all the sockets)
Package weight: 3.6kg
Package Dimension: L440 X W300 X H130mm(17.3" x 11.8" x 5.12")

http://www.qlshifi.com/en/wzcapi/qa660.htm

I think those QLS devices use the CS8406, which might have somewhat high jitter. Though not sure if their implementation improves it somehow, and might still sound good regardless.