G01, G51 and G91 variants newly available with DAB/FM tuners
International CES, Las Vegas, NV, January 6, 2005–British high-end audio/video manufacturer Meridian Audio, of Huntingdon, near Cambridge, UK, has announced a new variant of three of its popular award-winning G Series products to include DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) tuners as well as conventional FM reception. The first model available will be the G91DAB DVD-Audio/video player/controller system, followed by the G51DAB receiver and G01DAB controller (Meridian’s term for a preamplifier).
DAB Digital Radio is extremely popular all round the world outside the USA. It is currently available to over 300 million people in almost 40 countries, with over 600 different services, and these numbers are increasing daily. The system, which uses a compressed digital streaming format based on MPEG, is extremely popular in Canada and throughout Western Europe, with Britain and Germany leading the way. In Canada, 35% of the overall population is already covered by DAB rising to 50% around freeway corridors, while British coverage is estimated at 90% and Germany, 80%. Coverage in other countries is also at increasingly high levels, with broadcasters conducting trials and tests in many places prior to the full-scale introduction of DAB programs and services. In most places, DAB carries not only existing stations but also many brand-new broadcasters who are transmitting only on digital radio.
DAB is an extremely robust transmission medium, almost completely eliminating problems with multipath, hiss and fading that can disrupt the enjoyment of analog broadcasts. It also allows broadcasters to transmit more stations in the same bandwidth as one FM station. As well as music and speech, DAB stations can additionally carry data that can be displayed by the receiver while listening to the station.
Listeners like DAB because it is very easy to use: instead of remembering the frequency, the listener can simply turn a knob to scroll through the names of the available stations, and press a button to choose one to listen to. They also like the freedom from background noise and the fact that the display will tell them more about the station, program or music being played.
Users of Meridian’s DAB products enjoy all these benefits while in addition, DAB reception capability is completely and seamlessly integrated into the system to produce the best-sounding DAB equipment available.
The G91DAB will begin shipping during Q1 2005, with the G01DAB and G51DAB available shortly after. Retail prices to be determined.
[Ends: 400 words]
Meridian Audio Limited is based in Huntingdon, near Cambridge, UK, and was founded in 1977 by Allen Boothroyd and Robert Stuart. With a 25-year history of innovation and development of the highest quality consumer audio systems, the award-winning company is widely recognized as a world leader in digital and analogue audio reproduction. Meridian developed the world’s first audiophile CD player, the world’s first consumer digital surround controller, developed the MLP lossless packing systems mandated for use in DVD-Audio, and is the only UK audio hardware manufacturer to be a member of the DVD Forum. The company’s optical disc players, DSP-based loudspeakers and Digital Theatre systems are unique in the industry, maintaining a super-quality digital audio signal throughout the path from the source to the amplifier, and using digital signal processing to generate advanced crossover characteristics that would be impossible with conventional passive analogue systems.
