Good morning, creators. ☀️ Day 28 is here, and today the machine adds a whole new lane: the ETS BTS photographer series opens with @artetoyscol's Iron Grenadiers shoot and his own track "War Journal" — plus a $799 CD player from Musical Fidelity with no streaming on it at all, and the portable-CD companion read proving the disc never actually left. Let's get into it.
1. @artetoyscol's Iron Grenadiers Open the ETS BTS Lane With "War Journal"
What happened: The ETS BTS lane is live. Epic Toy Sound is the headquarters for the whole community's work, and the lane runs one Short per toy photographer per day — every Short scored by that photographer's own featured track, the one they hold a 50% split on. First drop: @artetoyscol and his Iron Grenadiers — Destro's gold-masked guard shot at dusk, two figures standing like they own the desert — cut to "War Journal," his Content ID-registered track with Epic Toy Sound. The Short is live now on @epictoysound, the @toysandbeats mirror lands today at noon ET, and the track itself is on the shelf for $1.69 — WAV + MP3 + license + cover art included.
Why it matters: This is the photographer model with the money wired in. When an ETS BTS Short travels, the Content ID claim rides on the photographer's own split track — so the views pay the shooter, not just the channel. A daily lane means daily discovery for the community's photographers, each one carrying the link to their own track in the store.
Watch the full track: the complete "War Journal" visualizer is up on the Epic Toy Sound channel:
The ETS/Zillion angle: Photo becomes cover, cover becomes release, release carries the photographer's name and split — the loop this whole store is built on, now running daily. Music produced by Ronnie Desiderio, founder of Toys and Beats. The lane's shelf starts with "War Journal" at toysandbeats.com, and it grows one photographer at a time.
2. Musical Fidelity's B1xcd: A $799 CD Player With No Streaming — On Purpose
What happened: Musical Fidelity has put the B1xcd CD player on sale for October 2026 at $799 in the US (€599 / £549, with UK sales from October 27 via Henley Audio). It revives the B-Line series, which returned in 2025 with the B1xi integrated amp ($999), and the two stack as a visual pair. The spec is a statement: Red Book CD only — no SACD, no streaming, no USB audio (the USB-C port is service-only). Under the hood it runs a BlueTiger CD-88 servo from SUOS, a team of ex-Philips engineers, and an ESS ES9018Q2M DAC, with RCA analog plus coax and TOSLINK digital outputs so it can double as a transport. All-metal chassis, black or silver, 5.8 kg, remote included. (Sources: Darko.Audio, ecoustics, HiFi Pig)
Why it matters: A major hi-fi brand is betting $799 on a disc spinner that refuses to stream — in 2026. Darko's headline says why: "The CD still outsells vinyl in Europe." And ecoustics framed the buyer exactly right: this is a player "for people who would rather own music than rent it." The ownership economy is not a nostalgia act; it is a market big enough to design hardware for.
The ETS/Zillion angle: Same instinct, different shelf. A figure on your shelf and a file you actually own cannot be delisted by a licensing change. That is why every track in this store is a download you keep — music, license and cover art in the file, yours outright — starting with today's "War Journal" drop at toysandbeats.com.
3. Companion Read: The Portable CD Shelf Is Filling Back Up
What happened: The component deck is only half the story. Bloom Audio's "Best Portable Audiophile CD Player in 2026" rounds up the pocket-sized half of the revival — serious portable players from the audiophile world, built for people who carry their discs the way they carry their phones.
Why it matters: When a format needs a buyer's guide again, the format is alive. Portables for the road, the B1xcd for the rack — the CD is being bought at both ends of the shelf in the same season.
The ETS/Zillion angle: Physical media and owned files are the same collector instinct that drives this whole community — figures in hand, music in hand. Read the Bloom Audio guide, then come see the owned-music shelf at toysandbeats.com.
Thank you for starting your Wednesday with us — a new lane open, a disc that refuses to die, and a catalog that keeps growing because creators and collectors like you keep showing up. Go make something beautiful today. One love. ✌️
Toys and Beats is published by Ronnie Desiderio, founder of Zillion Records and Epic Toy Sound. What began as one producer's catalog is now a community project: toy photographers shoot the covers, releases carry their names, and the royalties are shared. The full story →