Tangara – An Open and Hackable Music Player

My Tangara arrived! A bit over a year ago, I stumbled upon this music player you wish you had in the early 2000s by Cool Tech Zone. Two months later, I decided to pre-order, and—oh my—have I been eagerly swallowing each and every project update since.

What might come across as a huge anachronism, is what I call freedom and agency.

You might despise the idea of carrying around a dedicated device solely for listening to music. But I can tell you, as someone who firmly rejects Spotify and other streaming offerings and who has been maintaining and curating a personal music collection since the late 90s, this is a 10 out of 10 slam-dunk!

And sure, I do own *checks drawer* eight iPods and I enjoy tinkering with them. But they will take the backseat for a while, because the Tangara is open and hackable by design. Hardware, firmware, CLI, companion app—everything is out there in the open and ready for you to use and play around with. The whole project is a carefully thought-out and crafted thing of beauty!

As is putting some mp3 files on an SD card, sliding that into the Tangara and just listening to my music. Via jack cable or Bluetooth! Without a fucking subscription, tiring setup, or endless updates. It. Just. Works! You can get one yourself over at Crowd Supply.

Thank you, Cool Tech Zone, and congratulations! You seem to be an exceptional bunch and I am grateful for you care and punk rock attitude.