Cocktail audio x30

Music centres combining record deck, cocktail audio x30, cassette recorder and tuner were big business back cocktail audio x30 the late seventies through to the early eighties, with fans keen to enjoy music at home on all the main analogue formats of the day. So, what to do with that sizeable CD collection and how best to migrate to streaming are regular questions being asked by music fans looking to move with the times to a less tangible music playback system. However, unlike the X10 — its half-sized older sibling reviewed, HFC — the X30 is a full-size unit that measures a fairly standard mm wide.

What's the cocktailAudio X30? It can rip a one hour playing time CD in less than 10 minutes. This means the X30 can be used as an audio server and source device for those wishing to use an existing external amplifier and DAC. Multiple inputs and outputs for versatile connectivity CA X30 offers various audio inputs and outputs for connection to other audio devices, as well as a TV. Three digital outputs, two analogue outputs, two digital inputs and two analogue inputs allow high connectivity with multiple devices. It will catalogue your CD collection by album, artist, genre, year, and will store all ripped CDs into the music database.

Cocktail audio x30

Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test. The Cocktail Audio X30 is a great idea: a high-res streamer, server, CD player and digital amplifier all wrapped up in one box. It can also stream songs from your smartphone or tablet, play internet and FM radio, and record tunes at the press of a button. Just add speakers. Ripping a CD is fast and quiet unlike on the smaller X10 , plus you can listen to stored music while ripping. You can also select individual tracks to rip, instead of the entire CD, rename tracks and create playlists. It's swift and easy to customise each album or track with the bulky but useful remote control at hand. Connect the X30 to your home network, via either wired ethernet or the supplied wireless dongle, and the X30 turns into a streaming machine. Sound quality takes a predictable dip in quality compared with ripped CD tracks, but it retains the same tonal characteristics. Also, before you start ripping CDs, you can choose the type and quality of file you want them stored as, as well as the bitrate for the MP3s and also a ripping speed. A rule of thumb, fast ripping speed equals lower-quality resolution.

There is a minimal amount of controls on the front face except for two rotary dials — one at either end — and four buttons for basic operation, meaning you can at least control the system without the need to use the remote, cocktail audio x30.

Many people, it seems, want a simple solution to enable them to store and access their music collections: my usual advice to combine a computer with a dedicated network music player or network system cuts very little ice with them, as they really want to keep their computer and their audio system entirely separate. There have been solutions in the past: Yamaha, for example, sold a range of CD players with hard-drives in the past, and while these were simple to load as disc was inserted, read, stored and then ejected — scrolling through a large library was time consuming, and unless one stuck to compressed formats, the storage limited. It has a built-in CD drive for disc-ripping, and needs only the addition of a pair of speakers to form a complete system. Trouble is, the JB7 suffers from being one of the first on the market, and not having been developed much in the intervening six years. However, it looks like Korean company Novatron has a near-ideal solution in its Cocktail Audio X30 model. The X30 also supports the Simfy streaming music service where available , with a promise to add other services such as Rhapsody and Spotify in the future, and can act as a UPnP network server for music and as a client to play music stored on an external computer or server running UPnP software. As well as being ripped from CDs, music can be added to the hard disk using USB storage devices or from shared networked stores.

Music centres combining record deck, cassette recorder and tuner were big business back in the late seventies through to the early eighties, with fans keen to enjoy music at home on all the main analogue formats of the day. So, what to do with that sizeable CD collection and how best to migrate to streaming are regular questions being asked by music fans looking to move with the times to a less tangible music playback system. However, unlike the X10 — its half-sized older sibling reviewed, HFC — the X30 is a full-size unit that measures a fairly standard mm wide. Nevertheless it is a remarkably compact and well-formed unit that is considerably less bulky than you might imagine given all the duties it performs. Available in a choice of black or silver finishes, it feels rather nicely put together and sports a well finished 8mm-thick aluminium front panel. There is a minimal amount of controls on the front face except for two rotary dials — one at either end — and four buttons for basic operation, meaning you can at least control the system without the need to use the remote. A disc-loading slot and a 5in screen are pretty much all that remain to catch the eye. At first glance the LCD panel looks as though it is touch sensitive, and I instinctively go to prod one of the colourful icons to begin navigating the system. There is a large remote control supplied, but it is festooned with buttons and has a somewhat illogical layout that takes some familiarisation and an occasional thumb through the manual to get to grips with the numerous facilities before operation can become anything like second nature. None of the apps are able to control the internal amplifier volume level, but Cocktail Audio says that a dedicated app offering full control of the X30 is planned in the future along with the inclusion of streaming services like Spotify.

Cocktail audio x30

Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test. The Cocktail Audio X30 is a great idea: a high-res streamer, server, CD player and digital amplifier all wrapped up in one box. It can also stream songs from your smartphone or tablet, play internet and FM radio, and record tunes at the press of a button. Just add speakers. Ripping a CD is fast and quiet unlike on the smaller X10 , plus you can listen to stored music while ripping. You can also select individual tracks to rip, instead of the entire CD, rename tracks and create playlists. It's swift and easy to customise each album or track with the bulky but useful remote control at hand.

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It can rip a one hour playing time CD in less than 10 minutes. There is even a handful of preset EQ settings to choose from — most of which sound truly ghastly. Instead of fiddling with the control knob and buttons on the front panel, the remote lets you rip CDs or record songs with a single button press. The Cocktail Audio X30 is a free-standing device, capable of working alone as a multimode audio source when connected to passive speakers. The remote control is a big and bulky affair that has a button for nearly every feature of the X The box contains the device, the remote control, the batteries, a printed manual good news and the WiFi antenna also good news , the power cable, an FM antenna and a connecting cable. Rotel Michi X3. The X30 also has an HDMI output, to view images as a slideshow or a more complete menu on a separate monitor. There are no separate boxes for the main components and the accessories, as in the smaller model or at least, not in my case. Cocktail Audio X30 Shaken, not stirred! Related Latest Reviews News. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Written by Andrew Everard. I tried several times to update the firmware automatically and correctly , even though the unit had already been updated.

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Switching on and off the router led to a little improvement but did not solve the issue completely. Connect the X30 to your home network, via either wired ethernet or the supplied wireless dongle, and the X30 turns into a streaming machine. That should store over albums in uncompressed CD quality. Marantz Melody X on test. The X30 also supports the Simfy streaming music service where available , with a promise to add other services such as Rhapsody and Spotify in the future, and can act as a UPnP network server for music and as a client to play music stored on an external computer or server running UPnP software. The menus and controls are responsive and easy to navigate, with only minor hiccups such as lag in operation. I want to rip all my CDs to a hard disk based system at the moment it looks like either this unit or a separate nas via my computer, or a ripping nas. The case is made out of metal and the front panel is rather thick technical specs. Suunto unleashes Wing earbuds. The only noise you hear comes from the hard drive and when you load a CD. Moreover, the apps can easily be used to listen to streaming services, like Qobuz and Simfy. High performance stereo diigital amplifier with dynamic W. Comment Reblog Subscribe Subscribed.