 At last, a total digital music solution |
| Date Of Review: April 20, 2008 |
| Reviewed by: John Dupree, Winston-Salem, NC United States |
This product exceeded my expectations. Here are details not highlighted in the product info:
A) Sound quality
I compared it with a friend to his Bose Wave system. We both prefered Denon, which had richer bass and fuller range. Both systems created an impressive stereophonic spread throughout the room if placed in the right position. Denon also compared favorably to Tivoli Radio (but Tivoli is mono). You can add an external subwoofer to this Denon (the external speaker port is for "mono" only so it is only practical for a subwoofer).
B) Music Input
This is its strongest feature. The Denon is more versatile than other shelf-systems (Bose, Polk i-Sonic, Tivoli, Boston Acoustics, Cambridge Soundworks) and even outperforms the expensive Sonos (it does what Sonos does and more... you could spend thousands putting a Sonos port with expensive speakers in each room, or just buy the Denon and move it from room to room - it's portable!).
It will switch between input-sources seamlessly with the push of a button. For toggling to your favorite track or folder, Denon has a highly readable screen which displays 3-lines (e.g. 3 folders, 3 track names). The blue screen has 3-dim levels and can be read from across a small room (because it enlarges the selected text). Toggling this menu is easy either through a button on the remote or a faster dial on the machine. Here's what it can play:
1) Ipod through a dock (better sound quality than an aux line)
2) Other digital media through front-loaded USB port (this works just like the ipod dock, optimizing sound quality and allowing you to control the folders/song titles through Denon's screen. I plugged my Creative Zen in and it instantly recognized all the folders/tracks. Even simpler, you could copy media files to a memory stick and plug the stick in).
3) Your computer's hard drive (If your computer can transmit a wireless signal - which is <$100 to add on - the Denon can pick this up and play any music on your computer's hard drive).
4) CD... including CDs with MP3 files and rewritable CDs. MP3 CDs are easy to create with iTunes or Windows Media Player... an MP2 CD holds 8-12 regular CDs. You can create subfolders on the MP3 CD, which Denon recognizes, and it displays all track names on the MP3 (sadly it does not display track names for regular CDs).
5) Radio... including HD-radio. It comes with a basic, removable, AM and FM antenna and allows you to plug in more expensive antennas.
6) Internet Radio... this is amazing! Push one button and it allows you to display all internet radio stations by category (country, genre, popularity, etc.). Every country seems represented except North Korea. As someone who is constantly foraging for new music, this was an eye-opener. I had never encountered the sounds of Afghanistan's folk music, or Chinese classical music, and Denon brought them to me live with high quality encoding after the push of 3 buttons. Note: sound quality varies by digital encoding of station; generally it's similar to or better than XM-radio.
7) PodCasts... similar to internet radio, Denon stores a huge array of free Podcasts in a folder which you can play. (FYI: podcasts are 15-60 minute talk or interview programs, put out daily to monthly, which focus on specialized topics).
9) XM Radio... this requires a subscription and antennae. Although I use XM in my car, it would require additional money/month to add on the Denon, which doesn't seem worth it given the better selection of tracks on internet radio. Lastly, Rhapsody lets you add Denon on for FREE if you have a rhapsody account on your computer!
10) Aux In (so you can effectly plug any source into Denon, like a TV, but note most MP3 players will sound and function better through the USB port). Note: The aux-in is a single plug, perhaps not as good quality as the right/left jacks on other systems.
9) Rhapsody... This is the real gem! I have used Rhapsody on my computer and mp3 player for 3 years, and hate the system but love the music. On the computer, Rhapsody is slow, breaks down a lot, and is time-consuming to find and download tracks. Not so with Denon. This Rhapsody interface is a joy:
USING RHAPSODY: push one button, and a menu appears allowing you to listen to your personal Rhapsody library, streaming channels by genre, new releases, staff picks, most popular artist/tracks/albums, browse by genre (including dozens of obscure sub-genres) or search for what you want (using a toggle button to insert letters of the artist/song/album name). The Rhapsody feature is $15/month. The menu on Denon works great and toggles faster than the computer does, but it is easiest to first build a library on the computer with Rhapsody, then use Denon to play your library (e.g. by Playlists, by Artist, by Album, etc, just like on an iPod). This means you can access nearly every commercial album available for $15/mth, add endless tracks to your library without using any disc space, and play them anytime with Denon's beautiful sound. Other perks: you can use Rhapsody on your computer and the Denon at the same time (this is unusual... traditionally Rhapsody won't let you log onto multiple machines with one account). Also, as you update your playlists on the computer, the changes show up instantly on Denon... Amazing! Another nice feature... find a Rhapsody-Channel you like; it will play an random selection of tracks that fit your taste. If you like the song, press a button and it's added to your library. Or, press another and it will show you "similar" artists/songs/albums. If you don't like it, press a button and it skips ahead. It's fun to forage for songs to add to your library on the computer while Denon suggests good songs to inspire you through the Channel feature.
Lastly, Rhapsody plays with no detectable loss of digital quality.
C) Ease of Use
Set up was NOT COMPLEX because my LinkSys WiFi automatically sends the network code to Denon. Some internet sources may require you to enter this manually which may require a phone call to Denon and/or your ISP provider. The only technical prep I had to do was enter my Rhapsody id/password. The other prep is optional: you can set internet-radio preferences by logging into Denon's web site.
I can carry my Denon from room to room and it picks up internet just like a laptop, using its 2-inch WiFi antenna. If you don't have WiFi you will need to plug Denon into an ethernet cable, just like a desktop computer, so the internet functions won't be portable. The remote control and screen interface are outstandingly simple and effective.
D) Downsides
- When playing Rhasody or Internet Radio, you can't pause the track, you can only stop it (or mute it). After stopping, Rhapsody will start from the beginning of the track if you then press play. This is probably because it "streams" the track.
- When turning Denon on, there is 5-7 sec warm-up phase before you hear the music. When switching internet sources (eg a new internet station, a new Rhapsody channel) there is a similar delay in loading up the new source from the internet (but once you stick with a source there's no delay).
E) Other perks
1) If you have wireless internet, it automatically adjusts the clock if you unplug it (including daylight savings).
2) It has good clock/alarm features, including 2 alarms, automatic shut-off after selected time, and dimmer control for brightness.
3) It has a "remember last setting" feature so that if it's turned off, or you switch between inputs, it will remember what you were listening to before switching/shutting off. However, I found this didn't work for Rhapsody... you still have to toggle to the folder you want everytime you switch to Rhapsody.
4) If left unplugged, it will remember your settings for up to a week. Also, there is a method to restore the factory settings.
5) It has a "firmware update" feature which, hopefully, will allow the system to be updated and improved in the future.
|
Difficult to Set Up but Well Worth It
|
| Date Of Review: December 3, 2007 |
| Reviewed by: Marco Antonio Abarca, Colorado |
I am definitely not an early adopter of new technologies. I purchased an IPod only a few months ago. However, what attracted me to the new Denon S52 is the idea of being able to listen to radio stations from around the world. As a young man, I loved staying up all night trying to pull in shortwave tropical band broadcasts. The second reason why I found the Denon to be so attractive is that I could dock my IPod to the receiver. I cannot think of anything more that I can ask of a radio.
I am replacing a Bose Wave Radio with the Denon S52. The beauty of the Bose Radio is that I plugged it in and it was ready to go. Starting the Denon S52up was a lot more complicated and well beyond my technical abilities. I am using the Radio at work and we have secure WiFi Network. I had to use the services of the company's System Administrator to set the radio up. In order to access the WiFi System, the radio needs the System's security code. Unfortunately, there was no way to download that information straight into the radio. The poor System's Administrator had to enter the 30+ characters by hand. It was a text messaging nightmare. With some distractions, it took him 15 minutes to load the characters into the radio.
Once it was set up, the radio turned out to do everything promised. The sound quality is as good as the Bose Radio. With the IPod sticking out of the receiver and the antenna protruding from the back, the Denon does not look nearly as attractive as the Bose. However, what I lost in style, I picked up in being able to listen to radio stations from around the world. If you are going to take the Denon to work, be prepared to do some favors for the System Administrator. |
Love this Product!
|
| Date Of Review: January 27, 2010 |
| Reviewed by: James P. Madigan III, Washington, DC USA |
| I absolutely love this Denon Unit. It has every feature possible in a CD/Radio/WiFi connected device. It sounds awesome ... better than the Bose unit that I own. Quality is top notch and the unit is substantial (heavy for its size). Highly recommended. |
Excellent product
|
| Date Of Review: February 3, 2010 |
| Reviewed by: Alan Malman, |
| Wonderful nsound. Once I updated the radio's software it was easy to set up favorites from FM, AM, XM, and Internet radio. Enjoying the two alarms feature also. Only issue is sometimes internet stations lose signal due to servers being down. |
Great product
|
| Date Of Review: January 2, 2008 |
| Reviewed by: J. Jensen, Frederick, MD |
This product is great but it suffers from being version 1. The firmware that runs the product still need a lot of work to be more user friendly.
There are a lot of undocumented features that may exists. There is a web interface on the system but no documentation of it.
I still gave it 5 stars since the sound is great size very nice.
Still planing on getting a second one for our bedroom. |
Great all in one
|
| Date Of Review: December 18, 2009 |
| Reviewed by: Pedro G. Janowitzer, Boston, USA |
Finally a true all in one sound system! This thing has all sources you need (ipod, aux, interner radio, USB, xm radio, CD and computer). The sound quality is very decent and I only wish that it would have connectivity with Macs but unfortunatelly it will only stream music from PCs.
Overall I highly reccomended purchase for those looking for a all in one.
|
Loaded with features
|
| Date Of Review: September 25, 2009 |
| Reviewed by: JorgeIX, Phoenix, AZ |
If you are reading about this product you are likely shopping for a nice table top radio. I don't usually write reviews but I this time I want to share a few comments about this product. I'll try to be as objective as possible in hopes that my comments will help someone make an informed decision.
I have owned a Denon S-52 for more than a year and I'm very happy with it. After reading many negative comments about this unit from users here in Amazon and other places, I see that most of the complaints follow a pattern. I will go over these points in the order that I see people are complaining, and I will add my own comments.
...but before I want to say that I don't accept the notion that there's anything that you can buy that is going to be 100% what you want nor there's any gadget perfect for everyone. My approach towards any device that own is that if I'm 80% happy with it, that's as perfect as it can get for me, so my advice is don't expect anything perfect for you because you will not find it, unless you design it yourself, maybe?
1. PRICE: Yes it was very steep. When it first came out the price tag was $699 + tax, but now you can get one for about $500 from most retailers, which is the same price of a comparable radio but you'll get much more with the S-52.
2. DIFFICULT TO SET UP/HARD TO USE: Yes and no, if you are not at all a techie person you might need someone who understands basic networking to help you set it up the first time, but after that I don't see any difficulties using this unit. Most if not all of the functions can be accessed without a remote control. I agree that the initial Wi-Fi set up could be more user friendly for the non-techie person, but not a big deal.
3. BUGGY FIRMWARE: yes, this was the biggest issue for me, but despite all the problems, I still decided to keep it instead of a Bose Wave music system which I had before the S-52 and mainly because of all its features. I did experience the freezing and the problem with the Wi-Fi connection dropping every few minutes; it was frustrating at times. In my case I had good days when it didn't freeze and the Wi-Fi stayed on for hours, but some days it just made me want to kick it. But the good news is that it has been Fixed, after the latest firmware update in January 2009, it hasn't frozen once and the Wi-Fi stays on; sometimes maybe once a month I need to turn it off and back on to refresh the connection, but other than that, no problem whatsoever.
4. SOUND QUALITY: yes and no. I had the S-52 side by side with a Bose wave music system for about a month before I gave up the Bose. I tested both of them with different types of music and different volume levels and my non-expert conclusion was that with some types of music and at high volume levels the Bose seemed to maintain a bold undistorted sound, but at lower volume levels they sounded about the same. But the S-52 has an option to connect an external subwoofer, so in my tests at high volume levels and with the subwoofer attached, the Denon performed better. If you are switching from another high end table top radio or Hi-Fi sound system you're probably not going to be impressed much, but if you don't own any other Hi-fi sound systems, you are going to be impressed and happy with it. In my opinion this radio has great sound, perfectly adequate for a medium size bed room or office, or an apartment living room.
5. WEAK WIFI RECEPTION: maybe, not in my case. I haven't had any problem with reception. I move it around the house and I have used with different brands of routers and I always get a strong signal. If you have problems, download the latest firmware update.
6. NO SUPPORT FOR ITUNES: True, I miss that option but Denon could work on that and include it in their next firmware update. But I don't think that is a negative at all considering that you are provided with better options to play your favorite music.
7. NO SUPPORT FOR REAL AUDIO STREAMS: True, but you probably won't miss it unless you want to listen to specific radio stations that broadcast in that format. The S-52 supports streams in mp3, wma, and acc.
Those I believe are the most negative issues that I have read from other user so I wanted to focus on them. For me it has been a very enjoyable experience having this radio. If you are musically adventurous this radio is definitely for you.
The S-52 is truly a MUSIC SYSTEM because it is packed with features that you will enjoy for many years to come. I just can't understand why Bose would call their radio a "music system" when it actually only plays CDs. After all who wants to listen to lame AM/FM stations when you can listen to the same stations in HD radio on the S-52, who wants to attach other gadgets to connect your iPod when you can just dock it directly on the S-52 and control it with the radio buttons or remote control - but why if you don't have an IPod? Well just copy your music files in any common format, mp3, wma, acc, flac, wave onto a thumb drive and plug it the USB connection on the S-52 and you are ready to start enjoying your music, or just pop in your favorite CD, or tune in to any of the 15,000 online radio stations from around the world, can't find anything that you like? Sing in to your rhapsody account, or maybe plug in your Sirius/XM compatible receiver.
Until something better comes out, I believe this radio gives you more for your money. |
|
There are no video reviews for this item.