Amen.
To be honest, the main reason for my disappointment with the new Walkman models is not the price itself cozi I can afford it, although I can't really justify it.
What grinds my gears is that while the other manufacturers are utilizing better and better DACs and opams with every new model, Sony has been stuck sprinkling random stuff inside the DAPs with gold and making stuff more oxygen- and lead-free, which supposedly makes the sound clearer. Year after year we see stuff like "premium lead-free solder", "more premium lead-free solder containing gold", "improved circuit board for better electricity flow", "improved gold-plated circuit board for even better electricity flow", etc.
And then last year Sony released the DMP-Z1, which actually utilizes proper DACs (dual AK4497EQ) and analogue amp section. And that's the top Walkman on the market, so for Sony to change its design direction for it means that they do know that this is the way to go for high-end sound reproduction and properly powerful output. And yet, they still keep the same old design for their portable Walkmans despite the high prices and instead of utilizing similar design in them, they just keep adding copper and gold inside and call it innovation.