Fosi Audio Merak CD player ($149?)

[soloworx]

De gustibus non est disuptandum - Indeed! If I was going to steal a colour scheme and a design language, Quad would not be my first choice... I would have aimed a bit more east

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Dieter Rams for the win!

 

[Bleib]

Some news

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[Somafunk]

Needs moar orange

 

[Bleib]

Yeah,.doesn't look like a Fosi, more like Topping d50 III

 

[Joe Smith]

The volume slider for headphone out is orange, located on the right side of the player. So it does have an orange highlight element. I do hope they also make them in black.

 

[Joe Smith]

It’s a nice unit, has gapless playback…

 

[Bleib]

Ok..12v trigger. Headphone out. Optical out.
Can record to USB drive. Analogue out
No mention of a remote so I guess I lost my interest

And like he says in the video it's odd that every Fosi gear looks different, different colors, different knob sizes..

 

[Joe Smith]

Ok..12v trigger. Headphone out. Optical out.
Can record to USB drive. Analogue out
No mention of a remote so I guess I lost my interest

And like he says in the video it's odd that every Fosi gear looks different, different colors, different knob sizes..

It does have a remote...standard Fosi type, black plastic. Also provides functionality for CD ripping. A CD auto-plays after lid is closed. The display is crisp and legible.

I do think a lot of Fosi users like me would like to see a black one. That would be a better match with the variety of Fosi gear. I think the S3 streamer unit will also sell more in black than the launch "silvery" color, for the same reason.

I continue to give Fosi feedback on design style issues; my current main beef is legend visibility more so than the size variations. I do like the way they continue to incorporate orange as their style marker, it's a cheery color.

I mostly like to use larger CD decks, outputting to a DAC for most of my setups. The Fosi works well and I think it's main claim to fame is the small footprint. When I was still working last years before COVID in my work cube, this was exactly the kind of player/transport I wanted someone to offer, but there was nothing out there other than a very high cost $800 device that had minimal North American distribution (I forget the name).

 

[Joe Smith]

Some photos...the CD remote is the one on the far left in the first image.

 

[Bleib]

It does have a remote...standard Fosi type, black plastic.

Good, I had seen nothing to confirm this before. It's odd that they don't start promoting it more properly

 

[MCH]

If it is not portable (no batteries) I would recommend a front charging design. This forces you to have it on top and free space above. IMO unnecessary when there are proven solutions that avoid this.

 

[Joe Smith]

Good, I had seen nothing to confirm this before. It's odd that they don't start promoting it more properly

I think it will be happening very soon! They are showing it off in Chicago this weekend at Axpona.

 

[Joe Smith]

If it is not portable (no batteries) I would recommend a front charging design. This forces you to have it on top and free space above. IMO unnecessary when there are proven solutions that avoid this.

Yeah, I think it's really designed for bench-table type use, as in my setup. A flip-top does not work very well for a racked system, or where you are fitting it into cabinet openings.

 

[Bleib]

Probably a cost decision and based on what was available.. they're trying to keep it inexpensive

 

[Bleib]

Fosi Audio Merak CD Player

Fosi Audio Merak CD player with CS43131 DAC and TPA6120 amp. Supports CD and USB playback, gapless listening, ESP protection, and rich outputs for versatile setups.

fosiaudio.com

It's out. 169 USD. Cheaper with the code

 

[Joe Smith]

That's in line with the vibe I was getting from them. I imagine the price with offers, etc. will continue to hover around the $150 mark. I agree with the questioning of it as a truly "portable" player, since it really wants that 5v/2a power plug. And being a top-loader, it won't work perfectly for everyone's setup/rack, some will prefer slot-loaders.

But, once they offer it in black, it WILL harmonize nicely with other Fosi equipment, and I imagine from that standpoint alone, I bet they will sell a fair number of them!

In continued use, there's one small functionality thing - it is easy to nudge the player into "USB mode" rather than "CD mode" - then you put a disk in and nothing happens. This has happened to me a couple of times, not sure why. You just use the remote to reset it to "CD mode" and it's fine. It's probably linked to a front panel button and I accidentally bumped something. I just mention this in case anyone here gets one.

 

[Bleib]

Yes, the portable marketing makes no sense, did they confuse it with minimal? Since it has a remote and optical out I ordered it.

 

[Sernyl]

Looks sort of QUAD-esque.
(random, borrowed Internet photo. The only QUAD products here are electrostatics. I would not mind having some of their classic electronics, too)

Do you want mine ? (44-405/2-FM4)
I keep my ESL63 ;-)

 

[drmevo]

Since the volume is a slider and not an infinite rotary knob, how does that jive with the remote volume control?

 

[Bookbear]

Or... they could've gone for the gusto.
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I know it's Sears branded, but does anyone know who actually manufactured these?