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Big Things in Small Boxes

The story behind the AB5 DSP and the MB5 from Nero by OSD

We wanted to make an affordable, active, desk-top speaker that would allow for easy connection to a laptop or PC, and be capable of reproducing full, lossless high-resolution audio at high levels. It was also important to us that the audio quality was at a level that allowed people on conference calls, or in virtual seminars, to easily distinguish between the voices of the other participants. Not everyone likes to wear headphones. We are increasingly moving into a world of virtual reality and instead of experiencing perfect real-world audio, we rely on reproduced sound at our desks. People’s voices are nuanced, and we normally pick that up easily in face-to-face meetings. It gives us clues as to what that person really means or feels. This can be easily lost when in a virtual meeting.

The result is our Nero AB5 DSP. There are two built-in amps per channel and digital crossovers for perfect phase and time alignment. This speaker is like a precision tool that will reveal every one of the 16 million bits of information available 192,000 times per second from 24-bit music formats—perfect for those listeners who do not want to miss a single piece of their music and also perfect for hearing the subtleties of the human voice and divining the real meaning behind the spoken words.

Simply connect these speakers to your PC, laptop, or gaming systems via the headphone output, select the highest audio resolution available, and you will not miss anything in the audio. You will be rewarded with the most accurate rendition of whatever you are listening to. You will hear what others may be missing and that additional insight may be important.

NERO AB5 100W Powered Speaker
NERO AB5 Back Panel Connections

We realized that not every home office system has headphone outputs, and so we came up with an alternative solution – the MB5 and Nero Stream XD. For those of you that have limitations on the audio from your computer, we have another solution. Our Nero Stream XD Amplifier has a digital optical input. By using an easily available USB-to-optical converter you can plug your laptop into our amp and use its 24/192 DAC to release the full quality of lossless hi-resolution audio. The perfect match for the Nero Stream amp is our MB5 speakers. These are the passive versions of the AB5’s using the same drivers and cabinets. An additional benefit is that the Nero Stream amp has built-in streaming for listening to music, podcasts, etc., as well as inputs for other devices like phones and tablets. An added bonus is the headphone socket on the front panel. Finally, the amp also has a subwoofer output, making the connection to a powered subwoofer, such as our Nero Dual X8, simple and easy. Make your virtual work world as connected as possible by ensuring perfect audio. We can help.

Nero MB5 100W Speaker Pair
Nero MB5 Speaker Wire Connections