The Sony Giga Juke NAS-SC500PK has multitasking at its heart. As well as wirelessly firing songs around your house, it’s a whole hi-fi in a box. The central Music Server is a multi–facted music master, acting as a dock for your MP3 player, doling out DAB radio and ripping CDs onto the spacious 160GB HDD.
Setting it up is a breeze. The Wireless Player (one is provided, but you can sync up to five) instantly latches onto it, meaning you’ll be juggling different music in different rooms in no time. Everything is compact, and the only thing better than the vivid menu screen on the server is the sound quality of the small speakers included. If you’re moving into a new place, picking this up will save you a great deal of money compared to a whole hi-fi pieced together separately, and you won’t feel compelled to hide the units inside cupboards like the somewhat plasticky Sonos ZonePlayers.
However, the Sony Giga Juke NAS-SC500PK really falls down when it comes to its controls. The Music Server remote has all the class of a standard Sony TV brick and it even lacks a screen. Move away from the server and you won’t have a clue what albums or tunes there are to choose from. Even Sonos’ old clunky click wheel controller is better than this.
The Wireless Player meanwhile, comes with a controller that bears more than a passing resemblance to a doorstop wedge. On the Wireless Player itself, you’ll have to whip out a magnifying glass to see the tiny black and white screen. What’s the point of multi-room audio if you can’t be on the other side of a room to choose tracks? Sony’s curious decisions don’t stop here though. The internet radio (Live365 and SHOUTcast only) is only accessible from the Wireless Player, and there’s no support for the audiophile-friendly FLAC format, despite the large hard drive. Thanks Sony.
There’s a lot to tempt about the Sony Giga Juke NAS-SC500PK, particularly its old school hi-fi handling along with its streaming skills. But if you already own a decent set of speakers, and you don’t need your multi-room audio rig to be an iPod dock, it’s tough to recommend over Sonos’ peerless set up.
