EFFORTLESS AIRPLAY AUDIO PLAYBACK, BUT THE SOUND IS TOO HEAVY FOR OUR LIKING
The convenience of Apple's wireless streaming technology, Airplay, is one of the less heralded features of iOS, but one that's well exploited by the Pure Contour 200i Air. As well as sporting a physical dock connection for compatible iPad, iPhone and iPod devices, the Contour can also play back music beamed wirelessly from Apple's devices, with no discernible loss of sound quality.
The wireless option is welcome; planting our test iPad 2 into the dock was like trying to park a bus in a multisroey car park, requiring an awful lot of lining up and wrestling to fit neatly in the slot. The iPhone 4S slipped in with far less bother, however, and AirPlay setup was hassle-free.
In terms of feature's, the Contour 200i Air is barren. there's none of the DAB or internet radio you might have expected from Pure - there isn't even the usual LCD control panel present on its sem-circular domw. That isn't necessarily a criticism, however. Instead, Pure is relying on iOS apps - from both third - parties and its own Pure Lounge product to provide access to music, podcasts and radio streams.
Unfortunately the Pure Lounge iOS app is poorly designed and complicates both music searches and playlist creation. There is no option to control the bit rate of streams either, so you'll likely want to stick with other Airplay compatible apps.
The 36W speakers deliver a convincing wallop of volume with impressive clarity, but the bass is overbearing and booming. Even the most nasal os newsreaders is made to sound like Peter Harvey trapped down a well. With no EQ settings the Contour itself, we found ourselves resorting to the Treble Booster setting on the iphone to redress the balace.
The convenience of Apple's wireless streaming technology, Airplay, is one of the less heralded features of iOS, but one that's well exploited by the Pure Contour 200i Air. As well as sporting a physical dock connection for compatible iPad, iPhone and iPod devices, the Contour can also play back music beamed wirelessly from Apple's devices, with no discernible loss of sound quality.
The wireless option is welcome; planting our test iPad 2 into the dock was like trying to park a bus in a multisroey car park, requiring an awful lot of lining up and wrestling to fit neatly in the slot. The iPhone 4S slipped in with far less bother, however, and AirPlay setup was hassle-free.
Unfortunately the Pure Lounge iOS app is poorly designed and complicates both music searches and playlist creation. There is no option to control the bit rate of streams either, so you'll likely want to stick with other Airplay compatible apps.
The 36W speakers deliver a convincing wallop of volume with impressive clarity, but the bass is overbearing and booming. Even the most nasal os newsreaders is made to sound like Peter Harvey trapped down a well. With no EQ settings the Contour itself, we found ourselves resorting to the Treble Booster setting on the iphone to redress the balace.
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