Sony GigaJuke Hifi

[charlesr]

Have Sony completely lost it?

http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProduct.action?product=NAS-50HDE&site=odw_en_GB&imageType=Main&category=HDD+audio

There's a favourable review of this on theregister, but to my mind it's completely ill conceived.

It's a hifi that concentrates on good sound quality, but then incorporates an 80GB HDD. I need 160GB to store my 400 (not that many?) albums in lossless compression CD quality sound. Even my mp3 folder (all the same stuff in mp3 version at 192) is already at 40GB.

So how do you get things on to it? You can either load a CD and it will rip it for you. Or you can transfer mp3 direct from your PC on to it, via USB. Except it's USB1 which would take a few days to fill 80GB.

So why would anyone buy this? The vast majority of people wanting to listen to their MP3s would just get a normal hifi and an ipod dock or a line cable. And anyone very serious about mp3s or digital music would want to stream them off their PC.

This could have been so good if it had a wireless music streamer. I would have recommended it to my parents.

Am I completely out of touch with what people want for digital music, living in a fantasy realm of streaming and lossless and faster-than-usb1, or is Sony?

[Crisp_Rapper]

not all product developers have their finger on the pulse... plus i bet that's been in manufacture for at least a year or more.

i'd like to say it's just sony, but it really isn't.

[Dogg Thang]

It says it holds 40,000 tracks at 80GB. My 80GB iPod is almost full and has 16,000 tracks most at crappy 128 whatevers. Definitely lossy. So how can they get 40,000 high quality tracks into that thing?

[CMcK]

Music playback seems to be the one area that the public is willing to settle for less these days.
Video playback went from VHS/V2000/Betamax > Laserdisc > DVD > HD-DVD / Blu-Ray with an increase in quality each time.

Music playback has gone from Vinyl > Cassette > CD > MP3. Improvements all the way to MP3 when music quality has taken a serious nosedive. Seriously 128k MP3 sounds s**t. Near CD quality I think not. Above 500k sounds pretty good though.

Guys at work ask me about all manner of tech related stuff and it's amazing how they think. When asking me about the 'iPod' they got for £20 in Tesco they ask how many songs it'll take. People don't care about sound quality. Advise people to spend a bit extra on decent earphones for their iPod and they look at me as if I'm mental.

I hate to say it charlesr but guys like you and I with lossless audio on our computers are few in number. Sony know that folks don't care about quality. If they did 64k ATRAC+ wouldn't exist. That'll explain how they can claim 40,000 songs on an 80GB HDD.

[in5ane]

I thought it was very good actually, just for a second system somewhere like the bedroom. 80GB is enough really for quite an extensive collection @ 192. I've read some conflicting things... I'm sure I read somewhere it has wifi, so does it stream net radio, or maybe is a media extender? If it were, then it would be perfect, if not, then it still has its use.

Don't forget it's got DAB and FM, and you can record this to the HDD as MP3.

As for speed, well yes, copying 80GB will take a while, but it's not a daily activity? A few hours initially copying stuff is acceptable- just set it going and leave it to finish on it's own.

All in all, it's a rather a innovative product from such a big brand, and as long as you don't pay the RRP (some places have it cheaper), it's a quick, cheap way to get a lot of digital content in another room, without the need for PCs, Ipods, computer networks etc.

[charlesr]

It's not quick or cheap though. £500 is a fierce amount of money to spend on a micro hifi for a bedroom. Quick and cheap would be an ipod dock with some speakers attached to it. At that price, it's being aimed at the lounge, not as a 2nd system.

[peeveen]

Ask yourself, how often are things done right?
Not just in technology, etc, but in all aspects of life.
The answer: rarely.

As for lossless/lossy, to me it's like the difference between a genuine Rembrandt and a print. If it's good music, it's good music, be it through megabucks hi-fi gear or an AM radio. To the majority of people, earwax and tinitus will affect their listening more.

[in5ane]

It's not quick or cheap though. ?500 is a fierce amount of money to spend on a micro hifi for a bedroom. Quick and cheap would be an ipod dock with some speakers attached to it. At that price, it's being aimed at the lounge, not as a 2nd system.

1) I don't think ?499 is that much to spend in the bedroom in todays money
2) You missed the point about paying RRP, I'm sure I've seen it advertised ?100 off RRP
3) To replicate it's functions you need an FM tuner, DAB tuner, CD player, 80GB iPod, a good dock = not cheaper at all?
4) A lot of iPod docks are cheap and nasty, the GigaJuke apparently has decent speakers and sound
5) Quicker than setting up a computer server, leaving that on all the time, setting up a home network, etc

I would understand if this product claimed to be best and only stereo you'd ever need, but it doesn't, and is decently priced for the tech inside, plus the added Sony brand tax.

[Nijo]

Looks like it's aimed at the Dixons crowd to me.

[Ajay1986]

I wouldnt even pay ?400 for something with only an 80gig HDD it might be well build and good quality but why only put in an 80gig.

[in5ane]

Cos MP3s aren't that big? Even at 192, you could fit over 1,000 albums.

[saif]

The comments are a bit mixed here. Some talk about quality others quantity. I totally agree about the fact that this is the first time that the public has actively chosen worse quality (why I continue to get CDs and not downloads) Music and sound systems seem to be reviewed and sold on specs now. How many of us have heard this? ?400 mini systems are not that uncommon - I would not get a mini system but it is clear that at a certain featureset, we can have massively different quality.

[JP]

I hate to say it charlesr but guys like you and I with lossless audio on our computers are few in number. Sony know that folks don't care about quality. If they did 64k ATRAC+ wouldn't exist. That'll explain how they can claim 40,000 songs on an 80GB HDD.

I really can't see the point in lossy audio.

It's uncomfortable to listen too and we should be looking to improve the quality of recorded music rather than trying to just cut the top/bottom end off it and squeeze more onto the players.

I'm hoping that we will sometime get completely uncompressed audio via Blu-ray discs as there is certainly enough space on a disc.

I use Apple Lossless on my 80gb iPod now but I'm looking into installing Linux on it so I can play Flacs as they use the best lossless compression at the moment.

Charlesr to be honest, things like this are sold because a lot of people really want this sort of thing. I think it's fairly safe to say that if you played a MP3 and Flac file to most people they really wouldn't notice, or care about the difference. It's a simple matter of getting as much on the layer as possible.

If you're really looking for the quality of the recording I whole wholeheartedly recommend Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab for buying CDs & Vinyl!!

Two of my favourite recordings from them are The Velvet Underground & Nico & White Light, White Heat. The pair of them cost me about ?80 or so for sealed copies but I can honestly say that they really are worth the difference you'd pay over a standard cut. What MFSL do is very limited runs of albums, they return to the studio with the master recordings and painstakingly remaster ever note on it using some of the most talented audio engineers alive until the CD master is as close to what the musicians would have heard when playing back the original tapes in the studio.

I got into Sony's video equipment via using their audio equipment for some time and there is little out there that compares to the quality that they make...it's safe to say that if you're going to cram loads of crappy audio onto a HD then that player is probably about as good as it's ever going to sound.

Also...the headphones that are supplied with iPods are crap!! If you want quality replacing them is the first thing to do.

[Crisp_Rapper]

i think the idea behind this is having musical accompaniment in the background. i have several pairs of speakers around the house with various amps, if i'm just doing something i'll hook up my portable cd player/mp3 player and get on with things.

when i'm listening though i retire to the play room which houses all my serious kit and i'll listen intently.

still, though, £500 is a fair whack of cash.

[sadat]

You guys have it all wrong. It's not about how many bits or gigs it contains - it's a HI-FI, it should look cool! And the hi-fi designers of today just don't get it. Didn't they grow up in the 80s like you or I? Didn't they have massive ghetto blasters with funky dials, big chunky switches to flick, and LEDs that flash in time to the music?

All I've been able to find is waffle makers, wannabe microwaves and other fingerprint-hoarding kitchen appliances in disguise...!