It has gotten to me. After all these years, I think I have gotten tired of burning MP3 compact discs (CD). I find the tasks cumbersome these days. The last CD that I burnt was something like a year ago. Besides that, the CD burners on my computers are getting old and needs to be replaced. One by one they are failing. And oh yes, there is some problems with getting my CD detected in the Phillips DVD player. That needs to be replaced too.
It would be ideal if I could have all my audio music digital files installed on flash drives and I playing them off from a media player of some kind.
That was one thought that I had not too long ago. With all the debating going on in my mind, the idea of upgrading my hi-fi system came flashing across my mind one fine day. After all, I had never ever bought a hi-fi system for myself before. All along, all I have was just a 'make-do' system. As a matter of fact, they are just hand-me-downs from my father and brother (Dad passed away while my brother bought a better system for himself and tossed the old one). Some repairs were required along the way, like my brother's Mission speakers for example. Foam for the woofer got chewed up by cockroaches some 35 years ago. Fixed that myself by making my own 'foam' using nappy liner cutouts and silicone sealant. It works, minus the aesthetics unfortunately. It's a 'make-do' system after all. Quite a fun project there.
After much deliberation over weeks, I have finally put my thought to action today. I have just purchased for myself, an SMSL AD-18 class D digital amplifier this morning. It should be arriving in a day or two.
Next on my to-buy list is a media player. With high likelihood it is going to be a Raspberry Pi computer running Volumio.
I would have loved to own a branded media player like the Yamaha WXC-50 or SMSL DP3. Unfortunately though, the selling price for both players is a bit prohibitive at around Rm 1,500 to Rm 1,700. Yes, I know, they have all the bells-and-whistles for playing audio files from here and there. But all that I need is just to plug in my USB flash drive and to play audio from there. The SMSL SA-50 Plus does have such a feature that I wanted. But, to my disappointment, I were to find out later that the playback was a bit crippled - no playback organized by folders/albums.
I did look and look for days for other similar products but I couldn't find any. So, Raspberry Pi + Volumio it was. Unless ... if the prices of both products were to come down in the weeks to come. You never know.
As for hi-fi speakers, I think I am going with the Dali Spektor 2. I've read some pretty good reviews about them. So I am quite certain I won't be disappointed. Price range is around Rm 1,000. Excellent.
Estimated Cost
SMSL AD-18 amplifier - Rm 484 (bought)
Dali Spektor 2 speakers - Rm 1,000 (estimate)
Raspberry Pi (with casing, power adapter and MicroSD card) - Rm 400 (estimate)
Volumio - free
Total estimated cost = Rm 1,884 (about US$ 470).
Well, that's not too bad.
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