A gift for the next Christmas: Virtual Reality (VR) headset for music / video / ...
multi-channel audio-video file > VR audio-video player with virtual surround sound engine running on Android smartphone with 4K display slotted into a VR headset > PCM stream > USB audio out >> portable USB DAC/amp >> headphones
multi-channel audio-video file > VR audio-video player running on Android smartphone with 4K display slotted into a VR headset > multi-channel PCM stream > USB audio out >> portable USB DAC/amp with virtual surround sound engine >> headphones
A current VR headset: Samsung Gear VR
http://www.cnet.com/products/samsung-gear-vr/
The Gear VR headset works in conjunction with a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 smartphone.
A current smartphone to be slotted into a VR headset: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 smartphone with 2560*1440 (i.e. QHD) Super AMOLED display
http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-gear-vr-face
"Even with a fantastic Super AMOLED display at QHD resolution at your disposal, when you place it mere inches from your face, magnify it with lenses and split it in two to give the virtual reality effect, you quickly run out of pixels. Images were still grainy compared to viewing a phone or TV at a distance, of course, and that'll be a tad disappointing if you're expecting a higher resolution. That said, if you've used any lower-resolution virtual reality you're going to be in for a treat because you have that additional perspective."
A current VR music player: Oculus 360 Videos - Strangers with Patrick Watson
http://www.wired.com/2014/03/sxsw-live-day4/#79191019861
"I experienced an immersive music video set that makes you feel like you’re sitting in the middle of a musician’s apartment as he performs. Every time I turn around, I’m actually looking at the man’s dog, who is sitting “behind” me. It seemed so real that at one point I actually reached for my smartphone to take a picture — until I realized I couldn’t. (Yet.)"
A current VR movie player: Oculus Cinema
http://www.roadtovr.com/samsung-gear-vr-preview-oculus-cinema-watching-a-2-hour-movie/
"A virtual movie theater where movie trailers and even self-loaded [2D / 3D] videos can be seen. What's amazing here is the theater itself: you can pick a giant cinema, a screening room, or even the surface of the Moon. The expansive theater, and its seats illuminated by the movie screen, feels so real that it seems like it could be a movie theater replacement in the near future...if the actual video resolution seen in that virtual theater ever ends up approaching the "retina quality" of existing phones, tablets and TVs."
"The most jaw dropping moment was when the movie started and I really did feel that the screen was meters away, and many more meters in actual size. My eyes were genuinely tricked into believing the images on the virtual screen were on a real screen, and I think it was partly due to the perfect audio sync. This enclosed fusion of audio and visual delivery kept the illusion at a high level for a long while."
A current DAC/amp with virtual surround sound engine: Smyth Realiser A8
http://www.cnet.com/news/smyth-realiser-a8-perfect-surround-sound-over-headphones/
"After spending some quality time listening through his Smyth Research Realiser A8, I can testify to its effectiveness. With the Realiser A8, room-filling sound was produced by headphones!
When I heard the Realiser A8 do surround for the first time, I whipped the headphones off in disbelief. Wow! The sound wasn't coming out of the surround speakers! The Realiser A8's spatial localization is 100-percent convincing. The system comes with a set of very-high-quality Stax SR-202 electrostatic headphones and a Stax headphone amplifier, but you can use any headphone with the Realiser A8."
Virtual surround sound engine to be implemented in a VR audio-video player software or in a USB DAC/headphone amp:
http://www.smyth-research.com/licensing.html
"SVS is the name of the technology used in the Smyth Realiser. All aspects of SVS are available for licensing."
There are other virtual surround sound technologies like Dolby Headphone, Silent Cinema, ....
USB multi-channel solution to be implemented in a USB DAC/amp with virtual surround sound engine:
http://www.xmos.com/products/reference-designs/multichannel
"The USB Multi-Channel Audio U16 Platform is a complete development hardware and reference software solution for multi-channel USB audio applications."
Oculus Mobile SDK available for VR audio-video player developers:
http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/12/oculus-mobile-sdk-goes-live-for-vr-developers/
"The SDK also contains the full source code for Oculus Cinema, Oculus 360 Photos and Oculus 360 Videos under an open software license, which represents the full suite of first-party apps available on the new mobile VR platform."
Android smartphone with 4K OLED display: Samsung Galaxy Note 5 (?)
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-tipped-prepping-a-6-4K-AMOLED-display-with-700ppi-for-next-August-just-in-time-for-the-Note-5_id62541
"Rejoice, 4K lovers, as that's the resolution you might be getting with the next edition of Samsung's Galaxy Note series. We got tipped that Samsung will start mass-producing a 5.9" Ultra HD Super AMOLED display with 700+ppi next August, which puts manufacturing plans just in the timeframe for the Note 5 release, if everything goes according to traditions."