British midrange audio brand Cambridge Audio has announced its first network music player, the NP30.

The device made its debut at this year’s Munich High End Show and offers 24-bit/96kHz playback of digital music files from networked computers through any hi-fi or home entertainment system. It can be connected either wirelessly or via Ethernet cable and offers UPnP compatibility as well as being able to handle MP3, AAC, and uncompressed 24-bit WAV, PCM and FLAC files.

The NP30 is the first of a series of similar products with which Cambridge Audio plans to access the burgeoning download market. Later this year the company also plans to launch UuVol, a new customisable online music service offering access to 15,000 internet radio stations, streaming music services and podcasts.

The Cambridge Audio NP30 should be available this autumn though there’s no word yet on price.

Also on display in Munich were the latest additions to Cambridge Audio’s budget Azur range of separates, including the 350A stereo amp and 350C CD player.

The amp will put 45 watts into eight ohms and has five inputs as well as a single tape in and a record output. There’s also a front-mounted audio input for iPod or other MP3 player and a new ALPs ‘black box’ volume pot is claimed to offer improved low-level channel balance and stereo imaging.

The matching 350C CD player boasts Cambridge Audio’s own S3 servo as well as a dedicated audio-only transport, a Wolfson WM8728 DAC and an oversized toroidal transformer.