Question by Phil90: What is the best way to play music stored on my PC in a different area of my house? I have a media center PC in my living room with a lot of music stored on it. I want to play that music in other areas of my house. I also want to control the playlist from the area of the house where Im listening to the music (ie, I dont want to have to go back and forth to the living room every time I want to change the music). Does anyone manufacture a device with a control panel and speakers built in that I can put in my kitchen or bedroom or wherever that will instruct my PC to stream music to it via WiFi? Or is there a better way (that is still economical)? Best answer: Answer by ChrisTheres no end of media streamers available that can be hooked in to a hi-fi system. But as soon as you start to look for ones with Wi-Fi and a built-in speaker and that dont require a proprietory front end or a TV connection for menu navigation then the choices get a little thinner on the ground. Two brands come to mind: Logitech and Sonos. Logitech makes the Squeezebox radio. whathifi/Review/Logitech-Squeezebox-Radio/ This is an internet radio with streaming capability for MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, FLAC and Apple Lossless files via ethernet or Wi-Fi. Youll need to run their server software on your PC 24/7 if you want any-time access to your music, but seeing as you have a PC with your music on it already then that might not be so much of an issue. Add the smartphone app and youre good to go. Sonos makes a range of players. It includes two models with built-in speakers; the Play:3 (S3) and Play:5 (S5). These are a little more advanced than the Squeezebox products, hence the higher price. For once the numbers actually mean something too. The Play:3 has three drivers; a tweeter and two midrange. The play:5 has two tweeters, two midrange and a woofer. Sonos doesnt require server software. It can read the files from a shared drive on a PC or pretty much any NAS. They also do party mode audio synchronisation better than any other streaming products I have heard. You can have them all playing the same tune and theres no audio lag or echo. Theyre perfectly synchronised. Once again add the smartphone app for control which can be one-on-one, or in groups from 2 units up to the whole house. You will need the first player connected via ethernet to your router, or you can get a Sonos wireless bridge (BR100) to do that job instead. Other than that youre good to go. Sound-wise these are all mono devices. The Squeezebox radio sounds like a small portable radio, which is perfectly fine if thats the sound you want. The Sonos devices sound more like small hi-fi systems. Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 12:41:32 +0000
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