Wireless home digital audioI did some searches and didn't really fins this topic covered so I thought I would start this. Does anyone have any experience with one of the myriad new ways of listening to music throughout your house wirelessly? The most common tools I have read about thus far are Sonos, Squeezebox, and Airport Express - with the latter being the most limited but also the only one to play iTunes downloaded music. So, any first hand accounts of likes and dislikes? I have read many reviews of each but just wanted to get the more personal angle from people I "know".
I have the linksys wireless G music bridge. You'll need to have a router with a wireless G frequency. The B frequency is supported but drops all the time. Its simple and cheap, you can beam any audio from your PC to the music bridge wirelessly. I have it hooked up to my surround sound system in the living room via optical cable, and also hooked to an outdoor speaker system using RCA cables. It also supports digital coax audio. Sound has never cut out. Only drawback for me is you have to control the audio with the PC, there is no remote or screen on the unit. Its not really as fancy as the ones you mentioned. Its just skin and bones really. But the price is right.
The squeezebox is a great product. It's only $299 and has a Burr-Brown DAC inside. The DAC will most likely be superior to whatever your soundcard has inside, or your mp3 player. It also has digital connections for use with a receiver/preamp. You can also install tons of cool plugins available online.
Yeah, from what I have read thus far, Squeezebox has seemed solid. I have also read the sound quality - when hooked up to a home system - is slightly better than Sonos. I do like the Sonos remote better, though. I keep going back to the Airport because I have a Mac and some of my music has been downloaded through iTunes...but I think it is probably too limited because my computer is upstairs and my audio system is downstairs. I seriously am growing to hate physical CD's (and I have way too many anyway) so this is becoming more and more important of a decision. Since you answered about Squeezebox, do you know if it can pull audio files from multiple sources (say I had music on 2-3 computers)?
Yes, you can pull audio files from anything on your network. It will also stream internet radio or Rhapsody without having a PC on.
I had similar questions a few days ago--I'm trying to do the same thing--get my digital audio collection from a computer--to my stereo. Will these things interact with your TV so that you can search music like you would at a PC?
I have the D-Link 320. Its pretty cool but can be slow at times. The server software that came with it sucks, so i had to download this other stuff. I can also make it to where I click what song I want off my actual computer and stream it to my stereo. That or use the remote and do it off the tv. It can also play videos I've downloaded, which is good if you missed a Rockets game or whatever TV episode. Plus D-link occassionally releases new firmware that fixes problems. Though the price is more, I would recommend considering an Xbox 360 instead. I'm told it can do all of these functions, include play dvd's and video games.
I have a Sonos system and love it. I have a Controller, two ZP80 zone players connected to two different systems and a ZP100 zone player that is connected to two outdoor speakers that are currently in our bed room. The ZP80's are wired and the 100 is wireless and it works just as advertised. Music is perfectly in sync when using all zone players together. With regard to sound quality, all the music comes from a Infan Ready NAS in FLAC format and I have Magnepans in one room and Monitor Audio RS6s in the other. It sounds just as good as the CD to my ears. With regard to DACS, I'm using the DAC in my Marantz receiver for the Monitor Audios and the DAC in the Zone Player for my Maggies. One thing about the Sonos remote that I didn't think about when I was contemplating the system is that it makes it very easy to just sit and listen to music on my Magnepans (or the RS6s). I always thought of Sonos as a multi-room solution but now I can sit on my couch in front of my speakers with the Controller and all my music (plus everything on Rhapsody) is at my finger tips. I think Sonos' real strength is with their powered units. You attach speakers to the box and, presto, all your music completely at your (remote) control. Another major strength of Sonos is the Wife Acceptance Factor. My wife is the one who actually said "we have to get this!". On a slightly different subject, the Rhapsody integration is awesome. I can use Pandora to find new artists, then go to Rhapsody to listen to more from that artist. Amazing. Pandora is free and Rhapsody is about $100 a year for all the music you can listen to.
I'm very happy with my Airport Expresses. I found a bunch on eBay at $90 a pop, so they're much cheaper than getting Squeezeboxes for each room. Sure, there's no remote control or digital readout, but if you have a laptop like me, you carry it around the house anyway. I was under the impression that a Linksys Wireless Bridge doesn't allow simultaneous streams to different rooms. With the Airports, I can fill every room in the house with music all at once. Based on my research, to get the same effect with Squeezeboxes or a Sonos system, you'd have to spend over a grand. Also, remember that Airport Expresses can also extend a wireless network or serve as bridges to wired-only devices. Can Sonos do that? I'm not sure.
Each Sonos has a multi-port switch (some two, some four) on the rear that will allow you to add non-Sonos devices to the wireless (or wired) network. Here are some photos of the back of the Zone Players: ZP100 (with amplifier to power speakers) ZP80 (with digital and analog outputs to connect to existing stereo systems) Sonos Controller (what makes the thing really easy to use from anywhere) The "line in" jacks on the Zone Players let you connect other devices (i.e. satellite music or a CD player) and then stream that music to all the other Sonos Zone players (or just a subset of them - whatever you want).
The airport express is cheaper but I don't believe you can have the same music streamed to multiple rooms in perfect synchronization. Plus you still need a PC/Mac to control what you play. For what it does the AE seems to be an excellent value. Sonos is not as much of a computer gadget than it is a "get music throughout your whole house without wires that's super easy to setup with a very wife-friendly controller" type gadget.
I have no problem with synchronization. But I agree with your assessment that the AE is a computer gadget, whereas Sonos is more of a pure audiophile type product.
