Why rip into two competing formats? It does sound silly on the surface, but it's my way of ensuring that somehow, I'll be able to play that content in full fidelity, on my home audio systems.

I wrote about the challenges of being an One of the things I discussed were my woes involving directly connecting the receiver to the network. I have two receivers with Ethernet connections. The older one is an Onkyo TX-NR900, which requires proprietary software to connect. Onkyo's Net-Tune software works fine over a wired connection, but I've never been able to get it working properly with a wireless bridge. The newer receiver is a Denon AVR-4306. Neither the Denon nor the Onkyo support playback of digital audio files compressed using lossless codecs over their respective networking links.

Both Onkyo and Denon support connections to the iPod. The Onkyo uses an analog connection, and is a bid kludgy, since the older NR900 receiver doesn't really understand digital music players. The Denon supports a direct link to an iPod, provided you're willing to spend $60 for an additional cable. In either case, you need to physically move your iPod to the receiver.

But directly connecting a peripheral is so ... old school. Networking is ubiquitous in the Case house, and we've got a mix of 802.11g (the double speed "Super-G" version), gigabit Ethernet in the office and CAT5e in the bedrooms and living room. Connecting the receivers to the network didn't do the job, so it was time to look elsewhere.

I have used networked digital audio adapters in the past. The best success I've had is with the Roku M2000, but that required Windows Media Connect, which has its own set of limitations. The most serious limitation is the inability to use a network share ... ah, the joys of content protection.

More recent devices are friendlier, though. Based on reader recommendations, I took a look at Slim Devices' SqueezeBox (version 3), the Sonos MP80 and an odd device from Sondigo called the Sirocco. Each has strengths and weaknesses, and work better for certain types of users than others. Let's take a look. Continued... We'll first take a look at the Sirocco, an unusual device from Sondigo. Sondigo is a relatively new Canadian manufacturer headed up by Len Layton, a Dolby alumnus. Sondigo dubs the Sirocco a "wireless audio bridge," but this is a bit of a misnomer. Instead, think of the Sirocco as a wireless external sound card.

The Sirocco driver installs as an audio device. If you have an existing sound card or audio device, the Sirocco installs itself as the primary audio device. You can always switch back to the PC sound card by running the Sounds and Audio Devices control panel, but this is a bit cumbersome.

Also somewhat cumbersome is the setup process for the hardware. You have to connect the Sirocco directly with an Ethernet cable to a PC that has the correct driver and software installed. You can't connect it to a network with a router or switch in place. We found this out the hard way, only to have the Sirocco go into an unknown state and crash our D-Link router. Luckily, the Sirocco has a hardware reset, though rebooting the router was a nuisance.

When connecting it directly to a PC via Ethernet, setting up the hardware device was straightforward. The purpose of the hardware installation process is to set up the Sirocco to connect to your wireless network, supplying the SSID and security key information.

The Sirocco offers 5.1 analog audio connections via three stereo mini-jacks, plus a Toslink digital connector.

We connected the Sirocco to one of our receivers via the optical digital port. The Sirocco offers full control over the C-Media Wi-Sonic controller embedded in the product, much like any sound card. Continued... The ideal user for the Sirocco is someone who really wants to pipe his PC audio to one audio destination. The device does support a feature called "dynamic audio switching," which allows you to pull the plug on the Sirocco and switch automatically to another sound device.

Why would you want this? It's because the Sirocco becomes the primary audio device. When enabled, all PC audio is redirected to the Sirocco over the network. If you have a high end sound card for gaming, you might want to have the Sirocco connected to an A/V receiver for music or movies, and switch back to near-field PC speakers for gaming. However, the dynamic audio switching did crash the Sirocco driver once during our testing. Our existing sound card worked fine, but we couldn't use the Sirocco until we rebooted the system.

Since the Sirocco is really using your PC as the primary source of audio, the Sondigo is format independent. We were even able to play protected songs bought from the iTunes music store. The Sirocco might be an ideal device for users with a single PC, and a single A/V configuration that's attached to the PC. Multiple Siroccos connected to different A/V receivers isn't really practical, due to the monolothic nature of the audio output. Within those constraints, the Sirocco is a pretty cool device, particularly if you want to play protected content stored on your PC with your home theater rig.

Currently, the Sirocco is only available direct from Sondigo. Continued...

Product:	Sondigo Sirocco
Company:	Sondigo
Price:	$139.99 (Direct)
Pros:	Plays protected content even over digital audio connections; easy to use; format independent; good price.
Cons:	Setup is a bit wonky; single source, single destination; driver seems slightly unstable; you can't use your sound card at the same time.
Summary:	If you want to play your iTunes protected files on your home theater rig, the Sirocco gets the job done. It's even the lowest-cost product we tested here, but is really restricted to a single source and single destination.
Rating:

The Slim Devices SqueezeBox is now in its third iteration. PC Magazine reviewed the \\networkshare\music\itunes—no browse function exists. When using the SqueezeBox, the device assumes you only have a single music library, and it's difficult to point to a different library: We always had to reboot the device by pressing and holding the "brightness" button on the remote control. To be fair, most people only have one music library.

Initial hardware setup involves entering network information, such as SSID and any security keys. You can do this anywhere on your local area network. The user interface for the hardware is a bit more straightforward than the web control, but does have a few limitations, such as the aforementioned inability to easily switch libraries.

Once configured, the SqueezeBox works very well. So far, we've successfully played Windows Media Lossless and Apple Lossless encoded music. The Squeezebox will not play back iTunes or WMA protected content, however. The SlimServer uses few CPU cycles when idle, though it did consume about 72MB of system RAM (for both the server and the tray application, which allows you to launch the web control.) The hardware offers additional useful features, including 24-bit Burr-Brown DACs for digital-to-audio conversion plus the ability to use multiple outputs simultaneously.

Navigating using the remote is fairly intuitive, though we wish there were dedicated buttons to let us jump directly between Internet Radio and locally stored music.

These are all minor nits, ultimately. The bottom line is that, once set up, SqueezeBox plays just about any digital audio format, which allows you to simply stop caring and use the format you prefer. Of course, it won't play protected content, but few devices do these days. Continued...

Product:	Slim Devices SqueezeBox
Company:	Slim Devices
Price:	$299 (wireless—check prices); $249 (wired-only check prices)
Pros:	Works with almost any digital audio format; easy to use once set up; high quality DACs; digital audio output.
Cons:	Can't play protected content; software interface cumbersome; can't easily switch between music libraries.
Summary:	If you're looking for a simple device that will play almost any digital audio format on your home theater rig, at a reasonable price, the SqueezeBox may be just what you're looking for.
Rating:

Now it's time to turn to something more complex—and more expensive.

Earlier, I alluded to having two A/V receivers. Actually, I have three, including an aging Technics A/V receiver in the living room that lacks any digital audio inputs. Ideally, I'd love to have access to my music library from any of those locations. It would be even cooler to have the capability to play different music in different locations.

One way to do this is to use multiple SqueezeBoxes, which can work well. If you do that, though, each Squeezebox is independent of the other, and has no real knowledge of the others existence. Plus, three $299 versions would cost $900. Wouldn't it be great to have a more integrated solution for just a few dollars more?

You can. The product is the Sonos ZP80.

Last year, Sonos shipped its first product, the MP100. While it was an interesting product, it was also a fully integrated one, and included its own amplifier. This made it a little problematic if you wanted to connect it to existing A/V gear. So in April, Sonos launched the MP80, which is a compact white box that contains all wireless networking smarts, plus stereo inputs and outputs and a pair of digital audio ports (one optical, one RCA coax.)

As a standalone device, the ZP80 is only mildly interesting. What you really want is multiple ZP80's, plus the CR100 controller.

A bundle with two ZP80's and the CR100 controller will set you back $999. An additional ZP80 costs $349. That means supporting my digital music habit would set me back a little under $1,350.

Setting up the Sonos system is easy—really easy. First, you install the software. Then you attach the ZP80 to your receiver and to your network. Sonos recommends that the first setup be done as a wired setup, which will allow you to more easily configure SSID and wireless security. But we had no problems with using wired Ethernet anywhere on our network for that first ZP80. Once connected, all you need to do is press the mute and volume buttons simultaneously when the install software requests it. You'll have two minutes to do this, so you can even run upstairs, as I had to, without worrying about timing out. The player itself will stop blinking when it connects. Continued... Link Text goes hereOnce all the ZP80's are up and running, they function as a mesh network. Each ZP80 can relay a signal to the others, so if the most distant ZP80 is too far away from your wireless access point, the others can act as bridges for the digital audio data. The two Ethernet ports can be used as a bridge. The ZP80 will even act as an access point. You can have up to 32 Zone Players active in a single network.

Once that's done, the others can be added easily, even wirelessly. Given the complexity of a multiroom device, the setup is about as easy as you'd expect.

You can use the Sonos Desktop Controller software to set up playlists, configure the room setups and and drive the ZP80s. Sonos supports both Windows and Mac OS X versions of the software.

While the software is about as easy to use as you can get, what you really want to use is the Sonos handheld controller.

We can't stress how easy the CR100 is to use. The use of a control wheel surface that behaves like the iPod wheel makes it incredibly easy to use. It's easy to select and add music to current playlists. You can switch between rooms and set up individual music streams for different Zone Players.

The Sonos gear does have a few limitations. It won't play protected content bought form the iTunes store or protected WMA content. It also doesn't support Windows Media Lossless, but does support FLAC and Apple Lossless codecs, as well as fully uncompressed formats. Like the SqueezeBox, it even supports Ogg Vorbis, plus the usual compressed formats.

If you need multiroom playback of your digital music library, the Sonos ZP80 is about as easy as it gets. You can also get the powered ZP100 with speakers for rooms that don't have A/V gear. It's not cheap, but it's elegant, simple and just works. But if you're library is ripped using WMA Lossless, you'll want to get multiple SqueezeBoxes instead. Continued...

Product:	Sonos ZonePlayer 80 Bundle
Company:	Sonos
Price:	$999 for two ZP80's and a CR100 controller (check prices)
Pros:	Elegant to use, simple to set up; mesh network allows wide dispersion of players
Cons:	Doesn't support WMA Lossless; expensive
Summary:	If you have need multiroom support for your digital music collection, and you don't need WMA Lossless support, then the Sonos is the right answer—provided you have the budget.
Rating:

The Sondigo Sirocco is a useful little device if you'd like to play all of your PC audio through your home theater rig. However, if you need to use your PC sound card occasionally, switching between the two may be cumbersome.

If most of your music is in WMA Lossless, then the SqueezeBox works well, though the software interface lacks elegance. However, if you only need a single digital music adapter, the SqueezeBox is the best solution we've uncovered to date.

If you have a multiroom setup, and have your music collection ripped in anything but Windows Media Lossless, then go with the Sonos, provided you can afford it. It's elegant, easy to use and unobtrusive. The portable controller makes setting up your music playback a breeze.

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