Sonos ZP100 Digital Music System Bundle (BU101) Review

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(More customer reviews)I had been wanting to install a whole house audio system long before I even had a house. When I was a kid, I dreamed of being able to go from room to room and have my music follow me. Back then I envisioned a CD changer hooked up to all my speakers and listening to a selection of my favorite CDs. If I only could have dreamed bigger, I would have thought of the Sonos system.
I got an iPod three years ago and it was great to rediscover songs/CDs/artists that I hadn't listened to in awhile due to (1) the volume of my collection and (2) not having the ability to manipulate songs across the collection easily until the advent of mp3 playlists. But the iPod changed that. I loaded all of my CDs on an external hard drive, synched my iPod, and had all of my songs in a handheld device no bigger than my wallet. Or so I thought.
Turns out, I had too much music to fit on one iPod. So it was great to have *most* of my favorite music on the iPod so I could easily take it in the car or listen to on a single system within my house, but I still wanted access to all my songs and the single iPod couldn't pump music throughout the whole house without some costly wiring expenses. And along comes the Sonos system...
I had first read about the product nearly a year ago and it had gotten rave reviews wherever I looked. Thinking it was out of my price range though, I never really considered purchasing it. However, I then began to research different alternatives. The more I price compared a total solution (ie: running speaker wire throughout an existing house, a central media manager so I could run different and/or the same feed(s) to different rooms, and a remote to control it all), the more attractive the Sonos system became. Given all of the extra costs with a different system (not to mention the inevitable set up frustration), I was convinced that the Sonos system was my answer. But could this finally be IT or was I going to be let down by something that seemed to be soooo good, it almost seemed overhyped?
Without question, the answer is yes, this...is...IT. It is honestly the easiest computer interface/setup I have ever used. Connect a ZonePlayer to your router, press a couple of buttons, and follow the on screen prompts. Then follow a similar procedure to connect the remote (Sonos Controller). Another ZonePlayer in another room set up via the Controller (quicker than the 1st), and you're good to go. The remote controls up to 32 ZonePlayers (ie-rooms) so it should satisfy anyone's needs if you want to expand (and you'll want to!).
After 15 minutes, you'll be listening to Bach in the Basement, Frampton in the Family Room, and Sinatra in the bedroom. Or listen to the same thing all over the house. And the best part? There are NO buffering issues in this wireless music system. How'd they do it? I don't know, but it really does work.
Another important feature that is often downplayed but nearly equally cool, is the RCA input on each ZonePlayer. This allows you to connect an external source and send it throughout the rest of the system. So you can connect a tuner to one of the ZonePlayers, and then send your favorite radio station to the rest of your house. Connect another to a TV and send the TV's audio throughout the house. What for, you ask? I agree, I won't be using it for regular shows, but it should be great for sports and being able to keep up with the game when I run outside. To make that happen...
I'm hoping to add another ZonePlayer outside in the Spring so I can go from the upstairs to the main floor to the basement and even outside, all the while listening to the same song throughout the journey. I'm really looking forward to the good weather!
So as you can see, I just can't praise this product enough. For those of you who think it's expensive, compare it to a full solution like I did. If you have a large CD/mp3 collection and an imperfect listening solution, this is the one product that can tie it all together easily and achieve that sonic nirvana you've been searching for.

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If you're looking for a simple, powerful, and stylish way to play your favorite music all over the house, look no further than the Sonos ZP100 digital music system bundle, which includes everything you need to set up the audio system of your dreams. The system gets you started with two Sonos ZonePlayer 100s (ZP100s, for short) and a Sonos controller, enough equipment to cover two rooms with full digital music access. When you're ready to expand your wireless, multi-room digital music system, simply add more ZonePlayers and controllers as needed.
Watch a demo of the Sonos Digital Music System. it in action [Flash]

The ZonePlayer 100 The ZP100 brings great-sounding music to any and every room in your house, regardless of where your music collection is stored. That's because the ZP100, with its built-in amplifier, communicates wirelessly with your PC or Mac and sends the music directly to any connected pair of speakers. You can even play the same song in different rooms or different songs in different rooms.

With 50 watts per channel of power and a guaranteed total harmonic distortion of less than 0.02 percent, you can count on superior audio quality playback--without hisses, crackles, or hums. The first ZP100 connects to your broadband router, but you have total freedom with each additional ZonePlayer. You can put one in the basement, garage, kitchen, and anywhere else, as long as you also connect a pair of speakers. You can even connect the ZP100 to your favorite CD or MP3 player and listen to that music on all the other ZonePlayers in your house. Connectivity is easy, as the ZP100 features spring binding post speaker terminals, RCA-type line-in and line-out jacks, and a subwoofer out jack.

Simply put, the ZP100 is ready for any setup you have, large or small. You can even match the ZP100 with a pair of Sonos' very own SP100 loudspeakers, which are aesthetically and acoustically designed to complement your Sonos digital music system.

Sonos in Depth The ZP100 is just one part of a complete Sonos digital music system. To make your system complete, you'll need access the Sonos controller (included in the bundle). The wireless Sonos controller gives you instant control over your entire digital music collection, along with Internet radio, subscriptions to online audio services, and even music from your favorite CD or MP3 player. You can turn off the upstairs music while you're downstairs. You can change the song in the kitchen from the den. Plus, the controller's full-color 3.5-inch screen lets you see album art, browse playlists, get detailed track info, and more. To start listening, just pick a room, pick a song, and hit play. The controller even lets you queue the right tunes for the right moment; you can build, edit, and save playlists right from the palm of your hand.

The system supports up to 32 Sonos ZonePlayers throughout your home--from the bedroom to the backyard. Expansion options include additional ZP100s, or you can choose the ZP80, which doesn't have a built-in amplifier but instead connects directly to your home theater or stereo systems. Or better yet, choose both for the ultimate in multi-room music. You can also add more Sonos controllers to give more people access to your music library.

Sonos Setup You don't need to be a professional installer to set up a Sonos system, or a technical wizard to use it. Sonos was designed to work right out of the box. All you need is a high-speed Internet connection and a router to get started. Then, unpack your components, lay them out in your home, and the result will be music to your ears.

Software Sonos offers desktop software for PCs and Macs that's as simple to use as the Sonos controller. Designed with a user interface that accommodates a larger screen, the Sonos Desktop Controller software guides you through both setup and music sharing. It offers the exact same functionality as the Sonos controller, but instead of being in the palm of your hand, it's all on your desktop. You can also use it to set up music folders on your hard drive or to add and edit Internet radio stations.

The ZP100 measures 10.2 by 4.4 by 8.2 inches (W x H x D) while the Sonos controller checks in at 6.5 by 0.95 by 3.8 inches. The entire bundle is backed by a one-year warranty.

Rhapsody and Sonos Now you can hear more music, in more rooms with Sonos and Rhapsody, the #1-Rated Digital Music Service. Sonos connects directly to Rhapsody via the Web, so you don't have to download an application or even turn your PC on. Instead, all that music (millions of songs + ad-free radio) is instantly accessible from the palm of your hand-to play in any room you choose.
With the Sonos Controller you can browse the entire Rhapsody Music Guide, everything from Top Artists, Albums and Tracks to New Releases and editorial recommendations. You can even view track information and album art. And whenever a new song is released, it's in your hands and ready to play-in the bedroom, bathroom or backyard. Rhapsody features Instant, plug-and-play access to millions of songs and ad-free radio on your Sonos system
Discover new music right from your Controller-browse by genre or check out the charts, then build your own library of favorites and create custom playlists
Get album and playlist recommendations based upon the songs and artists you've chosen.
Over 100 professionally-programmed commercial-free radio stations spanning dozens of formats
Customized radio stations based on your favorite artists

Free Rhapsody 30-day trial The minute you took your new Sonos® system out of the box or updated your software to Sonos v2.0, your free 30-day Rhapsody® Trial was ready to go. Now, it's your turn to start listening to all those songs, all over your house.
Simply pick up your Sonos Controller, hit the music button and you'll see the Rhapsody Trial. Now select the Rhapsody Music Guide and browse for your favorite artists, albums, genres, and more.

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VortexBox 1TB Automatic CD ripping NAS Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this gadget after a considerable amount of frustration with a Netgear ReadyNAs I had expected to use as a server for my Logitech Squeezebox Duet. The ReadyNAS supposedly performs this function but with a large collection of files it is simply too slow to keep up with indexing and searching etc. Plus ripping my 2,000+ CDs was a real chore. I read about this product and jumped on it.
Well, within a week of getting my Vortexbox appliance, all my CDs are in my mini storage, my Levinson 31.5 transport sold on eBay, and my entire CD collection is now available to me throughout my home without the slightest issues, disappointments or problems.
I initially corresponded with the manufacturer a few times with questions about configuring this device to suit my particular needs I got immediate, understanding an useful help. I cannot speak more highly of the builder. In fact, I sent a modest voluntary donation to them as I felt the help I got was above-and-beyond. Since I became familiar with this gadget, I have had zero issues, it has been up and running for over sixty days without a reboot, issue, glitch etc. You just pop a CD in the slot and it will rip it to flac and/or any almost any other format you care to have.
Useful tip: if you are ripping a large collection disable the creation of MP3 copies (the system rips to both flac and mp3 by default). This will speed up the tedious job of ripping enormously and you can go back later on and create MP3 versions of any or all of your stuff as a background task when you're done transcribing your collection. Info on how this is done is on the manufacturer's simple but very useful web site.
Anyway, this is a great product from nice people and if anything happened to it I'd buy another in a flash.

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Squeezebox Wireless Network Music Player, Black Review

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(More customer reviews)Why are audiophiles buzzing about this inexpensive product? It is the first mass consumer unit to sound as good as much more expensive audio products. I had it up and running with my wireless network in 15 minutes, and was simply stunned by how good it sounded playing my music on computer. Even the internet radio playing through this unit sounded better than any standard radio tuner. Read my experience at musicserver.blogspot.com
I have a huge investment in my current audio system (more than $20k). I read about the Squeezebox on one of the audiophile websites, and was intrigued by having all my music accessible on a computer, but with sound quality to match my high end CD player. After a month of living with the Squeezebox, I can confirm how good it sounds, how simple it is to set up, and how versatile it is. I have not turned on my $3000 CD transport in 2 weeks, and plan on selling it shortly.
I encourage anyone ready to set up a computer system to visit my blog at musicserver.blogspot.com to see how easy it was to set up your music collection on a computer.
For the 95% of people out there who don't understand or care about audiophile quality sound, don't worry. A stock Squeezebox playing your music stored on your computer will sound better than anything you can buy for any reasonable amount of money.
For the uninitiated, a Squeezebox is part of a system of storing your CD collection on computer, and you use the Squeezebox to access/browse your computerized music collection. You need a computer, of course, and to get the best sound quality, you need to rip your music using a high quality format, like WAV or Apple Lossless or FLAC. It works with computers running Windows, Linux or Apple operating systems, and it does not require an expensive computer. Many users are running it with a laptop! It connects to your computer either wirelessly (using built in wifi connection) or via an ethernet cable.
After a month of playing with this unit, I cannot see how I could ever go back to using a CD player. I love being able to tune in and listen to Internet radio stations without having my computer turned on. I bought another Squeezebox for the family home theater system; now my wife can play my collection without me having to worry about misplaced cd's or the kids scratching CD's!!
For hardcore audiophiles who are dubious about how an inexpensive box can compete with separates, read my blog. This box is the real deal, and when upgraded (and particularly when used with your favorite high end external DAC), it is awesome!!! If you don't have or don't want a external DAC, the Squeezebox can be modified by a number of companies to upgrade the existing DAC and produce sound quality to rival top high end players.
The audiophile press and internet gurus are abuzz about this product for good reason. I was pretty skeptical, but it was so cheap I figured I had little to lose. I am not one to gush about gear, but this box is just phenomenal!!! I've rediscovered my music.


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Popcorn Hour C-200 Networked Media Tank (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)BUYER BEWARE!!! I bought the C-200 back in December 2009, it worked well for a while but died in August 2010, I had to send it back to popconhour for a new motherboard :( The device does play everything you throw at it and is faily versatile in that it can take an optional bluray drive and more internal store etc. Unfortunately it is an ugly addition to a home theatre setup. There is no offical support that I can see, most of the problems people have with playback seem to be addressed with firmware updates. It is NOT worth the price, there are many alternactive devices available now which do just as good a job, WDTV, PlayOn, ASROCK ION 330 etc. Trust me, it is a hassle to keep this thing working well. The forums over on networkedmediatank shows many uswers having problems which are NEVER resolved. Best steer clear of this box and all other popcornhour devices folks.

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It's Time to Unleash Your TVThe Popcorn Hour C-200 is the most powerful and versatile Networked Media Tank yet. It's blazing-fast processor, Blu-ray capability and storage options make the C-200 an ideal addition to your home theater or high-definition entertainment system. All Your Media in One BoxWith Popcorn Hour you can stream or playback digital media content from a variety of sources, such as your PC, network-attached storage, digital camera or USB storage (flash drive, hard disk, and DVD drive). Popcorn Hour also makes it easy to download and stream content directly from popular Internet sites like SHOUTcast' Radio, Blip.tv, Revision 3 and dozens of others. Popcorn Hour even has a built-in download utility, eliminating the need to rely on your PC to download files from the Internet.Expand Your Possibilities' The C-200 includes the most expansion options with a total of 5 USB ports and 2 SATA ports for all your storage needs.' You can add a Blu-ray drive** to turn your Popcorn Hour C-200 into a full-featured Blu-ray player.' You can add a hard drive to create a central library of all your digital media files, ready to play on your HDTV at any time.**Requires at least 1GB storage space (USB or Hard Disk) for full playback.

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Denon AVR3310CI 7.1-Channel Network Home Theater Receiver Review

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(More customer reviews)The AVR 3310CI is loaded with nice features. Excellent sound quality, inputs for just about anything, and decent menus for setting up and using the receiver. The amplifiers give a very good quality sound, not as good as my MacIntosch system but not bad for the money. Construction is good and it runs fairly cool being it is in a somewhat enclosed area. Technical support is good in that there is little wait time when calling.
Now for the bad. I have now gone through 3 AVR 3310CI receivers trying to get one that works. I believe that most if not all of the issues I have are due to firmware problems as the hardware seems to work just fine. I would try to update the firmware but there are even problems with this function as it takes forever (many hours) and most of the time it will abort or hang in the middle of the download/update process so you have to try and try again. My first unit eventually got into a hang state in that it couldn't update the firmware and as a result the receiver just kept on trying with no success. During this time the other functions were not available. According to Denon there was no over the phone fix for this problem and suggested I either return it to the store and send it in for repair but that I am responsible for the shipping costs.
My second (and as of Saturday my 3rd unit) has two out-of-the-box issues. First is when connecting to Internet radio I get a "Please Wait" window. Sometimes this hangs the system and sometimes I can recover from it. On my recently installed unit this past weekend I immediately got this message and waited 15 minutes or longer and still no resolution. I turned off/on the unit and after a while the message went away and I was able to use the Internet function.
The second problem is when selecting the setup menu button. The menu comes up fine but within 5 seconds it starts to go dimmer and dimmer and to the point that you cannot see the menu on the TV screen anymore. This occurred with units number 2 and 3. I am afraid to do a firmware update due to the many problems that I had with the first unit and I was told that others had the same problem (even Denon admits to this and recommended to me NOT to perform updates).
I have spent many hours on the phone with the Denon Techies and they say to just send the unit back and they will repair it. However, I have to pay for the shipping costs (estimated at $50). I refuse do this on out-of-the-box problems. These are design problems and not normal failures.
So at this point in time I'm considering switching to a different model number and hope that it has a more stable design.
One other area is in regards to the search and general navigating capabilities on the Internet. Given the price of the AVR 3310CI this function could be a lot more sophisticated as the current function is pretty basic.

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The AVR-3310CI is a technological tour de force, designed for consumers wanting to network their AV system. Ethernet connectivity opens up your AV system to host of exciting capabilities like audio and jpeg photo streaming and Internet radio. Additionally, subscription music services like Rhapsody and Napster are supported. The AVR3310CI packs a punch with 7-channels of onboard amplification producing 840-watts of total power (120 per channel). The amplifiers can be assigned for 7.1 channel surround sound, or a 5.1 channel system in the 'main" room and power a pair of speakers in a second 'zone". This only scratches the surface of the AVR3310CI Multi-zone (3) / multi-source (3) capability. Enhanced power amp assign features, second and third zone programming feature allow the AVR3310 to be the hub of a sophisticated whole house system. For video connectivity, the AVR3310CI is equipped with 1080p compatible HDMI 1.3a Repeating technology, delivering both audio and video to your HDTV with single HDMI cable. This HDMI connectivity supports the latest generation surround sound formats available on Blu-ray disc, including Dolby TrueHD and DD+, dts-HD and dts-HR. Also included is Dolby Laboratories new Pro Logic IIz Matrix decoding featuring front height effects channels that expands front soundstage. The AVR3310CI boasts a number of Audyssey technologies. Advanced Audyssey MultEQ analyzes a speaker systems interaction with room acoustics, and then delivers custom tailored correction processing to optimize clarity and tonal balance throughout the listening space. Audyssey Dynamic Volume is an automatic volume-leveling system that tracks audio dynamics to eliminate the irritating volume swings between TV shows and commercials. Audyssey Dynamic EQ is also on board to ensure rich bass and smooth tonal balance at low volume listening levels.

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COWON J3 32 GB Portable Media Player (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)My Creative Zen:M was getting old, and I had already replaced the battery once so doing it twice was too much for me so I decided to upgrade. That's where the Cowon J3 came in, after doing my research I decided to take a chance on a brand I'd never heard of before.PROS:
- Touchscreen is fast and accurate to the touch
- Beautiful AMOLED screen even when the brightness is toned down
- Plays AAC,MP3,FLAC,WAV,etc etc etc
- Video looks great and is smooth
- Plenty of options for video
- Plenty of options for music
- Recording, speaker, and mic are surprisingly decent
- Jet Effects 3.0 has tons of EQ presets and 4 customizable user options
- Alarm and Radio work great, you get tons of stations
- 3 ways to view everything on your screen, you can switch between them instantly
- Lock option on the side makes it easy to not accidentally turn on the player while it's in your pocket
- Play and volume buttons on other side of also make it practical when you don't want to turn on the player to change tracks
- Sound is amazing, especially with the BBE+ options as mentioned before
- Battery life is great so far, I get tons of hours before a quarter of the battery is even used
- Switches from horizontal to vertical back and forth with ease
- MicroSD slot
- Screen is very durable, it's gorilla glass just like the Cowon S9.
- Did i mentions there's tons of options for the user on this? well there's a ton, it does not disappoint in this reagardCONS:
- Album art does not show up when you change to horizontal view*
- screen is very prone to finger prints as well as back of player, essentially the whole thing
- when you're listening to the radio and want to change the dial up(numbers ascending) you have to press the back button instead of the forward**can be corrected with a nice firmware update.
One thing I do recommend is that you don't purchase this directly from jetmall. Well, that's unless you like multiple charges on your credit/debit card. Amazon is the best way to go, as usually is the case. Overall this product deserves the praise it's been recently getting, just for the sound alone. It's so easy to use the design is simply great. If you want the white version of this though, you're not going to find it on Amazon yet, but it looks just as great from what I can tell and I expect Amazon to make it available soon. About the only thing I could find wrong was how easy it is to smudge the screen, but that's expected with any touchscreen, I'd recommend an anti-glare screen for this problem. Any other problems can be corrected with a firmware update. I have the 2.21 version right now, but I'm sure more are in the works as is per usual with these things. I recommend this product to any music fan, good luck on your search though, it never hurts to keep looking although I'm personally sticking with this one.
EDIT:
JUST DOWNLOADED FIRMWARE UPDATE 2.2 AND THE ALBUM COVERS ARE NOW VIEWABLE THROUGH LANDSCAPE MODE(HORIZONTAL).

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This sleek media player from Cowon boasts a brilliant 3.3-inch touchscreen, playback of a serious list of a serious list of video and audio formats, FM radio and voice recording (or even line-in recording), and 32GB of space for all your favorite media. Not enough? Pop in an SD card for a little extra.

Just Plain Slick Too many media players forget about what's on the outside. The J3 is just 9.9mm thick and features a brushed metallic bezel that's ultra-stylish, and downright attractive.

3.3-Inch AMOLED Display The J3 boasts a 16 million color, 3.3-inch AMOLED display with a 480 x 272 pixel resolution. Thanks to the low-power display technology, the screen is viewable from virtually any angle. It looks great in the dark and even in direct sunlight. AMOLED turns electric signals into video 1,000 times faster than the speed of conventional LCDs, leaving no ghost images while playing video.

Intuitive Touchscreen Interface The COWON J3 boasts super-intuitive touch controls, with gesture recognition features like zoom-able album art, pictures, and text; TrueType fonts for clear visibility at any zoom level; and more. Get where you need fast directly from the durable anti-scratch touchscreen.

Video Playback The J3 plays AVI, WMV, and ASF video files, with codec support for DivX 3/4/5, Xvid SP/ASP, and WMV 7/8/9. That means less conversion on your end. Enjoy all your favorite clips and shows, and just tilt the unit to switch to 16:9 widescreen viewing.

Grab the optional video out composite cable, and you can send your signal to a television for some full-size viewing.

Enjoy Your Music The J3 is a full-featured music player, and it's definitely one for the afficionados. With support for MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, WAV, and APE formats, you can play back most any file. Get detailed track info on the J3's screen with meta tag support, and view LDB 1.0 and 2.0 lyrics files while you listen.

JetEffect Music Enhancement Dial in the perfect sound no matter what you're listening to with Cowon's various sound enhancement tools:

BBE: Refines sound quality
Mach3Bass: Provides deeper, tighter low-end
MP Enhance: Sonic restoration for compressed music formats
3D Surround: Provides 3D sound effect
5-Band EQ: Customizeable equalizer with adjustable band and bandwidth filter

FM Radio and Recorder Enjoy your favorite FM Radio programming using the J3's unique "jog shuttle" touchscreen control for selecting stations. Store your favorites in up to 39 user presets, and record live radio for later listening.

Photo and Document Viewer View or share slideshows of your favorite JPG images, and read your TXT text documents wherever you are.

Bluetooth Freedom The J3 features built-in Bluetooth 2.0 support (A2DP, AVRCP Profile) for use with various wireless devices. Get rid of those cables and enjoy the benefits.

Digital Clock With Alarm Set an alarm to play your music or FM radio, and use the sleep timer to drift off to your favorite songs. You can also use the clock to schedule FM recording for a particular time.

Voice Recording Record voice memos, lectures, meetings or whatever else you need for later using the built-in microphone. The J3 also supports line-in recording, for grabbing audio from external devices like CD players.

Energy Efficient Entertainment The J3 will give you a whopping 64 hours of music playback, and up to 11 hours of video playback, a single charge of its lithium-polymer battery.

Flash Player The pre-installed Adobe Flash Player lets you enjoy Flash games and other utilities, along with the Flash content present on many web sites.

What's in the Box
Cowon J3 32 GB (Black), Earphones, USB 2.0 Cable, Quick Start Guide, Manual CD

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COWON X7 160 GB MP3 Player (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)**********EDIT******
Ok...after 4 days of ownership......would purchase again!
~touch screen very sensitive.
~It does play my flac and wav files
~Tagged album art and it did show up on those that wasn't
~Converted movies to WMV and AVI and watched a few, video quality outstanding for this resolution.
~Battery life is unbelievable, I have not recharged yet, watched 3 movies, dozen music vids and many hours music!
~screen size is GREAT!
~I love the Retro design!
I will now sync it with Media Monkey
**********END EDIT***********
Finally, a device to hold my entire library and not have to charge all the time
I was looking for large storage space MP3 video player. This was exactly what I needed.
I didn't expect great quality from this device or good touch screen. It was better than expected.
Pros;
*Sound quality is the best I have heard on MP3 player, (I have had 2 ipods and 3 creative labs)
*Large screen
*Large storage space- 160g HDD and 2g flash
*Firmware updates
*Sync mine with media player, went flawless. Media player actually converted some media while syncing to operate on this device. But it has a wide range of formats it works with. See specs and cowon.
*Drag and drop files and create folders
*Read documents, photos etc.
*Has some decent features I didn't need like alarm clock, notes with typing or writing on screen, comic viewer, timer, calculator and more.
*Many equalizer settings, easy to do and again sound from these were more than outstanding.
*FM Radio...love it.
*Quality build. Impressed with this.Cons;
*Video quality is only 480 x 272....in todays high def world, Cowon screwed this up.....this is old technology. This is where they blew it on this kind of device of large storage capacity meaning lots of music and video. It is decent to watch but not what it should have been by any means. Cowon wasted this screen size. This was a blunder by someone.
*A little bulky, was bigger than I thought but I have gotten used to it, and I wanted this screen size with storage.
*I didn't like the ear buds. I always bring my own anyway, Bose has a good set for about $99.
*Album art takes up more than the screen, you can't see the entire art, but I think they will repair this with a firmware update. I did one firmware update and it was easy. Copy paste files.
*Proprietary USB connection, I wish companies would not do this. Use a generic one please.
*Price.....it should have been about $279 maybe.
Neutral;
*Navigation took me a few times to get used to it but after that it was easy. While playing song or video you click open to go to library and then up in the file order. very easy once learning curve is complete.
*NO wifi....but has bluetooth which worked great. I didn't care anything about wifi so this didn't matter to me.
*Touch screen OK....I thought it was not going to be sensitive reading about the kind it was so this was a pleasant surprise. better than expected but not as good as IPOD.
Summary;
If you want great sound/audio and large storage capacity, this is your device. A little bulky but screen size pays off. All in all, I am happy with the purchase. Cowon needs to make this HI Def and then they have an excellent item. Build quality is outstanding.
It should not be compared with IPOD touch but with IPOD classic since it is used for storage space.
Sync this baby with media player and you can't go wrong. May sync with songbird too. Although, you can just drag and drop onto it but I like syncing so changes will be automatic and flawless. I added songs to my library to see how it synced after a change, sync was perfect. I was going to give 4 stars but gave 5, someone gave it a 1 and this is an opinion but a 1 is unrealistic, a 5 is too so maybe this will balance it out.
Thanks Cowon for capacity, sound and screen, but, come on!! do better on the video quality, HI Def this device and you will nail it. This was my only disappointment.
Peace

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Marantz SR5006 AV Receiver Review

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(More customer reviews)This is by far the nicest receiver I have ever owned. The sound is great and the design is elegant, with only two knobs, one row of buttons, and a small "porthole" LCD on the front. It projects a sort of confidence, "I don't need to show off with rows of glowing controls; it's all under the hood." That said, the design entails certain compromises -- some aspects of the receiver are difficult to configure unless it is attached to a TV by HDMI. If you don't plan to connect it to a screen in that way, this probably isn't a good choice for you. The same holds for debugging; if it doesn't do what you expect, you're going to have a hard time figuring out what's wrong without any sort of diagnostic output on the unit itself.
However, if you do plan to connect it to a screen via HDMI, you're home free. It connects to audio sources via component cables, TOS-link, HDMI, ethernet, USB and bluetooth (with RX101 adapter, not included). It connects to video sources via HDMI and component cables. It can send two different audio streams to different sets of speakers, if you are watching TV in one room and somebody wants to listen to music in another. It comes with a microphone, which it can use in self-configuration to optimize its setting for the room in which it is placed.
Issues: Though the device has Airplay, which allows it to play music from iTunes over the local network, I haven't yet been able to get it to work correctly. The remote that comes with it is a very old school slab of buttons, but Logitech has not yet updated its database for Harmony universal remotes to work with the SR5006. I figure they'll probably do it soon. Finally, and this is not a Marantz issue I think, the box arrived from Amazon looking as though it had been kicked open, taped up, then kicked open again. The cardboard was shredded and the styrofoam was crumbled. I was surprised the receiver was unscarred. Amazon should have put another box around the Marantz shelf box.
The real test will come over time, and I will update this review if I run into problems.

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The SR5006 is loaded with numerous convenience features and tremendous sonic capabilities. Features include a 7-channel discrete amplifier (100 watts x 7), network/streaming of Internet radio, Napster, Pandora and more, up-scaling HDMI to HDMI 1080 video, multi room audio, six HDMI inputs, plus it's certified Control4, Crestron and AMX compatible.

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Pioneer VSX-1021-K 7.1 Home Theater Receiver, Glossy Black Review

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(More customer reviews)My Thoughts on the VSX-1021
Up until now I've been living with a limping-along Kenwood Soverign VR-5090. It was definitely showing its age. The lack of HDMI was really getting to be a problem. About a week ago it started completely breaking down and stopped detecting audio properly; instead of detecting digital audio it would default to analog inputs and simply not play anything. Time for a new receiver. I am no audiophile but I can tell the difference between high quality audio and an undersampled MP3. That said, most of my comparisons will be with respect to my old VR-5090 as that's what I was coming from.
I settled on the VSX-1021 because the feature set was strong, the 1020 had some pretty impressive reviews, and because after getting burned by the Kenwood Soverign line I wanted some solid tech that didn't really represent being an early adopter again. Yes the 1021 is brand new, but it's very similar to the 1020 which is a fairly well-tested design.
Notes on my setup:
5.1 Home Theater + 2nd Stereo zone
HDMI Set Top Box that plays 720P and 1080i
HTPC with Blu Ray
Handful of video game systems, some HDMI, some Component
Audio
IMO the audio is solid. Certainly strong enough for my home theater system, stays smooth and gets as loud as the wife will let me make it. I wasn't thrilled with the results of MCAAC so I've tweaked calibration by hand... I'm still tweaking to find that perfect balance, but that's not an issue with the receiver.
I've put the system through its paces with a variety of DVDs, CDs, and digital music and I'm well satisfied with the results. Again, I'm no audiophile, but it's certainly on par with the 5090 paid quite a bit more for 10 years ago.
Video
Mixed results. Handles clean signals just fine, but I'm not thrilled with any of the video processing features it is capable of. Every option seems to insert a great deal of noise in solid color/muted or out of focus backgrounds. I've pretty much turned any video processing feature the unit provides off and let my television handle the signals it receives as it sees fit. Even then I swear there's more noise in the signal than my 5090 used to allow. I'm no expert but I'm not as satisfied as I'd like to be here.
Set Up
Let's get this out of the way early: Setup is a bear. The software included is extremely limited, didn't work in Chrome, and I wasn't satisfied with the results once I did have it running. The manual is terrible, not to mention incomplete (I found a separate page floating around in my box explaining Airplay, it wasn't in the manual at all).
The system assumes to know what kind of devices you will connect. Instead of having 'VIDEO 1' 'VIDEO 2' 'VIDEO 3' and 'AUDIO 1' 'AUDIO 2' 'AUDIO 3' inputs it has 'DVD', 'BD', 'DVR' etc. HTPCs and Video Game systems are not considered. This leads to the Navi software to being nearly completely useless as it asks "Do you have a DVD" - no. "Do you have a Blu Ray" - No. Do you have anything else? Yes. Everything I had fell into the 'anything else' category which it only had very generic instructions for.
So the HTPC became the DVD input and the Playstation became the Blu Ray, the Xbox the DVR. You can rename all these inputs in software, but when it comes time to program a Harmony remote you had better have taken notes.
Moreover, the inputs are linked. When you switch to DVD the system outputs video from the DVD inputs and audio from the DVD audio inputs. The Kenwood 5090 made no such connection. I could set it to run Video 3 and Audio 2 if I wanted. This made watching TV but playing the radio (something I enjoy for sports games) or playing a video game while listening to digital music much easier. I haven't yet found a way to get all the setups I had in the past to work.
Features
Airplay
Probably the big one most people are interested about. Airplay takes a little getting used to, but I'm convinced that's more Apple's doing than it is the receiver's fault. That said I like it quite a bit. Especially due to the 2 Zone limitations (More on that later). A little info on my setup. I have used DD-WRT to convert a router into a wireless bridge for my home theater setup. Basically this means that I have all of my home theater components wired to a network component that connects to a 2nd wireless router that connects to the cable modem.
The end result is that as far as the 1021 is concerned, it has a wired connection to the network.
With that setup, any computer on my network with the latest version of Itunes is capable of setting the 1021 as one of its speakers. The little airplay button appears in the bottom right corner of itunes. This happens as long as the 1021 is on. It does not have to be in HMG mode, however as soon as music starts the 1021 will switch to HMG mode. Where I have had difficulty is I can't seem to get my remote to control the receiver when it is running airplay. Normal play/pause are treated as receiver commands (Play acts as Phase control for example). If I put the remote in HMG mode commands push it OUT of airplay and to the HMG home screen. Music stops until I stop and restart airplay on the computer. There doesn't seem to be a 'Back to Airplay' function on the remote or HMG screen either. Frustrating but works great if you leave it alone.
iPod/iPad control
I've only played a bit with this as I don't own an iPhone or iPad and borrowed a friends to test the system with. Works very well. No hiccups like I've described elsewhere. I hope Pioneer releases an Android version but I kind of doubt they well. This device has an 'apple exclusive' feel to it.
Zone 2
The Zone 2 support is disappointing. This is primarily because there is no down-conversion from digital sources. Sound that enters the 1021 via HDMI or digital signals (Optical or Co-ax) can not be broadcast to Zone 2. This was something the 5090 did seamlessly and I assumed the 1021 wouldn't have a problem with it either. At minimum I'd expect a setup that reduces both zones to stereo play but at least allows sound to be sent. In effect this means that I can't stream sound from my HTPC to zone 2, unless I use airplay which limits me to only that which iTunes plays. VERY disappointing.
Beyond that, Zone 2 support is decent. The interface is intuitive (something I can NOT say about the 5090) and straight forward. One interesting hiccup though: If I want airplay in zone 2, but not in zone 1 I have to:
Initiate Airplay from a PC
This puts Zone 1 into HMG mode with music playing.
Start Zone 2 and shift it to HMG
If I want Zone 1 to be doing something different I can change it now, but it MUST be in HMG playing Airplay when I set zone 2 to HMG. If Zone 1 is not in HMG and I shift Zone 2 away from HMG, the receiver stops handling the airplay signal. Shifting zone 2 back to HMG will result in no sound. Shifting zone 1 to HMG will display the HMG home screen (which gives me the option of playing internet radio or files from USB).
In other words, if both zones go away from HMG, the receiver drops Airplay and won't pick it back up until you restart Airplay from the computer. The computer thinks it is sending airplay to the receiver, so you actually have to deactivate it, and reactivate it to get music playing again.
HMG
The HMG main screen allows you to listen to music off of connected devices and networked computers. I can't seem to get it to connect to my computers. It sees them, but gives me an 'not authorized' message for each. The manual does not indicate how you give authorization. Frustrating. The internet radio option is nice and well stocked, but I can't seem to add a particular station I'd like to add. Perhaps this is my fault, I could be doing something wrong. Still the Manual is unclear.
Odds and Ends
The system is slow. The receiver takes about 5 seconds to power up before it will respond to commands. Switching between HDMI components can take up to 5 seconds (usually less, but sometimes this long) while the screen is blank but audio plays. Shifting between signals of different resolutions suffers a similar delay. Be careful if your cable box is configured to deliver whatever the station is broadcast at because if you change channels from a 1080i to a 720p source the simple channel change could cost you several blank screen seconds.
Conclusion
So there's my review. I know it probably comes across as heavily negative, but I figure that most 'Reviews' supplied by groups like CNet and other AV web sites are really highly positive feature lists (read: Commercials). I'd like to make sure people know what to expect from both sides. In conclusion the 1021 is a good but not great piece of tech. It does the job nicely, but some of the features feel a bit half-baked and the manual is terrible. Fight through that and it's a good receiver at it's core. Just don't expect all of the wiz-bang features to be as well worked out as you'd like.

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The Pioneer VSX-1021 is a Home Network Ready AV Receiver featuring a Bluetooth wireless audio option, Apple Airplay, DLNA 1.5 certifications, and Internet Radio Access via vTuner. Other features include 770 watts of high powered 7.1 home theater audio playback, 5 HDMI 1.4a 3-D ready inputs, Audio Return Channel, Advanced Video Processing and Up-Conversion, iPad / iPhone AV Playback with battery charger.

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Denon RCD-N7 Wi-Fi Network Streaming AM/FM Receiver with CD Player and iPod/iPhone Dock Review

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(More customer reviews)I am not one for early adoption but couldn't resist this product which i have been searching for while now. How to access Pandora,Internet Radio, music stored in my pc and good ol CD/MP3/Radio if you dont own a iphone and dont want a huge rack stereo?Answer - the Denon N7 !
There are multiple stereos/ipod docks in the $150-350 range which will allow you to listen to all the network features of N7 provided you have an ipod/iphone which becomes the network point. I dont have the iDevices so was looking for a product like this.Then you have a mind boggling options of multi room streaming options.I was not ready to buy multi rack audio systems or go through multiple product handshakes to hear simple pure music.
Denon N7 is a breeze to setup and connects to the Pandora through the my wifi router ( i dont use napster or rhapsody). it would be nice if you could Like/Dislike music through this. Next Internet radio ...search all podcasts, radio by country and you might luck out. Connecting to my music folders on my home PC (XP) through windows media player 11 was a lil bit of a hiccup but once i got the firewall disabled it was so now easy to share. Then you have the CD/USB/MP3/AM/FM that all stereos these days have.Last..the looks.The receiver is bigger than i expected but with the excellent finish and simple clean design it looks drop dead gorgeous.Now the cons...the speakers if you did buy the Denons would pair just OK.i think the looks are a more reason for buying these than performance. dont get me wrong..they are powerful but somehow doesn't have the fidelity i expected of a Denon.I have satellite KEFs for my home theatre setup and this doesn't measure upto those even though the costs are comparable. a few minor cons...searching a network song is not easy.. and so will depend on you to maintain a good indexed windows media library.as i write ..apple airplay firmware has not been pushed to N7 but those with iphone can perhaps access itunes and other online music with this.Last ..a bit pricey but hey this is the first in the market now ...if you can wait i can bet it will set the stage for the same kind of product/price warfare we see in the network blu ray market.
Last word..immensely satisfied with this pimped out network stereo! curious to see if this will fuel similar products amongst bose, polk, yamaha, cambridge !!

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