The Sonos Digital Music System by Sonos is designed to bring your digital music files from your PC or Mac to other areas of your home. At the heart of the Sonos system are two components which interact together to provide a wireless entertainment experience no matter what room you may be in.
The Digital Music Network?s primary purpose is to be able to bring simultaneous, or different if you so desire, streams of your computer music to remote ZonePlayer boxes. In one particular example of this type of network entertainment delivery, a romantic dinner for two with jazz playing from your PC could be going on in the dining room while your children are in the garage listening to hip hop remotely off the same computer.
The Sonos ZonePlayer is the main device which facilities your wireless entertainment network. This amplifier/digital hub measures 10.2? x 8.2? x 4.4? and weighs a light 10 pounds. The intricate technology of the ZonePlayer is housed inside a die cast, matte aluminum enclosure on a light gray base.
To find out more about pricing and availability, please see the Sonos Store.
The ZonePlayer?s primary purpose is to act as a part of the Sonosnet peer-to-peer, secure mesh network, which operates on its frequency, and receive (or push for the one hooked up to your computer) streaming music files of the MP3, WMA (non-DRM only at this time), AAC and WAV persuasions. It plays back the music real time through an attached home entertainment component like bookshelf speakers or a stereo receiver.
Setup of the ZonePlayer is reportedly extremely easy. Each unit, as it is powered up and initialized, automatically seeks out the main unit hooked to your PC and ties into it. This can be done either wirelessly or through a wired Ethernet connection for those who don?t want to use a wireless network.
In addition to acting as a music network hub, the ZonePlayer serves double duty with a built in amplifier so it can power speakers with a 50 watts per channel bump. Volume control can be handled either through front panel controls or through the other main component of the Digital Music Network known as the Sonos Controller.
To find out more about pricing and availability, please see the Sonos Store.
The splash proof, rechargeable Controller, which weighs a mere 12.5 ounces and measures 6.5? x 3.8? x 0.95?, is what could be easily considered the heart of the System when you are away from your computer. This remote, which sports a 3.5? color LCD with LED backlighting, is usable anywhere inside your home as long as it can connect to the mesh network through one of the ZonePlayers.
The Controller, which automatically turns on when you pick it up, allows you to do a variety of functions. You can, among other things, access your music library remotely to scroll through your collection, browse titles, view album art, set tracks to play on a specific ZonePlayer or a group (also called a ?zone?) and handle volume functions. The color LCD is easily navigated using a scroll wheel selector and backlit buttons dedicated to providing immediate access to specific control functions.
To find out more about pricing and availability, please see the Sonos Store.
The software which comes with the Digital Music System, besides offering much of the same functionality as the remote Controller, is also used to setup and manage your wireless music network. The interface is easy to look at and highly understandable, with ?zones? clearly laid out so they can be individually managed.
Other interesting features of the Sonos Digital Music System include capability for support of 32 individual ZonePlayers, playback of Internet radio stations which can be streamed from the primary ZonePlayer, the ability to connect an external audio device to one ZonePlayer so playback can be heard across the entire network and online software upgrades to support new features and functions.
Sonos is now taking pre-orders and plans on shipping units out at the end of January.
To find out more about pricing and availability, please see the Sonos Store.
