Terratec's latest addition to its Noxon range of network media players is jam-packed with features. The most visible one is an iPod dock, which joins network locations and internet radio on the list of music sources. Around the back there's an aerial socket for an FM radio, while a door on the side reveals a USB socket for playing music directly from USB storage devices. There's an alarm clock and support for a wide range of file types. Speakers are built into the base unit and there are phono and optical outputs to feed other speakers.
The player quickly found our wireless network and, after we had gone through the fiddly process of entering the WPA password with the remote control, located the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) server running in Windows Media Player 11 on a networked PC. As usual with UPnP streaming, browsing our 30GB library of MP3s was fairly slow and arduous, and it wasn't helped by the cranky search facility. Once located, tracks started playing quickly but the first couple of seconds were often omitted.
The iPod dock doesn't come with adaptors for different models, so our iPod Mini was supported just by its dock connection, which feels fairly fragile. However, there isn't much reason to touch it once it is docked, as you select tracks using the Noxon's screen and controls. Once again, this made browsing long lists slow compared with using the iPod's click wheel, but it was nice to be able to do so with the remote control.
Internet radio is the highlight. More than 10,000 stations are superbly presented by location and genre, and few were inactive. Sound quality was surprisingly good for a small unit, and there's plenty of volume on tap, but the Noxon 2 didn't compare well with similarly priced hi-fis or even fairly cheap PC speakers.
As usual for a device with an integrated iPod dock, the Noxon is expensive. Sound quality is better than that of the Noxon iRadio (What's New, Shopper May 2007), but this, along with the dock and the USB socket, doesn't justify the fact that the newer model costs almost twice as much. Buying the Philips SLA5520, Logitech's X-230 and Apple's iPod Universal Dock would give similar features and superior sound for much less money. However, the Noxon's compact, all-in-one design and excellent internet radio support mean that, even at this price, it's still a desirable package.
System Specifications
iPod dock (compatible with all docking iPods), USB removable storage controller, supports MP3 streams, local MP3, WMA, WMA-DRM, AAC, Wav and Ogg Vorbis files, wired Ethernet and wireless 802.11g interfaces, WEP and WPA encryption, line, optical S/PDIF and headphone outputs, 18W RMS power
Author: Ben Pitt
Computer Shopper Online