DistributedAudio
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Denon RCD-N7 loves a wireless party, AirPlay too after $49 update
Denon's got the Apple AirPlay bug and bad. The company was showing off several AirPlay compatible 2010 receivers (models ending with "11") at the CEDIA show last week including this new RCD-N7 CD jobbie. The $599 unit coupled with a pair of $199 SC-N7 speakers features an iPhone dock (or USB jack) for local music sourcing. Otherwise, it'll stream audio from the likes of Rhapsody, Napster, Pandora and Last.fm. Better yet, the receiver also features a Party Mode Plus setting for a five-system multi-zone setup scattered throughout the home, all managed by Denon's new iPod / iPhone / iPad Remote App. Look for it to hit shelves in October along side Denon's $49 AirPlay update. That's right, it's no freebie -- an unfortunate precedent for anyone hoping to update their existing audio gear. Update: Denon let us know that the AirPlay update will be free to new and existing owners from October 15th to November 7th.
Sonos CR200 review
It's here Sonos fans, finally. The new touch-screen CR200 controller is announced and ready for purchase. After making an appearance at the FCC on its way to being leaked in full, the new CR200 controller for Sonos' multi-room wireless music system is everything we heard including a 3.5-inch, 640 x 480 pixel (VGA) capacitive touchscreen with on-screen keyboard, beefier processor, and relatively tiny 2.9 x 4.5 x 0.7-inch / 6 ounce footprint with scaled-down charger to match. Those changes make the new CR200 pocketable, faster, and far more useful than the CR100 ever was. Not that the CR100 was a bad device, it wasn't, but the $399 controller (plus $40 for the charging cradle) was definitely beginning to show its age as the only dedicated handheld controller available since Sonos launched back in January 2005. What really made the CR100 archaic though, was the 2008 release of the free iTunes App Store controller for the iPod touch and iPhone. It was faster, more graphically rich, and offered an on-screen keyboard unlike the CR100. Fortunately, the price of the CR200 has dropped a bit to $349 / €349 list, a price that now includes the charging cradle. Still, we know what you're wondering: is it worth it when an iPod touch can be purchased new for $229, or closer to $170 refurbished? Having used the CR200 for a week now, we found that the answer's not as obvious as you'd think. Click through to find out why.
Sonos CR200 remote control's product page reveals capacitive screen, $349 price tag
Looks like Sonos has put up a staging page for its CR200 remote control along with all the specs you could ask for, and a handful of low resolution pics to boot. That 3.5-inch VGA LCD display indeed is a touchscreen, and better yet, it's capacitive. It's also a good bit smaller and lighter than its CR100 ancestor, only 2.9 x 4.5 x 0.7 inches in size and six ounces in weight -- you can probably give thanks to the aluminum case for at least some of that weight loss. Price is just a hair below $350 and that drops to $290 when you get it as part of the Bundle 250. The "add to cart" function doesn't quite seem to be working, but it can't be long now, right? Just in case the page gets pulled, we've taken the liberty of screencapping all the good parts and throwing them in the gallery below.[Thanks, Schmoop and Lowwie]
Sonos CR200 remote control has a touchscreen, at last
And here it is. After we unearthed the Sonos CR200 in a FCC filing, out comes the first pic. As we expected, it's a portrait controller and is said to include a touch-screen which makes an on-screen QWERTY keyboard a lock for searching by artist, album, or song titles. Goodbye scroll-wheel! If you own a Sonos, then you know this is the best thing to happen since, well, buying your Sonos... just so long as it's not priced for $399 like the CR100 it replaces.
Sonos CR200 controller outed by the FCC
Without a doubt, Sonos makes an excellent wireless distributed audio system. If we had to nit pick (and we do), then its massive controller, the CR100 is easily the first thing to complain about. For starters it's a $400 remote control that does one thing, it controls your Sonos audio system. Granted, the CR100 is rugged, splashproof, and turns on in an instant thanks to a built-in accelerometer; features that can't justify the price, however, in light of the solid Sonos did its user base when it released a free Sonos controller app for the iPhone and iPod touch. The app even one-ups the CR100 with its on-screen QWERTY since the CR100's scrollwheel isn't exactly the best interface for typing out the name of an artist search. So imagine our intrigue when we saw a new CR200 Sonos Controller pass through the FCC. The new controller appears to prefer a portrait orientation (instead of landscape like the CR100) and was tested across 802.11g WiFi frequencies with a 24Mbps fixed data rate. While that doesn't give us much to go on, at least it passed the tests meaning we could be close to an official announcement. Considering the controller's physical design hasn't changed since its launch in January of 2005, a few more days or weeks of waiting shouldn't be a problem.
Yamaha's MusicCAST2 wireless distributed music system gets one better
Sonos has been sitting pretty at the top of the wireless audio distribution space for quite awhile now. Today Yamaha is fighting back with a totally refreshed (and very Sonos-like) Musiccast2 system that supports up to 32 rooms of WiFi-based distributed audio from sources such as Rhapsody, Internet radio, or tracks stored on your Mac, PC, USB sticks, Bluetooth devices, or networked shares. iTunes support is enabled via a bundled TwonkyMedia Server in the $500 MCX-RC100 Network Music Commander remote control (above) with 3.5-inch LCD, touch-sensitive trackpad, and GUI that displays details such as album art and song information from all your MP3, WMA (no lossless or PRO), AAC (no Apple lossless or FairPlay DRM), FLAC and WAV audio files. To distribute the audio, you'll need a $400 MCX-A300 (amplified, just add speakers) or $400 MCX-P200 (non-amplified for AV connection) Network Music Player placed in each room where audio is desired. The MCX-P200 can also function as a universal IR remote with multiple IR outs to control other devices in the AV rack via IR flashers or the MCX-RC100 remote control. So yeah, it gets expensive, but it's easy and quick and won't require a sledgehammer, wiring, or sheetrocking skills. Our only reservation is with Yamaha's choice of straight-up 2.4GHz 802.11b/g to link the audio compared to the rock-solid, customized-802.11n mesh created by Sonos -- nobody wants a microwave to harsh their mellow, dig? More component pics after the break.
