Category: Network Media Devices

Articles

Previous Coverage on HomeNetworking01.info

Sony’s Personal Content Station – a mobile Wi-Fi NAS that you touch on with your Android phone 

From the horse’s mouth

Sony

Latest press release from Sony at Mobile World Congress

Personal Content Station LLS-201

http://youtu.be/eAowGfUeqjY – Link to this video if you can’t see it on this site or want to “throw” it to your DLNA smart TV using Twonky or similar software

Portable Wireless Server WG-C10

http://youtu.be/-C1HAQj0YpQ – Link to this video if you can’t see it on this site or want to “throw” it to your DLNA smart TV using Twonky or similar software

My Comments

Previously, I commented on a news article about Sony releasing a NAS that allows you to upload pictures from your Android device just by touching the device to this NAS. Now, Sony have premiered this device along with another mobile NAS at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year.

But there are two devices rather than the one device. The former device that I touched on previously allows you to upload photos, videos and other content to its 1Tb hard disk using USB file transfer, NFC or SD memory cards so you can effectively “dump” your pictures and videos from your smartphone, camera or camcorder, thus making way for new material.

The Personal Content Station can play the images to a regular “brown-goods” flatscreen TV using an HDMI connector or you can make them available through your home network using the open-frame DLNA standards. I would also like to be sure that you can transfer the images between your PC and this device using standard network file-transfer protocols like CIFS or HTTP. Of course there is the ability to use an accompanying app to “throw” the images to a social network, blog or other Website using your smartphone or tablet.

As well, the Portable Wireless Server can share the content you have on a USB storage device or an SD card to its own wireless network so you can quickly share “just-taken” photos with your smartphone, tablet or Ultrabook. This is becoming important with devices like the Dell XPS 13 which doesn’t come with an SD card slot or the detachable-keyboard hybrids that have a standard SD card slot only on the keyboard module.

The Sony Portable Wireless Server also works as an “external battery pack” for the many battery-thirsty gadgets that are important to our mobile online life. This is so true if you are dealing with the smartphone that serves as your mobile Internet terminal or your Walkman.

At least Sony is fielding devices that work as a team to satisfy the reality that confronts us through our online content-creation lives.

From the horse’s mouth

Marantz

Product Page (Australia. Asia market, USA, UK)

Microsite

My Comments

Marantz Audio Consolette speaker dock

Over the past sixty years and for as long as the existence of the “hi-fi” concept, Marantz has been known for high-quality sound reproduction with unforgettable legends such as those gold-finished hi-fi receivers and amplifiers that appeared through the 1970s. At times, this brand has dabbled in car and portable audio in order to broaden the scope of their name being associated with this high-quality sound.

Now they are celebrating this concept with a tabletop speaker dock that has a name that throws back to their first hi-fi amplifier. This device, known as the Consolette, has been reshaped so there is better stereo separation compared to most single-piece speaker docks, wireless speakers and boomboxes. This has been achieved through the use of a V-shaped back profile and a wooden back as well as the use of specially-arranged speakers. There has been further attention paid towards how the sound is reproduced from that smartphone, DLNA-compliant media server, Internet radio station or other audio device.

Even the aesthetics of this system remind users of the Marantz heritage like tue use of a jog wheel that is similar to the large thumbwheel that you used to tune in stations on a 70s-era Marantz tuner or receiver. As well it could be controlled by a high-quality remote control or an app that runs on your smartphone or tablet.

But the Marantz Audio Consolette has become another representative of high-quality audio for the connected home as I have seen over the last few years and commented on in HomeNetworking01.info. This is where I have seen and, in some cases, heard in action equipment that reproduces music held on a computer, mobile device or network-storage device to highly-exacting audio-quality standards while there are other systems that can do the same job at a cheaper price although not as exacting.

Introduction

Previously I have reviewed the Sony SA-NS410 wireless speaker as an example of one of Sony’s new wireless speakers. This time, I am reviewing the Sony SA-NS510 portable wirelesss speaker which a larger speaker in this series, that has the ability to work for five hours on its own battery as well as working on AC power.

Price

The unit itself:

RRP including tax: AUD$429

Functions

Connections

Speakers

The unit itself

The sound port that doubles as a carry handle; as well as the main controls for this speaker

The Sony SA-NS510 portable wireless speaker is in the form of a tapered tube which is able to yield an efficient sound output without much amplifier power. At the top of this tube, where the controls for the power, volume and “Party Streaming” mode are, there is a port which doubles as the speaker’s carrying handle. This port is part of the acoustic design for the speaker and is lit up in blue when the speaker is ready to use and in white while it is playing.

I needed to reset this speaker using the ALL-RESET button before enrolling it with the home network. This speaker, like the rest of the NS series of wireless speakers could benefit from an “easier-to-implement” first-time-setup mode like the OPERATE switch (which turns the power on an off fully) having a “SETUP” momentary position.

The speaker is easy to carry with one hand using the abovementioned port where there is a hand-grip, and runs on a rechargeable battery as well as AC power. When it is on battery, the “CHARGE / BATT” light glows green whereas it glows red while charging from the external power. This light is off when you run this speaker from external power so as you know it is using that power rather than the battery.

The status light glows in the sound port

Having the power, volume and other controls on the top of the speaker makes it easier to operate these essential functions without looking for hard-to-read buttons on a bottom edge or a remote control if you needed to “drop the volume” to make a phone call. Yet there is the remote control which is the same as the one that comes with the SA-NS410 speaker.

As for the sound, there is that punchy tight bass with the clear sound from vocals and other higher frequencies. I have taken this speaker to higher levels without it sounding muddled or confused due to clipping and it can provide that room-filling sound for a small room.

Connections available – Power socket, 3.5mm line-in jack, Ethernet socket, Firmware update button and WPS setup button

The Sony SA-NS510 had very good network prowess for a wireless speaker. It could pick up well for a speaker positioned at the other end of the house thus performing as expected with the Wi-Fi network. There wasn’t any issues with streaming content from the network sources and the Internet-radio sources. Even the ability to be “discovered” with Airplay worked well when a teenager who lived with us was trying out that function on his iPhone and the music came through promptly on the speaker. Like the SA-NS410 stablemate, it presented the streaming-media sources as two empty folders to other DLNA media devices but wouldn’t list out the Internet radio stations or similar resources.

Of course, there is the ability to connect this speaker to a wired (Ethernet or HomePlug AV) network segment via the Ethernet socket. This is alongside the ability to have this speaker playing from a Walkman, Discman or iPod full of tunes via the 3.5mm input jack.

The Party Streaming function does perform although it was a bit glitchy at times. This was with this speaker picking up the DLNA content from my phone and the SA-NS410 acting as a guest role. This can be a problem as the Sony speakers keep a best effort to satisfy the network-wide broadcast requirements for Party Streaming across the Wi-Fi segment.

Limitations and Points Of Improvement

The remote control that comes with these speakers

The Sony SA-NS510 could benefit from simple access to a “new-network-setup” mode so you can get going with enrolling it with that wireless network.

Other improvements I would like to see regarding network setup for these speakers is the ability to remember two or four wireless-network parameters as well as a Wi-Fi Direct / own-access-point mode. The former feature could work when you do things like use them with a “Mi-Fi” mobile router or a wireless range extender or temporarily at another person’s house; whereas the latter feature could come in handy if the speaker is used alone with a smartphone or tablet.

As well the “Network Audio Remote” Android smartphone software could benefit from a bit more work. For example, it could be quick about reflecting new status changes with the speakers or showing the latest changes as they occur such as when you adjust the volume using the controls on the speaker or “push” a new song to the speaker using another DLNA controller program.

I went through the instructions for this speaker and it talked of the time to replace the battery in this speaker was something to be done at the end of the speaker’s useful life. But I would like to see this being allowable if the battery started to lose its charge over the years of use, something that can happen if you use the speaker on an occasional basis. Here, I would like to see the battery available as a spare easily-replaceable accessory that can extend the speaker’s useful life.

Conclusion

I would specify the Sony SA-NS510 Portable Wireless Speaker as being suitable for applications where portability is to be important. This includes situations where you expect that the speaker could be used near wet areas such as to play music to accompany a pool party or serenade a long bath because of the fact that you are not supplying it with AC power to have it in operation.

If you intend to use this speaker “on the road”, the five-hour battery runtime may be a bit short for this application. As well, you would have to use it alongside a MiFi device if you are away from a home network or similar small network.

Introduction

Previously, I had covered the concept of the Wi-Fi-based wireless speakers on this Website including writing an article about how to get the most out of these and the Bluetooth variants. Now I have the chance to review two Wi-FI-enabled speaker sets from Sony – one being the midrange SA-NS410 and the other being the more-expensive SA-NS510 which will come up in a separate review.

Price

The unit itself:

RRP including tax: AUD$299

Functions

Connections

Speakers

The unit itself

Speaker controls – volume, input select, Party Streaming, firmware update

The Sony SA-NS410 wireless speaker is a deep speaker with a leaf-shape profile. You see a blue status halo appears from the bottom of the speaker if in standby but this halo glows white when the speaker is in full action playing music. There are local controls on the bottom edge of the speaker to turn it on and off, invoke WPS network enrolment, adjust the volume and select whatever is connected to the 3.5mm input jack on the back of the unit.

Other controls – the power switch and the Party Streaming button.

There is also another button to invoke the “Party Streaming” function which is an audio-broadcast function that is part of recent network-capable Sony home AV equipment. Here, you can have audio content playing on one of these devices such as the Sony CMT-MX750Ni music system configured as a “Party Streaming Host” and press this button to “pick up” the content through this speaker. Similarly, you could have content served to this speaker via a DLNA Media Server and “pick it up” from another of these speakers using the “Party Streaming” button.

The remote control that comes with these speakers

Of course, this speaker can also be controlled by a card-sized infra-red remote control as well as your computer or mobile device running the Network Audio Remote app.

For setup, I was able to integrate the Sony SA-NS410 wireless speaker with the home network using the “Network Setup” App on my Android phone. This required me to transcribe the SSID and security passphrase in to the phone. The app could support the ability to transfer the parameters of the network you were connected to or another network from the phone to the speaker. The speaker works as its own access point during the setup phase but I would like to have it able to work as a WiFi Direct master device or own access point so it can work as a standalone setup when you don’t have a proper small network to use it with when you want to play music from your phone. Of course, you can use these speakers with an Ethernet or HomePlug wired network segment thanks to an Ethernet jack being provided on the back of this speaker.

It is also worth noticing that these speakers have a “Network Standby” switch so you not have them come alive from DLNA control-point apps on the home network including the Audio Remote app. This can be useful if you have network problems or don’t necessarily want people to play a practical joke on you if you have the speakers in the bedroom.

Connections on the back of the speaker – WPS setup button, power connection, 3.5mm audio line-input jack, Ethernet jack, Standby – Network Standby switch

The Network Audio Remote app worked properly managing the volume and pushing music from other media servers. It could find Internet radio stations and programs but this function does leave a lot to be desired with filling out the list of stations or areas. This is where it stalls when downloading these lists and then reloads the last few stations and can be a pain with US and European localities with many stations. This was “fixed up” through a firmware update that Sony “pushed” out to this speaker and the SA-NS510 speaker.

Personally, I would recommend that Sony offers a DLNA media server with the Android “Network Audio Remote” application so you don’t have to find one of these apps to “push out” music held on your Android device. But I used the Twonky Mobile DLNA server to share out the music on my Android phone and had it controlled via the Network Audio Remote and this may be an ideal path if you have DLNA software on your Android phone that serves well but is balky as a control point.

For the computer, I was able to use the “Play To” function in Windows 8 to push music to the Sony SA-NS410 speaker from the PC and the NAS and this worked properly. If you still run a Windows XP box and use it as a DLNA server, you may have to use other DLNA control point software on that computer or use Network Audio Remote on your smartphone or tablet to manage your music.

The Sony SA-NS410 speaker was still sensitive with the Wi-Fi network although it took a few attempts to register to the router. The music played very smoothly from the DLNA server on the network-attached storage and from a French Internet-radio station. As for this Internet radio station, this was noticed during the day and with good bandwidth.

I have run the Sony SA-NS410 at the maximum level possible with Network Audio Remote and played  some Italian folk songs recorded in the 1970s and a recently-issued dance track. Here, I was doing this to identify any points where the speaker can “stress out” and make the music sound awful. At that level, I noticed very minimal amounts of clipping with the dance track and the bass accompaniment was there and came through very tight. The folk music tracks sounded clear with the guitar accompaniment and even when there was full accompaniment going on, it didn’t sound muddled.

This speaker performed well as a Party Streaming guest device but can sound glitchy due to the network not supporting proper multicast behaviour over the Wi-FI segment.

Limitations and Points Of Improvement

I would like to improve the way that the Sony SA-NS410 wireless speaker and its peers are set up so as to allow for transportability. Here, it could have an easy-to-invoke “new-network-setup” mode like holding down the Standby button to have it act as if it is to be set up with a new network.

Similarly, it could benefit from the ability to remember the parameters for up to five wireless networks. This could have it work with range extenders or “Mi-Fi” routers as well as being able to be taken between two different home networks for party applications. As well, the speaker could work fully as an 802.11n single-stream wireless client device rather than using 802.11g as the preferred wireless network setup. This is a problem that will beset a lot of small comsumer-electronics devices like these speakers until a wide number of manufacturers make the single-stream 802.11n WiFi chipsets for these devices at cost-effective prices.

The “Network Audio Remote” Android software could be improved so it responds to changes that affect the device as soon as they occur with minimal time lag. It could also benefit from an associated DLNA server for Android phones so you don’t have to “hunt for” separate DLNA server apps from the Google Play store.

Conclusion

I would recommend the Sony SA-NS410 wireless network speaker as being suitable for most network-speaker applications where you want the speaker to yield room-filling sound that has tight bass and good response across the frequencies. It would work with DLNA or AirPlay setups as well as being a line-level amplified speaker that doesn’t sound wimpy.

The Sony Party-Streaming feature can also go a long way if you have recent Sony network-capable music or home-theatre systems in use on your home network and it could add a fair bit of extra value to these systems.

Article

DirecTV Genie whole-home DVR review | Engadget

From the horse’s mouth

DirecTV

Product Page

My Comments

Those of you who follow HomeNetworking01.info from the USA most likely would have heard of the DirecTV satellite-TV service and this pay-TV operator has designed a whole-home DVR which shows what could be yielded for this class of equipemnt.

\Here, a whole-home DVR, known as the DirecTV Genie, has a high-capacity hard disk of at least one terabyte and has at least four RF front-end tuners to receive and record the broadcast TV signals. It will have the ability to stream live or recorded TV content to two or more other suitably-equipped TVs using the home network or other means.

This whole-home DVR that DirecTV has a one-terabyte hard disk and five broadcast front-ends so it can comfortable handle three or four TV sets as well as recording the shows to the hard disk in a reduced-conflict manner. It can also work with a optional regular-TV front-end kit to catch locally-broadcast TV shows. According to the review, this device connects to the main TV and can work with it very easily including having it as a client for the DLNA Home Media Network. 

What impressed me about this box was that it implemented the RVU specification for distributing content to the extra TV sets. At the moment, most of the Samsung Smart TVs made in the last two years support this functionality and the standard has been called as part of the DLNA specification for TV and video setups. Over the next few model-years, more of the manufacturers could implement this in to their Smart TVs and Internet-capable video peripherals. This may also include some existing models having this function delivered as part of a firmware update.

On the other hand, you may have to use a DirecTV "Genie Client” box with existing TVs or can stream the content to certain DirecTV set-tops if you have these in place serving the extra TVs. Oh yeah, there are the mobile-client apps for setting up recording jobs, controlling the Genie and using the TV Everywhere functionality on iOS and Android devices.

The unit can be provided for free for new DirecTV customers who sign up to certain (mostly high-end) plans for a prescribed contract period like 24 months or US$300 for those who have this service. Personally, I would like to see equipment like this offered for free to existing customers who have finished their contract period and want to continue with the service further on a similar or better plan. This is a practice that some mobile-phone providers offer to their existing customers who have completed a contract period and want to upgrade their phone to something newer.

The DirecTV Genie could become a benchmark for whole-home pay-TV gateway device with DVR capabilities and I would hope that companies in the pay-TV space keep an eye on this review so they can look at what they can offer to their customers.

Article – From the horse’s mouth

NaimUniti 2 | All-in-one Player | Uniti | NaimUniti 2 | Naim Audio

My Comments

Naim Uniti network CD receiver with Naim’s distinct CD-loading tray – now has been improved to the Uniti 2

I have done some previous coverage on the Naim Uniti, which is a premium network-enabled CD receiver. This, like the Rotel RCX-1500 that I previously reviewed, is one of those CD receivers that could just be hooked up to a pair of premium-grade loudspeakers to make a high-quality three-piece music system suitable for the likes of a city apartment or unit in a retirement village. Here, I cited this model as part of premium audio accepting the DLNA-based home media network; as well as mentioning it in my write-up about the Australian Audio & AV Show 2011.

But Naim have revised this unit and released the Uniti 2. Here, this unit is equipped with a power amplifier that is more powerful, thus allowing it to work with larger speakers that need more of the power. Similarly, this could play in to the hands of those of us who have a large open-plan living area and want to have the music fill that area, while wanting a music system that doesn’t physically dominate that area.

As well, there have been a few other technical improvements on the digital-analogue conversion chain where the digital bits from the CD, DAB, Internet radio, local data storage (including Apple iOS devices) and the DLNA Home Media network become the music we hear. Similarly the CD transport which uses the swing-out CD tray has been improved for better stability and sound quality.

What I see of this is that it is a continuing example of the way the premium audio companies are seeing the standards-based home network as a capable program source for good-quality music. Similarly this player, like the Rotel RCX-1500, is showing that there are single-piece multi-function music systems out there that aren’t second-class systems.

Article – from the horse’s mouth

Pioneer presents the XDJ-AERO, the first-ever wireless all-in-one DJ system, and the first native player for rekordbox™ music management software

Product Page

My Comments

Pioneer has bridged the small network to the DJ table by releasing the XDJ-AERO which is an “all-in-one” DJ workstation that implements Wi-Fi wireless networking. This network ability exists mainly to allow the DJ to bring down music held on a regular PC or a mobile device and use it in his “set”.

It is compared to using the computer with its audio infrastructure connected to the DJ console and loaded with DJ playout software to play music held as files. Some users may augment this with a USB controller that has jog / shuttle dials to mimic the operation of a turntable or playing a special record on one of their turntables that is connected via a special computer interface module so that the turntable effectively becomes a jog dial.

The network can be set up with an existing 2.4GHz Wi-Fi g/n wireless network such as one operated by the premises or one provided by the DJ using his own wireless router. On the other hand, the XDJ-AERO could work as its own access point to the same credentials as Wi-Fi Direct. This could eliminate the need for a wireless router if the devices are kept close to each other and Internet access isn’t desired.

DJs who use this unit for bar or outdoor gigs should use the access point mode, but use the XDJ-AERO as a client for areas with a “known” network like practice work or private-home gigs.

The computer equipment including the smartphones or tablets would need to run Pioneer’s free “rekordbox” music-management software which is optimised for DJ work. This includes the ability to identify rhythm patterns in the music and keep details of factors like “beats per minute” which would be ideal for this kind of work. Because the requirement is that the network computing devices stream the music rather than transfer it as a file, the Pioneer XDJ-AERO is also optimised for high-reliability connections using a high-capacity buffer and the ability to identify and use a music loop to keep the beats going.

Luckily the Pioneer DJ ecosystem doesn’t just support the trendy Apple computing ecosystem. The software also supports Windows regular computers and Android mobile devices. It is also worth knowing that the XDJ-AERO can support four source computer devices, which can come in handy with a group of DJs who are performing their own sets on the same equipment, such as a wedding gig where one DJ with expertise on lounge or chillout music may play for the dinner while another DJ with dance-music expertise would play for the post-dinner dancing.

Those DJs who work across different media can benefit from this mixer by its ability to connect to two regular music sources. This means they could connect their Technics SL1200 “Wheels Of Steel” to work with vinyl or their Pioneer or Denon DJ CD players to work with CDs. It is also laden with plenty of digital effects that they can use on their music material through the programme.

This is a sign of things to come for the DJ industry who may benefit from the idea of using a computer and small network to play out music whether as a sole medium or as an ancillary medium.