Our decision to include the SD card is based upon our belief that over time this technology will gain a lot of momentum. Shortly we will be implementing the SDXC spec for the card reader. This specification allows cards to reach 2 terabytes in capacity. At these kind of levels you will no longer need a computer or music server in the loop for playback as your entire music library can be stored on the SD card.

If you walked around SSI 2012 and asked questions of manufacturers and exhibitors and listened to people talk to each other while sitting at the bar (purely for research purposes), you'd have come away with an array of (opposing) ideas relating to how to get the best sound from computer-based audio.

Here are my top ten favorite tips heard and overheard:

Before we leave the music industry alone for the weekend, I thought I'd leave you with 2 pictures from the article "The REAL Death Of The Music Industry" by Michael DeGusta. As you can see, traditionally the album floated the music industry's financial boat making up a large % of overall music sales. The trend is obviously shifting.

While Neil Young rightfully rails against the poor sound quality of the MP3, I still feel MP3 and other lossy formats have a use. And the best use is free access to music. Ya know, discovery. The wonderful "First Listen" series on NPR is currently streaming (at 128 kbps) the complete yet-to-be-released record Tramp from Sharon Van Etten. For free. The entire record. The idea is if you like it, you'll buy a real copy (and no, I do not mean the crappy iTunes or Amazon lossy download version—remember, do not pay for crappy quality lossy music). I've pre-ordered the Deluxe Bundle (LP + CD + more) from Jagjaguwar (official release date 02/07/12). See, it worked.

You can listen to Sharon Van Etten's "Tramp" in its entirety too. For free. You just have to click and listen before the release date (after that, NPR removes the music).