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| EMagazine Volume 6 Issue 1 Feb / Mar 2001 |
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Audio Request (ARQ1)
Music Player A Home MP3 Player / jukebox is a great device to have and the AudioRequest is an excellent choice. One of the main advantages is it's internal storage capability. Many Home MP3 players on the market today use your computer to store the music files. Personally, I have plenty of other information stored on my PC and I can't afford half of the space being gobbled up with MP3's. With the ARQ1 I stored my complete music collection and only made a small dent in the storage capability. Not only that ... it's all accessible to me via a handy TV interface. I can hardly wait to throw a party :-) |
The Audio Request (ARQ1) by Request Multimedia may be eliminating the need for that bank of home audio equipment, other than a receiver and speakers. I'm not telling you to throw away your 25 disc player or dual cassette deck, I am simply saying, if you are starting from scratch on a home system, there may be no need to spend money on more than one music jukebox/player.
Retailing right now for around $800, the ARQ1 contains a 20 GB hard drive capable of storing 350 hrs of music (a 30 GB unit is also available). With all this music the powerful Intel Celeron Processor allows you to load and play songs quickly. So when you consider the pricing, you must realize that this is virtually a computer, and being that this technology is relatively new you can anticipate a price drop as competitors enter the market.
It
only took about 5 minutes to get the ARQ1 out of the box and playing music at
the simplest level. Plug in the power, run a line out to your receiver and
you're ready to play CD's. You can also run an S-Video or Video Out to your
television to make it easier to navigate through your music collection using the
onscreen display and remote control.
First things first ... take all your CD's and fire them in one by one to download them onto the hard drive in the ARQ1. This is a one-time only job because ARQ1 takes the CD, compresses to an MP3 file and stores it until you delete it. It takes around 10 to 12 minutes each CD, so be prepared to spend some time doing this. If you still have cassettes, vinyl or even 8 tracks, the line out will allow you to copy these onto the ARQ1 as well. Oh and don't forget to borrow all your friends CD's and download them too.
As I write this you can still download free music
from Napster to your PC. It's a simple transfer of these MP3's from your
computer to the ARQ1. The system is equipped with a parallel port or Ethernet
connection. I was a bit disappointed that they only supplied me with 6 feet of
ethernet cable, being that few homes are currently wired for a network, and few
computers are 4 feet from the Entertainment center. After paying $800 for this
system ... and being excited to get up and running, I don't want to have to run
out and spend time and another $20 on cable.
Once the wiring is done, you simply need to load a software program onto your computer and enter the network settings on the ARQ1. The instruction manual was very detailed and easy to read, however I found it a bit vague on setting up the ARQ1 for Ethernet, so I called the help line, and within a few minutes the problem was solved and I was uploading all the MP3's from my computer to the ARQ1. You can also download from ARQ1 to PC or ARQ1 to a portable MP3 player. Another bonus with the Ethernet connection is that software updates will be available online to improve your system.
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- Plays MP3 (MPEG1 Layer 3) digital format songs.
- Stores up to 350 hours of high quality digital audio.
- Familiar CD controls and features: Play, Pause, Scan, Track Search, Repeat Play, Shuffle Play, and Intro Play.
- Instant access to any song, no physical switching between CDs.
- CD drive plays and encodes CD's to compressed formats.
- Powerful Intel Celeron Processor
- Plays audio formats directly from CD-R and CD-RW, including MP3.
- Stereo Analog line input allows other music sources to be encoded as well (LP, Cassette, Radio, 8-track, DAT, MD, etc.).
- Microphone level input for future voice recording and Karaoke functions.
- Stereo Analog RCA audio output.
- Composite and S-Video TV output provides an advanced graphical user interface for playlist editing, navigation, and the display of compelling animations.
- NTSC and PAL compatible.
- Playlists easily categorize and organize your entire music collection by artist, album, genre, mood, etc.
- Ethernet port for easy transfer and streaming of existing MP3 collections to and from PC through your home network.
- Automatic CD recognition through lookup from an Internet enabled PC and ID3 v1.1 support for MP3 files.
- Ethernet port for connection to home network and the Internet.
- USB Connection to MP3 portables, car players and PC.
- Optional wireless keyboard provides easier text input of song information.
- Automated software updates add new features like additional compression formats (AAC, MPEG4, etc.).
There is also a "Pro" version with all this plus:
- 30 or 60 GB Hard Drive stores 210 to 420 hours of the highest quality MP3 audio.
- Installs effortlessly into your home installation.
- Comes with Rack Mounts for rack installation.
- Crestron (TM) home automation control enabled through Ethernet port.
So with all this said you're probably wondering ... is it worth it? From my point of view, being someone who is not a die-hard music fanatic and who doesn't have a massive music collection, yes it is worth it. A Home MP3 Player / jukebox is a great device to have and the AudioRequest is an excellent choice. One of the main advantages is it's internal storage capability. Many Home MP3 players on the market today use your computer to store the music files. Personally, I have plenty of other information stored on my PC and I can't afford half of the space being gobbled up with MP3's. With the ARQ1 I stored my complete music collection and only made a small dent in the storage capability. Not only that ... it's all accessible to me via a handy TV interface. I can hardly wait to throw a party :-)
Home MP3 players are definitely here to stay and I predict that, like everything else, they will just get better and cheaper within the next year. The music industry needs to find a way to work with companies like Napster and MP3.com for the benefit of their listening audience. I am confident that they will ... and we will all benefit from the experience and convenience.
