HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

Playing about with my new Apple TV box has made me think about being a bit of a gadget freak, I love 'em - little black boxes that do things, don't cost much (preferably) and are amusing for a while (usually) and useful in the long term (seldom).

My least favourite gadget of recent times is a Sitecom WMA-1000, a little black box that claims to get HIfi from your wifi. As a cheapo answer to Sonos. I got one to use in the kitchen and try as I might, the damn thing can only be used to play WMA files off my smartphone. Next to useless.

My favourite plaything at the moment is a Fiio X3, about the size of an iPod Classic, it plays music up to 24bit 192kHz resolution, has a mean headphone amp, can be used as a USB dac or has a digital output into an external dac. Brilliant! I use it on the move, in the car, kitchen, anywhere I can plug it in.

I know I'm not the only gadget fan here, and I'm always on the lookout for new, fun toys - so what turns the rest of you on ??

Budget USB dacs which sound more natural than some ultra high end jobs.

Pocket money Class D amps which never fail to put a smile on the face of those who hear them.

Combining the two and scratching one's head.

Its very difficult not to embrace the Gadget's in these so called modern times...Ive got a Kindle now...!!!
But im still a bit of a "Ludite Dinosaur" i remember the feeling of sadness when "Hotpoints Twin Tub" Kind of made me Granny's Mangle Redundant.
Sad.........

I love my Nook, and I love my Chromecast. Both superb value at £30.00 each.

Never heard of em Slinger but checked em out, and the chromecast looks pretty bloody handy...

My new fav is my electric chain saw for getting logs for my new open fire place.

My guitar tuner, a perfect gadget, cheap, works well, requires no skill to use and provides a real benefit

jammy395 wrote:Never heard of em Slinger but checked em out, and the chromecast looks pretty bloody handy...

Jammy, Chromecast is handy on its own but install a third party app called Showbox on an android phone/tablet and then install an app called localcast to see its full potential.

Best 30 quid you'll ever spend on entertainment,

Why .what deos it do.

Daniel Quinn wrote:Why .what deos it do.

Easier to provide a link than explain here Dan.
http://www.google.com/chrome/devices/chromecast/

with a few apps you can basically watch any show or movie you fancy. Connect your tv to a dac and it's a cracking low cost streaming device.