Product Description: PRODUCT FEATURES:Built-in support for popular music player software - no additional software required;Compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g wireless networks as well as wired Ethernet;Digital optical, digital coax, and analog outputs connect directly to your stereo;Plays all your stored playlists, including iTunes Smart Playlists;Search for Song Title, Artist, Album, Composer and Keyword;Browse by Song Title, Artist, Album, Composer and Genre;Quickly browse huge music collections with patent-pending feature, Fast Browse;Create an "ad hoc" playlist to suit your mood;Shuffle and Repeat play;Up to 4 dynamic music visualizers to choose from;Small enough to place anywhere - on a shelf, bedside table, etc.
Amazon.com Product Description: Winner of the CES 2004 Innovations Award and a Wired editor's pick, Roku's SoundBridge M1000 digital music receiver employs WiFi technology to broadcast media files from your Mac or PC to just about anywhere in the house. You no longer have to be sitting at your computer to hear your music, nor do you need to burn your Internet-sourced audio to CDs to import it to the living room. Just plug the M1000 into your integrated amplifier or surround receiver and you can listen to all your digital music on your stereo or multichannel speaker system. The M1000 includes built-in 802.11b WiFi for wireless use but also offers a RJ-45/Cat5 Ethernet port for hard-wired connections.
The M1000 features an extra-bright 280 x 16 vacuum fluorescent display that shows the track and artist name. Take a closer look.
The SoundBridge is compatible with WMA, MP3, AAC, AIFF, and WAV music formats right out of the box. Further, its native support for Apple Rendezvous and iTunes means the M1000 is instantly ready to play your Apple media--no additional software is required, as you're already set up for Rendezvous or iTunes. Just enable iTunes' sharing feature (though please be aware that iTunes Music Store "Protected AAC" files are not supported). SoundBridge uses Apple's DAAP (digital audio access protocol) to communicate directly with iTunes, and reduces its network bandwidth by decoding AAC files in the player rather than in the computer.
PC owners, meanwhile, will delight in the SoundBridge's built-in Windows Media Connect, Windows Media Player 10, and Rhapsody support. The device also works with any music service using Windows Media DRM 10, such as Napster, MusicMatch, and Walmart.com. All told, the M1000 is the most compatible music player around.
The M1000's remote includes search, brightness, navigation, and playback controls.
With its convenient remote control, it's easy to browse, select, and control your music from across the room, or you can control playback from your computer using the intuitive web interface. The M1000 also offers a 280 x 16 display with your choice of four "EQ display" music visualizers that play along with the beat of your music. And the bright, sharp vacuum-fluorescent readout is easy to see in all lighting conditions and from any angle--even from across the room.
The SoundBridge offers Internet radio access, too, bringing you a selection of free music and talk-radio stations (with up to 10 station presets). Roku's Fast Browse feature lets you browse huge music collections by album, artist, genre, or composer (providing your files are properly encoded with said details). You can also play your stored iTunes playlists or use the keyword search to find the title you seek.
Beyond its WiFi and RJ-45 interfaces, the M1000 offers straight-ahead audio connections: an S/PDIF coaxial digital output and an optical Toslink output (one each) for those that want a pure digital connection with a surround receiver or a CD or minidisc recorder. The unit also comes with a stereo RCA-to-minijack connector that hooks directly into a set of powered computer speakers to create a stylish and minimalist compact stereo system.
In addition, Roku has outfitted the SoundBridge with a super-fast, 400 MHz Blackfin DSP and 16 MB of DRAM memory, giving it more than enough headroom to handle future software updates. Finally, the SoundBridge's sleek industrial design looks comfortable anywhere of the house, and even fits conveniently on the wall or under a shelf or cabinet using Roku's optional mounting accessory.
The M1000 measures 10 inches wide by 2.37 inches in diameter and is backed by a one-year warranty.
What's in the Box M1000 SoundBridge receiver, custom remote control, two AAA batteries, localized power adapter, 3.5 mm-to-RCA cable, detachable rubber base, user's manual.
Just What I've Been Looking For! I have been looking for a product like this for a long time. We live on the fringe area of Chicago, and many of the stations I love, we could only get occasionally, if we were lucky. But with the Soundbridge receiver, it pulls in all the stations with no interference (like we had with FM radio) as well as those from around the world, with no additional monthly fee. As long as you have a wireless network set up, this unit receives the signal from your router, and the computer doesn't even have to be on to hear the radio stations. The unit arrived in about 1 week with regular shipping, and it was easy to setup. All we had to do was connect it to our speakers thru our stereo system, it recognized our router, we entered our password, and it was ready to use. The insruction manual is easy to understand. We had it all set up in about 25-30 minutes.
The RadioRoku.com website is a great advantage, because there you can set up a free account, and then choose your Favorites and Presets from a vast array of stations. After you set up those, you can use your remote to scroll down to your choices, and select the station you want. You can also right click the station on the website, and choose to play it on your PC, or you can change the station playing on the Soundbridge from your PC. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves to listen to static-free radio. Next, I'll probably get one for the bedroom.
Absolutely Love It - I have 3 SoundBridges I absolutely love the Roku SoundBridge. I love it so much that I have three of them: One M1001 and two M500s. They're pretty much the same except for the display.
The Soundbridge is absolutely fantastic. I've used it with Windows Media Connect, the server built into Windows Media Player, with Rhapsody, and with Yahoo Music. It plays all of the songs in my library and licensed tracks as well.
The sound quality is great. It's actually much, much better than connecting my PC to my stereo (either using RCA cables or digital optical/coax).
I've also had absolutely no hiccups or stutters either using wired ethernet or wi-fi. It blows the SlimDevices Squeezebox I used to have completely out of the water.
What else is there to say.... there are third party applications out there that let you control the soundbridge from your PC or mobile device and use the display for other purposes.
Minor complaints would be that the navigation is not as intuitive as it should be and it would be nice to have more hierarchical navigation so that you could easily go 'back' to the last thing you were doing instead of going back to the root menu.
Would not be without my 2 Roku's When the workhorse Sony CD jukebox died in 2006, I went looking for a PC-based solution and found the M1000. Enjoyed it so much at the main music system that I purchased a second for the Master BR that also feeds outdoor speakers. Server software of choice is WMP11 running on a small dedicated shuttle box, accessible via Remote Desktop from the main computer. I prefer this since it doesn't require my main computer and monitor to be on to listen to music.
Reports of network troubles are surprising. Neither Roku has any problem talking to a Linksys Wireless router (WRT54G) and the farthest unit is a good 50 feet and four walls away. At times, both run simultaneously.
The one drawback, as mentioned in other reviews, is the 2-line display. I would love to see a future version with a composite video out that could provide a scrolling display on a monitor - along with now playing info.
Except for needing an occasional reboot, they have worked flawlessly. Would not be without these two units!
Amazing! This was my first Wi-Fi radio, and I didn't know quite what to expect. All I did was enter my WEP code (security code for my wi-fi network that you get off the router setup page) it connected right away and started streaming internet radio! I hadn't even powered up the PC on the network yet! It has a huge assortment of internet radio stations available by searching or even browsing by genre from the remote that stream in very good quality (128Kbps MP3 or WMA). I never would have believed internet radio was this easy. Just for the radio part this thing is worth it. My FM radio is useless now. The quality is better and the selection is out of this world (or at least out of this country ;-).
I can play African bongo music or rock from Russia without even firing up the PC! I think even my mom could use this once it's setup (and while I love her dearly, programming a VCR would be a stretch for her).
As a soundbridge I simply installed and fired up iTunes on my PC on the network and after setting a few windows settings as the manual suggests, the soundbridge played all the songs without any problems.
The software in this thing rocks. Obviously their goal was to get it to work as seemlessly and easily as possible and I have to say it doesn't get any easier than this.
Amazing.
Functional, but it gets hot This is a great product for anyone who wants internet radio without a computer. It looks good; it's easy to install (at least, with a Linksys wrt54g router); and it's easy to use. I would say I'm reasonably network/PC savvy, but I'm certainly no geek!
My only concern is that in standby mode it gets quite hot, even with pretty good airflow. As an energy conscious person, I dislike things that still use electricity even when they're not in use.
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