Gadgets

This new digital music player is just the thing for people who miss artwork

An upcoming series of Ongoing History of New Music programs called Digital Debris will look at how the move from physical to digital formats, including the slow, sad death of traditional album artwork. If you’re of a certain vintage, you’ll remember what it was like to linger over album packaging, be it a vinyl record or a CD booklet. These experiences are rapidly diminishing in the age of streaming.

There are, however, solutions. A new digital music player called the Sleevenote seeks to bring back artwork and liner notes. It plays high-res audio, too.

Everything is still in the prototype stage, but if you want to get in early, there’s this Indiegogo campaign.

(Via New Atlas)

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 37980 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

2 thoughts on “This new digital music player is just the thing for people who miss artwork

  • I think this is a great idea for those not fully willing to step into vinyl. It really gives you a (digital) appreciation for the physical album and hopefully encourages a full play through of the artists music.

    The inclusion of high res variations of the music is also a really cool idea! I think it could help on the opposite spectrum give audiophiles a truly enjoyable digital experience. The only hang ups I could see is the refresh rate being a bit laggy for the prize, but it is also a start up device.

    Personally wouldn’t make me stray from the pure sentimental feelings I get from putting on a vinyl, but I think it could be a better argument to get my former engineer roommate to actually see the quality of sound difference from straight mp3 files.

    Reply
  • The price is just too much and it’s an impractical size for anything but listening at home or perhaps the office.

    I really miss the old square iPod Nano clip (which of course could show album art). The video Nanos that came after were just a crap form factor for a music player these days. Might as well just use your phone at that point. The square clip was perfect and justified carrying an additional device. A modern one with Bluetooth and more storage would be amazing.

    Reply

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