Sony’s Outrageously Priced 64GB microSDXC Promises To Deliver ‘Premium Sound’
Enthusiasts in any particular interest area are willing to pay a premium for top shelf goods, be it gamers shelling out for high-end graphics card or audiophiles splurging on pricey speakers. But for whatever reason, it's the latter category that is often the target of outlandish products and wild claims, the newest of which is an overpriced microSDXC memory card from Sony.
It's a 64GB microSDXC card (SR-64HXA) that's labeled "for Premium Sound" that appears on Sony's Japanese website. I'm just a displaced Italian originally from Massachusetts and now living in Michigan, so you'll have to excuse my inability to properly translate the memory card's product page, and Google was little help in the matter as well.
However, according to The Wall Street Journal, Sony's claim is that the SR-64HXA produces less electrical noise compared to other memory cards when reading data. It's not clear what Sony did to make that possible, but apparently it warrants a pretty hefty pricing premium -- it's selling for 18,500 yen, or about $155 in U.S. currency.
To besnarky fair, it does come with an adapter. But then again, so do cards that cost six times less -- you can pick up a UHS-1/Class 10 64GB microSDXC for about $25. That being the case, is it realistic to think anyone will pay $155 for Sony's card?
"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," a Sony spokeswoman said.
The retail packaging has a pic of Sony's recently released Walkman NW-ZX2, a $1,200 media player for audiophiles with 128GB of built-in storage and microSD card slot. We suppose if you're already dropping that much on a music player, what's another $160 to keep the illusion of superior audio alive?
It's a 64GB microSDXC card (SR-64HXA) that's labeled "for Premium Sound" that appears on Sony's Japanese website. I'm just a displaced Italian originally from Massachusetts and now living in Michigan, so you'll have to excuse my inability to properly translate the memory card's product page, and Google was little help in the matter as well.
However, according to The Wall Street Journal, Sony's claim is that the SR-64HXA produces less electrical noise compared to other memory cards when reading data. It's not clear what Sony did to make that possible, but apparently it warrants a pretty hefty pricing premium -- it's selling for 18,500 yen, or about $155 in U.S. currency.
To be
"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," a Sony spokeswoman said.
The retail packaging has a pic of Sony's recently released Walkman NW-ZX2, a $1,200 media player for audiophiles with 128GB of built-in storage and microSD card slot. We suppose if you're already dropping that much on a music player, what's another $160 to keep the illusion of superior audio alive?
