Wireless audio distribution?
Tim Martin wrote:
"Dan" wrote in message
...
Or check out SlimDevices SqueezeBox 2. Plays FLAC and OGG. For FLAC
you need G wireless speed.
The $75 Linksys WMLS11B comes with little speakers, has analog audio and
optical digital out, and handles mp3 and .wav files. Internet radio plays
only through the analog audio outputs. It includes wired and wireless
Ethernet (801.11b rather than 802.11g.). On paper, it seems amazing for the
street price. Unfortunately, the corporate handicapping department seems to
have struck: it's reported that it won't handle playlists longer than 12
tracks.
The $100 Netgear MP101 has built-in wired and wireless ethernet and handles
.wav (with downloadable firmware update), but does not have digital out.
I'm told CompUSA has the Netgear for sale on and off at $50. I have a
Netgear, which I use with the Twonky server rather than Netgear's own; that
lets you play internet radio for free. By the way, the Netgear has a fixed
line out, plus a line out with volume control which can be used for
headphones. I guess the Netgear headphone out could be fed into a pair of
Gainclone-powered speakers for a rather cheap bedroom system ... the
amplifier needs no input selection, and no controls except on and off.
(Probably the same applies to other network music servers, but the only one
I have is the Netgear MP101). netgear also do an MP115 model, which uses a
TV as its display.
The $150 Philips Media Player has built-in wireless ethernet and handles
video. (This seems similar to the Prismiq Mediaplayer)
The $160 Creative Sound Blaster Wireless has digital out, but doesn't seem
to handle .wav files
The $200 Audiotron does not have built-in wireless (obviously you can
install a wireless internet link and connect the Audiotron to that.) but it
does handle .wav and has digital output.
The $200 Omnifi DMS1W does not have digital output, but can connect to a TV
for its user interface. I don't know if it supports .wav. There's another
Omnifi model on sale at geek.som for $80, including a Dlink USB wireless
device for the computer.
The $300 Squeezebox is from Slim Devices, the company who (I believe) were
first to market. The manufacturers refer to its high-quality DAC. It's
probably a useful benchmark to assess the others by. The Squeezebox server
allows you to control what's playing from a networked computer with web
browser.
The Philips Streamium comes with speakers and CD player (which will play MP3
CDs, too) and has wireless ethernet.
The Dlink 320 and 320RD support MP3, WAV, WMA, the 320RD also adds OGG and
AIFF. These both do pictures and video files. The 320RD also includes a
DVD drive so it can double as a DVD player. Both offer digital outputs and
are both "G" wireless. Prices range around $200-300.
I expect all these devices compress the audio data before streaming it.
Not hi-fi at all.
Graham
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