check, I switched from Windows’ Media Connect 2.0 server program to Roku’s Firefly open-source server program (www.rokulabs.com/support_ sb_dwnld_firefly.php). Not having WMC’s DRM option, Firefly could see but not play the Jarrett tracks. However, when I then switched back to WMC 2.0, I managed to shut out all of the unprotected music files I’d copied from my favorite CDs. While I could see the Jarrett tracks on the Sound- Bridge’s display, all my ripped files had disappeared. Nothing I did persuaded the SoundBridge to recognize the other music files on my hard drive. I felt dumb. Then I felt dumber. After two days of failing to solve the problem, I e-mailed Dan Sletten, Roku’s software engineer. He had experienced the same problem with WMC 2.0 shutting out unprotected files after downloading protected music tracks from MTV’s music store, www.urge.com. He advised me to drag all of my digital music files out of my music library’s folder and onto the laptop’s desktop, then back into my music library again. After WMC was first stopped, then restarted on its “sharing” page, all of my music reappeared on the SoundBridge’s display. I was back in business. Remote control and Web control The SoundBridge M1001 can be controlled with its remote or through a Web page on a PC. Either way, while playing music through the Sound- Bridge, you can: browse media; add songs to a current playlist; browse by artist, composer, or album title; fast browse; play Internet Radio via Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), even when your PC is turned off; change the display’s text sizes or brightness; control the SoundBridge with a PDA or Crestron system; support iTunes Network Music sharing; and upgrade the SoundBridge’s firmware via the Internet. (If the firmware that controls the SoundBridge is accidentally corrupted, the player can be run in a restricted Safe Mode that allows it to download an intact copy of the firmware from Roku.) And once a song has begun to play, the Sound- Bridge displays a spectrum analyzer. When I set up the SoundBridge, I accessed its PC Control and Web Control, going through Windows XP’s “My Network Places,” where I found ROKU SOUNDBRIDGE M1001 the SoundBridge’s icon. Double-clicking on this icon opens the SoundBridge’s Web page (http://192.168.0.103/Sound- Bridge.html), which is hard-coded into the player’s firmware. This Web Control function offers more flexibility than does the handheld remote. For example, Web Control includes a Stop button; the remote doesn’t. Then I took the SoundBridge upstairs to my listening room and placed it atop my Krell KRC-28 CD player. With a 1.5m length of Wireworld Starlight Digital coaxial cable, I connected the Roku’s S/PDIF output to the coax input of a Bryston B100-DA integrated amplifier and DAC. I also used my outboard Adcom GDA-700 DAC. When I turned on the SoundBridge, it found my WiFi ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT MUSIC SERVER IBM X30 laptop with 1.2GHz Pentium 3 processor, 788MHz system board, 760MB RAM, and 80GB hard drive running Windows XP (v.2002, Service Pack 2). WiFi network comprises D-Link Airplus Extreme G DWL-G640 Wireless 108g Notebook PCMCIA adapter with D-Link DSL-G800 AP Wireless Range Extender. Music-server music library: “My Music” subdirectory on IBM X30 laptop. Music-server software: Windows Media Connect 2.0, Firefly, Slim Devices SlimServer. ANALOG SOURCES Day-Sequerra Signature 1 Reference, McIntosh MR- 78 FM tuners. DIGITAL SOURCES Krell KRC-28 CD player; Sony SCD-C555ES multichannel SACD/CD player; Slim Devices Squeezebox network music player; Bryston B100-DA, Adcom GDA-700 D/A converters. PREAMPLIFIERS Bryston B100-DA, Krell KCT, VTL TL-6.5. POWER AMPLIFIERS Bryston 4B- SST & B100-DA, Mark Levinson No.334, Krell FPB-600c, VTL S-400. LOUDSPEAKERS Quad ESL-989, Revel Ultima Salon, Velodyne DD-18; REL Studio III subwoofers. CABLES Digital: Wireworld Starlight coaxial. Interconnect: Red Rose Silver Ones, Krell CAST, Mark Levinson Silver single-ended, Bryston balanced. Speaker: Ultralink Excelsior 6N OFHC, Coincident Speaker Technology CST 1. ACCESSORY RadioShack 33-2050 analog sound-pressure-level meter. —Larry Greenhill network and connected to it. I browsed my music library using the remote’s Home, Right, and Select buttons. When I found the album I wanted to hear, I pressed Play or Select. Hitting Select brought up details about the track playing: file format, bit rate, and sampling rate. Playing DRM-wrapped music tracks Over the two months that I used the SoundBridge M1001, I discovered the advantages and disadvantages of using Windows Media Connect 2.0. The benefits included the SoundBridge’s ability to play DRM-wrapped files and, when I selected an entire album, to automatically play all of the album’s songs in the proper order. This greatly eased listening to all four movements of a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony 9, which I’d downloaded from iTunes. The disadvantages of using the Sound- Bridge were actually attributable to the instability of the WMC software on my PC. First, when I used my laptop to work on photographs with Adobe Photoshop or Photo Mechanic, these programs hogged so much memory that the SoundBridge had to interrupt a song to rebuffer after playing only a few minutes. Second, I had to turn off Windows XP’s firewall before WMC 2.0 would connect to the SoundBridge, even though I’d listed the WMC server as an exception. Third, I had to exit all other music servers, including SlimServer, Napster, Rhapsody, and Firefly, before using the SoundBridge. Fourth, I discovered that I couldn’t go online while the Sound- Bridge was running, or it would stop playing. Fifth, every so often my WiFi network dropped its connection to my laptop, which also stopped the music. I began to understand why JA had been so positive about using a music player with a proprietary wireless distribution system, such as the Sonos ZP80. Playing music To compare the SoundBridge’s analog and digital outputs, I connected them to the digital and analog inputs of my Bryston B100-DA preamplifier. This allowed me to switch almost instantaneously between the digital stream and the output of the SoundBridge’s internal DAC. It me took no time at all to determine that my downloaded WMA lossless digital music files sounded better using the SoundBridge’s digital output mode. There was a decided drop in level when I www.Stereophile.com, May <strong>2007</strong> 73
The best things in life cost quite a bit, actually. Like caviar and champagne, the best never comes cheap. So when we set out to create loudspeakers of unrivalled acoustic transparency, price was a secondary consideration.And it shows. Because with the new Reference Series, nothing compromises the purity of the recorded signal. The sensational new Uni-Q ® driver array has been comprehensively re-engineered to project an even more natural sound. Ultra-low distortion LF drivers deliver heftier bass with uncanny clarity. Integration is seamless, thanks to high-order crossovers. And before it leaves the craftsmen who built it, every loudspeaker is tested against a calibrated laboratory reference. Hence the flawless response. The breathtaking lucidity. The consummate musicality. But as soon as you experience their potential for giving pleasure, they don’t seem expensive at all. GP Acoustics (US) Inc., 10 Timber Lane, Marlboro, New Jersey 07746 U.S.A. Tel: +(1) 732 683 2356. Fax: +(1) 732 683 2358 Uni-Q is a registered trademark. Uni-Q is protected under GB patent 2 236929, U.S. Pat. No 5,548,657 and other worldwide patents. www.kef.com
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MAY 2007 VOL.30 NO.5 48 61 FEATURES
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