Roku SoundBridge M500 Network Music System

by Roku

Product Details

• Item Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000B5UJ5A
• Item model number: M500
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,386 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description Winner of the CES 2004 Innovations Award, Roku's SoundBridge M500 digital music receiver employs WiFi technology to broadcast media files from your Mac or PC to just about anywhere in the house. You no longer have to be sitting at your computer to hear your music, nor do you need to burn your Internet-sourced audio to CDs to import it to the living room. Just plug the M500 into your integrated amplifier or surround receiver and you can listen to all your digital music on your stereo or multichannel speaker system. The M500 includes a built-in 802.11b WiFi card slot (with card) for wireless use and an RJ-45/Cat5 Ethernet port for hard-wired connections.

The M500 features a 40-character, two-line LCD display that shows the track and artist name. Take a closer look.

The SoundBridge is compatible with WMA, MP3, AAC, AIFF, and WAV music formats right out of the box. Further, its native support for Apple Rendezvous and iTunes means the M500 is instantly ready to play your Apple media--no additional software is required, as you're already set up for Rendezvous or iTunes. Just enable iTunes' sharing feature (though please be aware that iTunes Music Store "Protected AAC" files are not supported). SoundBridge uses Apple's DAAP (digital audio access protocol) to communicate directly with iTunes, and reduces its network bandwidth by decoding AAC files in the player rather than in the computer.

PC owners, meanwhile, will delight in the SoundBridge's built-in Windows Media Connect, Windows Media Player 10, and Rhapsody support. The device also works with any music service using Windows Media DRM 10, such as Napster, MusicMatch, and Walmart.com. All told, the M500 is the most compatible music player around.

The M500's side panel includes RCA analog, coaxial digital, and optical Toslink digital outputs.

With the M500's convenient remote control, it's easy to browse, select, and control your music from across the room, or you can control playback from your computer using the intuitive web interface. The M500 also offers an easy-to-read 40-character, two-line LCD display that shows the artist name, track name, and a few other details.

The SoundBridge offers Internet radio access, too, bringing you a selection of free music and talk-radio stations (with up to 10 station presets). Roku's Fast Browse feature lets you browse huge music collections by album, artist, genre, or composer (providing your files are properly encoded with said details). You can also play your stored iTunes playlists or use the keyword search to find the title you seek.

Beyond its WiFi and RJ-45 interfaces, the M500 offers straight-ahead audio connections: a gold-plated line-level RCA output and S/PDIF coaxial and optical Toslink digital outputs (one each) for those that want a pure digital connection with a surround receiver or a CD or minidisc recorder.

In addition, Roku has outfitted the SoundBridge with a super-fast, 400 MHz Blackfin DSP and 16 MB of DRAM memory, giving it more than enough headroom to handle future software updates. Finally, the SoundBridge's sleek industrial design looks comfortable anywhere of the house, and even fits conveniently on the wall or under a shelf or cabinet using Roku's optional mounting accessory.

The M500 measures 10 inches wide by 2.37 inches in diameter and is backed by a one-year warranty.

What's in the Box
M500 SoundBridge receiver, custom remote control, two AAA batteries, localized power adapter, 802.11b CompactFlash WiFi card, 3.5 mm-to-RCA cable, detachable rubber base, user's manual.

Product Description

Finally, a network music player that looks as good as it sounds! Roku SoundBridge plays your PC or Mac digital music files anywhere in the house - connecting your stereo or powered speakers to your computer's digital music library. Or, listen to a variety of Internet Radio stations, without even turning on your computer. WMA, MP3, AAC, AIFF and WAV music formats are supported - and it's network ready with wired Ethernet or Wi-Fi.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Buyers better have their ducks in a row-compatability issues, April 19, 2006

By 

R. Shipley - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Roku SoundBridge M500 Network Music System (Electronics)

Roku's Soundbridge units don't work with all routers, so before you think wireless music is within your sites, do your homework. To Roku's credit, they offer a list of, and rate compatability factors for, most of the common routers consumers are using at home. CHECK THIS LIST CAREFULLY before you buy this product or you might end up with some expensive audio equipment that only works if you go WIRED. Also, Roku has a nice discussion board forum on their site, and you can get a realistic idea about issues concerning the pros and cons of their products. If you do buy something that doesn't work, they do offer a 30 day-no-questions-asked return policy. Bottom line is CHECK OUT THEIR SITE b4 u buy anywhere else. [...]

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Cool, works well, Works with napster service!, November 11, 2005

By 

MB in the OC (So. CAL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Roku SoundBridge M500 Network Music System (Electronics)

Received this unit last night. Had it set up in minutes! Instructions were simple, configured to my wi-fi with encryption, no problem. Found my computer, no problem, didn't find my napster library - added the folder with my music to the shared folder, then worked no problem. Internet radio station no problem. It will drive headphones directly if you want, has volume control on remote. Would be great driving computer speakers. Even shows time and date when off.

With napster it is really great. I can load up my computer with thousands of tunes and then put the M500 anywhere in the house and have access to all the tunes. One of the few devices that can do this with "rented" music.

I highly recommend this device.
The 500 has all the features of the bigger brothers but not the slicker display. However the LCD is plenty readable. The VU meters are a bit slow (not a big deal). It comes with the Wi-Fi card (which you install - used to be an option I guess) so it is really ready to go out of the box. If you have napster, rapsody, yahoo music or a lot of your CD's ripped to MP3, WMA or AAC than you should consider this.

What you can't do (maybe true of all "streaming" devices) is fast forward or rewind inside a track. This can be problematic with long tracks if you want to hear a section again.

Finally I have napster to go and an Iriver player. On the Iriver the gaps between tracks are long while the player loads the next track, this can be annoying on classical or spoken word works. The Soundbridge doesn't have this problem. I think because the computer can stream the next track faster than the portable Iriver could. (this is a DRM WMA issue, for the Iriver and not an issue with MP3's).

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works flawlessly. Can't expect more., February 1, 2006

By 

esoterica (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Roku SoundBridge M500 Network Music System (Electronics)

Within 20 seconds of plugging it in I was playing music from my iTunes music library on my Powerbook. Simply could not have been any easier. Excellent sound quality. Streams internet radio stations (including any in the iTunes Radio tuner and tons more) -- it more than replaces XM or Sirius anywhere you have internet access.

Minor downsides: Remote could be designed better, and would be nice if it used 802.11g instead of b (since tests have shown that one "b" device slows down the whole "g" network), but these are minor complaints in relation to how well the SoundBridge works and how easy it is to use.