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.