SPECIAL REVIEW COLLECTION
POWERMOVE I N
R E V I E W
INDEPENDENT REVIEWS OF WORLD-CLASS AUDIO & AV PRODUCTS FROM THE PAGES OF
Krix partners with Powermove
S
outh Australian-based loudspeaker manufacturer Krix has appointed Powermove to distribute its ‘Concealed Speaker’ range. Krix will continue to distribute all its hi-fi and professional loudspeakers from its own headquarters in Adelaide. ‘Krix chose Powermove to both distribute and service our range of concealed speakers, effective 1 September 2017,’ said Don MacKenzie, National Sales Manager at Krix. ‘Powermove has built a successful distribution business through the mass merchant, specialist and commercial channels with a key focus
PORTABLE AUDIO
on loudspeakers and audio product and we felt that it was the ideal company to expand the reach of our concealed speaker range.’ Shelden Walker, Audio Sales and Product Manager at Powermove, told AVHUB: ‘We are very excited and honoured to work with Krix as their valued distributor of concealed speakers.’ More info: www.krix.com.au wwwpowermove.com.au
Portable Player & NC Headphones
Pioneer XDP-100R HIGHLY COMMENDED:
Why shouldn’t the existing powers take on the newcomers at the portable music player game? This Pioneer has recently gained an update for MQA playback (see the Meridian DAC opposite), which adds to what we reviewed, the XDP-100R delivering a street-proven classiness with great sound thanks to twin ESS Sabre ES9018K2M DACs in dual differential mode, and two Sabre 9601K amplifiers too, able to offer both balanced and unbalanced outputs. Add the lightningfast response of the software and the storage capacity available from two micro SDXC slots, and it’s a great solution. Note that this unit is almost identical to Onkyo’s DP-X1, that company having bought Pioneer’s home entertainment division in 2014, so there are multiple brands behind the tech here. RRP is $1299. More info: www.powermove.com.au
Philips SHB8850NC HIGHLY COMMENDED:
Again both noise-cancelling and Bluetooth are available here, but also a cable if required — and we’re recognising this Philips design for achieving it all at just $199.95, rather less than most noisecancellers. They’re a small and compact closed on-ear design — the main circle of its headshell has a little bling with shiny silver outer edge only 6cm in diameter, another centimetre added by the plastic hinges. The buttonry confused us, so keep the manual handy until you’re accustomed to them. The noise cancellation is remarkably effective for an on-ear design; we slightly preferred the balance without it, but both balances were highly enjoyable — it’s a closed sound, not a sparkling top-end, but the midrange cuts through nicely and there’s plenty of action in the low-end. We used them a lot — a great compact pair of Bluetooth noise-cancellers to grab as we headed for the office commute. More info: www.powermove.com.au
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Bluetooth headphones
Image of perfection
Pioneer SE-MS7BT Bluetooth headphones
R
egular readers will know that we don’t reach for the superlatives willy-nilly, but after a couple of weekends these over-ear Pioneer headphones absolutely transported us with their divinely balanced presentation and thrilling imaging in particular, so that we were prepared to start proferring some prolific phrases of praise. With one caveat — we were listening all that time with a cable, not realising these were Bluetooth headphones. They had arrived unheralded, and we didn’t clock the BT on the model number until later. So, would our initial thrills be tempered when we went wireless? The SE-MS7BT headphones are from Pioneer’s ‘Style series’; they have quite large earcups, and they don’t fold up at all, so they need a bit of storage space when you’re carrying them around. We were so enamoured of their sound that we guessed they were far more expensive than they are; once price-alerted we could see that construction is strong but relatively basic, with aluminium reserved for highlights and plastic rather than metal elsewhere on the earcups, and polyurethane rather than leather on earcups and headband — but as we say, all implemented well enough that they had us fooled for quite a while. Three finishes are available; we had the silver with
black earpads as pictured above, but the tan earcups (right) add to the slight retro feel of the design, plus there’s a firmly serious all-black version available. The cushions are soft and comfortable, the 290g weight balancing without pressure on your head. Despite their apparent size, the driver is a common-enough 40mm in size, backed by “powerful rare-earth magnets” and a light copper-clad aluminium voice coil. There’s a Hi-Res Audio logo on the box, because they can deliver up to 40kHz with a wired connection; you’ll not get that through Bluetooth of course, though we were pleased to see a full set of Bluetooth codecs — SBC, AAC (good for Apple users) and aptX (for Android users whose phones support it). As noted, we swooned to their cabled sound, spectacular for their price. The separation of instruments and mix elements, their placement and individual portrayal, the impeccable balance across the frequency range and the remarkable openness of sound from this closed design had us in raptures. The detail for jazz and classical, the bass support for rock, the speed and timing for everything — all clear and correct. Then we charged them, paired to them, and tried it all again via Bluetooth. Again success, but just a little less magical — Bluetooth added a bit of edginess above a midrange dip, and now sometimes the
feeling of pushiness from the amplification. Of course much detail will be masked on a noisy commute anyway, so that was fine, but against a silent background, the wired response from the Pioneers was distinctly more real, more musical, more magical. Good for casual use with Bluetooth, then, but through the cable, oh, the SE-MS7BTs are simply stunning. JF SPECS
Pioneer SE-MS7BT
$229.95
Type: closed, dynamic, Bluetooth/cabled, over-ear Driver: 40mm Impedance: 32 ohms wired Sensitivity: 98dB wired Bluetooth: SBC, AAC, aptX; 12 hours quoted battery life Weight: 290g Contact: Powermove Distribution Telephone: 03 9358 5999 Web: www.pioneeraudio.com.au
Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2
SyStemS & SolutionS
WIRELESS HOME THEATRE SYSTEM
PIONEER FAYOLA FS-W50
P
ioneer has leapt into the wireless multiroom arena recently, introducing a platform called FireConnect by Blackfire to a raft of products including AV receivers, soundbar systems and network music players. But here we have a full system clearly aimed at modern lounges, with wireless this, wireless that, and again the FireConnect platform onboard to bring in the wireless music. And it all adds up to another reason not to buy a soundbar.
EquipmEnt
Fayola comes in two versions — with or without its wireless subwoofer. We’re reviewing the 2.1-channel FS-W50 stereo system at $2198, while the same system without subwoofer sells as the FS-W40 at $1599. We reckon the subwoofer is well worth the extra money for the performance level it adds (and given it sells separately for $799, you save a couple of hundred bucks). Either stereo system can also be easily expanded into a true surround system by adding a pair of wireless FS-S40 satellite speakers. The ‘Controller’ at the heart of the Fayola system identifies what configuration you’re using and automatically adjusts multichannel soundtracks accordingly.
Yes, soundtracks — Fayola is clearly designed to be used with your TV. It has four HDMI inputs, then one HDMI output feed onto your TV, with all HDMI sockets being UHDcompatible, so things are well futureproofed. There’s not much else on offer in terms of physical connectivity — one optical input and one analogue RCA pair, which might be useful for additional sources but we’d guess are more likely included to cater for those running sound back from their TV should the built-in ARC of the HDMI output fail to talk nice with a particular TV, as can often happen (though in our case, using a TCL 4K television, ARC worked fine). But of course that FireConnect technology inside offers more paths to music, especially since it also includes Chromecast. To access this there are a few terms and condition sign-ups required for both FireConnect and Google during the initial set-up. (Our Fayola had clearly been used before, so we returned it to default settings.) And you’ll need Pioneer’s Remote App. Day to day, playing TV and movies you will probably use the nice medium-sized physical remote, but the app makes streaming music and browsing USB or network music collections far easier.
That ‘Controller’ box is about the size of a normal hi-fi amplifier, though it looks very modern with its matte white surrounds and silver top. It arrived usefully stickered with a warning to “connect the power cords of all speakers before turning the Controller on”, presumably so it can do the wireless connections and make those decisions about the scope of the system to which it’s been connected. Having everything wireless does not, of course, mean there are no cables. There are four separate power cords for starters — the price to be paid for removing the signal cables between the units, thereby requiring separate amplification in each, and therefore a separate power connection. So the Fayola hogs three sockets for the Controller and wireless speakers, and a fourth for the subwoofer, which also in matte white, a sealed-box design 33cm high with a footprint of 27cm square. Its 20cm driver fires down through legs raised high enough to overcome a light shagpile; it’s quoted as having 150W internal power.
pErformancE
We have been excited about the possibilities of FireConnect for some time (see our tech
Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2
SYSTEMS & SOLUTIONS
brief at avhub.com.au/fireconnect), having first encountered it in Harman Kardon’s Omni system, and noting its inclusion in first Pioneer then Onkyo AV receivers. Pioneer recently rolled out the technology as firmware updates across many of its stereo and AV components, in addition to new products including the smart streaming SX-S30 amplifier (our review at avhub.com.au/ s30), and the MRX-3 wireless speaker which we used to test how the ‘Fayola’ system could share its music around the home. Because in addition to being both high-res and multichannel-capable, FireConnect allows multiroom input forwarding, grouping and control. Even video is part of the future FireConnect roadmap, and there’s a new version about which little is yet known, called Blackfire RED (see avhub.com.au/red for what we know so far; it doesn’t look likely that current FireConnect products will be updated to RED). Pioneer doesn’t let the technology get in the way of the experience, such is the versatility and ease of use here. The Pioneer app first gives you straight control access to your Fayola, which it found immediately, as it had the other Pioneer FireConnect devices. With the app you can change inputs, use an onscreen remote control and, once networked by either Wi-Fi or Ethernet, select the ‘NET’ input to enjoy network music streaming up to 24-bit/192kHz and DSD up to 5.6MHz (half that via Wi-Fi), in-built streaming services such as Spotify, Tidal and Deezer, plus Chromecast, which caters to a great many other apps, allowing you to ‘cast’ the audio to the Fayola. There’s also Bluetooth, and the spec sheet says also AirPlay, though this last didn’t seem available on our unit. So while the physical inputs may be few, there’s nevertheless a lot of music available via the app, the network and the internet. And you can share it. As noted we had the MRX-3 wireless speaker also linked on the same Pioneer app, and from the home screen we could group it with the Fayola — this is how you can put together multiroom zones, sharing a selected source with other Pioneer products. (And with other BlackFire products from different brands? Nobody’s yet sure.)
We ‘pushed’ tracks from our smart device, and they emerged from the MRX-3 in apparently perfect synchrony with the Fayola. Internet radio was shared, so was Spotify using Spotify Connect. Not shareable (though this could be just our early firmware) were the HDMI inputs, or high-res music files above CD quality coming from either network shares or connected USB. But ungrouped, the Fayola accepted our high-res music greedily, and we streamed up to 24-bit/192kHz PCM, and also up to double-rate DSD. (We were using an Ethernet network connection; by Wi-Fi only single-rate DSD is possible.) The Fayola inherits a ‘Pure Direct’ mode from other Pioneer products, which keeps things in as pure a stereo path as possible. The sound from the 21cm-high tubular white speakers and sub proved a pleasant performance, better and smoother than you’ll get from all but the highest of soundbars, and particularly effective at spreading a mix wide. Paul McCartney’s Every Night (24/96 FLAC, unlimited) was deftly handled, snare snaps in the right, guitar jangle to the left, and a solidly imaged McCartney in the middle. It doesn’t tick all the fine hi-fi boxes, lacking openness and sparkle up top and its mids notably boxy on some spoken word sent via Bluetooth. The bass from the subwoofer integrates nicely and goes quite low for such a discreet box, resonantly rattling our window blinds at 60Hz when delivering the bottom B of the acoustic bass on Blue Chamber Quartet’s Children’s Song No. 6 (Stockfisch 24/44.1). We’d usually take speed over depth, but this low-end does support what is clearly the Fayola’s strength — movie and TV soundtracks. From the freakish buzzings of Twin Peaks and the wide open spaces of Spielberg’s BFG in 5.1, to Star Trek Beyond in Dolby TrueHD 7.1, it was all folded down neatly to the Fayola’s 2.1 channels, the speaker combo proving immersive and powerful, with clear dialogue and the ability to go big on action scenes — during space attacks we notched the sub down, so scary was it getting. Only towards the end of our reviewing did we discover that this pre-release unit did not yet have the full Australian firmware, so some small
things may change. For example the app identified the Fayola as the ‘AC-400’ and ‘Free Style Sound System’, rather than Fayola FS-W50. In any case you can rename your device using the app, so we made it simply ‘Fayola’. It would be useful if you could rename the individual inputs too, since you’re stuck with BD/DVD, Game, Cble/Sat and Strmbox for your HDMI inputs, which may or may not suit your connected equipment.
CONCLUSION
Neat and clever, the Fayola’s HDMI inputs and prowess on soundtracks make this a great TV audio solution compared with most soundbars and bases. The cool tubular speakers do present a friendly ‘wireless speaker’ sound rather than hi-fi clarity, yet the system brings a huge music bonus through its ability to network and stream music under app control, plus multiroom through FireConnect. The Fayola proves a thoroughly modern system for today’s TV and streaming needs.
Pioneer Fayola FS-W50 wireless home theatre system • • • •
Neat, expandable TV audio system Streaming sources & music services FireConnect multiroom streaming onboard Takes care of your HDMI inputs
• A little softness of sound Price: $2198 Includes: 2 x wireless front speakers; wireless subwoofer; main Controller unit Inputs: 4 x HDMI (UHD compatible), FM radio, 1 x optical digital, 1 x analogue stereo, USB-A, Bluetooth, AirPlay, Chromecast, Ethernet/Wi-Fi Output: 1 x HDMI (UHD compatible) Dimensions (whd): 445 x 65 x 290mm (Controller); 126 x 200 x 144.5mm (wireless front speakers); 270 x 330 x 270mm (wireless subwoofer) Contact: Powermove Distribution Telephone: 08 8338 5540 Website: www.pioneeraudio.com.au www.avhub.com.au
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smart amplifier
Pioneer SX-S30 Pioneer SX-S30 smart amplifier
With HDMI inputs and a host of smarts in a slim chassis, the S-30 positions itself as a TV audio amp par excellence.
W
ell, the definitions balloon is truly burst by Pioneer’s slimline SX-S30. It’s a two-channel amplifier, it has the networking smarts which defines this group of smart amplifiers, it has radio tuners (including DAB+), but also HDMI inputs and decoding for movie formats like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio (delivering them in stereo), plus a set-up microphone for room EQ adjustment. So call this a smart stereo receiver? However you label it, this is something many lounge rooms have been begging for — an amp that can properly handle both music and TV audio. Add the smarts — here courtesy of the rising ‘FireConnect powered by Blackfire’ platform, which includes Chromecast — and the promise is high indeed, especially given the price.
Equipment
SUMMARY
Pioneer SX-S30 smart receiver Price: $1199
+ Handles 4K HDMI as well as
analogue and digital inputs
+ FireConnect streaming and
multiroom with Chromecast
+ Bluetooth and AirPlay + Turntable input
- No USB-B for computer input - Only one optical input - High-res streaming issues
The power rating first — no amount of versatility is of value if the output is weedy. Like Yamaha, Pioneer quotes its Class-D amp section with nonhi-fi specs — relatively high distortion of 1% THD is allowed, and further here the quoted 2 × 85W is the power delivered into four ohms rather than eight, measured at only 1kHz, with only one channel driven. So at hi-fi specs the watts would come out way lower. And there’s no way to upgrade it — there’s a mono subwoofer output but no ‘tape out’ or pre-out sockets here. Perhaps that’s because all the space on the back is filled with the inputs. You get two line-level analogue inputs on RCA pairs, plus a turntable input (hoorah). The stereo digital inputs are a little light, with just one optical and one coaxial, plus a USB slot on the front for a stick or drive. Then there are four HDMI inputs and one output to your display, all of them 4K-compatible and HDCP2.2-enabled. Then there’s Bluetooth and, once networked by Wi-Fi or Ethernet, also AirPlay, Chromecast and FireConnect streaming — a huge array of wireless versatility which delivers network
replay (including high-res PCM and DSD) and various streaming services, internet radio and so on (see the smarts panel). There’s an FM tuner and a DAB+ digital radio tuner inside, and a headphone socket on the front. It lacks only USB-B for direct computer playback. Annoyingly the speaker binding posts have been filled to prevent the use of banana plugs, no doubt pandering unnecessarily to some Euro-legislation — so it was fiddly bare-wire speaker connections only, until our learned colleague at Australian Hi-Fi magazine inserted a woodscrew and yanked out the centre sections. Freedom!
Performance
Those HDMI inputs are usefully versatile — you can plug them up any which way then use the on-screen menu to allocate to the buttons on the remote, which are named ‘BD/DVD’, ‘Game’, etc. You can similarly reallocate digital and analogue inputs. Indeed on first connection an initial set-up begins automatically, including the Pioneer’s sound calibration software which uses a supplied microphone with the aim of compensating for any anomalies in your room (you can skip this procedure and do it later, as did we; see below). We did run a firmware update over the network, which took about 20 minutes to download and install. Using a 4K TV we had no problems at all, but later with a 1080p TV one input did give us trouble, the Pioneer claiming it couldn’t show us the pictures from a Fetch TV Mighty because our TV didn’t support HDCP2.2. Eh? An odd result. Switching to a different input and back fixed this, but it did recur often. Under an ‘AV adjust’ menu (and in system settings) there’s surprising versatility of the kind you’d normally find on a multichannel AV receiver. There’s not only the sound tuning but settable crossover and distance settings for each speaker, including a subwoofer if you’re using one. Volume adjustments and sync settings (audio delay only) can be applied to each input individually. And power management lets you choose if the unit goes into standby or not, and what exactly can wake it up. We listened both with and without microphone calibration, which tuned out some room bass to tighten
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smart amplifier
Traditional inputs There’s a turntable phono input plus two line-level inputs and one each of coaxial and optical digital inputs, plus an antenna connection for its DAB+ and FM tuners.
HDMI inputs This amp also has four HDMI inputs (and one output), making it a hub for all your home entertainment. All these are 4K/HDCP2.2 compatible.
Sound calibration Like an AV receiver, a microphone and built-in software can calibrate the sound to suit your room.
Speaker terminals Bare wire only, the centres are blocked so no banana plugs allowed unless you conduct some surgery. A subwoofer preout is also provided.
THE SMART STUFF: ‘FireConnect powered by Blackfire’, Chromecast and more... Both Onkyo and Pioneer (same company) now include the third-party FireConnect wireless multiroom platform on a wide range of product, along with Google’s Chromecast built-in, AirPlay and Bluetooth. Both FireConnect and Chromecast came to the S30 as a firmware update, so there’s nothing in the manual about activating them. First make sure you’ve done a firmware update, then go to the ‘NET’ input and exit until you can see the screen on your TV (above right) which allows you to access music services old-style using the remote control and TV interface. Activating Chromecast required a few T&C acceptances, and then we were able to, say, stream YouTube audio from a tab on our Chromebook (not video, this is Chromecast audio only) or music from any of the many Chromecast-ready mobile apps. Select Fireconnect on the TV menu and you’re instructed to download the ‘Pioneer Connect’ app, which we did — it ‘found’ the S30 the moment it launched, and with no set-up at all laid out all the input selection
the sound, and could, if uncertainties about auto-correction crept in, be easily defeated by selecting ‘Pure Direct’ on the remote (toggling past a strange ‘AutoSurround’ offering, best avoided). The S30 proved an agile amplifier with surprising welly for its size, pushing out the bass pulses on the live LP version of Kate Bush’s Aerial Tal through a large pair of Scandinavian standmounters, only starting to ‘shout’ a little when at unusually loud playback levels. We ran test files from our NAS drive and it streamed MP3, AAC, WMA, FLAC, Apple Lossless, WAV and AIFF, though frequently stuttering over files higher than CD resolution, despite having an Ethernet network connection. Even from a USB stick we could play 192k PCM
menus at our fingertips, while an upper layer offered multiroom grouping (we added a Pioneer MRX-3 wireless speaker to the group). It’s a simple and well laid-out app, showing first physical inputs, then under ‘Net’ all the network music options, which include music on your device (PushPlayer, shown below right), TuneIn internet radio, Pandora, Spotify, Deezer and Tidal, plus selections for Bluetooth, AirPlay, Chromecast and FireConnect, though those last three will likely self-activate if you ‘push’ something via those methods. EQ options are also available within the app, and volume on a slider. For networked music you select Music Server, which accesses UPnP shares, which worked OK up to CD quality files (see main review), though without any queueing or playlist system. So you’re left selecting tracks or albums as you go, a little inconvenient. Will one FireConnect product talk nice with other brands on the platform? Nobody’s yet sure: Watch our Fireconnect primer at avhub.com.au/fireconnect for the latest.
and DSD5.6 only with occasional misfires, clipping and even once a burst of noise from the left speaker. We note the HDMI inputs are specced for high-res audio where the digital audio inputs aren’t, and sure enough playing the same files from an Oppo via HDMI went flawlessly. So that’s an option.
Conclusion
High-res audio and a network music queue aside, the Pioneer delivers on its extravagant promises extremely well, its HDMI connectivity giving it particularly strong TV audio gifts among this group, the app giving easy access to streaming services, and its compact size not doing it any harm either. A versatile little performer. Jez Ford
SPECS
Pioneer SX-S30
$1199
Quoted power: 2 x 85W (1kHz, 1 channel, THD 1%) Inputs: 2 x RCA analogue, 1 x moving magnet phono, 1 x optical digital, 1 x coaxial digital, 1 x USB-A, 4 x HDMI (4K/60, HDCP2.2), FM/DAB+ tuners, Bluetooth (SBC/AAC, no aptX), AirPlay, Wi-Fi (2.4/5GHz)/Ethernet networking with FireConnect, set-up microphone input Outputs: HDMI out (4K/60, HDCP2.2), subwoofer out, headphone out, loudspeakers out Dimensions: 435 x 78 x 330mm Weight: 4.0kg Contact: Powermove Distribution Telephone: 03 9358 5999 Web: www.pioneeraudio.com.au
ON TEST
PIONEER PD-30AE CD PLAYER
I
like my life to be simple. And I like things to work every time… and all the time. Which is why I’ve pretty much given up on getting my music served up via a computer. I know it’s supposed to be easy, but I have lost count of the number of times I couldn’t play any music because the Wi-Fi network couldn’t connect, or one or the other of my devices couldn’t find files for one reason or another. I really don’t want to troubleshoot a computer network every time I want to play music. The cruncher for me is that my network doesn’t boot automatically after a power outage, which happens fairly regularly in my neck of the woods, and if I’m not home this means my significant other can’t play any music until I get home, which rather affects her mood! So I have recently taken the ‘family’ hi-fi system back to basics. It has a CD player, an integrated amplifier and a pair of speakers. That’s it. I can’t begin to tell you how relaxing it is to use a music system that is completely bullet-proof. It always works. Load a CD onto the player’s tray, press ‘Play’ and a few seconds later music fills the room.
www.avhub.com.au
It’s just so easy. Anyone can do it…even the grandkids. Best of all, my wife is over the moon about our ‘new but old’ system. She not only now has a hi-fi that’s super-easy to use, she also has a fancy new wooden cabinet that hides all the electronics from sight, three large drawers in that cabinet to hold all her CDs for easy access yet hide them from sight as well, plus a new large and long surface for all those essential flower vases, sculptures and knick-knacks. OK, so I have to keep my own CDs on bookshelves in a room out the back, but who said life was perfect? Which is why I think Pioneer is onto a winner with its PD-30AE CD player. It’s a just a CD player. That’s it. No bells. No whistles. No fancy programming features… it’s not even able to be controlled by an app. Control is manual only, via front panel buttons or the provided remote control, which is an old-fashioned infra-red type. Like I said… it’s bulletproof.
THE EQUIPMENT The PD-30AE’s front panel is sparse, but it has all the controls you need for basic operation.
The transport controls—tray open/close, play, stop, pause, track skip forward, track skip back, are all clustered logically to the right of the disc tray. Note that Pioneer has increased the simplicity of the transport’s operation by providing the play and pause buttons separately, rather than combining them. The track skip buttons, on the other hand, are combined, as they double-up as fast-forward/ fast-reverse controls. The controls at the left end of the front panel are for power (Standby/On) and headphone level. There’s also a standard-sized headphone jack (6.35mm) which is gold-plated for better contact and improved reliability. The front panel display is rather basic, in that the lettering is shown using fairly large bluish dots which mean the lettering is rather coarse compared to modern OLED displays. So the writing looks a bit rough, but it’s easy enough to read. There are three brightness levels available, but I found that even the brightest level wasn’t particularly bright and there is no ‘Off’ level, so the three levels are basically ‘dim’, ‘dimmer’ and ‘dimmest’. Despite its basicity, the display will show alphanumeric information (folder name,
Pioneer PD-30AE CD Player
album title, track title, etc) when the PD30AE is playing a disc containing MP3 files, as well as confirmation information (such as NORMAL PLAY) when playing back standard compact discs. The remote control offers avenues whereby you can perform more sophisticated transport operations, such as programming specific tracks for replay in your chosen order (up to 25 tracks) and repeating a single track… or all chosen tracks. You can also choose tracks directly, by pressing a single button to access tracks 1–9, or three buttons for higher-numbered tracks (for example, to get to track 25, press the >10, followed by ‘2’ and then ‘5’). Some buttons provided on the remote didn’t appear to work with the PD-30AE. For example, when I pressed the ‘Random’ button, which would normally cause tracks on a CD to play back in a random order, rather than in the order in which they were recorded on the disc, it did not result in the PD-30EA randomising the play order… play just continued in standard track order. It appears this was an isolated fault on my review sample, with Pioneer advising that this model does indeed have random play as a feature. One interesting social observation one can make about the Pioneer PD-30AE is that the automatic standby function, which will turn the player off automatically after it’s been left stopped for 30 minutes, is programmed differently for Americans than it is for Europeans. In the USA, the player is supplied programmed so that it will not turn off automatically, whereas in Europe, it’s supplied programmed such that it will turn off automatically. It’s then up to individual owners to change the programming to default to their preferred ecological setting. (Here in Australia, the default setting for the Standby mode is ‘On’.) If I found the foregoing interesting, I was even-more fascinated to find that when I went onto the ‘net to check the Pioneer PD30AE’s current specifications, it was Pioneer’s European Union site, which operates out
The automatic standby function is programmed differently for Americans than it is for Europeans
of Germany, that was serving up all the information on the PD-30AE, and when it couldn’t deliver that information (such as when I asked for the data sheet!) the 404 error was: ‘Uppss, something went wrong here my friend, please go back where you were :)’ [Note that the nose was missing from the smiley face on the website!] The player is certainly very solidly built. It weighs 5.3kg and the sizable chassis (it measures 435×103×298mm) is so stiff that there’s no flex at all when you pick it up. Unlike many low-cost players, which use CD drives intended for computer use, the drive in the PD-30AE is one that was built specifically for use in CD players, and its open/close logic is excellent.
IN USE AND LISTENING SESSIONS I was a bit confused when I started reviewing the PD-30AE because it appeared that there were two different versions of the PD-30AE available, one without a USB input on the front panel that plays only standard CDs and CDs coded with MP3 files, and one with a USB input on the front panel, that will also play SACD discs. I subsequently learned that the Pioneer player with the USB input that plays SACDs is called the PD-30, and the visual similarities between that model and the PD-30AE reviewed here, plus the similarity in the two model numbers, means that many websites here in Australia—as well as in other countries around the world— have published the incorrect images and/or transposed the specifications and/or model numbers for the two machines. So in order to be perfectly clear, the two different models are: Pioneer PD-30AE CD player: $444.82 Pioneer PD-30 SACD player: $799.00 So… not at all confusing then! There was certainly no confusion when it came to operating the PD-30AE. It’s ‘falling off a log’ simple. You won’t even need to pull out the manual… except, maybe, if you want to program tracks into memory for replay. And, I said earlier, the tray logic worked perfectly, and the quality of the disc tray itself and the motorised loading system
was excellent. Pioneer doesn’t call it a ‘Silent Load’ system for nothing! The quality of playback was everything I could ask of a sub-$500 player and more. It didn’t come as much of a surprise to learn Pioneer was using a 192kHz/24-bit DAC inside the PD-30AE because the backgrounds were totally silent, so if the music was recorded live, you could hear the background noise at the venue perfectly and, if the audience was being silent, you could hear the ambience of the acoustic itself. This would be excellent for any CD player, much less a budget player such as this. As you’d expect of the CD format, I couldn’t hear any aberrations in frequency response at all, with every note I heard played being reproduced at exactly the right level, with no diminution of output either at very low or very high frequencies. In anticipation of my attendance at Martha Argerich’s performance with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House, I span up the recording of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1 that she recorded with Seiji Ozawa and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra back in 1983. Listing the stupendous feats of pianism on this recording would take more space than I have available for this review, but the Pioneer’s absolute speed stability and precise control over playback levels means you will enjoy all of them. Listen particularly to Argerich’s glorious runs up and down the keyboard, no matter whether they’re legato or staccato and hear how they’re perfectly paced and each key is struck with exactly the same weight, from beginning to end, unless she’s aiming for a specific effect, such as the way she handles the trills around 12 minutes into the first movement. The balance between Argerich’s piano and the orchestra is ideal—as well as consistent—and she and the orchestra play as if they’re a single entity sharing the same musical mind. For the complete opposite of structure, the next CD I dropped into the tray was ‘The Witch’, from London-based outfit Pumarosa. Despite the slow, droning build-up that sets up the first track, Priestess, I could hear
Australian Hi-Fi
ON TEST
and you’re happy to load a CD when you want to hear music… Pioneer’s little PD-30AE Paul Dyer is the machine you want.
I said it before and I’ll repeat it here: the fact that a budget CD player such as the Pioneer PD-30AE can deliver such high levels of performance is amazing… mind-boggling even.
that the Pioneer PD-30AE was right on the money tone-wise. The bass guitar riffing that underlies the drone was beautifully delivered, with a stringy, depthy bass guitar sound that delivered the fundamental notes exactly, with no doubling frequencies to dilute the effect. The ability of the PD-30AE to keep the left and right channels separated was evidenced by the superior way in which the bouncing vocal effects filled my listening room. When a sax finally breaks in to take away from the trance effect, the effect on the musical mood is cathartic… and just wait until the bass finally stops for several seconds… the way the carefully-constructed sound field suddenly collapses is almost shocking… and the Pioneer PD-30AE certainly helped deliver this aural shock with complete effectiveness. I got an even-better sense of the Pioneer’s ability with rhythm and timing when listening to Justin Bernasconi’s outstanding album ‘Barefoot Wonderland’. If you think you’ve heard picking you haven’t heard Justin Bernasconi, and there’s plenty of it to be heard here. You can also hear how beautifully he
plays so achingly-near off-the-beat, but always resolves in time to bring his excursions back on track. Is it bluegrass? Is it folk? Who cares? It’s enormous fun and so beautifully recorded that you’ll imagine this Melbournian (ex-Cambridgeshire, in the UK) is right there in your living room, perfectly focused in the sweet spot between your loudspeakers. Australian Hi-Fi’s sister magazine, Australian Guitar, described Bernasconi’s playing as ‘a dexterous display of picking that does a stellar job of treading the fine line between guitar showboating and tasteful melodies.’ And if you like this second album, I think you’ll like his first, ‘Winter Pick’ even more (I do), but why he included Speed Camera on both albums (the closer on WP and the opener on BW) is fully beyond me.
CONCLUSION I said it before and I’ll repeat it here: the fact that a budget CD player such as the Pioneer PD-30AE can deliver such high levels of performance is amazing… mind-boggling even. If you’re after simplicity and superb sound…
Readers interested in a full technical appraisal of the performance of the Pioneer PD-30AE CD Player should continue on and read the LABORATORY REPORT published on the following pages. Readers should note that the results mentioned in the report, tabulated in performance charts and/or displayed using graphs and/or photographs should be construed as applying only to the specific sample tested.
PRODUCT & CONTACT DETAILS Brand: Pioneer Model: PD-30AE Category: CD Player RRP: $444.82 Warranty: One Year Distributor: Powermove Distribution Address: 28 The Gateway Broadmeadows VIC 3047 T: (03) 9358 5999 E: info@powermove.com.au W: www.powermove.com.au • Low price • Ease of use • Value for money • USB input
LAB REPORT
LABORATORY TEST REPORT Newport Test Labs measured the output voltage of the Pioneer PD-30AE as almost exactly 2-volts in both left and right channels, meaning that the player will comfortably drive any ancillary component to which it could conceivably be attached, and that channel balance was an excellent 0.01dB. Distortion at maximum output was a little higher than I am used to seeing, at 0.067% THD+N overall. The distortion spectrogram of Graph 1 shows a second harmonic at –95dB (0.00177%), a third at –105dB (0.00056%), a fourth at –125dB (0.00005%) and a fifth at –113dB (0.00022%) after which the noise
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floor (down at 140dB) is very clean. Nonetheless, this is self-evidently low, yet from Graph 2, which shows distortion at –10dB, it appears Pioneer is optimising performance for lower levels, where most decoding takes place, because as you can see, there are only two harmonic distortion components, both at about –115dB (0.00017%).
The overall noise floor is still down at around –140dB though you can see some mains-related low-frequency noise creeping into the output… albeit at more than 124dB down. At –20dB (Graph 3), THD comprises just a second harmonic at –133dB (0.00002%) and a third at –121dB (0.00008%), which is outstanding performance.
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P i o n e e r P D - 3 0 Ax EoCxD o xPolxaoyxeor
Graph 1. THD @ 1kHz @ 0dB recorded level.
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Graph 6. THD @ 1kHz @ –90.31dB recorded level. (With dither)
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Graph 7. THD @ 20kHz @ 0dB recorded level.
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Graph 8. Frequency Response at @ 0dB recorded level.
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Graph 3. THD @ 1kHz @ –20dB recorded level.
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Graph 2. THD @ 1kHz @ –10dB recorded level
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Graph 4. THD @ 1kHz @ –60dB recorded level.
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Graph 9. Impulse Train. (One maximum amplitude positive sample every 70 samples (630 pulses per second)
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Graph 10. CCIF Distortion (TwinTone Intermodulation) @ 0dB using 19kHz and 20kHz test signals in 1:1 ratio.
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Graph 5. THD @ 1kHz @ –91.24dB recorded level. (No dither)
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The DAC Pioneer is using begins to show signs of misbehaviour at –60dB (Graph 4) due to the lack of dithering of the test signal, but all the ‘grass’ is down below –120dB, which is excellent performance, and you can see the noise floor has dropped down below the
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–140dB graphing limit. The undithered signal at –91.24dB (Graph 5) is entirely dominated by odd harmonic distortion components, and the noise floor has dropped even further. Adding dither to the test signal (Graph 6) brings the level of the noise floor back up to
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–140dB (where it’s still lower than the noise floor of most amplifiers) and also totally removes the distortion components… exactly as dither is supposed to do. IMD is not quite in the same league, as you can see from Graph 10 which shows
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Pioneer PD-30AE CD Player
LAB REPORT
CCIF IMD using test signals at 19kHz and 20kHz, but it’s still excellent. There are sidebands at 18kHz and 21kHz, but both are more than 100dB down, and there is an unwanted signal regenerated at 1kHz, but it, too, is more than 100dB down… around –106dB (0.00050%) to be precise. There are some high-frequency IMD products around 25kHz that are around 70dB (0.03162%) down, and some more up around 40kHz that
are more than 80dB (0.01%) down. All are too high in frequency and two low in level to be audible. The Pioneer PD-30AE’s frequency response (Graph 8) is ruler flat out to 3kHz, after which it rises fractionally (0.01dB) then slowly falls from 14kHz to be 0.15dB down at 20kHz. Excellent performance indeed. Channel separation was equally good, with Newport Test Labs measuring better
Pioneer PD-30AE CD Player — Laboratory Test Results Analogue Section Output Voltage Frequency Response Channel Separation THD+N Channel Balance Channel Phase Group Delay Signal-to-Noise Ratio (No Pre-emph) De-Emphasis Error
Result 2.0030 / 2.0050 See Graph 108 / 109 / 92
Units/Comment volts (Left Ch/ Right Ch) dB dB at 16Hz / 1kHz / 20kHz
0.067
@ 1kHz @ 0dBFS
0.01
@ 1kHz @ 0dBFS
0.02 / 0.02 / 0.41 180 / 11.15 104 /107 0.001 / 0.002 / 0.067
degrees at 16Hz / 1kHz / 20kHz degrees (1–20kHz / 20–1kHz) dB (unweighted/weighted) at 1kHz / 4kHz / 16kHz
Linearity Error @ –60.00dB / –70.00dB
0.00 / 0.06
dB (Test Signal Not Dithered)
Linearity Error @ –80.59dB / –85.24dB
0.02 / 0.01
dB (Test Signal Not Dithered)
Linearity Error @ –89.46dB / –91.24dB
0.06 / 0.12
dB (Test Signal Not Dithered)
Linearity Error @ –80.70dB / –90.31dB
0.10 / 0.007
dB (Test Signal Dithered)
Power Consumption
0.24 / 10.59
watts (Standby / On)
Mains Voltage During Testing
234 – 244
Digital Section
(Minimum – Maximum) Units/Comment
Digital Carrier Amplitude
48.44mV
Digital Carrier Amplitude
635.39mV / 332.36mV
Audioband Differential / Common Mode
Audioband Jitter
1.6 / 0.011
nS (p–p) / UI (p–p)
Data Jitter
1.4 / 0.10
nS (p–p) / UI (p–p)
Deviation
–5.5
ppm
Frame Rate
44099.757
Eye-Narrowing (Zero Cross)
1.4 / 0.010
nS (p–p) / UI (p–p)
Eye-Narrowing (200mV)
18.8 / 0.103
nS (p–p) / UI (p–p)
Normal
Normal / Inverted
Absolute Phase
Australian Hi-Fi
than 100dB at low and midrange frequencies (108dB at 16Hz and 109dB at 1kHz) and 92dB at 20kHz. Inter-channel phase errors were vanishingly low, at around 0.02 degrees at low and midrange frequencies, and still only 0.41 degrees at 20kHz. Group delay results were typical for a modern oversampling commercial DAC, except that looking at the impulse and square wave spectrograms, the Pioneer PD-30AE doesn’t appear to be using oversampling to achieve its results. Channel balance was excellent at 0.01dB. Newport Test Labs measured the overall signal-to-noise ratio of the Pioneer PD-30AE at 104dB unweighted, an excellent result that improved even further (to 107dB) with A-weighting applied. These are wideband figures. You can see from the noise floor on the spectrograms that across the audio band, noise was down at –140dB. Overall THD+N was not as good as I’ve seen, but still more than respectably-low at 0.067%. The Pioneer PD-30AE has a de-emphasis circuit, as you can see from the tabulated results, and it’s a circuit that works extremely accurately, with just 0.001dB of error at 16Hz, 0.002dB of error at 4kHz and only 0.067dB of error at 16kHz. Of course most modern CDs aren’t pre-emphasised, so this circuit won’t switch on (it’s automatic), but if you have any CDs that are pre-emphasised (and they will be CDs that were pressed back in the 1980s), the Pioneer will play them back with the correct tonal balance. Linearity errors were non-existent to extremely low at higher recorded levels, but very slightly high at very low recorded levels (down around –90dB), no matter whether or not the test signal was dithered. The quality of the digital output from the Pioneer PD-30AE was extremely high, with very low levels of jitter and an almost-perfect frame rate. Eye-narrowing at zero cross was outstanding, but rather high at 200mV. This should not adversely affect the performance of any external DAC you might connect. Power consumption during use was a little higher than I might have expected, but a 10.59-watt draw is not going to impact on your utility bill, even if you played the PD-30AE 24/7. In standby, it pulls less than half a watt, and therefore conforms to the Australian standard for standby power consumption…plus means you could happily leave the player in standby whenever you’re not using it. Overall, the Pioneer PD-30AE CD player delivered outstandingly good performance on Newport Test Labs’ test bench, across the full Steve Holding gamut of tests performed.
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AMPS/RECEIVERS NETWORKED AV RECEIVER
PIONEER SC-LX501
T
he ‘LX’ range of home theatre receivers from Pioneer are the company’s premium models. Indeed, the US versions are marketed under the ‘Elite’ sub-brand. The SC-LX501 is the entry-level model among this premium range.
EQUIPMENT
The advantages of Class-D amplification, as used here, include relatively high power for low weight, thanks to the technology’s excellent efficiency, plus support for four-ohm loudspeakers without significant compromises, a relatively rare feat with modern home theatre receivers. So the Pioneer SC-LX501 receiver offers seven channels of Class-D power. How much power? Normally we’d just dutifully copy the power claims from the manual into the specification box opposite and describe here, in text, any reservations we might have. But which to choose? The single claim that Pioneer makes in the box with the Australian version of receiver is so silly we couldn’t bring ourselves to do that. Someone might see it there and believe it. So we put it to you here and ask, how useful is this? “Maximum power output (1 kHz, 4 Ohms, 10%, 1 ch Driven) – 320 W per channel”. The 10% there is total harmonic distortion, a shocking figure, but allowing this when doing the measurements allows a higher figure for power
power. One would even be entitled to draw the conclusion that this receiver is unable to deliver a low distortion performance, which isn’t true. We note that distributor Powermove’s website quotes a more sober 180W, at 1kHz into 6 ohms, 1% distortion, 1ch driven. Yet there’s also a spec sheet downloadable locally which quotes figures up to 560W! Considering them all, we’d suggest that a realistic claim for comparison purposes would be 120W per channel, two channels driven, into eight ohms. But really this is a lesson in companies being able to quote a wide range of power figures by varying the criteria chosen. Ultimately the numbers are irrelevant. It’s how well the receiver performs, and what you can do with that power. Here the seven amplifier channels can be allocated in the usual range of ways: as 7.1-channel conventional surround systems, for 5.1 with a second powered zone, for 5.1 with the front stereo speakers bi-amped, or for 5.1.2, with the final .2 being two overhead (or Dolby Atmosenabled) speakers as height channels. Note the only line-level outputs on this receiver are for the subwoofer, so you can’t add additional amplifiers to boost things to a fuller Atmos or DTS:X implementation. But 5.1.2 still delivers impressive results, both with Dolby Atmos and with Dolby Surround processing of stereo and multichannel sources. (We gather DTS:X is to be added with a future firmware update.)
The receiver offers seven HDMI inputs, one on the front panel and three with support for HDCP 2.2, ensuring they can be used with Ultra HD Blu-ray. Some analogue audio and older style digital audio inputs are provided. There is also one input each for component and composite video, though no matching inputs for either — the receiver converts these to HDMI output. There’s also a proper phono input for a turntable, along with an earthing point. A good set of network features are provided with the unit: Tunein internet radio, Spotify Connect, Tidal, Pandora and Deezer, plus Music Server and Apple AirPlay functions. A number of additional network features are slated for inclusion via future firmware updates: GoogleCast support, plus the FireConnect multiroom system. Unfortunately neither of these was available at the time of review; we’re particularly keen to try FireConnect, which is a new third-party multiroom platform which has plans
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Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#1
to include video in the future (see www.avhub.com.au/fireconnect). The unit is supplied with a printed 34-page ‘Basic Menu’. The full manual is available online at a provided link, in the form of a series of web pages. You can download a PDF, but this is merely the web pages printed out to 139 pages of PDF, rather than a well-structured manual. There’s no table of contents or internal links, but you can search for words within it.
PERFORMANCE
As many brands do nowadays, the receiver starts up the first time with a wizard to guide you through things. (Somewhat weirdly, our TV reported the video format of the wizard as 720p at, er, 62 hertz! If it really was at this odd frequency, our TV had no trouble locking on to the signal.) Rather than the clunky Pioneer menus of old, this one had a nicely formed modern font. The wireless network function can be set up in the conventional way (select a detected network and enter the password) or by importing the settings from an iOS device. We’ve used the iOS set-up process on plenty of devices, and we’re coming to the conclusion that if you know your network password, the traditional method is actually faster. It was certainly fast with this receiver. Dual-band (2.4and 5GHz) Wi-Fi was supported. Part of the wizard also offered the option of setting up a second zone. The receiver implements Pioneer’s longstanding MCACC automatic speaker and room calibration system. The tones it runs are relatively unusual and it takes a bit longer than some systems, but essentially the system works the same way. The levels and speaker distances were pretty much perfectly determined, although the speaker sizes were a touch random. The results should be checked and manual adjustments made where required. Also, at the end it might be worth checking in the Audio Adjust part of the main System Setup menu. There’s a deeper menu called ‘Dolby’ and this had ‘Loudness Management’ switched on by default. This is different to Dolby Volume, apparently some kind of dialogue normalisation for Dolby TrueHD. We’d at least start with this turned off. Pioneer has cut down the size and number of keys on its IR remote, and we did not miss any of those omitted. A bit more was done via the on-screen interface and, as we’ve suggested, this is rather prettier than in previous years. (Incidentally, when we got to playing network audio and using the set-up menu, the 62 hertz signal reporting went back to 60p.) As it happened, the main speakers we were using during the review period were four-ohm models, very high quality ones, so the support
for low impedances was very welcome. We took the opportunity to watch the Ultra HD version of ‘Suicide Squad’, using the Dolby Atmos sound track. Regardless of what you might think about the movie overall, the sound is a wonderful demonstration of a fully enveloping surround sound and, given the wide ranging soundtrack, music. It was all delivered with a first-class sense of surround and envelopment, and with a fine musicality. Whatever the actual wattage might be, there was plenty of power on tap for appropriately high levels, with a clean distortion-free delivery. The receiver also properly passed through the UHD video and was able to overlay its on-screen messages, primarily volume control adjustments, over the top of the video. These messages can be switched off if you prefer your picture left utterly clean even while you’re making adjustments. The network music functions worked very nicely for the most part. We used Spotify Connect, TuneIn, Apple AirPlay and good old-fashioned DLNA, using an app to send music to the receiver as a DLNA ‘renderer’, though as a renderer (using a third party app on an Android device to send network music to the receiver) it was unable to deliver music without gaps between tracks. In fact, the gap was a couple of seconds long, initially suggesting to us that the music had stopped. Playing the same music accessed through the receiver’s own menu system was gapless. Likewise, using the Pioneer app provided gapless playback. (For those interested in DLNA intricacies, this suggests that the Pioneer app is simply a controller for the receiver, so that the receiver acts as a DLNA player, rather than a DLNA renderer.) Nor could we get our Digital Media Controller app to send Direct Stream Digital music to the receiver, but the Pioneer app, taking control of the receiver’s Digital Media Player function, could deliver up DSD. Which, not so incidentally, sounded excellent. The Pioneer iControlAV5 home theatre receiver control app (shown opposite) is the best. Other receiver makers should take notes. It’s not so much that it looks prettier, it’s to do with more prosaic but useful features. For example, as fine receivers have long permitted, you can rename the inputs on this receiver to something more useful. With this app you can do the renaming in the app rather than fiddling with on-screen keyboards and the remote, and it’s immediately reflected on the receiver’s front-panel display. You can control just about everything, see graphical representations
of the wide-ranging settings made during the calibration process, and be presented with detailed information on the incoming and outgoing signal. Though that last part needs a little fixing up. The status viewer showed ‘analogue’ as the audio input signal when it was clearly receiving digital audio via the network. And it showed 720p as the video while it was in fact passing through Ultra HD 2160p/24 signals. The Android version seemed to be a little cruder than the iOS version, and would not operate in landscape mode. The wireless connectivity proved to be fast, too, providing plenty of speed for uninterrupted playback of both DSD64 and FLAC files at up to 192kHz and 24 bits of resolution.
CONCLUSION
Don’t be too distracted by the power claims — the Pioneer SC-LX501 is a fine receiver for those who want a bit of Dolby Atmos (two rather than four overhead speakers) and full support for low impedance loudspeakers, and want good network control and support for network music.
Pioneer SC-LX501 networked AV receiver • Excellent loudspeaker support down to four ohms • Very good overall performance • Very good network functions • No gapless playback as digital media renderer • Confusing power statements Price: $2699 Tested with firmware version: 1030-2010-1101-0000 Power: 7 x something or other, into some impedance or other Inputs: 7 x HDMI (3 with HDCP2.2), 1 x component video, 2 x composite video, 4 x analogue stereo, 1 x phono, 2 x optical digital, 1 x coaxial digital, 1 x USB, 1 x Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AM/FM antennas Outputs: 2 x HDMI, 2 x 0.1 subwoofer, 9 pairs speaker binding posts, 1 x 6.5mm headphone Zone: 1 x HDMI (redirectable HDMI 2 output), assignable amplifiers, 1 x analogue stereo pre-outs Other: 1 x IR In, 1 x IR Out, 2 x trigger out, 1 x RS-232C, 1 x calibration microphone Dimensions (whd): 435 x 185 x 395mm Weight: 12.0kg Warranty: Three years Contact: Powermove Distribution Telephone: 03 9358 5999 Web: www.powermove.com.au
Pioneer SC-LX89 AV Receiver
Newport Test Labs
AirPlay, Bluetooth, MHL, HTC Connect, DNLA (1.5), and is pre-setup for Spotify, vTuner, iRadio, and Pandora. I was perfectly happy to operate the Pioneer with the neat and compact infra-red learning remote control that comes with it: It’s nicely laid out, doesn’t have too many buttons and works perfectly. However, if you prefer your remote to be a little more ‘high-tech’, you can load Pioneer’s iControlAV5 app onto your iDevice or Android device. In addition to totally controlling the SC-LX89, this app also allows you to quickly and easily stream music stored on your phone to the SCLX-89 via its ‘Push
Power Output: Both channels driven into 8-ohm and 4-ohm non-inductive loads at 20Hz, 1kHz and 20kHz. [SC-LX89]
Player’ feature. It also has such friend-impressing features as being able to make front/back and side/side channel balance adjustments by tilting your mobile. Needless to say, it’s a free download. As with most multi-channel AV receivers, if you’re not using all the available channels (such as if you only need a 5.1-channel home theatre set-up) you can use the Pioneer’s ‘spare’ channels to create a multi-room (multi-zone) system via its HDZone, Zone2 and Zone3 controls. Flexibility is further enhanced by the Pioneer’s ability to be controlled by AMX, Control4, and Crestron home automation systems.
Newport Test Labs
IN USE AND LISTENING SESSIONS
Power Output: Single and both channels driven into 8-ohm and 4ohm non-inductive loads at 20Hz, 1kHz and 20kHz. [SC-LX89]
The first thing I recommend you do before installing the SC-LX89 is pull out all the little blocking plugs in the Pioneer’s otherwise perfectly banana-capable speaker terminals and fit all your speaker cables with banana plugs (the trick is to use a plasterboard screw as a plug removal tool). This will make installation quick, simple and safe, with no chance of accidentally shorting any speaker wires. Otherwise you could be making up to 18 speaker connections in a very confined space. Pioneer could have made our lives even easier by placing the speaker binding posts on industry-standard 19mm centres, so we could have used dual-Pomona banana plugs, thus halving the number of plugs we had to insert, but alas it didn’t. If you don’t like banana plugs, your only other option is stripped wire, because Pioneer’s terminals are (sensibly, IMO) completely insulated. Installing the SC-LX89 is no trivial task given the number of inputs and outputs, so Pioneer has developed an automated way of showing you how to do it; a system it calls ‘Auto-Navi’. This is completely automated if you have a mobile phone, because you can use it to scan the bar-code in the manual. This invokes Pioneer’s ‘Auto-Navi’ system to lead you step-by-step through the process using on-screen prompts. There are two other alternative—manual—options. Once all this is done, the next step is to properly calibrate the receiver and your speakers, which involves using the microphone supplied and Pioneer’s automated set-up system, called the MCACC Pro auto-room calibration system. Again, this is a completely automated process. Despite all this automation, I would recommend that even if you’re technicallyminded you should let your dealer install the SC-LX89 in your preferred configuration, and link it to your home network and mobile devices. Once the Pioneer is set-up, it’s supereasy to use, but set-up itself can be daunting, even with all the auto-assists Pioneer has built in. Although I have mostly been underwhelmed by the movie offerings chosen to promote Dolby Atmos (nothing wrong with Atmos, I just didn’t like the movies themselves), I most certainly approve of the just-released 4K remastered version of Fifth Element, which happens to be one of the best action flix around (it may be set in the future, but it’s not really sci-fi… IMO) but also a fabulous way of demonstrating how Atmos will dramatically improve your listening experience… the sound and FX in this movie are amazing, and the colour is even more glorious than I remember from the cinema release. Plus, of course, the biggest drawcard of this movie: Milla Jovovich’s portrayal of LeeLoo, the perfect human!
ON TEST
Because some may not want to go to the trouble of implementing full 9.2.2 Atmos (too many speakers is the usual cry I hear not only from the ‘burbs, but also from my own kitchen) I also trialled the SC-LX89 in a standard 5.1-channel system with ordinary DVDs as well as Bluray. Though you’re not getting the Atmos experience, the quality of the sound, the tonal detail on offer, plus the enormous amount of power on tap meant that the Pioneer SC-LX89 is to my mind the best AV receiver released during 2015. Using it, you’ll be able to wring the ultimate performance from your existing 5.1-channel speaker system. However, once you’ve heard Atmos in action (and watching Fifth Element will instantly convince you of its efficacy), it won’t be a big step to add an extra two speakers to go a starter Atmos 5.1.2 set-up. When I switched to using the Pioneer SC-LX89 to process audio signals from CD
PIONEER SC-LX89 AV RECEIVER
Brand: Pioneer Model: SC-LX89 Category: AV Receiver RRP: $4,999 Warranty: Three Years Distributor: Powermove Distribution Address: 28 The Gateway Broadmeadows VIC 3047 (03) 9358 5999 info@powermove.com.au www.powermove.com.au • Does everything • Easy to operate • Control over phase
• Speaker terminals • Front panel USB location • Front panel headphone location
LAB REPORT Readers interested in a full technical appraisal of the performance of the Pioneer SC-LX89 AV Receiver should continue on and read the LABORATORY REPORT published on page 34. Readers should note that the results mentioned in the report, tabulated in performance charts and/or displayed using graphs and/or photographs should be construed as applying only to the specific sample tested.
Lab Report on page 34 avhub.com.au
ON TEST
Pioneer SC-LX89 AV Receiver
as well as from my NAS drive (time now to point out that the Pioneer handles all electronic file flavours and formats up to 192/32-bit and DSD5.6) the result was that all the music I heard sounded very clean and true-to-life, with very little noise and no audible distortion. Again, the amount of power available on tap was staggering… the use of Class-D technology has meant that AV receivers are now able to be much more powerful than in previous years. Whereas early-model AV receivers using Class-AB output stages mostly delivered less than 100-watts per channel, Pioneer rates the SCLX89 at 260-watts per channel. And because Class-D is so energy-efficient, the Pioneer SC-LX89 runs very cool and does not draw much current from your mains under normal operation (and almost nothing when it’s either idling or in stand-by mode). I was not totally enamoured of the fact that both the front-panel headphone socket (a gold-plated 6.35mm type) and the frontpanel USB socket are located underneath the hinged flap on the front panel, because
this means that you have to open the panel to plug them in, then leave the panel open while-ever they are plugged in. If they’d been located elsewhere, I could have used them with the hinged flap in the closed position, which I would have preferred. On the plus side, I guess that locating them under the flap will keep them cleaner, and therefore less likely to be affected by dust. Two new and particularly exciting circuits on the Pioneer SC-LX89 are ‘Full Band Phase Control’ and the ‘Auto Phase Control Plus’. Both are similar to DEQX in that they aim to correct phase aberrations between low and high frequencies: between bass/midrange and treble drivers in the case of the full-band circuit, and between the output of the subwoofer and the main speakers in the case of the ‘Auto’ phase control. The receiver can be used with the circuits active or inactive, so you’ll have your choice, but when you hear the improved focus and clarity that’s possible, it’s my guess that you will leave them switched on. Indeed I would have liked the option of leaving them on when the ‘Pure
Direct’ modes were selected, but it appears that if you want a ‘Pure Direct’ signal path, that is what Pioneer is going to give you, so the circuits are disabled automatically when either is selected.
CONCLUSION It’s been a long time coming, but I have finally encountered a multi-channel AV receiver that has all the features I’ve been waiting for, plus the performance, power output and sound quality I demand from any audio component … plus Pioneer has thrown in some extra features I’d never heard of which added even more brightlycoloured icing to what was already a very enticing offering. I want one! And if you would too, but find that the range-topping SC-LX89 is a bit beyond your money-jar, take a look at the almost-identical (but even more wallet-friendly) SC-LX79 and SC-LX59 models which, if nothing else, serve to show that Pioneer is out to ‘own’ the AV receiver market. Andrew Ryland
Pioneer SC-LX89 AV Receiver Specifications Audio Features Air Studios Monitor Certification Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD/Dolby Digital Plus/Dolby Surround DTS:X/DTS neural:X ready DTS-HD master Audio/DTS-ES/DTS Neo:X|11.1 USB-DAC 192kHz/32-bit with DSD native playback DSD Direct playback via network/USB (2.8MHz, 5.6MHz/2ch) DSD Disc (SACD) playback via HDMI (2.8MHz/5.1ch, 2ch) SABRE32 Ultra DAC (ES9016S) for 9.2ch Audio Scaler 192kHz/32-bit enhancer MCACC PRO Room Calibration with: • Full Band Phase Control • Auto Phase Control Plus/Phase Control Plus • Standing Wave Control • 3D time Axis Measurement • Precision Distance • Subwoofer Equalisation (4 Band) • Bass Management System for Dolby Atmos-enabled speakers Sound Enhancements: • PQLS Bitstream/Multi-Surround/2ch • Advanced Sound Retriever (Multi-ch) • Auto Sound Retriever/Auto Sound retriever for ARC • Auto Level Control (Multi-ch) • Virtual Speakers (Wide/Height/ Surround Back) • Rendering Mode Advanced Surround modes • Action, Drama, Advanced game, Sports, Classical, Rock/Pop • Front Stage Surround • Sound Retriever Air, Phones surround
• Eco Mode 1, Eco Mode 2 Input Volume Absorber Speaker System 15 patterns including 7 patterns for Dolby Atmos
Video Features Ultra HD Pass-through with HDCP 2.2 (4K/60p/4:4:4/24-bit, 4K/24p/4:4:4/36-bit, 4K/60p/4:2:2/36-bit) Video Scaler (1080p to 4K) with Super Resolution Triple HD Noise Reduction Advanced Video Adjust Stream Smoother/Stream Smoother Link
Home Network Features Apple Airplay Certified DLNA Certified (1.5) HTC Connect Certified Compatible with Windows 8 Music file playback/Seek via Network/USB: AIFF, Apple Lossless, WAV, FLAC, MP3, WMA, AAC, DSD • 192kHz/24-Bit audio playback (AIFF, Apple Lossless, WAV, FLAC) • Multi-channel (5.1ch, 5.0ch) Audio playback (WAV, FLAC) Gapless Playback for AIFF, Apple Lossless, WAV, FLAC, AAC, MP3, DSD Spotify Digital music-Streaming Service ready Internet Radio with vTuner
Convenience Features iPod Digital transmission via front USB terminal Android Audio/Video playback with MHL Start-up NAVI (Initial Setting App)
(iOS/Android) AVNavigator (Wiring NAVI/Interactive Operation Guide) iControlAV5 remote control App ready iOS/Android) HDMI ZONE out (HDZONE) Built-in Wi-Fi (Dual Band 5GHz/2.4GHz) Built-in Bluetooth Wireless technology (Version: 2.1 + EDR, Profile: A2DP/AVRCP, Codec: SBC/AAC) Power Save for HDMI Standby Through Learning Remote Control (Luminous)
Front Terminals HDMI: 1 in Microphone: 1 in (for MCACC Setup) Headphones: 1 out
Rear Terminals HDMI: 7 in (7 assignable, 1 for HDMI/MHL) HDMI: 3 out (2 for Main, 1 for Main/ HDZONE) Ethernet: 1 in AV (Composite): 2 in/1 out Audio 1: in (assignable) Phono (MM): 1 in Digital Coaxial: 2 in (assignable) Digital Optical: 2 in (assignable)/1 out USB-DAC: 1 in (B-type) Component Video: 2 in (assignable) Monitor: Component 1 out/Composite 1 out Pre-out: 11.2 ch (13.2 ch terminals) Pre-in: 5.2 ch Loudspeaker Out: 11 channels Subwoofer Out: Dual independent IR: 2 in/1 out 12V Trigger×2/RS-232C LAB REPORT ON PAGE 34
ON TEST
Pioneer XDP-100R High Resolution Portable Audio Player
PIONEER XDP-100R HIGH RESOLUTION PORTABLE AUDIO PLAYER
H
ere in Australia, Pioneer’s audiophile products have been absent for some years now, but now that Powermove has assumed responsibility for distribution I’m assured that this will change, not only because of Powermove’s involvement but also because of Pioneer’s sale of its audio division to Onkyo, which will now be responsible for building the products for both brands.
THE EQUIPMENT If you haven’t ever used a portable hi-res player and were expecting the Pioneer XDP100R to be solely a hi-res audio player, you will be in for a surprise, because it’s actually more akin to a micro-tablet computer than a hi-res player. Or perhaps even more appropriately, more like a high-end mobile phone that also happens to be a hi-res audio player… except without the phone capability! This comes about because Pioneer is using the Android operating system (5.1.1) (over Linux) to run the XDP-100R, which means it’s possible to load and run on it any Android app you want: calculator, clock, calendar…you name it. Many useful apps you won’t even have to load yourself, because 123 of them are already there: think Google, Chrome, Gmail, Clock, etc. So, so as long as you have the XDP-100R connected to a Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n or 802.11ac) network (which, incidentally, is very easy to do, no computer nerdishness required), you’ll be able to use it exactly like you would a phone, to send and receive emails, surf the internet… whatever! But of course what sets the Pioneer XDP100R apart from most other mobile devices is its ability to store and replay hi-res audio signals, including MQA. It’s able to do this because inside is a high-spec Sabre ESS-
9018K2M DAC and a Sabre 9601K amplifier that is rated as being able to deliver 75mW per channel into a 32Ω load, and to drive headphones rated from 16Ω up to 300Ω. You can also run Bluetooth headphones, because the XDP-100R has this built in as well as Wi-Fi—(Bluetooth with aptX (A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, OPP, HID, PAN). Since the PioneerXDP-100R’s raison d’etre is to play back hi-res files, you’d expect that it would have plenty of room to store them, and this is indeed the case, with 32GB of onboard storage. However, the real game-changer is that there are two micro SDXC card slots on the right-hand edge of the unit that enable you to extend this storage by plugging a 200GB card into each slot, giving a maximum storage capacity of 432GB. This is a great feature, but to my mind the best thing about the card storage is that you can just load your music onto cards and extend/ change your music library by swapping cards. In other words, there’s no need to download them from the internet, or transfer them from your computer (though these options are there if you’d prefer). My only gripe with using the cards is that you need to have fingernails in order to be able to press the cards deeply enough for them to lock (and unlock). Lacking fingernails, I had to resort to using the tip of a ballpoint pen!
Alongside the two micro SDXC slots are three small transport buttons—track reverse–skip backward, play/pause and track fast-forward/skip forward—plus an on/off switch. These are replicated by software switches on the Pioneer’s screen, but are there so you can operate the player while you’re using the XDP-100R’s screen for some other purpose while at the same time listening to music. And speaking of the screen, it’s a beauty… a very high-quality 720×1280 display that measures 58×104mm. It’s so good that I was disappointed that I couldn’t find any way of displaying full-screen, full-brightness album covers while the relevant music was playing. This doesn’t mean you can’t do this, just that I just couldn’t find out how! The opposite side of the player has a rotary encoder to control volume, but volume can also be controlled via on-screen soft buttons. There are 160 possible volume increments. Curiously, sound can be delivered not only via headphones (a gold-plated 2.5mm phone socket that doubles as a line output) but also from a small speaker on the bottom of the Pioneer that’s adjacent to the mini-USB socket. At maximum volume this speaker is loud enough to be useful, but the sound is not only monophonic, but also totally not high fidelty!
ON TEST
Pioneer XDP-100R Hi-Res Player
Inserting your headphones’ plug is complicated by a protective bar/handle that stops you from using any headphones whose plug has a thick support barrel. It didn’t cause issues with any of the ‘phones I used, but if it does you, the bar is easily removed using a jeweller’s screwdriver. (There’s also a protective shroud at the bottom of the unit for the loudspeaker and USB socket which is just as easily removed.) The Pioneer XDP-100R measures 146×78×19mm (HWD) with the top and bottom protective devices (bumpers) fitted, and is available in two colours—natural anodised aluminium or black anodised aluminium. The colour of the player is indicated by the use of either a K or an S, so the black version is an XDP-100R-K and the silver version is an XDP-100R-S. If you’re checking out the competition you’ll find a very similar product to the XDP-100R is available with Onkyo branding: the Onkyo DP-X1. As you’d imagine, since Onkyo owns Pioneer, the two share a great deal of circuitry, but the main differences are that the DP-X1 has two ESS Sabre ES9018K2M DACs so it’s able to use the superior dual differential mode for digital-to-analogue conversion, and two Sabre 9601K amplifiers, so it’s able to offer both balanced and unbalanced outputs, and, on the balanced output, a much higher output voltage.
IN USE AND LISTENING SESSIONS Powering up the XDP-100R takes nearly 35 seconds, as you first wait for Android to launch, and then the Pioneer skin. What loads is a ghostly and highly enlarged version of the cover of the album you were last playing, a time/ date clock (though you can configure this to different styles, or disappear it), plus icons titled Google, Manual, Useful Apps, Play Store which take you to the expected places. Then, below these icons, three more that will in turn allow you to start music playback, launch the apps/ widgets screen, or take you to System Settings, so you can customise your XDP-100R and how it operates. Pioneer’s playback software took me a little while to get my head around, but once I was familiar with it, it proved perfectly satisfactory for the purpose. If you don’t want the learning curve or would prefer to use another music player, simply load the one you like best… that’s one of the beauties of Android. The very first thing I noticed after I started listening to the XDP-100R was that of the 160 volume steps available, I was only going to be able to use around 60 of them, because with all the ‘phones I own, 100 was absolutely the lowest level I would consider using when listening to music. I then found that even maximum volume with my most efficient headphones was only what I’d call ‘uncomfortably loud’ which means that if you use
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inefficient ‘phones, and/or ones that aren’t a good impedance match, you might have difficulty achieving your preferred volume level. This will be easy to check out in-store with your own headphones—just remember to load your favourite tunes onto a micro SDXC card so you can audition with familiar music. I think you’ll find all IEMs will go plenty loud enough: it will only be some fullsized headphones that could have ‘not loud enough’ issues. Volume level, however, will be your only issue, because I found the XDP-100R delivered very cohesive, very satisfying, full-range audio with tight, authoritative bass, a clean accurate midrange and extended treble with all file types (the only one I wasn’t able to trial was MQA because it required an update that was not available at the time of writing) and across all musical genres, from classical to hip-hop. But where the XDP-100R most clearly stood out was the absolute absence of background noise, so even listening at low levels you won’t hear any circuit hiss whatsoever.
CONCLUSION I trialled the black version of the Pioneer XDP0100R, which looked so totally classy that I was asked about it during many commutes, at which time the screen was also admired. So combine this street-proven classiness with the great sound to be had, the lightning-fast response of the software and the storage capacity available and you truly have a music portable that is to be Lee Shopes. reckoned with.
CONTACT DETAILS Pioneer XDP-100R High Resolution Portable Audio Player Brand: Pioneer Model: XDP-100R Category: Hi-Res Portable Player RRP: $1,200 Distributor: Powermove Distribution Address: 28 The Gateway Broadmeadows, VIC 3047 T: (03) 9358 5999 E: sales@powermove.com.au W: www.powermove.com.au • Sound quality • Android convenience
Osborn
• Multi-purpose • Volume level • Lettering visibility • Headphone socket guard
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