E3 - Pioneer offers surround sound for Xbox
- — 11 May, 2006 10:19
Pioneer Electronics has introduced at the E3 conference a (mostly) compact 5.1 channel surround sound speaker system, the HTS-GS1. The US$499 system is licensed for the Xbox 360, and its aesthetics are paired with that of the Xbox 360.
The five speakers are small enough that you can unobtrusively distribute them through a room; the subwoofer, however, is large enough that you might have to evict something else from your floor to make room for it. The system includes a sleek, oblong receiver which, among other things, provides the same Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration System as Pioneer has in its audio-visual receivers; this technology can adjust each speaker's output to account for distance, volume, and environment. It also has built-in DTS and Dolby Digital Surround Decoders via its three digital inputs; Dolby Pro Logic II; and a feature Pioneer calls Front Stage Surround, to give you a 5.1 channel surround sound experience even if all of the speakers are lined up in the front of your room.
The system also ships with a universal media remote control designed to maximize all of the entertainment capabilities of the Xbox 360. The remote has an Xbox Guide button, Media Center button, cursor and enter buttons plus the familiar Y, X, A, and B control buttons; and, it can be used with the Xbox 360 or Windows Media Center (when your Xbox is acting as a Media Center extender)
