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"Affordable" - has a price tag of a Blu-Ray player.

The skip protection likely helps with sub-optimal discs (scratched) to avoid skips in playback.

ESP is useful for California customers, so we can listen skip-free through earthquakes.

$135? It's amazing what is considered "budget" these days. I remember getting a higher end Discman(still have it)for under $60. Well, modern times and modern "deals" I guess.

One thing that I think a lot of people haven’t considered is that since this runs off of a 5V 2A USB-C port, you can power it off pretty much any modern power bank! That saves even more money off of the price for the player, since most people already have a power bank that would work (or can buy one for less than $30). And since they didn’t have to cram an internal battery into the shell, that makes it even more portable than some of the ‘portable’ models!

Now...  I hope Fosi takes what they learned from the Fosi Merak CD Player... and make an all metal (aluminium alloy or similar) chassis CD player (for more stability weight as a desktop or stereo stand component) with a better internal DAC and a glass (rather than a plastic) lid, and a CD-Text capable LCD display with an overall unit that matches the esthetics, colour schemes, and form/size factor of the Wiim Amp Ultra or Wiim Ultra... even for more money...  and you got a "buy" from me!!!

Them Crooked Vultures and With Teeth, top notch albums.

I get the feeling that ESP is there because it's part of the off the shelf transport they bought
On the other hand, I could see one use case scenario where it can come handy: in a vehicle
you can plug it in the vehicle power port and as a passenger listen to cd on headphones or if your vehicle has a aux input, you can add a CD player to your vehicle that way.
Notice I use the word vehicle as it can be car, truck, bus, RV, train or plane.

I'd like to see the vintage /modern comparison

Also, I agree with you with the other portable cd players that the can't compete feature wise but maybe you can do a comparison on how they sound (the ultimate purpose of these devices) and how they handle basic transport features (gap less, readability, load time, etc..). That could be a very informative video too.

I got mine for $112. I absolutely love it. it looks great, it sounds amazing and it just works flawlessly. the transparent cover is a nice touch.

I also ordered it today! From the official store with a discount on the first order it cost $126. In general, I listen to music on PC and a some times Fiio player, but for a long time I wanted something modern and not expensive for CD! I hope I won’t be disappointed in this gadget!

I'd like to see a shoot between vintage and modern DACs 👍🏻

I have an early Sony DVD player. CD sound quality is really good. Paid about 60 dollars.

I bought this a few days ago, was super excited about it. I love the look and functionality. Discovered it had a gapless playback issue right out of the box. Completely unacceptable. Went to the site, downloaded the firmware update, successfully executed it (after a half hour of dealing with it, would not accept a usb thumbdrive past 1 Gig). STILL DID NOT FIX THE GAPLESS PLAYBACK ISSUE. Shame on these companies, there isn't a single customer in the world who would settle for a machine that does not support gapless playback. My first cd player in 1984 surely did. What is the crap? I'm disgusted.

USB means you can plug it into a cigarette lighter adapter plug or power bank, etc..

I'm interested in it since it doesn't have a battery, which if never used is a minor fire hazard with no plus side.

Oh it plays FLAC! Swell!

ESP is really cool on these kind of players. If you're quick, you can take the CD of and slap a different one on while it's spinning and it will just continue on the new CD. (if it allows playing with the lid open).

I received my Merak player last week but it has a weird compatibility issue with my DAC (Topping E30). No sound unless I mute /unmute the DAC via its remote. This happens in the start and also every time I skip tracks or select a track. Updated to the latest firmware , same happens.

It's sad they push out products so quickly without sufficient testing , Topping E30 DAC is pretty well known and common. Not good for building a reputation as a brand.

Good work, let's keep this format alive!