Pioneer Introduces Elite Network Audio Player

Pioneer is showing  a brand new, high-end network audio streamer next week at CES. Part of their Elite line, the N-30 and N-50 are intended to act as the hub for all the audio on your DNLA 1.5 network or Apple’s AirPlay, giving you high-end DACs and processing to make your lossy and lossless audio files sound their best. Controllable from the front panel (with included 2.5″ LCD screen), or from smartphone apps, this deck is ready to rock it on virtually anything you have

These systems enable playback of standard compressed audio formats including MP3, WMA and AAC. Through DLNA 1.5, both units feature high-resolution audio playback which can support 192kHz/24-Bit FLAC and WAV files that are now available from a number of Internet sites. AirPlay functionality provides Apple’s Lossless audio with no degradation in sound quality when listening to music encoded in its native high-resolution format. A full-color 2.5″ LCD screen built into both systems provides a convenient way to display the album art and song information of currently playing music. For added convenience, consumers can control their music via ControlApp, a free app that is available for the iPod touch®, iPhone and iPad® as well as select Android devices.

In the upper model N-50, Pioneer included an armored chassis to resist noise and gold RCA jacks for better audio connections. The N-50 also comes with additional audio features including Advanced Sound Retriever and Sound Retriever AIR that enhance the audio quality of compressed audio files, delivering near-CD quality from portable media players, Internet radio and Bluetooth audio transmissions.

For higher quality audio output, the N-50 features twin EL transformers to reduce interference and a Hi-Bit 32-Bit conversion processor for an elevated audio experience. Consumers with electronics devices with older or inefficient DACs can take advantage of the N-50′s DAC Only Mode.

It’s interesting that this player only includes RCA and optical/coaxial outputs. In order to be really future-ready, shouldn’t it have HDMI to transmit 5.1 high resolution mixes? Regardless, with any piece of equipment like this, hearing is believing, and hopefully Pioneer will be making a lot of converts next week at CES.

Supported audio formats

FLAC: Up to 192khz/24-bit

WAV: Up to 192khz/24-bit

MP3: Up to 320kbps

OGG: Up to 320kbps

AAC: Up To 320kbps

WMA: Up to 320kbps

Contact info:
Pioneer