Sony Giga Juke HDD hi-fi system July 2009

Sony Giga Juke HDD hi-fi system

The Giga Juke system from Sony is a one-stop solution for your music needs, not just in your living room, but all around your home. It boasts a number of features, but the main draw is its 160GB of internal memory and the ability to stream music to up to five other units around the house. We haven't yet fully tested this model in our labs, so we are unable to award a total test score, but we have tried it out in our office to bring you our first impressions.

 

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According to Sony, the built-in 160GB of storage will hold somewhere in the region of 40,000 tracks – around 1,300 hours of music. It also has a built-in database that allows the system to recognise approximately 350,000 albums, so once you've transferred your music to the HDD, it's unlikely to need labelling as the Giga Juke will do this for you.

Wireless music streaming around the house

It comes supplied with a wireless adaptor that can be plugged into the back of the main unit, and a wireless station that needs to be plugged directly into the mains. Once both of these are set up, the main unit can communicate wirelessly with what Sony calls the 'client players'. These client players are designed to be placed in different rooms, allowing you stream music from the main player around the house.

Up to five client players can be set up, and each of them can access the audio tracks saved on the main unit’s HDD. The client players can each play a different song at the same time or, by pressing the 'party' button, they can automatically sync themselves to play the same music.

Impressive sound quality

Setting this streaming system up for the first time might take a while, but once it's established, streaming music is straightforward. However, the menu systems may require a little trial and error before you get to grips with them.

While not tested in comparison with other models in our lab, the sound quality – from both the main system and the client players – suitably impressed, and the build quality also gave us the impression that this hi-fi is built to last.

Like many modern audio systems, the Giga Juke also has a CD drawer, a USB port for playing MP3 files from a memory stick, and a radio with FM, AM and DAB tuners. It also features an integrated docking station for a Sony Walkman, and an external docking station for an Apple iPod.

Saving music to the hard drive

Transferring music from a PC or laptop to the Giga Juke is an easy task, and ripping tracks from a CD to the HDD is a simple one-button process.

The Giga Juke NAS-SC5000PK sells for around £700 and comes with a single client player. Additional client players (NAS C5E) can be bought for around £200 each.

A similar Giga Juke – the Sony NAS-E300HD - has also been launched, featuring 80GB of internal memory. This smaller model sells for around £300 but doesn't offer the ability to stream music to client players.

Pros: Offers the ability to create a huge music library, well-built, once set up it’s easy to use

Cons: The main unit plus five clients is an expensive ensemble

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