Terratec Noxon 2 - £130

The second player from Terratec builds successfully on the previous model

Sadly, it still has very limited support for audio formats, but does include some excellent new features

Unlike the original Noxon which only has a 3.5mm output, the new Noxon 2 has both RCA audio outputs and a digital output for connecting to an outbound DAC or into an AV Amp

There is also a USB port on the unit, for connecting to an MP3 player, to play music directly, without needing a computer

The inclusion of a network point allows both wired and wireless connectivity

The large, backlit screen remains and the remote is also the same as the Noxon

The unusual design is for use with new add-ons, including a speaker and a speaker with FM radio, to make this a fully stand-alone unit

Bundling the unit with Twonkyvision is an excellent move as this software is one of the best UPnP streamers available

Although more expensive than the original Noxon, this new player has some excellent new features, but the lack of audio format support is a shame, especially as the price competes with the Roku and Squeezebox

	Rating	Notes
Price		Good feature list, but still lacks lossless support.
Sound Quality	N/A	Coming Soon
Ease of Use		Extremely easy to navigate, works with a variety of software (Twonkyvision recommended)
Compatibility		Can be used with any UPnP software, so will work on pretty much any PC/NAS
Looks		Initial opinion, it looks excellent, buttons on the unit stand out from most other players. USB port for playing directly from USB stick Optional add-on speaker/fm radio
Audio Formats		MP3/WMA only
Reliability	N/A	Too early to tell
Networking Support		802.11b and 802.11g 128-bit WEP and WPA Ethernet Port
Overall		This could be a superb product, the inclusion of digital out, usb port and add-on speaker would make it suitable for hifi or bedroom use. Shame about the lack of audio formats supported.

Pro's

• USB Port
• Reliability
• Digital output
• Add-on speaker
• Internet radio doesn't require a computer
• Compatibility
• Buttons on unit

Con's

• Poor support for audio formats
• Quite expensive

Supported hardware/software

Name	Compatible
Twonkyvision
Slimserver
Musicmatch Jukebox
Windows Media Connect
iTunes
Netgear
Philips MediaManager
Sonos
Any Network Share

Name	Compatible	Instructions
Qnap TS-101
Buffalo Linkstation
Buffalo Terrastation
Infrant ReadyNAS
Linksys NSLU2		Here
Lacie Ethernet Disk
Maxtor Shared Storage Plus		Here
Kuro Box
Freecom FSG-3

Back to Top