Spotted this while reading the FT over lunch today... http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c2ef0e92-070d-11dd-b41e-0000779fd2ac.html
MAKE WAY FOR THE MUSIC By Paul Taylor Published: April 10 2008 20:32 | Last updated: April 10 2008 20:32 Like most millennium house*holds, the Taylor  family has assembled a formidable array of digital music. It includes a multi-gigabyte music collection on various PCs and home servers much of it ripped from CDs and subscriptions to several all you can eat music services including Real Networks excellent Rhapsody service. But in spite of having home theatre and hi-fi stereo systems in several rooms, most of our time listening to digital music is spent sitting at a desktop PC with rather inadequate desktop speakers. We might be better off plugging an iPod into a docking station or hard-wiring a laptop into one of the stereo systems using a product such as Xitels HiFi-Link for PC (www.xitel.com). But these offer only partial solutions. Xitels HiFi-Link works well, is easy to set up and is cheap, but requires a wired connection and can play only content stored on the specific PC it is connected to. As its name implies, Audio*engines AW1 Wireless Adapter (www.audioengine.com) does much the same thing over a wireless 802.11 link and is simple to set up. But in my admittedly interference-prone home, music suffered from repeated drop-outs. I have also experimented with digital media streaming devices such as Rokus SoundBridge (www.roku.com), which pulls in internet radio over a broadband internet connection, and with media servers that connect to your home theatre system such as D-Links DSM-520 MediaLounge Wireless HD Media Player (www. dlink.com), Netgears EVA8000 Digital Entertainer (www.netgear.com) and the Linksys DMA2100 Media Center Extender (www.linksys.com). These handle the full range of digital media including still images and video. Other systems such as my favourite, the Sonos Digital Music System (www.sonos.com), are specifically designed to stream digital audio files and web-based audio wirelessly throughout a home. The Sonos system, reviewed previously, is easy to set up and operate, uses advanced wireless mesh networking technology and delivers exceptional sound quality to any room in the house. The handheld wireless controller is a little bulky and heavy and the system is pricey a starter bundle designed for two rooms costs about $1,000 (£695). Recently I have been testing a new and lower-cost rival, Logi*techs Squeezebox Duet (www.logi*tech.com) which costs $400 (£280) for a single room system. It comprises a small black box receiver base station and a remote controller. The Squeezebox Duet can be expanded to a multi-room system additional receivers cost $150 (£99) and remote controllers $300 (£199). Logi*tech claims the system can support eight nodes (controllers or receivers), although given its bandwidth requirements, it is not as expandable as the Sonos system. Setting up the Squeezebox Duet is straightforward. I connected the receiver to my Pioneer home theatre receiver using the basic phono audio cables supplied. Configuring the receiver and controller for my home Wi-Fi system was easy but I had problems initially connecting to online music services (probably caused by my internet firewall). These issues were quickly resolved. Set-up took about 25 minutes including configuring online services through Logi*techs SqueezeNetwork web interface and downloading SqueezeCenter software on to a Windows, Apple Mac or Linux PC. The software is used to tell the Squeezebox Duet where to find your music files and playlists and to control the system remotely from any browser. The system supports non-DRM (digital rights management) music file formats including MP3, AAC and WMA from online stores such as Amazon and eMusic, or ripped from CDs. It cannot play DRM-protected files purchased from the Apple iTunes Store, Microsofts Zune Marketplace or any service that uses the Windows Plays For Sure DRM scheme. (Sonos and some other products support Zune and Plays For Sure files, but Apple does not license its FairPlay DRM technology to third parties.) The Squeezebox Duet can also route podcasts to your home system. Overall, I was impressed, particularly with the remote controller, which had very little lag time between making a selection for example raising or lowering the volume and hearing the change. Once set up and connected, the system performed almost flawlessly, delivering smooth audio from both local and online sources. If you want a low-cost digital audio system for one room or a couple of rooms and already have a home theatre or hi-fi system, the Squeezebox Duet is a good choice. On balance, however, in spite of its higher cost, I prefer the Sonos Digital Music System, which remains in a class of its own. THE BREAKDOWN Logitech Squeezebox Duet Pros: Flexible and reasonably priced digital audio system suitable for an apartment or small house, excellent remote control, easy access to online digital music services and locally stored digital files. Cons: Not quite as easy to set up as the rival Sonos system, cannot play DRM-protected audio files, bandwidth-hungry. The receiver acts as a bridge between a home network and a home theatre system, hi-fi or simple powered speakers. It connects to a sound system using standard analogue or digital cables, and to a home network (and the internet) using either Wi-Fi wireless technology or ethernet cables. The wireless remote controller, comfortable to hold and easy to use, has an iPod-style wheel to navigate a PC- (or Mac-) based digital music collection, connect to online music services such as Rhapsody and access internet radio stations. SHORT CUTS TO MORE ENJOYABLE LISTENING AROUND THE HOME Q. What is the easiest way to play my PC-based MP3 files over my home stereo? If you dont mind hard-wiring your PC, consider Xitels low cost HiFi- Link for PCs. Alternatively, Audioengines AW1 Wireless Adapter is simple to set up but you may have to put up with some music drop-outs. Q. What if I also want to stream images and video from my PC to a home theatre system? Consider connecting your system to a media server such as those from D-Link, Netgear and Linksys. These can stream most digital content to a television as well as handling basic audio files and internet-based music services. Q. I want to build a multi-room wireless audio system. What system should I choose? If you are willing to pay for a solid, high-performance system that could hardly be easier to set up and operate, choose the Sonos Digital Music System. Logitechs Squeezebox Duet is a good lower-cost alternative. -- Hercules ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hercules's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=8679 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=46153
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