Okay - I've bitten the bullet and just ordered one. I'm just too intrigued by this product, and for once, the early adopters are being rewarded. (And I am not normally one of these!!)
Yes I struggled trying to justify the cost, but here's my logic:
(1) I won't need to buy a D10 to go with my iRiver H140. (I already have a Zhaolu D2 DAC for home use.)
(2) I won't need to purchase a pair of Yuin OK2s for portable use, because I can run my existing PK1s from this.
(3) The price is only approx $90AUS more than the 32GB Sony X player.
Now I realise that some of you will find flaws in my logic ...... but i'd appreciate it if you didn't point them out to me!!!!
I've read a few comments where some have said that this would be great if it was smaller and cheaper, had better battery life, etc. Well I reckon Fang has been completely up front about what the 801 has been designed for, and this is the smallest and cheapest it can be at the moment - he hasn't made any trade-offs that will affect SQ. This has been what has intrigued me the most, and why (for the first time) I am not going to sit back and wait for reviews of this before buying it.
In fact, I'm going to be the first person to say that I wish it was bigger and more expensive!!!! Why? Because I wish it came with onboard memory (32 GB) as well as a SD slot. And I realise that this would add to the size and cost.
I have a couple of questions for Fang:
(1) With regards to the playlisting of the player - Will it have any simple "on the go" features? ie Whilst listening to a song, will you be able to navigate through the songs and "queue up" songs that will play when the existing ones finish?
(2) Do you recommend any minimum spec/class/speed of the SDHC card? I will want to order a couple of 16/32 GB cards before the player arrives.
Anyway, thanks and congrats to you Fang.
Cheers
pauls