In a move that makes all those people paying hundreds of dollars for discontinued iPods look relatively reasonable, Sony is introducing a new luxury digital media player, the Sony Walkman NW-ZX2, that will reportedly retail for $1,199.00 when it debuts this spring. The reason for this high price tag apparently lies in the new Walkman’s audio quality— it utilizes something called a S-Master HX digital processor that makes music sound awesome, as the more insufferable audiophiles out there will be happy to explain at length as you silently contemplate whether it’s okay to beat somebody up and steal their $1,200 Walkman if they’re being condescending about it.
The technical specs for the new Walkman include 128 GB of storage, a microSD slot should you require more than that, Bluetooth, a gold headphone jack, compatibility with nearly every available digital audio format including MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, Apple Lossless, AIFF, FLAC, and DSD, and the ability to upgrade “lossier” formats like MP3 for highest audio quality. It also apparently feels very nice in your palm. The Walkman NW-ZX2 also has apps and stuff, but considering the device runs on an outdated version of Android that debuted in 2012, that’s clearly not the point. Meanwhile, Sony is still working on the codec that will improve consumers’ musical tastes.