If hard drive betters optical digital retrieval

Nah, if you are going to do something like this, it would be better to just transfer the CD info to a flash memory and play it out of there. No spinning discs at all after the data is fully retrieved. Or a small buffering delay if you want to just start playing.

Why, when you can just use a computer?

That being said, I think PS Audio has something in the works that does that.

It's called an Olive. It actually goes one better. It stores the CD onto an internal hard-drive. Next time you play the "CD" you don't have to burn it again. Its already on the hard-drive.

Here's a like to a mod'd one available now on AudiogoN:

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlplay&1210721571

Here's a link to the olive site:

http://www.olive.us/home.html

Enjoy,

TIC

Wow very interesting about Olive. I know that PS Audio has something like this in the works. I think this is the future of digital playback.

HELLO, hard drives as we know them today will be extinct just as all other computer hardware has become. The future of hard drives is solid state