Forgive me if someone already makes something like this but:
I would love it if a product existed that was just a small USB-centric device that had 4 (or more) USB interfaces. Each (like a computer) would be able to detect and mount a USB-drive type device (hard disk / thumb drive) formatted for FAT-32 as well as a CD-Transport. Any one (but no more than one at a time) would also setup as a USB-Audio source if a USB-Audio sink were attached. This device would know about common audio file formats (MP3 / AAC / FLAC etc…) and be able to read meta-data from each. A small EL-display would allow you to select and play any song artist or album and simple controls (or a remote control) would allow you to maneuver the menu structure. The display would show the album art and the other relevant metadata. This device would obviously need to license decoders for MP3 and AAC but wouldn’t need a DAC or any other “sensitive” audio components. It would basically be a firmware-based specialized little computer you could stack near your audio equipment.
As with any enthusiast pursuit, there are inexpensive options and there are increasingly expensive higher performance alternatives. Excellent sounding digital players are not cheap.
As we say in car and motorcycle racing, speed costs money: How fast do you want to go?
