Review
A few months ago I decided to broaden my music. I searched on the CD "Jukebox" that could load my entire collection. On the way I discovered the world of wireless music systems and to research it began. Sonos seemed to be well received, so I finally decided to purchase a zone bridge and a ZonePlayer 120. This setup has all the expectations I had for a new music system and more fulfilled. It is a simple and pleasant way, have you already listen to music, anddiscover new music.
Below is my review of all major advantages I see at this amazing system.
1. System Setup
Sonos offers many hardware options, but they all have a few things in common. A Sonos bridge connected to your computer – it "indexes" Music is required on your hard disk and connect to the Internet for music services (more on that later), then blasting all this a ZonePlayer, which is up to the speakers somewhere hooked into your home. It creates a wirelessNetwork, only music and not with other wireless devices. You can further ZonePlayer, and they all get the same wireless signal and you can hear your collection in several locations throughout the house.
The ZonePlayer 120 has standard connectors for direct connection to speakers. You can also hook an Ethernet cable if you want music flow through a wire instead of the wireless signal. Finally, the ZonePlayer 120 allows youConnect an analog device with standard RCA cable. For my setup, I connected just two speakers.
Get ready for this system, you have to break all physical CDs in a music library. This is the hardest part of the process. But it is not unusual. You can use iTunes to rip CDs to your library, as usual. For the best sound quality from the Sonos system, you should tear everything with Apple Lossless format (instead of MP3). Thisis really easy to do in iTunes. Lossless is not required (you can use MP3s, if you wish), but it's better because you get CD quality.
After you rip all your CDs into an iTunes library, you run the Sonos Desktop Controller ", which is free with Sonos systems. This is one of the simplest and most intuitive software applications that I have ever used. Tell it to your music library. It finds your iTunes collection and "indices" in the Sonos system. Depending onthe size of the collection, this may take a while. With my collection of about 400 CDs, the indexing takes about three minutes.
Then there is an automated process where the software "localized" You ZoneBridge ZonePlayer. On your computer screen, it literally shows an image of the devices with arrows on the keys you need. In less than five minutes (seriously) the Sonos Desktop Controller to the whole system ready to go and ready.
2. The listening experience
Of course, simple to set No matter if the system does not sound good. Well, the Sonos sounds great. The music playedby the zone player is CD quality (remember to rip in Apple Lossless format). It's that simple.
It is a three-second delay the first click on the icon on the controller, such as the Sonos system starts. But then you can run through your collection immediately. I like how my music collection is organized alphabetically by artist suddenly, album or song title. If you're like me and have a large collection of these indexing of your music is evena big improvement on the search by hundreds of CDs for the one you want! Of course, the accuracy of your index is on the album and artist data you provide when ripping CDs into your iTunes library.
Once the music starts to play, it just works. I've never had interruptions by wireless connectivity problems. While the music plays, you see album art on the controller, and the standard play / pause / forward and rewind functions, we are all accustomed. You can alsoCreate playlists.
3. Music Discovery
Of course you have, your entire music collection easily accessible to large. But the Sonos system goes much further. I was pleasantly surprised when I with my Sonos system has some excellent music discovery options that I had never known began to see some.
With the Sonos system, you have access to Pandora (the free Internet radio service) and transfer it to your stereo.
You can also radio stationsaround the world and play it live through your stereo. I enjoyed cruising my local radio stations, or stations from around the world. You can find stations in your hand places like the U.S., Europe, Africa and South America. But you can also find them in outlying areas of the South Pacific, Asia, Antarctica (I'm not kidding), and places that you may have never heard of before. It seems as if almost every corner of the globe is represented in this system. If a station you like,You can use it as a favorite bookmark. It is important to note that if you play a radio station through this system, it is not a canned pre-recorded program. You hear the current program, just as it would hear from a "normal" radio.
You can also subscribe to an online music service. I decided to use Napster for $ 60/year. At any time, in about a minute or so, I can look for artists, albums, and songs or play them on my stereo. The sound quality of theNapster is not quite the same level as the lossless files from my CD collection ripped, but it is very good. You can bookmark your favorite albums or artists in order to play them easily each time the Sonos system. Napster actually has some interesting spoken-word "albums" such as readings and stories. You can not have a CD with Napster music, but I use it all the time enough to decide whether I have the latest CD I want to rip into my library then buy.
There are numerousother musical performances by the Sonos system. All of them show up right on the main menu of your controller.
4. Product Support
The Sonos system often feels overwhelming when you first to into it. When I started reading it, I was confused about all the different zone player, could not say what I really needed, and do not know about the sound quality of the device. For me it was great, the Sonos user forum, a group of customers to help each otherother. There are a lot of people, the patients are willing to help you have to understand what is the Sonos system. After purchasing the system, you can have a question or two about options and possibilities, and user forum is for all of this great.
5. Conclusion
As you can see, I'm a big fan of what Sonos has done with its music system. It really has all kinds of listening possibilities. I can play music simply and with high quality, and I evensee my collection better now – sometimes remembers to CDs and songs that I had forgotten!
I strongly recommend this system to people to modernize their music library, but keep the same music quality they are accustomed to do it with CDs.
Feature
- Provides flexibility to place your ZonePlayers in any room of the house and connect them all wirelessly.
- Improve Controller access to SonosNet by placing a ZoneBridge in areas where wireless coverage needs a boost
- Install a new ZoneBridge with one button-press.
- Easy Internet connectivity for other products in the house
- Automatic access to new features and music services
Overview
The Sonos ZoneBridge 100 makes setting up an all-wireless Sonos system wonderfully fast and easy. Instead of connecting a Sonos ZonePlayer S5 Music System to your router directly, simply connect the ZoneBridge to your router and the rest of your ZonePlayers will work wirelessly throughout your home. By installing ZoneBridge to your router, you can place your Sonos ZonePlayer S5 anywhere in your house without wires. With the Sonos Wireless Music System, one device has to be connected to your router. This creates the Sonos Wireless Mesh Network, which ensures that the music never stops. Then the all your ZonePlayers and controllers can operate wirelessly. Here s an example: Let s say you wish to purchase two Sonos ZonePlayer S5 units (fantastic sound, unlimited music), one for the kitchen and another for the bedroom, and neither of these rooms is near your router. In this case, use the ZoneBridge as the device that connects directly to your router. The S5 units in the kitchen, bedroom and all future units would work wirelessly from this point on, giving you a full home wireless music system. ZoneBridge is the fast, easy and very affordable way to wirelessly connect your first ZonePlayer S5 to your router from anywhere in your home. Order yours from Brookstone today!
( Product Information and Prices Stored: Oct 14, 2010 03:21:09 )
