Lansonic Serves Up Digital Audio

Unique Design Launches A New Era Of Music And Home Networking

27-Jul-00

Lansonic, a division of Digital Voice Systems, Inc., the accepted industry leader in low bit rate/high-quality voice compression technology, has debuted an MPEG-based audio product destined to launch an entirely new category of home entertainment: home-networked music.The new Lansonicô DAS-750 ""Digital Audio Server"" is a cutting-edge digital audio component that integrates the power of computer networking to any stereo system. Combining proven Ethernet networking technology, with high performance audio circuitry, the Lansonic DAS-750 puts the user in control of their music collections by providing simple and convenient access from virtually any place on a local area network (LAN). The unit is available in a variety of hard drive storage capacities to centrally store all your music, so you'll never have to hunt down that favorite CD again. In addition, the unit's multi-user network capability allows several people to simultaneously listen to different music in different rooms. In short, the Lansonic design enables listeners to store, select, and enjoy thousands of musical selections virtually anywhere in a networked home or office.Relying primarily on the immensely popular MP3 digital music format, the Lansonic DAS-750 can store hundreds of hours of fully digital-quality stereo music, and deliver them for playback via any audio system, be it high-end components or a boombox. The user can even use the DAS-750 to archive personal album and CD collections all in one location.The Lansonic solution is also highly expandable: the basic DAS-750, equipped with a 20 gigabyte disk drive, can store the equivalent of nearly 350 hours of music. Other models are available with capacities as voluminous as 120 gigabytes can extend this to over 2100 hours of CD-quality music - enough to play continuously, 24 hours a day, for more than 3 months without repeating a single selection. According to Lansonic's Director of Business Development, Paul Salvo, the DAS-750 was a natural outgrowth of the company's long-standing, unexcelled expertise in low-bit-rate audio technologies. ""It was clear to us early on that MP3 would evolve into much more than just portable audio listening,"" says Salvo. ""With our background in high quality compression, we developed the DAS-750 to give dedicated music buffs a seamless way to integrate the power of MP3 and Web-based music with the variety, and fun into high-performance audio.""The Lansonic DAS-750 looks and feels more like a traditional high-end stereo component than a piece of computer hardware. The heart of the DAS is its built-in Ethernet capability that networks digital audio through a local area network (LAN), bridging the gap between a traditional audio system and a home or office network.A single ""jog"" wheel, called the QuickSpinô dial, easily navigates menus, playlists and invokes commands. Key connections include stereo analog outputs to connect a receiver or amplifier, and three stereo inputs for connection of a CD, tape, phonograph or other sources. There are also digital audio inputs and outputs - both optical and coaxial formats for recording or dubbing to and from digital-audio components with SCMS support. The only ""computer"" connection is a single RJ-45 network port for connecting the DAS-750 to a 10Base-T network.The Lansonic Digital Audio Server is available in two basic forms to support a range of multiroom system configurations. Most will include at least one ""main"" unit with internal hard-disk storage of 20 to 120 gigabytes capacity. When two or more such units are networked together, each unit can play music stored on its own internal hard-disk, or stored on the other DAS-750's hard-disk, or stored on any Windows 95/98/NT/2000 PC's connected to the same network. In addition PC's can also access and play the music stored on the DAS-750. Multiroom systems can also be expanded using one or more ""diskless"" DAS-750s which can be connected to the network in additional rooms to select, program, and play music selections stored on any of the main servers. The control and playback capabilities built into each DAS-750 operate independently allowing different listeners in different rooms to choose and play their own music. Each main server can simultaneously serve or stream as many as five independent stereo music sources from its internal disks, and each stream can be sent to up to eight locations or devices. Not only does the Lansonic play streaming audio from Internet-radio sites, but it can even ""stream"" MP3 audio out onto the network. Each DAS-750 functions as an independent ""node"" on the Ethernet network, able to integrate fully with PCs, additional DAS-750s, or other network devices. Without any additional software, each DAS-750 server is made visible on a Windows 95/98/2000/NT desktop under ""Network Neighborhood"", permitting simple ""drag-and-drop"" file transfer between the DAS-750's and PCs. The DAS-750's network design allows it to be supported by existing PC software and provides it with unsurpassed connectivity to peripherals, such as DVD-ROM drives, ZIP disks, CD writers, etc. In a typical application, a home office PC might be used to purchase and download MP3 selections from Internet-music sites, which are then stored on the livingroom's main DAS-750 server. The music collection can then be accessed and played back from the main unit via additional units in other rooms, or even by other PCs located anywhere on the network. Using a PC on the network, music selections can also be downloaded from main system to a solid-state portable player, a laptop, or any other MP3-capable device.While the DAS-750 is indisputably a product of sophisticated network technologies, no less care was observed in its audio design. It is fully compatible with MP1, MP2, and MP3 audio-file formats, at all popular bit-rates (the DAS-750 can also record, store, and play uncompressed WAV audio). By relying on 20-bit digital-to-analog converters from Crystal Semiconductors - widely considered the best-performing available-and careful ""high-end"" analog-circuit design, it delivers audio quality that's fully compatible with even ultra-performance hi-fi systems. The DAS-750's built-in, high-resolution digital-domain equalizer and volume/gain adjustments permit extensive sound tailoring without audible compromise. The DAS-750 is also exceptionally quiet - Lansonic has added proprietary noise dampening technology for unsurpassed listening enjoyment and eliminated the noisy fan found in PC-based or similar solutions. The Lansonic DAS-750 is initially available in four models: disk-based servers equipped with 20, 60, or 120 gigabytes of storage, and as a diskless controller/playback station.Available: July 2000Manufacturer's suggested prices:DAS-750-0 (diskless unit): $ 695.00DAS-750-20 (20 GB internal drive - 345 hours of music typical): $ 995.00DAS-750-60 (60 GB internal drive - 1050 hours of music typical): $1,495.00DAS-750-120 (2 x 60 GB internal drives - 2100 hours of music typical): $1,995.00

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