| Sonos Multi-Room Digital Music Player |
|
|
So, when the Sonos people suggested that I try their new Sonos Digital Music System, I jumped at the chance. This is a product that frees you from having to listen to your digital music on your computer or on a tiny portable player. It lets you play your digital music wirelessly in any room in your house and control it all with a wireless remote control. The Sonos ZP80 Bundle comes with everything you need including the cables. The basic package comes with two Sonos ZonePlayers. You hook one up to your router or any Ethernet port on your home or office network. Then you add some powered speakers, a hi-fi system or stereo radio. The other ZonePlayer can go in any location in your home where you have another set of speakers. As many as 32 Zone Players can work together. The ZonePlayers are small white rectangles, approximately 10” x 8” x 4”, so they can fit almost anywhere without looking out of place. The entire system is easy to set up and easy to use. A setup wizard will walk you through the process of installing the software on your computer. Once you have done that, and have hooked up the ZonePlayers, you simply press two buttons on the player and you are ready to listen to your music. The ease of use continues with the Sonos Controller which is a small handheld unit that you use to control the ZonePlayers. At approximately 6” x 4’ x1” it has a brightly-lit 3 ½” color display. The functionality is much like an iPod with a few simple buttons and a scroll wheel. It is extremely easy to use. You can play the same music in every room or you can play different music in each. You can control the volume of each player right from the controller. And since it is wireless, you can take it with you wherever you go. It is larger than most TV remotes, but for me that was a plus because it is so easy to hold, easy to see, and hard to lose. You can also purchase a $49 cradle which is ideal for storing and recharging the remote at the same time. The Sonos system supports an impressive number of audio files including MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, and several more. It will not play AAC files like those bought from iTunes or DRM-encrypted WMA files like those purchased from Napster. I had no trouble listening to any of the music from my CDs that I ripped into iTunes. I also was able to listen to Audible books and to Internet radio stations from around the world. You can create new playlists or use the ones you have already set up in iTunes, Rhapsody, Winamp, Windows Media Player, or MusicMatch. If you have music on more than one computer on your network, the Sonos will consolidate all your music and even eliminate repetitions.The Sonos system isn’t cheap, but it a wonderful way to listen to your digital music, especially if you already have a high-end stereo system. It worked beautifully with my home stereo system and also worked well when set up to a simple Bose radio. The system is totally silent and is also very responsive and powerful. If there is anything not to be liked, it is the price. Although when you consider that this is a whole-house music system, the price is far from startling. A starter bundle that includes two ZonePlayers and a Controller is $999. Additional Zone Players are $349 each. Sonos has been able to add new features in this year’s model while lowering the price. If that trend continues they will have a lot of purchasers waiting in line, including me. Date of Review: 4-12-2007 Retail Price: Starter bundle, $999
 |
Digital music is all the rage right now, and I’ve fallen for it head or heels. After all, what’s not to like? You can listen to your music anywhere, access the music from every CD you own without fumbling with CD cases and disks, and purchase music without leaving home.