http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/rss.xml Networked, extensible, computer-controlled media servers promise to centralize and distribute your favorite music and movies around your home and beyond. We put these machines through torturous tests; read to find out which sink, and which serve! hourly 12 2006-12-01T00:00 http://www.audioholics.com/static/logo.jpg http://www.audioholics.com/ http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/logitech-squeezebox-duet The Logitech Squeezebox Duet is probably one of the coolest and best products I've ever reviewed. Sure, it's a little buggy right now but that is to be expected this close to launch. The fact remains that once the bugs are worked out, you'll be left with one of the coolest remotes, the neatest streaming services, and best way to get high quality content from your computer to your home theater… wirelessly! tom 2008-05-15T01:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/logitech-wireless-dj Logitech has their fingers in so many pots it sometimes seems really hard to put them in a category. All things wireless seems to fall under their domain but there are plenty of other products including speakers, remotes, keyboards, webcams, and gaming peripherals. So when I received the Wireless DJ Music System I had two questions - the second spurred by the first. The first was "What the heck is this thing?" and, once I found out I said, "Hey, aren't these the same people that recently purchased the Squeezebox?" The Wireless DJ System is, in essence, a device that streams music and Internet radio from your computer to your home theater. While there are plenty of devices that do this (including Logitech's own Squeezebox) the Wireless DJ has enough unique qualities that it more than holds its own in very full market. tom 2007-08-03T11:37:37+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/impact-acoustics-multi-function-converter The first thing I thought when I saw the Impact Acoustics Multi-Function Converter with Tuner and Picture-in-Picture was, “Wow, that’s a mouth full!” I knew two things, first, that I had no idea what it was and what it did, and two, that there had to be a better name. Well, I now know what it is but I can’t say I’ve come up with a better name. In short the MFCwT&PnP (I don’t think that acronym is going to catch on) stands between your computer and your display. When activated, it mutes the volume from your computer, overlays a TV signal on your display, and sends the audio to your speakers. But how well does it work? tom 2007-06-06T14:07:38+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/slim-devices-transporter-digital-music-player-review I hate CD players. They're bulky and they typically play only 1-5 discs at a time - unless you get a CD changer and that's like getting the family pack at Krystal - it isn't about quality. We're no strangers to Slim Devices Digital Network Music Players. In fact, we've reviewed both the second and third iterations of the Squeezebox Digital Music Players. This product is more than I would have expected - or even hoped for - a completely tricked-out Squeezebox with dual displays, upgraded DAC, and enough functionality to serve as the true powerhouse in any "analogue-is-my-friend" system. But can this new "Cadillac" model really replace your CD player? clint 2007-03-06T10:07:38+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/miglia-tvmini-hd Hello, I’m a Mac. And many of you are probably a PC. And while I am sure that some of you PCs have tinkered with a HTPC or even purchased a media center system based on Microsoft’s Windows Media Center operating system, there are still many Mac users who also happen to be TV enthusiasts who have not yet mixed HDTV with their personal computers. The TVMini HD system is a very simple and effective way to add high-def TV to your Macintosh. The system promises to allow you the ability to watch, pause, rewind and skip forward live HDTV, as well as the ability to schedule, record and edit your favorite shows. Miglia recently sent me the system to try out, and I am here to tell you it delivers. Within minutes of opening the box, I was watching full screen HDTV on my widescreen MacBook Pro laptop. Like most software and hardware developed for the Mac OS, it comes out of the box working. jclarke 2006-11-01T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/vidabox-slim When I was contacted by Steven Cheung, one of the co-founders of VidaBox, about reviewing one of their units, I was less than thrilled. I’d already reviewed a machine running MCE (Microsoft Media Center Edition) so I didn’t see what the big deal could be. But as I browsed their site and looked a little closer, I saw some unexpected things. First, there was a media center the size of a shoebox. Second, there was one that looked like a DVD player. But mostly what I noticed was the severe lack of configurations available. Wait a second, I thought, aren’t these just PCs? Aren’t they able to be configured however you want? It seems that VidaBox has taken a different tact. Rather than letting the user slap together whatever accessories and options they want and hope that everything meshes together the way it should, they pre-configure the system and test it extensively to make sure it is stable and solid out of the box. Supposedly, these means that once you set up the system, it should need little to no maintenance. No unexpected crashes, no driver conflicts, just solid performance. You know, the kind of performance you’d expect from a DVD player or a receiver. Well, we’ll just see about that. tom 2006-10-19T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/qsonix-q100 Music managers seem to be the wave of the future. Every product seems to claim some sort of music management system no matter how rudimentary. It also seems that the more of these reviews I do, the more often I get comments like, “Yeah but you can do all that with your computer.” My answer has always been – but how well? I don’t care if you can store 5 billion albums on your modded PC. If it crashes all the time, takes forever to access your library, and you can only listen to it from your office it is useless. In my opinion, the most important part of a server of any kind is that it works – every time. tom 2006-08-02T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/olive-symphony Servers… they don’t just bring you your food anymore. Nope, now they’ve got to bring you your music and movies and just about everything else you can think of. When the Olive box arrived on my doorstep, it was just after my newest son was born and I thought, “Oh, that’s nice, a salad bowl or something.” Those thoughts were quickly dispelled the minute I picked it up. This was one heavy salad bowl! I’ve done enough of these reviews that I kind of know what to expect. It should burn. It should rip. It should give you a choice of formats when ripping. It should give you configurable playlists. It should stream Internet Radio? Hold on, wait a minute, that’s not usually part of the package! tom 2006-04-20T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/slim-devices-squeezebox-v3-digital-music-player-review We already did a review of the Squeezebox2 music server which we found to be incredibly versatile and scored high marks for ease of use and quality of music playback. The goal of the Squeezebox is to eliminate the need for a huge physical CD collection. With Squeezebox, users can rip their CDs to a hard disc in one of the lossless formats and play it back through the high fidelity Burr-Brown 24-bit DAC. The Squeezebox v3 is functionally and internally identical to the Squeezebox2, but features a brand new enclosure that has completely redesigned the unit for a more “stunning” look. Instead of a geeky looking black box that does wonders, the unit now has the look of a polished product that can go head to head with the big boys. clint 2006-04-14T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/2partsfusion-dms-701 I'm not going to lie to you; the thing that excited me most about the reviewing the 2partsfusion DMS-701 was the ability to record TV. I know, I know, lots of stuff can do that for a lot less money but ever since I moved out of LA, I've been without the ability and I've missed it terribly. Plus, with a pregnant wife that is chronically tired and about to pop, I needed some way to reliably record 24 and Scrubs. Hey, you've got to have your priorities. 2partsfusion is really marketing their products to the more "hands on" and computer literate among us. While the Escient Fireball DVDM-300 retails for more than you can get a fully loaded DMS-701 with a 3-year warranty, 2partsfusion are really targeting different consumers. 2partsfusion is looking to help someone take the hassle out of building their own HTPC from scratch. And to that end, they are a great success. tom 2006-03-28T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/yamaha-musiccast-mcx-2000-digital-music-server The Yamaha MusicCAST MCX-2000 is a dream come true to anyone looking for an easy to use, intelligent file management and server solution for their music database. It will be the hit at any of your social gatherings or parties and although unobtrusive in appearance, will make itself known to your guests when they hear all of the great songs, interruption free, you selected for your playlists. Gene 2006-03-06T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/escient-dvdm-300 HTPCs have made some headway moving from the den into the living room in recent years. Many who have created their own movie management system understand the difficulties inherent in integrating a functional movie/music management system, much less a user friendly one. Oodles of wires, keyboards, hours organizing and managing the system are all common occurrences. Enter the Escient FireBall DVDM-300. An "all in one"movie and music management/storage solution designed to take the headaches out of the HTPC and create a functional, user friendly environment that EVERYONE in the family can enjoy. tom 2005-11-25T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/motorola-homesight-home-monitoring-and-security-system Motorola is not a name traditionally associated with custom home installation products. However, a company well-known for its networking and communications hardware & software is more suited for this market than people may think. When I first heard of the Motorola homesight system I was hit by the overall impression - "well that makes a lot of sense." I mean, why should a company so good at making network hardware not apply that knowledge towards home monitoring and control? clint 2005-10-20T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/slim-devices-squeezebox2-review-using-the-system Since the introduction of their SLIMP3 system in 2001, Slim Devices has captured the hearts of audio enthusiasts everywhere by producing affordable, scalable solutions that focus solely on audio. Their newest development, the Squeezebox v2, is the next product from a company that appears to be focused on continually improving its product platform. The Squeezebox2 is not a video server, it doesn't display your photos or have TV outputs for on-screen display. It focuses solely on serving audio to an external powered system, whether located in your office, bedroom, or home theater. In addition, the Squeezebox v2 seems dedicated to maximizing audio quality and providing a flexible interface that has room to grow and adapt to new formats. clint 2005-07-06T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/sonos-digital-music-system-review I've utilized several music server systems in my tenure at Audioholics and have built and rebuilt several HTPCs to boot. As such, I've developed a feel and opinion for what makes many of these systems stand apart from the others as well as for which features are important. The Sonos Digital Music System, in a nutshell, is one of the more progressive and user-friendly systems I've seen. clint 2005-06-22T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/yamaha-musiccast-2000-first-look In the digital age we live in, where we have wireless growing out our noses, it was only a matter of time before manufacturers started to produce wireless music server systems to distribute whole house audio. While the Yamaha MusicCAST system isn’t the first to step up to the plate, Yamaha has added unique feature sets currently not found on other product solutions. In preparation for our detailed review, we conducted a mini First Look / FAQ article to whet your appetite. Gene 2005-01-03T00:00:00+00:00 Editorial http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/digital-media-servers/yamaha-musiccast-1000-digital-music-server When Yamaha offered us the opportunity to review their new MusicCAST Digital Audio server and client system, I jumped on the opportunity. Having built a home theater PC and having been a fan of MP3 audio as a storage mechanism and playback format, Yamaha's solution of an easy-to-use set top MP3 and PCM audio server seemed a timely solution. It might, I thought, even be an evolutionary step into the world of CD audio archival and playback. It is no big surprise that the falling prices of hard disks and increasing processor speed would make CD archival and playback a viable format, but with regards to the masses, an easy-to-use solution would be necessary. clint 2003-09-30T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review