Sony intros multi-room, DJ-ready iPod stereos

Sony on Friday brought iPod audio into relatively new territory on Friday by releasing two new audio systems for larger areas and more social occasions. The S-AIRPLAY is one of the few multi-room iPod audio systems available and beams music from the Apple players to stereo satellites as far as 164 feet away from a central base station, letting owners keep their device in one location. Sony's custom S-Air format supports as many as ten receiving systems at one time and effectively lets one iPod cover an entire house.

Each of the satellites is also partly independent. Listeners can skip tracks from the stations themselves and have access to a full AM/FM alarm clock, turning the receiving untis into bedside audio systems. An RCA video output on the base also integrates it with a home theater or with a TV for watching videos.

A core S-AIRPLAY ships in September for $400 with both the hub and two satellites, starting the user with stereo sound both close to the hub and in another room; additional S-Air speaker units will be available at the same time for $130. Sony shows the S-AIRPLAY using iPhones but doesn't list compatibility for the handsets outside of Airplane Mode.

The Japanese company is also catering both to personal listening and aspiring DJs through the Muteki XROSS FADE, its combo bookshelf system and DJ mixer; the 450-watt stereo has dual iPod docks and a set of mixing controls that include both the two-channel mixer itself as well as a crossfader and a monitor cue to sync up tracks before they play out loud. The system is designed for potentially larger environments and has both an MP3 quality booster to restore the missing detail in compressed files and a beat addition feature that layers a regular beat over outgoing tracks. A USB-out jack also enables saving DJ sets for posterity to a flash or hard drive in MP3 form.

The XROSS FADE also works with traditional mediums and has a built-in AM/FM radio, aux-in port, and CD player and can even include these as part of a mix. It ships in September for $500.

Filed under: iPod, iPhone, gadgets, audio
Other story tags: sony, S-AIR, Muteki