9
ENGLISH
The Minx Xi is powered by our Stream Magic platform and is able to receive and
play back media from several distinct types of source. Here we have attempted to
give an overview of the various types of service available and the terminology you
may encounter.
Internet Radio
These are 'radio' stations broadcast over the internet. Currently the Stream
Magic range can access about 20,000 internet radio stations all sorted by us
into Location, Language and Genre. The list of available stations is constantly
maintained and automatically updated to your unit via the internet. If you register
on the Stream Magic website (www.stream-magic.com) you will also be able to
browse the stations and set presets on your units from your PC.
You can also add stations to your units that are currently not in the Stream Magic's
Radio database, suggest new stations to us and more. There are also links and
help for setting up third-party Streaming Services from a wide variety of other
suppliers. Other Stream Magic features will be launched in the future, check the
website from time to time to see the latest developments.
Streaming Services
Streaming Services are similar to Internet Radio but come from other suppliers and
often have an element of interaction with the user. Because Streaming Services
generally allow the user some choice over the content they listen to, they are also
licensed differently to iRadio by the music companies and often each service only
has arrangements in certain countries and may also charge a subscription for
membership.
Examples of such services are Aupeo!, Pandora, Rhapsody, SIRIUS/XM, Live365
and others. All allow some control of the content from 'play me something that
sounds like U2' to the ability to select and play whole albums of your choice. Some
also offer the ability to download content for use off-line as well.
The Minx Xi supports many of these services, navigate to Streaming Services on
the unit for a list or even better check out our website at www.stream-magic.com
for more details of which services are available in your area, what they do and
how to sign up. These services come from third parties and although we support
connections to them they do not come from us and we are not responsible for their
service in any way. Your account will be with the service, we are merely acting as
a website to make the connection simpler and more convenient plus we support
the correct software on our unit to allow playback and browsing of their content.
Network Media
The Minx Xi supports a wide range of compressed formats; MP3, AAC, WMA and
Ogg Vorbis file types are all supported, plus for true audiophile use, the Minx Xi also
supports either uncompressed PCM (in a WAV container) or losslessly compressed
FLAC, both can contain from 16-bits/44.1kHz from CDs right up to 24-bit/96kHz for
"better than CD quality" from suitable download sites.
Note:
For this to work your server will also need to support the CODEC you wish to
play as some have limitations and may not serve FLAC for instance. Always check
that the server you wish to use also supports your favoured CODECs.
Also for lossless/uncompressed formats both the server and network connection
will need to sustain the high bitrate necessary.
Note:
It is not recommended to use Wi-Fi connections for content above
16-bits/44.1kHz/48kHz if lossless/uncompressed.
USB Media
The Minx Xi also supports local media from USB Flash-disks or USB hard-drives and
has two USB1.1 ports for this purpose; one on the front and one on the back. Here
the Minx Xi simply browses the folders present on the media attached and displays
them. This feature is provided for convenient access to temporary storage devices.
It is however highly recommended that UPnP is used for continued use of stored
media as the UPnP system is able to support album art, sophisticated content
browsing and filtering and other features not possible with simple folder browsing.
Podcasts
Podcasts are archived audio recordings downloadable over the internet. Often
podcasts are recordings of previous live broadcasts or episodic content.
The Minx Xi supports various third party podcast services, navigate to Podcasts
on the unit for the list available in your area. In addition the Minx Xi supports your
own personal choice of podcasts where you know its URL (weblink) via the Stream
Magic portal, see later section.
Bluetooth
The Minx Xi is supplied with our BT100 Bluetooth adaptor which allows direct
wireless streaming of audio from many phones, tablets and laptop PCs.
Bluetooth audio not only allows playback from the native music playback features of
those devices but also from any streaming service Apps that you have downloaded
to them.
In this way you can simply download and use Apps such as Spotify, Napster,
Pandora, Rhapsody or others on your Bluetooth device and direct playback to your
Minx Xi for the best possible sound quality.
Overview
IMPORTANT! Make sure that the unit is off before making any connections. And
also when plugging and unplugging devices to the Minx Xi.
Network connections
Before you can use your Minx Xi for iRadio/Streaming you must have the following:
• A broadband internet connection (such as ADSL) to a suitable internet service
provider (ISP).
• A network connection either wirelessly via 802.11b/g or n Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet
connection (10 or 100 M bits/sec via an RJ45 connection).
Note:
If you wish to play 24/48 or 24/96 content from a UPnP server, a wired
Ethernet connection will be required as the high data rate of these files is beyond
most Wi-Fi networks capability.
In many cases the broadband modem, router and wireless access point will be a
single combined unit supplied by your Internet Service Provider or bought from a
computer store.
If your wireless network is configured to use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) or Wi-Fi
Protected Access (WPA) data encryption then you will need to know your WEP or WPA
key so you can get the Minx Xi to communi cate with the network.
IMPORTANT:
Before you continue, make sure that your wireless access point or router is
powered up and working with your broadband internet service (use your computer
to verify this). To get this part of the system working you must read the instructions
supplied with the wireless access point or router.
The Minx Xi can be configured to connect to a Wired or Wireless network or has
a (default) Auto setting. In Auto the Minx Xi looks for a each connection type
and selects whichever is present. You can also force the unit to one or the other
connection type, see later Settings section.
Connecting to a wired network
Plug one end of a network cable (Category 5/5E straight through Ethernet cable)
into the LAN port on the back of the unit.
Broadband Router/Modem
Internet
Ethernet cable
Note:
Only connect the LAN port of the player to an Ethernet port that supports
10BASE-T or 100BASE-TX. Connecting to any other ports or jacks, such as a phone
jack, can damage the unit
The Minx Xi should automatically connect to your network as below via DHCP; this
means it will be given an IP address by your router automatically.
Getting connected
