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General Information on
the Streaming Client
Select Lists
Operating the Streaming Client
The K2 Blu includes what is known as a 'Streaming Client'. This is a new
class of playback devices for media content, providing a means of playing
music which is stored on a vast variety of sources. These sources may be an
iPod or a USB hard disc connected directly to the K2 Blu, but they may also be
thousands of miles away (e.g. Internet radio station). The Streaming Client can
access such remote sources via a home network and the Internet.
The network configuration is explained in the Chapter 'Network Configuration'.
The K2 Blu's Streaming Client can access the following sources:
Local sources
(direct connection)
USB memory sticks and
USB hard discs
iPod
The media content formats which the K2 Blu can reproduce are very wide-
ranging, and extend from compressed formats such as MP3, WMA, AAC and
OGG Vorbis to high-quality non-compressed data formats such as FLAC and
WAV, which are thoroughly audiophile in nature. A full listing of all possible
data and playlist formats is included in the Specification, which you will find in
the Appendix to these instructions.
Since virtually no read or data errors occur when electronic memory media are
accessed, the potential reproduction quality is even higher than that of CD. The
quality level may even exceed that of SACD and DVD-Audio.
The K2 Blu can also play back high-resolution audio formats (FLAC and WAV
up to 192kHz / 32bit). High-resolution audio files can be played back from a
USB hard disc connected to the unit, or via a network connection. However, if
you wish to use a network for 192/32 reproduction, a cable network must be
used since a WLAN network is not generally sufficient for the high data rates
(see also the note in the chapter entitled 'Network configuration').
The music from the iPod is read out digitally, and converted into the analogue
music signal by the high-quality internal D/A converters. This technique
produces the best possible quality of reproduction from an iPod.
Digital audio output is supported by the following iPod models:
iPod nano (all models)
iPod touch (all models)
iPod 5G
Earlier models of iPod only generate analogue audio output, and are not
supported.
The music content to be played is chosen from Select Lists. These lists are
operated using the navigation buttons (cursor buttons) which you will find on
the remote control handset and on the front panel. All content can be accessed
via the main menu. Internet Radio in particular offers a huge number of
stations, which can result in long searches or periods of navigation. We
therefore recommend that you store your preferred stations in a Favourites
List, as this makes them easy and fast to access, with no protracted searching.
It is also possible to store Internet radio stations as Presets, just as you do with
normal radio; they can then be called up directly just by entering a number.
The media content can be listed according to various criteria - Internet radio
stations e.g. by country of origin, genre or alphabetical, music from media
servers e.g. by artiste, album, track, genre, etc.
The exact form of the displayed list and the preparation of the content also
depend to a large extent on the capabilities of the server, i.e. the full facilities of
the K2 Blu cannot be exploited with all servers or media. You may therefore
find that in many cases not all the functions described in these instructions can
be used.
Remote sources
(via home network or Internet)
Internet radio
NAS server (with UPnP-AV server)
PC (with UPnP-AV server)
iPod classic (all models)
iPhone (all models)
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