Product Description

The Sirocco Wireless Home Audio Bridge uses your computer's existing wireless network to receive any and all audio formats streamed from your PC. It is an ideal wireless speaker solution to deliver your music to your speakers or home theater system. With both digital optical and analog outputs for 6 channels, Sirocco can easily connect to most audio systems and supports 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound output.

Anything that your PC can play, Sirocco can receive through the airwaves. Playlists from any music player or from any store, in any format. PCM, WAV, WDM, AAC and all protection schemes are legally and securely streamed from your PC to your home audio system.

Setup of the Sirocco is straight forward. Connect the unit to a PC using the included RJ-45 cable. Do not connect to the unit through a router. Run the included software on the CD, have the program detect your wireless router and save the settings. Now you can disconnect the RJ-45 cable and connect the Sirocco to your home audio or computer speakers. The Sirocco will receive audio signals from your computer through your wireless network. The Sirocco supports both optical digital and analog connections to connect to a home stereo. There is also the ability to connect speakers directly to the Sirocco. Standard front, center and surround speakers can be connected. PC based surround speaker packages work well.

The Sirocco Wireless Home Audio Bridge uses a new technology called C-Media Wi-Sonic. C-Media Wi-Sonic is the PC industry's first multi-channel wireless network audio technology, designed to replace the wire between the PC and existing home audio set-ups through a standard 802.11g wireless network. It can improve the PC's role as the media center in the digital home by removing the wiring hassle between PCs and living room audio systems (stereos, A/V receivers, surround systems). C-Media Wi-Sonic supports sending lossless PCM and Dolby Digital formats to the remote Wi-Sonic audio re

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28904 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Sirocco
• Dimensions: 2.75" h x 8.00" w x 11.00" l, 1.90 pounds

Features

• Multiple Sirocco bridges can be installed on the same network
• Can play any format your PC can play, regardless of copy protection
• Supports WEP & WPA encryption
• Can be connected to just about any audio device via an optical digital or analog connection
• Offers full control over the C-Media Wi-Sonic controller embedded in the product, much like any sound card

Customer Reviews

Forget the Apple Airfoil -- this is the unit you want
I originally got an Apple Airfoil on the recommendation of the retail store sales guy. BIG mistake. It only plays iTUNES source, and I had problems setting it up, and in the locations I have the WLAN AP and the Airfoil, I could not find a way to prevent frequent drop-outs.

I returned the Airfoil, and took the risk to online order a Sirocco based on the spec sheet. Well, I am absolutely thrilled! It is exactly what I wanted -- a wireless sound card. Took less than 5 minutes to install, no dropouts, supports WEP and WPA, and plays any audio stream your computer sound card plays. And the software suite is suprisingly stable and feature-rich for such a new product.

As an unexpected bonus, the sound quality is also exceptional. This is a well-engineered product. Don't think twice if you want a wireless sound card.

Warning: there are some complaints on the manufacturer's web page about compatibility with Dell laptops. They are promising a new software release shortly. I am using it on a tower and I have not seen the reported problem after 2 weeks of frequent use.

Works as advertised
I received this today after returning a couple of wireless media products my wife had bought me. All I wanted to be able to do was play music from WMP on my laptop through my home stereo system without running wires everywhere or a physical connection everywhere I wanted to use it. This product does exactly what i was hoping it would do. It uses my home wireless network to transmit a signal to my stereo regardless of where I am in my house (or my back yard, deck, basement, etc.). Now I can control volume on WMP or Sirocco's panel, eliminating the need to run back inside when my outdoor speakers are too loud, and I can control the music from anywhere. I definitely recommend this product.

Great audio streaming solution
There are numerous solutions for streaming audio from your computer to your stereo (does that term date me?) I have tried most of them. This is a "push" solution; anything that can be played through the headphone jack on your computer can be be streamed. This is different than the "pull" devices such as Roku and Squeezebox, where the music is selected from by user interface on the device. The clear advantage of the push model is that not every stream is supported on the device, and very large music collections are easier to play directly from your computer. This device is also 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of a quality pull device.

The Sondigo uses your home wireless network, unlike some of the very cheap bluetooth devices, that will in fact disrupt your home wireless network. If you run wi-fi in your home, avoid them and use this technology.

Pro's
- Fantastic attention to detail in every aspect of this device, it even comes with one of those short extension cords so you don't take up half your power strip with the DC converter.
- Absolutely stellar installation. I have installed on XP and moved to Vista. Installed both times, no muss, no fuss. Very satisfying after so many truly bad, bug ridden installations and firmware problems I have seen with hardware device installations.
- The audio quality far exceeds the on-board audio output through the speaker / headphone jack. Comes with a good software audio mixer and those silly DSP effects, where you can make the music sound like it is playing in your bathroom shower stall. Includes surround sound output.
- Control software is excellent. It will automatically switch the audio stream to an alternate device if you disconnect from the Sondigo, so you can switch to headphones easily. I have never seen that feature on an audio device.
- Streams for hours, although I have to cycle power every now and then.
Con's
- Ran into some problems under XP with video streams on Firefox that slowed my laptop to a crawl and used up all the memory. I have moved to my dual-core Vista desktop computer, but I have not used it long enough to experience that problem.
- Needs to be restarted a couple of times a day, especially after I hibernate my computer on XP. The Vista version seems to be able to stream uninterrupted all day and night. Could just be a computer issue.
- Only comes in white.
- Ridiculously bright blinking LED on the front!

Summary - This device really works, far superior to so many network devices I have used.
Update: Vista installation has solved the need to restart the device. There are still occasionally intermittent audio dropouts (like once or twice / day).