Sounds like an excellent product.  Ironically it lists all the reasons why I created both the ZCD240 and the ZDSD... no connection to a computer, and no computer required.  That last part is my favorite.

Quote:


Playing music from a flash drive on my Oppo BDP-105 was what made me discover how amazing digital audio could be.

But I like having access to every/any song in my collection instantly, as I'm listening, as the mood hits me. Hell, I purchased and downloaded music while I was at Decfest, and was able to add it to my library of music at home, and play it at Decfest in minutes. I've also purchased albums for my girlfriend while I was at work, and she was able to play it on her phone and on my ZMA.

Having to stop, pick songs, put them on a flash drive, then pop it into the player is like scheduling sex in my calendar, *and* needing to pause take a pill to make it happen.  :D  

I love popping on Heart, which makes me think of and jump to Zepplin, which makes me think of great guitar  and pop on Hendrix, which makes me think of modern blues so I pop on Joe Banamasa, which makes me think about guitar virtuosos so I play Joe Satriani....all from the listening chair, all as the music makes the mood change.

Add to that, the device does reclocking which makes everything sound more like the analog master for *any* device it's plugged into, plus good software which helps me explore my large library of music and discover new artists.


Yes, putting in a memory card does isolate the DAC from the noisy computer, but leveraging that technology gives you so much more. If it costs an extra $700 to considerably improve the sound, and have all that access, it's worth it to me.

Hell, I have trouble keeping up with it all, and I do IT for a living!

But then, it's like the mechanic with a crappy beater car that needs stuff fixed....after working on it all day, I don't want to have to go home and do more!

I can't fathom why that was as well. Unless the cable was bad and causing major packet loss and lots and lots of resends...I can't imagine how an expensive cable would improve the sound...on the network side everything is sent in packets, and the whole point of the LanRover is that it's taking those packets, putting it back into digital stream, then re-clocking and outputting via USB.

So where is the issue?

+1 on the Ethernet cable - psycho-acoustic difference at best - I'll bet my paycheck that in an A/B/X test of ethernet cables, as used in the review, he cannot pick one specific cable over any other - assuming they are all structurally sound and operating within their design standards.