Digital Audio Receivers
Digital audio receivers are devices capable of playing back digital media from a computer network on your home theater system.
The Onkyo NC-500 and media players like Prismiq can not only function as Digital Audio Receivers but can also playback video and image files.
The Digital Audio Receiver is an alternative to an MP3 player. It generally won't have its own storage but it reads media files from another source like the home computer or stream from the Internet.
An exact market niche for these new devices that move between the borders of home theater and home computing is not yet fully realized. More and more devices intended for home theater include computer network functions, like TiVo's Home Media Option and certain Onkyo receivers' Net-Tune.
Conversely, home theater PC options are readily available. Sound cards that include digital audio outputs and video cards with HDCP-compliant interfaces are becoming more common.
As consumers' options multiply, it gets more confusing, but it's also refreshing when a groundbreaking new device like the award winning Prismiq arrives, blazing a trail for others to follow.
