Overview
A portable music gadget for all who enjoy a fluttering hubbub and foot tapping beats, the all new Steez range of music players from Pioneer will be loved by all dance buffs out there. This portable music player comes in three different varieties â Solo, Duo and Crew. Easy operation and control is possible with a wireless remote which is super slim and about the size of a credit card. The remote has a well thought and compact built, apt for a portable device.
The light blue colored Solo has a compressed lightweight built and is for dancers who have just started out. And the sound intonations play loud enough only indoors. While the flashy neon green Duo is for intermediate and small sized dance groups. It has a hardy look and the sonic notes play clear enough indoors as well as outdoors. The amplified blast of music from the Crew can be heard easily in outdoor settings. This vibrant red device will be liked by professional dance instructors and crews.
All three have an MP3, WMA, AAC, LPCM support and an internal memory of 4 GB. Their LED QVGA screen measures 2.4â and in Crew it is bigger sizing to 3.5â. Solo and Duo have a power output of 5 watts. The outstanding Crew has tweeters, woofers, and subwoofers with a power output of a whopping 40 watts. There is more battery capacity in the pricier models.
Pricing and availability
The Solo can be yours for $299 while the Duo costs $349. Crew is the costliest at $499. All three will be up for sale from November 2011.
Whatâs great?
The umpteen playback controls make it a must have device for dancing hobbyists and professionals. The player has features to suit all dance levels and styles. People who like to invite company over and bop around with a racket of music playing in the background will also love this piece.
With umpteen settings like the tempo control, dance boost, and dance cue you can truly enjoy the boogie. Dance boost magnifies the sound of some music instruments playing in the background. Reverberations of hi-hat and bass drum will become a lot more clear and audible with this techno add-on. The tempo control can be fine tuned to blast off music at a slow or fast pace without affecting the pitch.
Dance cue is absolutely ingenious. In this certain cue points can be specified via the free software application. After these cue points have been set, the track can be played from any particular point specified by the user. Hip hop lovers will also be enthralled. You can actually create a break loop on this gizmo! The 8 beat skip button allows you to skip the track forward or backward as it is divided into 8 counts by the software thus helping to create the break loop.
The battle mode will thrill the diehard party and dance fanatics. It plays tracks as sequenced by you and even lets you know which one is coming up next. To add to the drama of the battle mode, there is a voice broadcast when just 10 seconds of a tracks playing time is left. Also a countdown timer comes up on the LCD screen.
With the Auto DJ Mode you can generate nonstop music at your bash and also specify its genre and tempo. Also, the player is intelligent enough to categorize and group your entire music library based on the different styles of music.
In fact, all digital controls on this music device can be set with minute precision rather easily. And all the well timed functions like tempo control, cue points and battle are made possible owing to the MIXTRAX software slotted in. The portability adds to the user delight. You can now listen to music when you are moving around – take the player along with you to the park, for strolls along the road, cross country trips or at bus stops.
Whatâs not so great?
The hi tech features with bright colors make it attractive to the 13-35 age group but older people would not be keen to buy the product.
Things to watch out for
As it is designed mainly for dancers, other music aficionados might not like it much.
Verdict
Like all other music players from Pioneer, this one will also change the way people listen to music. It will become one of the hottest gadgets on the street music and dancing scene.
