New Products

ReQuest Debuts N.Series & F.Series Digital Music Systems

By Brian Mitchell | September 15, 2005 0 Comments

Ballston Spa, New York–CEDIA 2005–ReQuest, the industry leader in digital audio and video management systems designed for high-end home audio installations, has announced the introduction of their next generation of AudioReQuest digital music systems. The new N.Series, designed for simple, lower cost installations, along with the more sophisticated F.Series, offering up to four zones of independent full fidelity audio and control, will be introduced at the CEDIA EXPO 2005 in Indianapolis, IN.

Each of the digital music servers in the N.Series and F.Series offer value, performance, and simplicity of form and function while retaining ReQuest’s widely acknowledged leadership in build quality, sonic excellence and system-integration flexibility.

Like their predecessors, the all new N.Series and F.Series models function as musical centerpieces for sophisticated entertainment systems. Serving as the primary storage of music collections, they can store and deliver up to 500 CD’s or more (F4.500) using HiFi quality uncompressed WAV encoding. Integral optical-disc drives enable fast, hands-free “loading” of music from CDs or data discs, while ReQuest’s powerful new Linux based operating system offers a wide variety of music-encoding options including WAV and FLAC formats for uncompromised, ‘bit for bit’ CD quality performance.

System control can be enjoyed via ReQuest’s all-new touch screen compatible and easy to use graphic interface.

Both the N.Series & F.Series digital music systems feature ReQuest’s sophisticated, Linux-based ARQ operating system to provide unexcelled reliability and flexibility, with faster encoding, faster boot times and faster access. Music collections can be accessed by Artist, Album, Genre, Song or more, with powerful playlist-creation and prompted editing options. Both series can be controlled by virtually every brand and type of control system available for unparallel ease of integration, as well as via ARQPocket which permits any PocketPC-compatible handheld to function as a powerful, two-way wireless remote controller.

F.Series
The two new F.Series music systems are distinguished by their multiple audio outputs, which allows the ability to send independent audiophile quality music to two or four remote rooms or zones each with complete control over program selection and play/pause/fast transport control. Additional F.Series models can be added to the system to scale to literally unlimited extra rooms or zones.

Supported music formats include the industry-standard MP3 compressed audio, full fidelity WAV, FLAC, and Ogg Vorbis which allows the F.Series models to store complete collections of songs and albums at the best possible quality with true audiophile performance capability. The F2.250 can store 250 CDs in WAV or 1000 CDs in MP3/320kps formats while the larger F4.500 can store 500 CDs in perfect WAV quality or four times as much in MP3 compressed quality. The F.Series also features the previously mentioned new touch screen compatible user interface.

Additional zones can be added to seamlessly expand any system featuring one or more F.Series models by adding an optional new Z.Series unit. Adding a Z.Series unit also provides ReQuest’s famous automatic failsafe backup feature.

N.Series
Designed for simple integration systems and as a high quality music source for home theater installations, the single zone output N.Series model N1.125 features the previously mentioned new touch screen compatible user interface and instant access to hundreds of CDs by Artist, Album, Genre and Song. The internal hard drive capacity will hold 125 CDs in WAV, or 500 CDs in MP3/320kps formats. Adding music to the collection and creating individual playlists is as simple as inserting a new CD.

N.Series and F.Series both feature fast, easy integration with popular portable digital music devices such as the iPod, under both Mac or Windows operating systems, using existing home networking communications and simple drag-and-drop synchronization.

ReQuest’s patented NetSync technology allows the N.Series and F.Series to share entire music collections with second homes, vacation houses, and work via any Ethernet-connected PC or MAC computer. NetSync makes it easy to access your music anywhere additional systems are installed whether its across the hall or across the Pacific. ReQuest’s MyARQ webserver and Java-based software-remote allow any web-browser-equipped PC or Mac to access, control, and manage playlists plus act as a secure access point.

The slim-line all-metal cabinets and solid Aluminum front panels found on the N.Series and F.Series are elegantly formed and meticulously finished in black, with a silver front panel option. All models are rack-mountable and feature ‘QuickSwap’ removable, 3.5-inch hard-disk drives that make for easy, cost-effective expansion and transportability. All include a built-in front panel CD tray for quick auto encoding, rear-panel USB ports, and analog and digital audio outputs. A supplied 64-key wireless remote controller provides fully flexible integration of on-screen displays via a full range of video outputs: VGA, composite, S-Video, and component-video. Both products are designed, engineered, meticulously tested and assembled at ReQuest’s facility in upstate New York.
Series Retail Price: Availability:
N1.125 $2,500 Fall 2005
F2.250 $3,500 Fall 2005
F4.500 $5,000 Fall 2005
Z1.250 $2,250 Fall 2005
Z1.500 $3,000 Fall 2005
About ReQuest
Headquartered in Ballston Spa, New York, ReQuest Inc’s home-entertainment systems have set the standard for high-end digital media storage, management, playback, and system integration since 1998. From award-winning music systems to the VideoReQuest video management system, ReQuest’s products have become the accepted leader in cutting-edge technology. The company has been acknowledged by a leading consumer electronics publication for having the best service in the industry and recently, ReQuest was ranked #168 by Inc. magazine as one of the top 500 fastest growing private businesses in America.
For more information about ReQuest visit: www.request.com.