Roku SoundBridge M1000/M1001 Network Music System

The only reason that I am back on Amazon tonight is because I need another soundbridge. I LOVE this thing and even though it decided to give up on me tonight and go to the great wireless audio streaming device network in the sky (it just won't power on!), I am still going to order another one. The biggest problem with it breaking is that i will have to wait until the new one arrives.

I listen(ed) to this thing every night for just under a year and although the initial setup was pretty annoying and troublesome (it was a firmware issue and after i hard-wired it to my network and upgraded it, it was a breeze) it was worth the hassle.

Since I got this device I have had to configure a Squeezebox for someone and the Roku wins hands down (on style, quality, use and ease of configuration).

Bottom line is, if you want to stream your MP3's and listen to internet radio and you don't need the multi-room devices like the Sonos, you need one of these and you won't know how you lived without it.

I recently purchased this Roku unit, after seeing it demonstrated at a friend's house. It has enabled me to pull together music from various sources & play them back through my main sound system, be they CD's that I've downloaded into my Itunes, or .wav files that I've made in my studio, which is in a separate building on my property (I've sneaker-netted the .wav files to my flash-drive, then to my computer).

In terms of the internet radio functions, the Roku can grab most stations, & there are many useful stations built into the factory presets;programming new stations, seraching via scrolling & entering the call letters was pretty straight-forward. My one complaint is with the remote; some functions aren't very intuitive, & there is no way to fast-forward through a tune as it is playing, at least not that I've found.

Truly a novelty in this Beta version, wait for our patch, call customer service in India for 2 hours, no money back even though it does not work world.
A product that does exactly what it says it will. Sets up with ease, hooks up to your stereo, finds all of your music in Windows Media Player and plays it when you want in the order you want loud enough for me and most people.
I bought a 50ft RCA cable to allow me to have the Roku in front of the TV play my music through the stereo which is located 30ft across the room.
Cons are minor, 2 line screen that displays your song collection in the same format and order as in WMP is a little small, slight loss of volume (before the 50ft cable) my old 100 watt Sony rack system at 80% volume and the Roku at 75% is loud enough with more power if needed. Music Search is as slow as your finger-slower than in WMP but fine. It is a great product.
If this is not enough you get Internet radio through the Roku without your PC's help (as long as the wireless network is live) it is pretty cool playing radio on the internet from across the world through your stereo.
Don't forget the Roku works by joining your existing wireless home network it does not create a wireless network. Love it.
Someone should buy a Roku Soundbridge for Bill Gates and half the Technology retail world, show them what a well built, quality, well tested, product looks like.

This player works fine with my wifi at home. I was able to listen to tons of stations except for a few BBC which are limited to UK residence only. In addition, streams lower than 24 kbps are not playable. It uses radioroku to sort Wi-Fi stations. I will rate this product a five star if low bitrate stations are playable, perhaps its radioroku's policy not to include such streams.

I've wanted a solution for a wireless network music system for a while. I've found the the Soundbridge to be so great that I am kicking myself for going for so long without it.

Here's my setup:
Server-side: I'm using the built-in Firefly media server (apparently developed by Roku) set up on a Netgear (formerly Infrant) ReadyNAS NV+ It comes on many other NAS devices as well - Linksys NSLU2, the Maxtor MSS, and the Buffalo Linkstation. The ReadyNAS automatically backs up my iTunes library, and several other folders of digitized tunes, including Windows Media from various PCs and Macs around the house. When backup is complete, the Firefly media server re-scans the library, so any newly-digitized CD is automatically added. That whole thing took a few minutes to set up via browser on the ReadyNAS.

Client-side: Soundbridges plugged into powered speakers, stereos or boom boxes around the house. Set up was simple - there is no CD involved. I have an el-cheapo Belkin b/g wireless router ($30) with WPA, and the Soundbridge streams audio without no problem from anywhere in the hosue. Wireless G would be great, but I haven't seen any issue, and I have a pretty big home. I haven't tried the optical or coax output yet, but the miniplug output sounds great.

Here's what totally exceeded my expectations:

1) Ease of use. The two-line display is very easy to navigate, and in most cases, makes sense. I have a couple of small gripes, such as Play and Pause being separate buttons on the remote. Searching is very clunky, but my expectations for an arrows-only simple remote-control with a 2-line display were very low, and the Soundbridge even exceeded them on Search. A bit of suggested word completion (like the Google toolbar does) could be great.

2) Simple set-up, even with WPA-encrytped wireless. Had it up and running within a minute. I did take a few moments to read through the manual - simple, well written, and well worth your time.

3) Speed. With 6000 digitized songs and Wireless B, I expected a crawl through song lists, or loading individual files etc. Wrong. I haven't taken a stopwatch to it, but the Firefly/Soundbridge set up is much, much faster than a Mac or PC iTunes streaming from another iTunes (or Firefly).

4) The best feature of all: Internet radio. It is extremely easy to browse languages, genres, countries, etc. The number of streaming stations worldwide is extensive. I encountered no performance problems - wireless B does not seem to be an issue, at least in my home. While not required to get started, you can customize your favorites and presets at [...]. A browser on any device works - the Soundbridge *never* makes any assumption about your OS - no proprietary software, PC, downloads, etc. If you wish, the RadioRoku.com site can find Soundbridge devices on your network (via a little Java applet - PC, MAC, Linux). You also can add-to, edit and rate stations at RadioRoku.com.

Overall, the quality of engineering that went into this device is evident at all levels of the experience. I see others have complained about wireless B and a weak wireless network, but I haven't seen any issues - on the contrary, speed and reliability have been truly excellent. Unlike many gadgets I encounter, this one *easily* deserves a 5-star rating.