Just play the music and dance
Sony introduces its portable party system to Thailand's fun lovers
Having a party but worried that your CD collection won’t live up to the night? Then solve the problem by investing in Sony’s RDH-GTK17IP, a portable party system that comes complete with flashing lights.
Like most of today’s new home entertainment gadgets it comes with one-touch wireless connection technology and boasts DJ style sound effects, 11 pre-set EQ settings, 13 LED lighting modes to create moods along with a powerful 230 watts RMS of music output.
Although it quite large and heavy, it is still portable meaning that you can throw a party wherever you have access to an AC plug. Weighing about 12 kilograms and measuring about 67.85mm x 32.3mm x 38.5mm, it looks like a large floor-standing speaker when placed vertically.
The GTK17IP has several functions and supports connection to your smart phone via wireless Bluetooth connectivity and Near Field Communications technology through which you can connect a smart phone to the docking system.
I tested this feature with a Sony Xperia V, tapping the Xperia V’s back to the NFC antenna dock near the system’s control panel. The phone then asked for permission to connect with Bluetooth signal to the docking system and it was done.
The second time, I merely tapped the phone to the GTK17IP and it connected without needing to be reconfirmed.
The GTK17IP comes with a lightning connector for connecting to iPhone 5, iPod touch 5th generation or iPod nano 7th generation.
There’s a USB port near the connector that supports music playback from a flash drive and plays WAV, MP3, WMA and AAC files.
The system also supports playing songs by folders allowing you to organise your music files before the big night. Its remote control has buttons for selecting folders, whose names will appear on the system’s LCD. When all tracks in a folder are played, the player will start the first track in the next folder automatically.
You can also use the USB port to connect to older versions of iPhone – iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, iPod classic and iPod touch from 2nd generation and iPod nano from the 3rd generation.
During the test I had no problem connecting it to a first generation iPad and played music from the tablet smoothly. When connected to the docking system, the volume control of the iPod function on the iPad was taken over the by the docking system. However, the remote control could not be used to change the tracks. I needed to manually change the tracks on the iPad.
The system is designed to be positioned either vertically or horizontally. In vertical mode, you can use the “Vertical Sound” mode that will shift bass response to the lower speaker, enhancing hi-frequency response to the top speakers. In horizontal mode, the unit projects accurate left and right stereo imaging.
The LED lighting modes and DJ effects make the GTK17IP a lot of fun. There are 13 selectable LED and strobe lighting configurations plus one LED-Off mode for you to select to set the tone and intensity for your music playback. The multicolour LED’s and strobe patterns will pulsate in sync with your music.
There are two types of DJ effects – Flanger and Isolator. As its name suggests, Flanger creates a deep flanging effect that is similar to the roar of a jet. The Isolator isolates a specific frequency band by adjusting the other frequency bands. You can use this effect to focus on vocals, for example.
Press the effect button and you can use the volume control to adjust and control the selected DJ effect.
The GTK17IP uses two 160mm cone-type woofers and two 40mm tweeters for reproducing sounds.
During the test, the GTK17IP produced good music quality with clarity in the mid and high ranges of sounds and very powerful bass, especially when selecting its Bass Bazuca effect together with the Rock equaliser sound effect. Other current EQ settings include R&B, Pop, Hip-Hop, Electronica, Jazz and Dance. I enjoyed listening to rock music with powerful bass for hours.
The title of the file being played is shown on the LCD and you can press the Display button on the remote to view elapsed playing time, title, artist and album information. When you use the Bluetooth playback function, the LCD will display the name of the smart phone connected to the docking system.
The GTI17IP also comes with integrated AM/FM tuner to receive local broadcast signals and the package provides an AM/FM antenna for plugging into the rear panel. Users can select up to 20 FM and 10 AM pre-set stations.
The docking system also comes with RCA inputs to playback external audio/video equipment so that you can hear your DVD/PC or gaming console through the audio system.
The Sony RDH-GTK17IP is in shops now for Bt9,990.
Key specs
_ Power output: 115W x 2 (RMS)
_ LCD Display: 1 Line LCD
_ Bass Boost Function: Bass Bazuca
_ Tweeter Unit: 4cm x 2
_ Woofer Unit Size: 16cm x 2 (Black Paper Cone)
_ iPod Dock: 8pin Lightning connector
_ Analog Audio Input: 1 (RCA)
_ USB Connection: Yes (1 Front)
_ Digital FM/AM Tuner: FM 20/AM 10
_ Tuning Range (AM): 530-1710 kHz / 10 kHz step (initial setting); 531 kHz-1710 kHz / 9 kHz step
_ Tuning Range (FM): 87.5-108 mHz / 100 kHz
_ USB Playback Format: WAV, MP3, WMA, AAC
_ Dimension: Approx. 67.85mm x 32.3mm x 38.5mm
_ Weight: Approx. 12kg
