HiWire

The Cardigans – First Band on the Moon

I'm not liking the price, either. Considering the state of Sony's finances, I guess they're cashing in on their somewhat distinguished audio heritage for fast bucks... no proprietary ATRAC on this puppy.

Blur – Parklife

Here's a review where they compare the stock vs. a ModWright "Truth" unit: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/modwright-oppo-bdp-105-with-truth-modifications/ The comparison with the Esoteric player was a nice bonus. Now I'd like a comparison of the Audiocom vs. the Modwright vs. the Arcam UDP411 one of the commenters mentions. I'm glad to hear that the DAC and clock in the stock unit are considered top-notch, in addition to the Oppo's reference-quality video processing. I wonder if Oppo buys samples of the modded players for R&D in their upcoming products. Stock, Audiocom, Sound Affairs comparison: http://peteswrite.blogspot.ca/2013/08/modified-oppo-blu-ray-player-audio.html

Bran Van 3000 – Garden

David Bowie – 1969/1974

Various Artists – Saturday Night Fever

Girl Talk – Feed the Animals

Sharon Van Etten - Are We There

Have you guys heard about the 128GB iPhone 6 boot loop problem? http://www.dailytech.com/Report+128GB+iPhone+6+Boot+Loop+Issues+Prompt+Apple+to+Abandon+TLC+NAND/article36854.htm

This album is awesome. I got Kylie's Body Language recently, too. It's really good, not as focused as Fever (which I've loved for years), but more ambitious and varied and a lot less claustrophic-sounding.

Annie - Anniemal

http://youtu.be/k7qA72LhMO0

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult – Spooky Tricks

Perfect. The more I read about these speakers, the more I like.

It's hard to say – Apple doesn't like to discuss those kind of specifications. Flash memory is definitely getting faster, but it does depend on the controller. If you had, for example, 64 GB of data you'd like to load on your shiny new 128 GB phone, it would take about 18 minutes to upload it at ideal USB 2.0 speeds (probably a bit more, considering the overhead), and a little less than 2 minutes at USB 3.0 speed. USB 3.1 is also on its way – Apple might skip 3.0 and go directly to 3.1 speed, which is double 3.0's (under 1 minute for 64 GB). It would be a bit of a marketing coup. Thunderbolt 3 is also a possibility farther down the road. People can only stand to have so many ports on their computers (using the MacBook Pro as an example), so Apple might reduce the number of ports by 1 (eliminate HDMI) first, leaving only USB and Thunderbolt, then bring it down to one kind (e.g., Thunderbolt and use adapters for the rest), and eventually none (all wireless, including charging and headphones). The only people left using cables might be power users with Mac Pros – it certainly would be consistent with Apple's minimalist design ethos. You can bet they'll advertise it when it happens – I think most people have become accustomed to waiting that chunk of time for the initial load, syncing, and backup, but it will make a bigger difference as media files and apps grow. Wired I/O probably isn't their main priority, since the "average" user may be expected to keep things synced over 802.11ac wi-fi or the new "150" Mpbs LTE.

Nobody has mentioned the I/O speed on the new iPhone. I think it's still getting USB 2.0 speed through the Lightning connector. There have been rumors online that Apple is investigating a USB 3.0 upgrade for future products... that should make people with large media libraries rejoice.

Chromeo – White Women

Beastie Boys – Check Your Head

Sister Machine Gun – Metropolis

The Buggles – The Age of Plastic

Yes – 90125

... and it's here: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/09/philips-debuts-headphones-that-connect-via-apples-lightning-port/ What a pain in the ass this is going to be when they change interfaces again.

It's a trip down memory lane: http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/3/6100385/move-over-neil-young-sony-is-making-a-walkman-for-audiophiles Is the A17 some engineer's idea of an elaborate practical joke on the marketing department? Once again, this applies: http://www.theonion.com/video/sony-releases-new-stupid-piece-of-shit-that-doesnt,14309/ P.S. fake marble > fake carbon fiber

The Prodigy – The Fat of the Land