Cd3o is a startup company with a product designed to get your MP3 files to your home stereo--whether you want to run wires or not. While the company has several products that will tap your PC's library of digital audio files and transfer them over the network to your stereo, the c300 features 802.11b wireless networking capability at up to 90 m (300 ft.) from a wireless router. This is great news for those who don't want to string networking cables (it can be rather ugly) or those who can't (where doing so would require drilling holes through the walls or floors).

The c300 is a small unit that looks almost exactly like a wireless access point or router except that the rear of the unit has a number of audio connectors. There's an adjustable antenna on one side for your WiFi connection, and a 10/100 Ethernet port on the rear. You position the c300 next to your home stereo setup, and you can connect it up using a pair of RCA jacks, coaxial SPDIF, or an optical cable.

The product requires a bit of setup at the PC end, especially if you're planning to use wireless encryption (also known as WEP). When you install the included software on your PC, a client is installed. It not only locates all music files in the folders you specify, but it finds all accessible cd3o products on your network. You can set up playlists or control the playback at the PC end, but that's not necessary, as you can access any files in your music library right from the c300 end using the unit's remote control.

When you're using the remote, you interface with the unit using numeric input and Voice-Guide speech output: to get to your Rolling Stones MP3s, you would key in 7, 6, 5, 5, 4, 6, etc.--similar to spelling names when you're using a telephone voicemail directory. When a match is made you hear a series of tones, then the c300's synthesized voice tells you the artists it found that matched your input. The speech synthesizer has a slightly wacky way of pronouncing certain names, but cd3o is apparently continuing to work through these issues as they pop up. The whole process works quite well, if somewhat slowly; the major issues you'll have are remembering the exact names of things in your PC library, and making sure your PC is on when you want to use the c300.

One thing you should keep in mind if you want to get this unit up and running on your wireless network is that you'll initially have to plug it into a 10/100 Ethernet port to get the wireless settings pre-configured. If you have wireless encryption on your wireless network, you'll definitely need to use a wired connection first. If you have your WEP key information handy, it should be pretty quick to set up.

Our review unit was still using beta software, so the final shipping version may be slightly different. The c300 is compatible with Windows 2000 and XP only.

A lesser-range model, the c200, is available for US$199. An Ethernet-only version, the c100, is available for only US$149.

Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen USB 2.0

Creative was the first major MP3 player manufacturer to put out a hard drive-based player, the Nomad Jukebox. Since then, Creative has put out a few more hard drive models and many other manufacturers have also jumped into the game. Apple, for example, introduced the iPod--which has become the object of lust for many fans of portable MP3, owing largely to its compact design and excellent user interface.

The new Nomad Jukebox Zen appears to be Creative's response to the iPod: it's much more compact than previous Nomad Jukebox models (it now fits easily into a jacket or larger shirt pocket); and the interface has been streamlined, with functions that used to be button-accessible transformed into items found in the menu system or removed altogether. For users stuck in the past when it comes to play controls (anyone who has grown up with cassette decks and CD players), it can be somewhat jarring when you reach for the Stop button and discover that there isn't one. There are also a few menu options that are less intuitive than on previous versions of the Jukebox. It's like anything else, though, once you spend some time with the interface, you'll certainly get used to it.

A few concessions had to be made to reduce the size. As with the iPod, there is only one audio output: a headphone jack. (You can certainly plug a set of speakers into the headphone jack, but you won't be able to use EAX surround as on previous models.) There are no inputs with this one, so users who want to record as well as listen will want to look at the Jukebox 3 instead. One unfortunate concession is that the battery on this model is internal only, which means that once it runs out of power, you'll have to head home to recharge, instead of popping in a spare. (The good news here is that you can charge the internal battery using the USB port or the power adapter.)

It's worth noting that although Creative lists two versions of the Zen on its Web site, the USB 2.0 version is the only one currently available in Canada. Those with USB 2.0 on their PC will get a speedy transfer rate of 480 Mbps--more than 40 times faster than those with USB 1.1. The player has 20 GB of hard drive storage space, so no matter which version of USB you have, it'll take a bit of work to fill the player.

At the time of writing, no Zen-specific accessories were available, but an FM tuner/remote combo accessory is expected, which will also allow you to record FM radio onto the Zen.

The Zen is compatible with Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, and XP.

Turtle Beach AudioTron

While the AudioTron has been available for a couple of years, Turtle Beach often updates the product's firmware to include new capabilities. The first version of the product was a home stereo component-style box that hooked into both your home network and stereo, allowing you to play the digital audio files on your computer from your home stereo. A later version of the firmware introduced Internet radio streaming, using the TurtleRadio service. The newest shipping version of the AudioTron has firmware that adds Windows Media streaming capability from Internet Radio sites.

The AudioTron connects to your home stereo either via RCA or optical connectors, and you can control the player with either the remote control or via its Web interface.

The AudioTron is a fairly configurable little device, giving you full control over its network setup (it can automatically get an IP address from your DHCP server, or you can set it up manually if you don't have one). When it connects to the network, it can crawl your network looking for multiple computers with shared folders and files, which it will then allow you to scroll through using the LCD menu on the front of the AudioTron (you can sort through your audio files by artist name, song title, album name, genre, or playlists).

Unfortunately, this will require a pretty good grasp of network file sharing, especially if you're running an operating system that uses passwords (Windows NT, 2000, or XP); setting up permissions and passwords to allow your AudioTron to access secured computers is certainly possible but can be painful for the neophyte. (It's especially frustrating when you can access the AudioTron's Web interface from the PC, but can't see the PC's shared folders from the AudioTron.)

As with any file-sharing processes, it's worth noting that firewall software like ZoneAlarm or Norton Internet Security may interfere with the proper operation of the AudioTron if you don't configure those programs to allow this type of communication.

Two versions of the AudioTron are currently available: the AudioTron-100 sells for US$300 and features an Ethernet-only network connection, while the AudioTron-101 adds HPNA (home phoneline networking) connectivity, and costs US$350.

The AudioTron is compatible with Windows 98, Me, NT Pro, 2000 Pro, and XP.

By SEAN CARRUTHERS

URL for this story:
http://www.HUBCanada.com/story_10243_22

Copyright ©2003 Canada Computer Paper Inc., All Rights Reserved