Pioneer XDP-100R squares up to Walkman in the high def audio arena
It seems that High Definition audio is the latest arena for the big names to clash. We’ve seen rocker Neil Young dive in with his $400 PonoPlayer and then Sony also showed off its premium priced NW-ZX2, the most expensive Walkman ever produced at £826
. Now, Pioneer is throwing its hat into the ring with its Android-based XDP-100R.
The Pioneer XDP is clothed in a machined aluminum body and features a 4.7-inch 720p display as well as being kitted out with 32GB of internal storage.
As your lossless FLACs will take up more room than compressed MP3s, The new Pioneer XDP-100R has room for two microSD cards holding up to 128GB each. You even get a colour choice for your Pioneer XDP-100R as it is available in black or silver.
The XDP has a separate circuit board solely for its audio components; the company believes this will “eliminate the effects of digital noise.” It can play just about any format you throw at it — lossless FLAC, MQA, and ALAC, as well as DSD are all up for grabs.
According to the bumph, The XDP-100R is the first portable player in the world to support the revolutionary MQA technology from Meridian, which gives you master quality audio in a form that’s small enough to download or stream. The XDP-100R features audiophile components from ESS Technology including a SABRE32 DAC and SABRESOUND headphone amplifier.
You will also find that Onkyo’s music player is already on-board for your streaming and downloading enjoyment.
Pioneer says you should get 10 hours of battery life on a single charge. It will launch in Japan in late November and I’ve seen it up for preorder for £500 on Custom Cable’s site.
More news as I get it.
