Sometime—in the not so distant future, as you’ll see—we’ll all have some variation of a “smart” home. We’ll be able to detect noxious gases, keep track of food expiration dates, automate kitchen appliances and likely handle a bunch of stuff that hasn’t even been conceived yet. How we’ll operate a smart house is open to speculation. We may have touch/display screens or use voice commands or handheld controllers with high-resolution LCD screens. But one thing is clear: few of us will have enough spare change to purchase and install all the smart home ingredients for quite some time. That doesn’t mean we can’t get a taste of the technology today. If you’re nuts about your music, you’ve picked a hobby on the very forefront of the computer integration revolution. The goal? To move all that great digital music you’ve ripped from discs or downloaded from the Web out of your crummy computer audio setup and into your glorious living room entertainment system. If you want to keep it cheap, the most affordable idea is to simply burn a bunch of your tunes to a recordable CD and play them on an MP3-compatible disc player. But that’s so old school. A better idea might be a flash drive. An inexpensive 2GB flash drive can store hundreds of high bitrate MP3s. Copying files to and removing files from a flash drive is easy, and you can use the very same flash drive in a USB-equipped car deck. Of course, you’ll need something in your living room that’ll read the drive. Tight-budget options include the Philips DVP5960, an upconverting DVD player with a simple, built-in USB reader on its front panel. If online shopping is more your style, check out Oppo Digitals’ DV-970HD. But beware—not all drives are compatible with all devices. But what if you don’t need DVD capabilities or you want direct access to all the media files on your PC—not just the ones you can fit on a thumb drive? Now, that’s where things get interesting. Bridges and streams
Probably the least expensive way to “stream” media files direct from your PC is a product like the Sirocco Audio Bridge. Designed by BC’s own Sondigo, the Sirocco interfaces with the PC either wirelessly or via an Ethernet cable, and acts essentially like an external sound card. The primary advantage of this “sound card” system over its similarly-priced competition is that it more easily handles DRM-protected files. The bad news is that users can’t control their music remotely—they must return to the computer to make any adjustments to their playlist. Stepping up to the two hundred mark gets you into remote-controllable streaming. D-Link has been in the streaming game for some time now, with wireless devices such as the MediaLounge DSM-320 and DSM-520. But neither offer a built-in display (you need to switch on your TV for that), and there have been reports of uneven performance. A potentially better bet at the same price point is the near-ubiquitous Roku SoundBridge. The tube-shaped SoundBridge offers a built-in display, a simple setup, Internet Radio support and easy operation. But plunk down a few more bucks and you’re into Squeezebox territory. The third iteration of the original model, Slim Devices’ Squeezebox 3 is super stylish, Internet radio-capable and fitted with a big, legible display. It’s laden with features and lauded for its smooth streaming and open-source software that permits user customizations. Upping the digital media player ante is the soon-to-be-released Netgear EVA800. The unit supports a ton of codecs, streams some DRM content, handles high-definition playback of Windows Media Video 9 or MPEG-4 file formats up to today’s 1080p ceiling, and features two USB ports for portable storage devices and iPods. Expect to pay nearly $400 when it hits the market this spring. Big buck solutionsThose who require whole-house solutions may want to look at fully expandable systems such as the latest from Sonos. Getting rave user reviews, the Sonos ZonePlayer ZP80 handles most every type of file aside from certain DRM-encrypted content and does Internet radio too. It sets up its own proprietary network that avoids interference from external devices, thus allowing you to confidently plunk ZonePlayers all over the house. But the biggest lure may be its handheld remote, featuring a full colour, high-resolution, scrollable LCD screen that lets you see everything—including album art—up close and personal. A couple of ZonePlayers will set you back a cool grand. If you’re going to spend that kind of money, and in particular if you need to upgrade your ancient AV receiver too, you may want to investigate a shiny new streaming-capable receiver. Respected manufacturers such as Denon, Yamaha and Pioneer all offer receivers capable of pulling radio from the Internet and music from your hard drive. The Pioneer VSX-84TXSi has a USB port that allows you to connect your PC directly to the receiver and bypass the sound card entirely. Do your research beforehand though, because some models won’t work well into the future. One streaming-capable receiver that seems to have all the bases covered is the Onkyo TX-NR1000—though crazily pricey, it handles everything but the proverbial kitchen sink and features upgradeable (and sometimes replaceable) modules. But if you’re going to go that extent, why not simply put a PC in your living room? You’ll likely want to skip older “media center” PCs because they look like PCs (i.e. clunky), they’re controlled like PCs (i.e. clumsily), and they feature middle-of-the-road sound cards and electronics that just won’t do justice to your audio. Sony’s just-released VAIO XL3 Digital Living System is one of the better options. The XL3 looks like a traditional high-end A/V component, but with all the futuristic capabilities of a PC. It features a built-in Blu-ray player, memory card slot, dual USB ports, and, of course, integrated audio-video streaming. If Sony’s managed to eliminate the vibrations and other electronic interference that typically hamper PC audio, and if the internal sound card is up to snuff (those are big ifs), the XL3 could be a winner. Sound purists might do better with the new Onkyo HDC 1.0. Onkyo has refrained from juicing the HDC 1.0 with an internal power supply—thusly exorcising one of the main reasons behind inferior PC audio—but that means you’ll need to power the unit with external power such as Onkyo’s matching digital amp. The SE-90PCI sound card residing inside is a good one, but the non-Windows proprietary software may cause headaches. You’ll need to dump in the neighbourhood of $2500 for both the PC and its amp. Regardless of price, neither of these home entertainment PCs deals with the inherent problems of internally mounted sound converters. Audio engineers have long believed, and rightly so, that internal cards and their analog-to-digital converters are subject to the interference and noise put forth by other PC components such as hard drives, fans and network cards. Engineers deal with it by using sound cards with “breakout boxes,” such as M-Audio’s Delta series and Echo Audio’s Layla and Gina models. Consumers who are sticklers about their sound or regularly record/capture audio to add to their music or videos would be wise to explore this option. I’ll be your server todayMeanwhile, software giant Microsoft is finalizing work on a “whole home” project that’s sure to impact fans of sound and video. With its just-announced Windows Home Server, Microsoft wants you to buy into the idea that networking is essential and easier than ever. Rather than the typical peer-to-peer network that’s found in most multiple-PC households today, Windows Home Server works with hardware such as HP’s just announced MediaSmart Server (essentially a sophisticated, central data storage bin with expandable hard drive space) to deliver a true server-client network. Benefits include automated, touchless backups of all the data in all the connected devices and worldwide access to the Windows Home Server via a personalized Windows Live Internet account. Windows Home Server is not due until fall this year, but it may eventually alter the way we all do our computing and become a real boon to those who want to access their media from anywhere within their home. Of course, Windows Home Server will need some way to communicate with all those devices. Though a wireless network involves the least amount of invasiveness, it certainly isn’t the fastest way to move data, and it’s subject to external interference. But do you really want to go to all the trouble of running a web of Ethernet cable throughout every nook and cranny? Networking veterans Linksys and Netgear say you don’t necessarily have to.
Both the Linksys PLK200 PowerLine AV Ethernet Adapter Kit and the Netgear Powerline HD Ethernet Adapter operate on the principle that Ethernet is passé. Instead, they use your existing electrical system as a network, plugging into your AC outlets and piggybacking along with the current, so to speak. The downside is that you’ll still need to run a cable from each networked device to each powerline adaptor. The upside is that that’s the only wiring you’ll need to do.
Though powerline networking is nothing new, this new batch of powerline gear is faster and more reliable than previous iterations and thus a good alternative for those who need better throughput than a wireless network can provide. It's costly though, at $200-plus for a set of two adapters, and it's not as fast as good old Ethernet.
Probably the least expensive way to “stream” media files direct from your PC is a product like the Sirocco Audio Bridge. Designed by BC’s own Sondigo, the Sirocco interfaces with the PC either wirelessly or via an Ethernet cable, and acts essentially like an external sound card. The primary advantage of this “sound card” system over its similarly-priced competition is that it more easily handles DRM-protected files. The bad news is that users can’t control their music remotely—they must return to the computer to make any adjustments to their playlist. Stepping up to the two hundred mark gets you into remote-controllable streaming. D-Link has been in the streaming game for some time now, with wireless devices such as the MediaLounge DSM-320 and DSM-520. But neither offer a built-in display (you need to switch on your TV for that), and there have been reports of uneven performance. A potentially better bet at the same price point is the near-ubiquitous Roku SoundBridge. The tube-shaped SoundBridge offers a built-in display, a simple setup, Internet Radio support and easy operation. But plunk down a few more bucks and you’re into Squeezebox territory. The third iteration of the original model, Slim Devices’ Squeezebox 3 is super stylish, Internet radio-capable and fitted with a big, legible display. It’s laden with features and lauded for its smooth streaming and open-source software that permits user customizations. Upping the digital media player ante is the soon-to-be-released Netgear EVA800. The unit supports a ton of codecs, streams some DRM content, handles high-definition playback of Windows Media Video 9 or MPEG-4 file formats up to today’s 1080p ceiling, and features two USB ports for portable storage devices and iPods. Expect to pay nearly $400 when it hits the market this spring. Big buck solutionsThose who require whole-house solutions may want to look at fully expandable systems such as the latest from Sonos. Getting rave user reviews, the Sonos ZonePlayer ZP80 handles most every type of file aside from certain DRM-encrypted content and does Internet radio too. It sets up its own proprietary network that avoids interference from external devices, thus allowing you to confidently plunk ZonePlayers all over the house. But the biggest lure may be its handheld remote, featuring a full colour, high-resolution, scrollable LCD screen that lets you see everything—including album art—up close and personal. A couple of ZonePlayers will set you back a cool grand. If you’re going to spend that kind of money, and in particular if you need to upgrade your ancient AV receiver too, you may want to investigate a shiny new streaming-capable receiver. Respected manufacturers such as Denon, Yamaha and Pioneer all offer receivers capable of pulling radio from the Internet and music from your hard drive. The Pioneer VSX-84TXSi has a USB port that allows you to connect your PC directly to the receiver and bypass the sound card entirely. Do your research beforehand though, because some models won’t work well into the future. One streaming-capable receiver that seems to have all the bases covered is the Onkyo TX-NR1000—though crazily pricey, it handles everything but the proverbial kitchen sink and features upgradeable (and sometimes replaceable) modules. But if you’re going to go that extent, why not simply put a PC in your living room? You’ll likely want to skip older “media center” PCs because they look like PCs (i.e. clunky), they’re controlled like PCs (i.e. clumsily), and they feature middle-of-the-road sound cards and electronics that just won’t do justice to your audio. Sony’s just-released VAIO XL3 Digital Living System is one of the better options. The XL3 looks like a traditional high-end A/V component, but with all the futuristic capabilities of a PC. It features a built-in Blu-ray player, memory card slot, dual USB ports, and, of course, integrated audio-video streaming. If Sony’s managed to eliminate the vibrations and other electronic interference that typically hamper PC audio, and if the internal sound card is up to snuff (those are big ifs), the XL3 could be a winner. Sound purists might do better with the new Onkyo HDC 1.0. Onkyo has refrained from juicing the HDC 1.0 with an internal power supply—thusly exorcising one of the main reasons behind inferior PC audio—but that means you’ll need to power the unit with external power such as Onkyo’s matching digital amp. The SE-90PCI sound card residing inside is a good one, but the non-Windows proprietary software may cause headaches. You’ll need to dump in the neighbourhood of $2500 for both the PC and its amp. Regardless of price, neither of these home entertainment PCs deals with the inherent problems of internally mounted sound converters. Audio engineers have long believed, and rightly so, that internal cards and their analog-to-digital converters are subject to the interference and noise put forth by other PC components such as hard drives, fans and network cards. Engineers deal with it by using sound cards with “breakout boxes,” such as M-Audio’s Delta series and Echo Audio’s Layla and Gina models. Consumers who are sticklers about their sound or regularly record/capture audio to add to their music or videos would be wise to explore this option. I’ll be your server todayMeanwhile, software giant Microsoft is finalizing work on a “whole home” project that’s sure to impact fans of sound and video. With its just-announced Windows Home Server, Microsoft wants you to buy into the idea that networking is essential and easier than ever. Rather than the typical peer-to-peer network that’s found in most multiple-PC households today, Windows Home Server works with hardware such as HP’s just announced MediaSmart Server (essentially a sophisticated, central data storage bin with expandable hard drive space) to deliver a true server-client network. Benefits include automated, touchless backups of all the data in all the connected devices and worldwide access to the Windows Home Server via a personalized Windows Live Internet account. Windows Home Server is not due until fall this year, but it may eventually alter the way we all do our computing and become a real boon to those who want to access their media from anywhere within their home. Of course, Windows Home Server will need some way to communicate with all those devices. Though a wireless network involves the least amount of invasiveness, it certainly isn’t the fastest way to move data, and it’s subject to external interference. But do you really want to go to all the trouble of running a web of Ethernet cable throughout every nook and cranny? Networking veterans Linksys and Netgear say you don’t necessarily have to.
Both the Linksys PLK200 PowerLine AV Ethernet Adapter Kit and the Netgear Powerline HD Ethernet Adapter operate on the principle that Ethernet is passé. Instead, they use your existing electrical system as a network, plugging into your AC outlets and piggybacking along with the current, so to speak. The downside is that you’ll still need to run a cable from each networked device to each powerline adaptor. The upside is that that’s the only wiring you’ll need to do.
Though powerline networking is nothing new, this new batch of powerline gear is faster and more reliable than previous iterations and thus a good alternative for those who need better throughput than a wireless network can provide. It's costly though, at $200-plus for a set of two adapters, and it's not as fast as good old Ethernet.
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