Slim Devices' Transporter for Audiophiles
By Geoff Duncan
July 25, 2006
Slim Devices throws audiophiles a bone - and a knob, and high-quality converters and components - with the Transporter network audio system.
Digital home audio developer Slim Devices today announced the Transporter a high-end networked audio system designed to appeal to audiophiles through the use of high-end converters, premium components, a quality analog stage—and one very sexy knob.
"With Transporter, we set out to design an even better system by incorporating ideas both from the audiophile community and specialist engineers from around the globe. Transporter is designed not merely to rival traditional high-end sources, but to surpass them in both subjective and quantifiable performance," said Sean Adams, Slim Devices' CEO and founder.
The Transporter incorporates the AKMAK4396 DAC (digital/analog converter)—a professional grade audio converter known for preserving the fidelity of audio output—a is built around a gold-plated circuit board which separates digital and analog sections, lowers cross-talk, and employes highly accurate clocking to eliminate digital jitter.
Connectors? The Transporter's well-equipped on both the analog and digital fronts: RCA, XLR, and BNC analog output is available, and the system can pump digitally via optical, coax, BNC, and XLR. The system also accepts word clock input for synchronization with other devices. Audio formats? The Transporter supports Apple Lossless, WMA Lossless, FLAC, uncompressed WAV, AIFF, and PCM audio, along with MP3, Ogg Vorbis, MP2, MusePack, and WMA compressed audio. The Transporter streams music via 100Base-T Ethernet or 802.11b/g wireless networking (with support for WEP Personal, WPA2 and 64/128-bit WEP encryption), and features an RS-232 connector for serial integration with home automation systems. Configuring the Transporter's SlimServer software requires Windows NT/2000/XP, Mac OS X 10.3 or later, or a Linux/Unix system with Perl 5.8.3 or later.
The Transporter is available for pre-order now, and is priced at $1,999. Units will begin shipping on September 18, 2006—customers who pre-order before September 18 will also receive a free Squeezebox to accompany the Transporter and create multi-room solutions. The unit comes with a 32-key remote.