Its not been even a week since we saw reports about Sony's imminent exit from smartphone and television business, and the Japanese tech giant has gone ahead and announced the SR-64HXA - a 64GB Class 10 microSDXC card with a 'Premium Sound' tag that costs five times as much as a regular microSDXC card.
The Verge reports that the SR-64HXA costs JPY 18,500 (roughly $155 or Rs. 9,600). It could be a great accessory for those who intend to pick up the Sony Walkman ZX2, which the company announced at CES 2015 and has an astronomical price tag of $1,200 (approximately Rs. 74,700). This card is currently available only in Japan. Audiophiles might find it worth the price but for majority of the folks, who listen to music prefer streaming or use only bundled earphones, will find it too expensive.
As the tag suggests, the memory card is engineered for sound quality. What this effectively means is that SR-64HXA produces less electrical noise when reading data. We are unsure if that actually makes much of a difference considering how flash drives are already pretty quiet.
Interestingly, when questioned about the market for such a product, a fairly clueless Sony spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal, "We aren't that sure about the product's potential demand, but we thought some, among people who are committed to great sound quality, would want it."
We really don't know what Sony seems to be smoking these days but we know one thing for sure, the quest for audiophile-grade equipment puts a dent... no... a crater in the pocket.
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