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Pioneer Tipped To Take On Sony In High Res Audio Portable Player Market

Pioneer Tipped To Take On Sony In High Res Audio Portable Player Market

They are also tipped to launch a new two-channel Elite series stereo receiver attendees to last week’s CEDIA show in the USA were told. 

Pioneer unveiled the Android-based portable at the September IFA show but hadn’t revealed availability or pricing yet.

The new stereo receiver is the networked high-resolution SXN30, which will be available in Australia next year at an estimated suggested retail of $799. It will be Pioneer’s first stereo receiver in the Elite series in about four or five years. Pioneer’s mainstream Pioneer series also lacks a stereo receiver.


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The product was developed to meet the requests of custom-install dealers, said national sales trainer Eric Smith.

The two-zone receiver plays back all the latest music sources, including high-resolution audio downloads up to 192/24 and up to 5.6MHz DSD. The component features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth with AptX, DLNA, Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn Internet radio, Slacker and Deezer. High-res 192/24 files can be streamed via Wi-Fi depending on network traffic, and DSD can be streamed via an Ethernet connection. Music from a USB stick or USB hard drive can also be played, though only up to CD resolution.

For multiroom applications, the receiver features Speaker A-B switch and second-zone preout. It can also be controlled from home-control systems. Also for installers, the receiver features IR ports on back and 12-volt triggers.

The receiver’s amp is rated at 2x 80 watts into 8 ohms from 20Hz to 20kHz.

Digital audio player: To listen to high-res music on-the-go, the machined-aluminium XDP-100R portable will be available in two colours early next year. It and a planned model from sister brand Onkyo could be the first portables available to play back high-resolution MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) files.

Key features include ability to download apps from Google Play, play back video on the 4.7-inch 720p touchscreen, and play back such high-res formats as DSD 11.2MHz DSD and 192kHz/24-bit FLAC and WAV files with up-conversion to 384kHz/24bits.

 It also comes with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA to stream files from networked DLNA sources, Bluetooth with AptX, MicroUSB, 32GB embedded storage and two 128GB SDXC memory card slots. It also features a headphone amp with ESS DACs.