Wireless Setup Continued

Kelly, our Hook Me Up subject, wants her music centrally located on a computer and tied into the existing speaker system in her home. Up until now, consumers had only a few choices for piping music through the house, and none of those choices were easy to install or moderately priced. You could pay a technician thousands of dollars to wire a high-end audio system all through your home, or you could experiment with systems like the Roku Sound Bridge or Apple's Airport Express using AirTunes. These relatively new digital music solutions can work in the right environment, but each have significant downsides: constraints when dealing with multiple rooms and user interface issues when trying to manage music files remotely.

As I investigated solutions for Kelly's musical dilemma, fellow Hook Me Up technician Jon Chase suggested the Sonos Digital Music System. It offers a few major improvements on existing technology and had a price to fit our budget.

Why I Chose the Sonos Digital Music System

• The Sonos creates its own wireless network, and has no user adjustments or extra hardware required.

• It works with a self-powered Network Attached Storage (NAS) drive. This allows you to listen to music via the Sonos even when your computer is turned off. This is the NAS drive we used for Kelly.

• One easy-to-use remote control allows you to turn music on and off in any room, adjust volume, and manipulate inputs. The controller shows your entire music collection, allows you to make playlists, and even includes album art for songs as they play. It feels a little like an iPod and is equally simple to use.

• Each amplifier has a line-in option for any other audio device you want to access. This allows you to input a terrestrial radio receiver, a tape player, and even a television feed for a surround sound experience that can travel through the whole house.

• There are two options with the Sonos transceivers: The Sonos ZonePlayer 80 (ZP80) works with any amplified system or self-powered speakers. The ZP80 costs a little less than the amplified version of the player. The second option, The Sonos ZonePlayer 100 (ZP100), has an integrated 50 Watt amplifier so you can run speaker wire directly into the device and it will also power your speakers.
  

• The Sonos device has built in access to Internet radio. You can listen to NPR, local stations that are streaming on the Internet, and a bevy of niche programming. All of these stations are built into the controller. If you are running your Sonos controller off of a NAS drive when your computer is off, you can still access all those Internet radio stations. How cool is that?

• The Sonos system is scalable. You must have one transceiver connected directly to your computer or router. You can control your music using the software provided for your computer or buy a $400 remote control. For each room or set of speakers, you will need another transceiver/amplifier. If you already have an amplified stereo system, you can spend a little less and buy the unamplified ZonePlayer 80, allowing your existing system to save you a few bucks. Otherwise, you will need to buy the ZonePlayer 100 to power your speakers and receive the wireless signal carrying your music.

One Downside of the Sonos Digital Music System
As it stands right now, the Sonos will not broadcast any music that has Digital Rights Management (DRM) controls. If you buy a song from iTunes it will not play over the Sonos system. If you rip your CDs onto the computer, all of those will play normally.

The Installation
Since Jon recommended this product to me, I was excited to see how it worked, but I have to admit that I was a little nervous about the installation. If you've ever installed audio equipment, you recognize the challenge. With this system I had all the regular audio challenges to consider, plus a few extras: miles of speaker wire, figuring out which components hook up to which inputs, creating a wireless network, mapping an external drive, and figuring out a brand new type of music server that I'd never seen before. I am not ashamed to admit that I was intimidated by the Sonos Digital Music System.

I am admitting my fear to let you know two things:

1. So-called tech experts have concerns about doing it right and understanding the technology. It's normal, you are not alone.
2. After the first 10 minutes of the installation process with the Sonos Digital Music System, I realized my fears were unnecessary. This device has one of the best user-interfaces I have ever seen. The instructions were clear, the setup easy, and the software that manages the digital music is completely intuitive.
   

It took me a few minutes to figure out the line-in option for Kelly's computer. I ran her computer speakers out of the Sonos, so I had to get the audio from her computer into the transceiver and then tell the transceiver to access the line-in audio. It was a step I hadn't considered, but after a second of wrapping my head around the problem, it was a simple fix. 

In the end, audio is a lot like a logic puzzle. Drawing a diagram is one way to get a mental picture of your setup, but it takes a lot of trial and error to figure it out. But look on the bright side; they say Sudoku and crossword puzzles make you smarter, so installing audio on a regular basis might make you a genius.

Kelly's Reaction
Kelly was extremely pleased with the system. She took the controls and intuitively figured out how to manage the system remotely. She loved that she could listen to different music in different rooms and she lost it when I showed her the Internet radio options on the controller. Kelly is a huge NPR fan, so she was thrilled with the fact that she could listen to the national feed.

Overall I think the Sonos Digital Music System solution left Kelly feeling like she understood her audio system and that she could make it work without calling in a technician for help. She says her garden parties will now be much better with the addition of some sweet tunes that she can easily control.