The X-Rayv8 has extremely high technical performance, equal to that of almost any extremely expensive CD player. It might be worth your while to check the technical specifications of the X-Rayv8 compared to players at, say, three to five times its price. You'll see that most of them are not as technically accomplished as the X-Rayv8. We believe that CD players can largely be summed up by their technical performance and almost everything else is snake oil. Because the X-Rayv8 has an external power supply (shared with the X-T100) it has that same extraordinary grain-free sweet sound quality.