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 November 15, 2006 High-End WiFi Hi-Fi WiFi-capable music players are becoming commonplace in the audio
marketplace. However, while most of these are impressive in terms of functionality, few,
if any, would be considered "high-end" in terms of their sound quality. As a
result, most audiophiles wouldn’t consider using one as a main music source. One
company is trying to change all that; if they succeed, their efforts could start an
avalanche of similar products in the high end, because the benefits of WiFi-capable
players are enormous.
Slim Devices, of Mountain View, California, cut its teeth with the Squeezebox, an entry-level music source that permits wired or wireless access to your in-home network. (Logitech of Switzerland recently purchased Slim Devices.) The Squeezebox allows users to bring digitally encoded music from a computer running Slim Devices’ free SlimServer software to wherever in the home the Squeezebox is located, provided a music system of some sort is there as well. The Squeezebox is not a complete system itself -- its analog outputs connect to the inputs of a receiver, integrated amplifier, or preamplifier -- but it supports most popular music formats, such as MP3, WAV, PCM, FLAC, and others. (The SlimServer software works with computers running Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD, and Solaris operating systems.) The WiFi-capable Squeezebox is priced at $299 USD; the wired, Ethernet-only version is $249. While the Squeezebox’s functionality is impressive and will no doubt serve the needs of many music lovers, its sonics probably won’t satisfy true audiophiles, who will want state-of-the-art sound to match its cutting-edge functionality. Slim Devices knows that, and in October they introduced the new Transporter -- basically, a high-end Squeezebox that they claim is "the first audiophile network music player." But to live up to such a bold claim, the Transporter must deliver sound quality that matches its rich feature set and price ($1999). The Transporter’s user interface seems to be pretty much the same as the Squeezebox’s, and it works synergistically with the same SlimServer software. The real difference is in the build quality, from outside to inside, along with a few new features. Slim Devices says that the Transporter’s digital and analog sections are "no-compromise." At its heart is an AKM AK4396 digital-to-analog converter (DAC), something Slim Devices calls a "Miracle DAC" for its reportedly high dynamic range and low distortion. They’ve also included single-ended and balanced outputs, a chassis made from aircraft-grade aluminum, and many other features, including a backlit remote control and an interesting front-panel knob they call the TransNav. This incorporates "dynamic tactile feedback to provide fast access to any song even in the largest music collection." Like the Squeezebox, the Transporter can connect to your network using an Ethernet cable or through a WiFi router. It supports 802.11g wireless transmission, which provides the necessary bandwidth to stream full-resolution music files. It also features four digital inputs and outputs (optical, RCA S/PDIF, BNC S/PDIF, and AES/EBU) to connect other digital-music sources as well. This means that you can stream music from your computer and connect a CD transport or other digital player. The Transporter is thus not only a network music player, but also a full-function DAC. The only thing that matters is whether or not the Transporter delivers sound quality that audiophiles will find acceptable. If it does, then you can be sure that other high-end, WiFi-based music players will follow suit, and push computer-based music-server solutions deeper into the high-end marketplace. Our review of the Transporter will appear in the "On HiFi" section on December 1. ...Doug Schneider To learn more about the Transporter and other Slim Devices products, visit SlimDevices.com.
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