Customer Reviews

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Wireless Music

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

You saw the pictures, you read the Creative's marketing spiel, your read "reviews" in ad-soaked magazines, so now here are an actual user's impressions (mine): the product does have a few shortcomings, but none of them are lethal, and all are outweighted by a really neat implementation of core features. The sound is great, the interface is nice, and the value is terrific.

The visual centerpiece of the package is the remote. It's big, substantially looking, and sports a large blue-backlit LCD screen which alleviates the need to use a TV for visual navigation. The menu structure is laid out well, the navigation buttons are laid out conveniently, and the fonts are crisp and easy-to-read Tahoma-like type. You can either navigate your collection by Artist/Album/Genre/etc, or use playlists created on your PC, or use "smart playlist" such as "newest added tracks" or "most often listened" and such. There are loop/shuffle controls, but no timed auto-shutoff, which would be handy in a bedroom. The remote's LCD is apparently capable of displaying different fonts and graphics, but alas doesn't use them for anything except the boot-up splash screen and volume control bars. Perhaps Creative could implement a spectrum alanyzer or use larger type for Now Playing track info. Also, I am puzzled why Creative didn't make the buttons backlit as well, having all the componentry for that already in design.

The receiver is a small and clean-looking black/silver brick in a slim paper-back NY Times bestseller format. It can either be propper upright on an included stand, or layed flat. It has green/red/amber leds that indicate whether the unit is powered up, searching for the network, and connected to your its server software running on your PC. Since the remote communicates to it using two-way radio, the most logical choice to position the receiver once its configured is simply to hide it somewhere out of sight altogether. The output options include RCA-style stereo jacks. Perhaps because of the size of the unit, there is no amplifier circuitry, hence you need to use powered speakers. Additionally, the unit has an optical ("Toslink") SPDIF output, for feeding sound to your audio receiver or straight to capable speakers such as those from Roland/Edirol. Optical cables can provide for a really stealth setup! Alas, even with SPDIF the output is stereo-only, meaning that you can't play multi-channel WMA files, or stream AC-3 sound or anything like that. But given scarcity of multi-channel tracks, that's not a big loss really. The sound that you do get is very clean, equally with 802.11b and 802.11g setup. Really nothing to complain about. Worth noting is that the unit works in Infrastructure mode only. No Ad-Hoc support. If you don't have a wireless router or access point, you'll need to buy one. I am successfully using NetGear 614. With that in place, the receiver will sniff out all available wireless networks, and on each will try a DHCP request, and to discover a Media Server to latch on to.

On the PC side, the package manifests itself in a number of applications. One, Media Server, runs in the background and serves up your MP3/WMA collection to the receiver. Another one, Media Organizer, is used for cataloguing of your collection based on ID3V tags, as well as creation of playlists. There's also a piece of software to rip the tracks from your CDs. A separate Sniffer app can sense addition of new files to your collection and will trigger a corresponding update of Wireless Music's internal catalogue. For the initial configuration of your receiver, there is a Network Setup wizard. You will only have to use it if you deploy more than one Wireless Music receiver in you house, and want to give each one a unique name, or if your network is WEP-protected and you need to supply a WEP key. It utilizes a USB connection (a cable is supplied). Finally, an upgrade utility is supplied for flashing of your unit (both receiver and remote) with new firmware, also over USB.

If you ever used any Creative Labs product at all, then perhaps you're aware of the notorious quality of their software and drivers. Previous reviewers highlighted the issue of slow loading of playlists and general sluggishness of the remote. However, new receiver and remote firmware downloads dated 11/18/2003 are available at us.creative.com. By all means, go ahead and install them. They greatly improve remote's response times, and also add some features. Some, however -- such as F.F. and Rewind skipping -- don't work as claimed. That's Creative Labs for you. Just be ready for it. Same thing with their product support. I recently emailed them with a bug report describing a loss of connection between the receiver and PC if the latter is rebooted, and their support responded with a canned battery of instructions asking me to upgrade my Windows XP to SP1, or reinstall the software, or to reformat the drive and to reinstall Windows XP altogether. Standard nonsense just to make you go away and stop bothering them.

So, in a nutshell, on to Pro's and Con's.

Pros:
Great sound quality
Great receiver auto-setup features; support for 802.11g.
Great backlit RF remote with large screen; no TV required
Clean, intuitive user interface
Upgradeable firmware
Unobstrusive design
Toslink SPDIF output available

Cons:
As usual, incompetent techical support from Creative
As usual, mediocre Creative software
Buttons on the remote are not backlit
No playlist manipulation using the remote

I have a Turtle Beach AudioTron, but wanted a device where I had more flexibility with the remote and the display. In that regard, the Wireless Music delivers; the remote is far easier to read than the AudioTron's display, and it's nice to be able to use the Wireless Music's RF remote places that are outside of line-of-sight but still within listening distance.

Problem is, the unit is unusably slow with a large MP3 collection. I'm not talking laggy, or a few-second wait for certain actions -- loading a large playlist (1000+ MP3s) or selecting a genre with a large number of MP3s to play randomly can easily take *5 minutes* to queue up. While the device would seem to work fine for people who only have a collection of a few hundred MP3s or only use small playlists, it's maddening with a large one. I spoke to Creative technical support, and they indicated that my experience was due to limitations of the device.

Close, but no cigar. Hopefully, the next generation will be more capable; I like the interface a lot.

I felt a responsibility to share my experience with this unit since it differs considerably from other reviews. Many have complained of lag when calling up long play lists or when dealing with a large number of MP3 files. Apparently Creative Labs has been listening.

I got one today, and I couldn't be happier. No doubt this is due to the new firmware I downloaded from the product site. I have over 6000 MP3s, and I can browse and call them up without a hitch. There is a 2-3 second gap of silence after pressing play while the first file buffers, but it's no big deal.

I am a computer geek, and some network savvy is required to configure the unit if you're using WEP encryption. If your network is not encrypted, it's fairly plug-and-play, save for the firmware download which is straight forward.

Regarding the range of the unit, my 802.11b router is 3 floors above the Wireless Music receiver and I haven't heard a single dropped bit all night. I am also controlling the unit 1 floor above the receiver, so the RF remote is pulling its weight.

If you've been on the fence about this due to the lag issues, fear not. Download the firmware, and you'll be in heaven. This is truly great technology, and the sound quality is superb. For me, it was a crucial link in my home audio chain that I didn't even know was missing.

With any product based on an emerging technology, it tends takes a few generations before they work out the kinks. Having used a few, I can say that this definitely holds true for networked mp3 players. However, if you are like me and want to be the first geek on your block to have one, this MP3 player is your best bet.

Installation:

As usual with these sorts of things, the instructions promise easy set-up without incident but if you honestly believe that you have apparently never done something like this before. As expected, my network would not detect the player "automatically" and I had to manually configure it. Still no luck, even after removing all security features of the network. I finally got someone at Creative support who seemed to know what they were doing who suggested that I switch my packet encryption on the network from G(802.11g) to B(802.11b). Even then it took a few tries before I could get the mp3 player recognized on my network. Why this wasn't something Creative anticipated with all of the new wireless G routers being sold I have no idea.

Finally after setting it up it was time to install the software and set up my wireless pc music library. Unfortunately, Creative's media organizer does not recognize real audio, so I had to convert thousands of my real audio files to AAC or MP3. In my case, this was a big inconvenience, which takes me to the point where I begin ranting and foaming at the mouth about Real Player, ITunes, et al, and why they can't just agree on one digital music format and be done with it.

Anyway, finally having switched my packet encryption, removed the wireless security features, assigned IP addresses to everything on my wireless network, and converted my files to AAC I was in business. Simple!

Performance

The unit performs just as advertised, giving you access to your entire PC music library via the remote with LCD screen. In my opinion, it is the RF remote that makes the Creative labs unit so special. You can walk around the house and scroll through your music library, control volume, fast forward, and every other function you would want. The only thing the interface is lacking is an easy way to create playlists, but perhaps the next generation will have that...

Pros:
Good file retrieval speed over wireless network
RF remote with display
Optical out to stereo

Cons
Easy installation - Hah!
Unit needs to be manually powered off after freezing
Media organizing software leaves much to be desired.
Wireless laptop users squatting on front porch to take advantage of free wireless broadband access
Hours of life squandered waiting on hold for creative support

Pros:
1) Don't need to point the remote at the base unit for it to work.
2) Does not require a TV, since all browsing is done on remote.
3) Fast browsing on remote even for large (10,000+ songs) collections (with firmware update).
4) Excellent software for both the remote and the PC. Users of Creative sound cards or portable mp3 players may already be familiar with Mediasource.
5) Great sound quality.

Cons:
1) My unit would occasionally lose the network connection, sometimes right in the middle of a song. This did not happen often, but it was enough that I returned it. I updated firmware for this and my Linksys router and access point. It may have been poor placement of the device (inside a stereo cabinet), but that is where I wanted to put it.
2) No capability for wired ethernet (it is wireless only). Since my home is wired for ethernet, I have a jack by my stereo. If the Creative device had a wired ethernet port, I may have not returned it.
3) RF Remote should be able to have better range. It will operate slightly farther away than standard infrared devices, and it does not require line-of-sight. However, an RF remote should work most anywhere in the house, in my opinion). Mine worked only in the room with the base, and in the adjacent room.
4) Creative's technical support is among the worst in the industry.
5) Although Mediasource is good software, it is required that you import your music into it. Some competing devices will simply ask you what folders contain your music, and you don't have to import anything.
6) Having good ID3v2 tags is critically important for the software, because you can't browse by folder and file name. I tried Ultra Tag Editor based on another review here, and found it extremely useful for getting my tags in order.
7) No support for pictures or video. Some competing devices support more than just music.
8) RF remote codes can not be programmed or learned by other remotes. But, you would need the LCD screen on the remote anyway. Competing products have standard infrared remotes and require a TV for music browsing instead of doing it on the remote.
9) Playlists must be setup in Mediasource. You can't use standard m3u format playlists in Mediasource, and you can't use Mediasource playlists with other software.

I ended up returning this and purchasing the Linksys WMA11B. The Linksys device is working perfectly for me because I can use a wired ethernet connection (wireless is optional). It also supports pictures(JPG, BMP, etc), and I can program the remote codes in my Philips Pronto (TSU-2000) remote. It does not require importing songs into any software, and you can browse by folder and file name. It will also play playlists in the standard m3u format.

One drawback to the Linksys is that you have to be in front of the TV to change or pause the music. The browsing interface is also better on the Creative device. It is far easier to assemble a custom playlist using the remote with the Creative device. The Linksys is pretty much limited to selecting all songs of a particular artist, album, genre, folder, etc. The creative will allow you to queue individual or groups of songs on the remote any way you want to.

Also if you browse artists on the Linksys, you have to scroll through all artists starting with the beginning of the alphabet. With my collection, you could be scrolling for a while. On the Creative, after browsing artists I am prompted with the letters A through Z for the first letter of the artist's name. So, I could scroll down to "R" and quickly get to the "Rolling Stones" without a lot of scrolling, for example. These browsing issues weren't as important to me, since I will probably setup playlists on my PC most of the time.

I was pretty excited when i bought this. I picked up a wireless G router and set-up was quite simple. Had a few minor connectivity issues, but their latest software downloads took care of those.

The trouble started when I began to build up my music library. Once I had built my library to about 20GB, this thing really became sluggish. Navigation got so slow and eventually things just would freeze up. Pain in the neck!

Now that I have my library built up to about 80GB, this product is worthless. It sits in my closet along with any other failed projects :)

In the end, I have to say it was a nice attempt by Creative, beautiful product with a way cool remote control... but they just couldn't pull it off.

We have been using the SB wireless music for about a month.

Good points:
System uses same (decent) desktop software as my wife's Zen Micro and my Nomad Zen, so we have one system for managing all our music.
The first unit we received was not working, and Creative customer support replaced it after a short e-mail discussion, which is a big improvement in Creative's approach to customer support.
When working, it works well, and it is cool, because the audio stuff is hidden, only the remote is visible, and with a volume control on the remote, that is all you need.

Bad Points:
Would not connect to WEP encrypted network until we downloaded and updated the firmware.
Required us to re-configure wireless network from "Shared" to "Open" Network Authentication.
If you want to get the SB wireless music to work with an encrypted wireless network, you need to read ALL the KB articles on the Creative site, the directions in the box are insufficient.
Occasionally, the base-station forgets how to communicate with the wireless network (happened 2x in one month) and the only solution is to carry the base-station back to the PC running the creative software and re-configure it with a USB cable.
Regularly, the remote looses communication with the remote, so we need to unplug the base station, and when it wakes up, it finds the remote and starts working again.

Summary:
If Creative could just spend more time &money to get the bugs out of their software they would have an incredible product. Unfortunately, it suffers from the usual flakiness of a creative product, so it is more of a P.I.T.A. gadget than a useful appliance.

After a month of using the SBWM, I'm mostly satisfied with it. It's missing a few features that would make it outstanding but overall for (...) (...) this was a good way to free the music sitting on my PC's hard drive.

Setup on my secure wireless network was easy. The radio frequency remote with the LCD display is what sets this unit apart from competitors like Squeezebox. The remote makes it easy to select songs and control playback w/o having to sit in front of the unit [or set up a playlist beforehand].

Unfortunately, a key feature that would've given made life easier is missing: the ability to queue up songs [or create a dynamic playlist] from the remote control. Unless you create a playlist on your PC, you have to select songs one by one, after each song has played. Even worse, there's a noticeable gap in between songs selected from the remote. The ability to queue or add to a playlist would have been a killer feature and hopefully Creative will provide this it via a software upgrade.

The Media Sniffer feature, which detects new songs added to a directory, doesn't work consistently. Sometimes the SBWM unit loses the connection to the PC with the music.

Problems are few. If you're into setting up playlists, then you'll really like this unit. If you like to select tracks dynamically, you'll be a bit disappointed. But overall, SBWM does a good job.

For me, this device is absolute garbage. I was enthralled with the idea of playing music over my wireless connection, but the Sound Blaster Wireless Music is not the solution I thought it would be. Previous reviewers are correct when they state that the remote is extremely unresponsive right out of the box without the firmware update. The update does speed things up a little, but it didn't matter for me because the whole thing just stopped working. But the remote browsing was a lot faster, I'll give it that.

I am also perplexed at the fact that sometimes the receiver connects to my network and sometimes it doesn't. And the remote very frequently freezes for absolutely no reason.

It's a neat idea, but for whatever reason, it doesn't work very well for me. I wish I had just avoided it altogether.

I have an Audiotron, which I have had for years; it looks good with my stereo equipment. I bought this unit for the bedroom, where I wanted something small to hide in a bedside table; it is very small and unassuming. It works very well and was easy to setup. I would have preferred the automated network filesystem search of the Audiotron (no PC has any server, it can find music on standalone remote disks (like the LinkStation)). So, I was disappointed in having to use the "server" (software on the PC).
But, it was easy and it works perfectly.
I like the remote with the LCD. The remote is a great invention, especially as it is RF. So, you do not have to be line of sight and do not have to read an LCD on the main unit. It came with the newer software and there is no delays or glitches that have been reported before. One nice thing is that after you select music, you can add more to the queue. But, the remote takes a bit of getting used to. For example, if you follow from Artist to their album(s) to the 1st song and press play, you only add one song. You have to stop at the album and press play to select all the songs within. This then moves the cursor down one line which can be a little disconcerting. To queue, you just hold the play button down for a couple seconds - rather non-obvious: I would have preferred the opposite (click play to queue, hold down to stop the current song and start selected).
The "currently playing" menu item's format is rather ugly (not well laid out info), but works (and tells you how far through the queue you are). It goes blank quickly and so you have to click a button to see again. Click the wrong button and it takes that action (vs. just waking up the screen).
The volume on the remote is nice. I have a small stereo with no fiber optic link, so I do not know if this work with that. It works with the RCA jacks. I do not know if the volume control through the RCA diminishes the quality (some do, since the amp is defined for a fixed signal power), but it is very handy to control everything from the one remote.
The power-on on the remote starts the unit and makes sure it can find the server - this is fast after the 1st time.
Overall, a very pleasing product.