Digital Trends

Nitro Pro Music Server

August 25th, 2004 | by Jeff Fila

Introduction

If you consider yourself an audiophile and still think that MP3s will never replace your CD collection, your reasoning may be based on two arguments. One; that compressed audio quality isn't as good as the original CD and two; that none of the devices on the market would look good with your audio equipment.

The truth is, most people can't tell the difference between CD audio and a properly encoded, quality MP3 file. With hard drive prices constantly going down and storage capacities going up exponentially, you don't even have to be limited to compressed audio or small file sizes. And while many manufacturers are developing home digital audio players or networked media devices that don't adhere to the standard component-width form factor, one company has been making high-end, rack-sized digital audio players for several years.

That company is ReQuest Multimedia, and their products are known in the custom installation business as the devices that tie in the world of hard drive-based digital music with high-end audiophile equipment. Based in upstate New York, ReQuest Multimedia was started in 1998 by two college buddies that wanted to develop an MP3 player that would be at home in a rack full of high-end audio equipment.

ReQuest's entry-level product is the AudioReQuest Nitro Compressed Audio Server system, a 2u rack-mounted or free-standing, hard drive-based digital audio player. Priced at around $2,500, the Nitro may not be for everyone, but it just might be the device that makes believers out of the Luddites still holding on to their CD players.

The Nitro Pro's minimalist exterior looks at home in an audio rack full of high-end equipment.