Roku SoundBridge M1001 - Network audio player

by Roku

Product Details

• ASIN: B000OE5U16
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #127,180 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother trying the competition, November 30, 2004

By 

esanta "esanta" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Quite a few devices are now competing in the market segment originally created by the TurtleBeach Audiotron: Netgear MP 101, Linksys WMLS11B, Homepod, Sound Blaster Wireless Audio, SLiMP3 and its successor the Squeezebox...

There are also many other displayless devices which either rely on a TV set for their user interface (Happauge MVP, Roku HD1000...) or use a computer to relay the audio to them (Apple Airport Express).

What makes the SoundBridge stand out from the crowd?

- Looks
Its gorgeous bright green fluorescent display. Similar to the one used by the Squeezebox, it puts to shame the inexpensive LCD screens used by Netgear, Linksys and Homepod and makes using the SoundBridge with the remote easy and convenient.
Its look and finish is also quite unique and beautiful; it won't look out of place next to high end audio components.

- Ease of setup
The LAN configuration is extremely easy; the SoundBridge comes with both wired LAN and 802.11b. Note that so far the only supported security protocol over WiFi is 40 or 128 bit WEP. If you require a more recent security protocol check the Roku web site to see if and when they plan on supporting it, or use the wired LAN interface. WiFi functionality is brought through a standard Compact Flash interface, and Roku sells a slightly cheaper version of the box without the card bundled.
What I really liked with the SoundBridge is that unlike most of its competitors it does not require you to install any server software on your computer, and force you to manage your music collection on it. Rather, it supports the most common protocols (iTunes music sharing, UPnP, SlimServer 5.x) and as long as your music collection is shared through one of these protocols it will find it automatically and make it available.
Firmware updates can be downloaded and installed directly from the device itself. The latest firmware supports connecting directly to MP3 internet radio (this feature previously required streaming through a local computer)
Most audio file formats are supported; notably absent for now are protected AAC (music you buy from the iTunes Music Store), ALE (Apple Lossless Encoding) and its Windows equivalent. Protected WMA is supported. This is the biggest limitation I found; if your music collection contains lots of music you bought from the Apple store, or if you have encoded all your CDs using ALE, the SoundBridge may not be for you until Roku can add support for these formats.

- Ease of use
The SoundBridge's user interface is extremely well thought out. The menus are clear and very easy to navigate.
Connecting to various music servers on the LAN is a breeze; if several family members have their own music collection, for instance, it is very easy to switch from one to another.
Finally, unlike many competing products the user interface is very fast and responsive.

- Sound quality
The SoundBridge offers analog stereo RCA jacks, coax and optical digital output. I didn't make any measurements but the analog output sounded excellent on my main stereo system.
Even on my busy wireless network, I have yet to experience any audio break-ups, a problem that seems to plague the competition (check their reviews).

The SoundBridge M1000 is by far the best music player available today, only surpassed by its big brother the M2000, which is essentially the same device in a larger box with a display 4 times the size at double the price.
Its closest competitor is the SlimDevices SqueezeBox, but its interface is not as slick and it requires that you install its (open source) server on your computer. The other devices don't even begin to compare.

After trying many other network players and returning them back to the store, I am absolutely thrilled to have found the SoundBridge. This one is a keeper!

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strong Sound, Beautiful Design, November 26, 2004

By 

Amy Scarfone "Amy" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

I preordered a Roku Soundbridge, so I've had one since they were released. The company has made wonderful strides in regularly updating the product's firmware to ensure that issues encountered by product users are addressed in a timely fashion. My network operates via a Linksys Wireless-G router with iTunes serving music from a dedicated machine. The Soundbridge recognized my system immediately and I was up and running.

Not only do I love having access to all of my music without the need to flip through a couple thousand CDs, but I'm also fond of the iTunes' feature that allows you to serve up Internet radio stations. Simply setup a playlist and copy the radio station information into it as if it were a song file. I have several radio station playlists and can now listen to stations from other cities, as well as Radioio.

The sound quality is suprisingly high. Better than expected. The build quality of the unit far surpasses most brands these days. All around this has been an outstanding addition to my home.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent product, but has limitations, October 17, 2005

By 

hrbud - See all my reviews

Positives:

- easy to setup/use
- can be configured for wired or wireless.
- decent sound quality
- the device can update the firmware all by itself, and the clock keeps itself synched over the internet.
- very attractive display (adjustable brightness).
- supports unicode (viewable japanese and partial chinese fonts if you use 1-line mode, but NO korean)
- It can connect to multiple servers (ie multiple PCs running iTunes/WMC).

Negatives:

- NO fast-foward/rewind! Don't listen to audiobooks with this device.
- Navigation occurs by alphabet (like a phone book) using the remote control. VERY slow if your music library is large. The list doesn't loop -- i.e. if you want to get to Z, you press the "right" button 26 times to get from A to Z!
- Does not support SAN. You need a server (i.e. a PC running iTunes or Windows Media Connect) continously running for this device to work.
- Remote is primitive and the buttons are flimsy.
- Model M1001 resamples all output to 48khz (including the digital out).
- It can't browse by filenames. If your music files are tagged in a language it doesn't support, you will see square blocks, making it impossible to identify.
- The wireless is 802.11b. If you have a G network, this device will slow it down.