 Manufacturer : Roku Model : R1000 ASIN : B000BIFY6Q Price : 399.99$ See Special Offers   Amazon.com ReviewAmazon.com Review Like its smaller cousins, the Roku M1000 and M500 network music players, Roku's SoundBridge Radio is designed liberate your digital music from your computer and let you crank up Internet radio stations and your unprotected digital music files in the room of your choice. But unlike those products, the SoundBridge Radio doesn't require a hi-fi system because the SoundBridge Radio is the hi-fi system. And not a bad one at that.
As a complete Wi-Fi music system that can stream your MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, and AIFF music files in high-performance sound; play AM, FM and Internet radio; automatically update the time via atomic transmission; and wake you up to a variety of ascending alarm sounds or your favorite Internet station or digital music, the SoundBridge has clear aspirations to be your bedside radio of choice. Without needing any special software for your computer (PC or Mac), within a few minutes of breaking this five-pound radio out of its packaging you can be browsing through the music you have stored in your Apple's iTunes, Real Networks' Rhapsody, Windows Media Connect or Windows Media 10 music players. All you need is a wireless network with a broadband connection, and your digital music is yours for the asking. (However, because Apple doesn't license its digital rights management code, SoundBridge -- like most other non-Apple network media players -- can't play protected songs from the iTunes Music Store.) In our test we set up an iMac G5 on our network running Apple's iTunes. The radio, which is configured with Wi-Fi 802.11b but is 802.11g compatible, immediately recognized the network but took several tries before it successfully connected. (If your network is locked, the SoundBridge will ask for a password. And if you have access to more than one wireless network, the SoundBridge will give you the option of choosing which network to connect to.) Once online, the radio automatically updated the Roku software and was officially ready to perform. And for the remainder of our test over several days, we never once had another connection problem. Diving straight into our iTunes folders, it didn't take long for us to recognize the several play features that put the SoundBridge head and shoulders above many of its competitors. For starters, unlike other network players we've tested, the radio recognized our iTunes playlists, and a neat "song queue" feature let us easily create our own playlists with the radio's remote. And as a huge brownie point, the SoundBridge not only categorized our songs by genre, title, artist and album (as most networks players do), it also queued up each song in the same order as they were originally placed their respective albums. Astoundingly, not all Wi-Fi players can make that claim.
The strongest criticism of SoundBridge concerns its remote capabilities and navigation. The features of the SoundBridge are designed to be accessed both through the large, easy-to-access buttons on the radio itself, and via its basic 5.5 x 2-inch remote. Unfortunately, the remote works for some features, but not for others, and less-than-intuitive navigation makes things unnecessarily complicated. The most glaring example of this problem is with the SoundBridge's highly convenient "source" button located behind the radio's conveniently huge snooze button. You hit the source button until you reach -- you guessed it! -- the music source of your choice. If you want AM radio, you tap the button until "AM Radio" appears on the radio's display. Pretty simple, and just how it should be. However, if you are using the remote you must hit the "home" button, which then leads you to a navigation level that's dependent upon the level you're starting at. If you're listening to AM radio, for example, and you want Internet Radio, the remote requires that you click several times through two additional navigation levels to make the switch. And there are other similar problems with the remote configuration and navigation. Call us spoiled, but this can be a drag. Is it a deal breaker? Not by a long shot. The SoundBridge Radio is the first dedicated Wi-Fi radio that has the ability to serve your digital music collection, and it does it with a performance and convenience that should please most listeners. But at this price, and with thousands of examples of well-designed remote appliances to draw from, we would have liked these issues not to have been issues. Pros:
The unit's superior audio quality stems from the precision-engineered sound system and the patented Linear Magnetic Drive stereo speakers and subwoofer. Each full-range speaker is outfitted with its own tuned acoustic enclosure and built-in 20-watt 3G digital amplifier, while the sub offers a proprietary Delta Tunnel-tuned acoustic enclosure and a 30-watt 3G amp. Together, the speakers deliver a full-bodied audio performance that far surpasses most tabletop radios, all in a package that's only 11 by 6 by 6.5 inches (W x H x D). In addition, Roku has outfitted the SoundBridge with a super-fast, 400 MHz Blackfin DSP processor and 16 MB of DRAM memory, giving it more than enough headroom to handle future software updates. Other features include a traditional AM/FM tuner; a full-function clock radio (tuned to the U.S. atomic clock) that wakes to digital music, Internet radio, AM/FM stations, iTunes playlists, podcasts, or selectable alarm tones; a gradual volume ramp mode for listeners who like to wake up slowly; a headphone jack for private listening; and a built-in light sensor that automatically dims the display in the evening. The R1000 system weighs 4 pounds and 15 ounces and is backed by a one-year warranty on parts and labor. What's in the Box  94 of 96 people found the following review helpful: If you love radio, you will find it hard not to love the SoundBridge Radio This review is from: Roku SoundBridge R1000 Radio Network Music System (Electronics) Update: After two years, my SoundBridge radio began to die with a constant crackling of static, regardless of volume setting. Apparently, I am not the only customer to experience this problem, but the warranty coverage is one year, regardless. That is a disappointment, because this product is not cheap. I know that things break, but when a problem is common, it is a design flaw and I hope for manufacturers to take better care of their customers. So, I am not changing my rating - it was a great product while it lasted - but two years of life from a $300 product is not good enough for me to buy another, even at the low, low RMA price of $200. Original review: I have wished for a radio that could play Internet radio stations ever since stations began to stream on-line. Sure, I can use my computer, but I hate to leave the noisy, power-sucking thing on 24 hours a day. Over the last couple years, a few devices have popped up that could play Internet radio, but that lacked the ability to tune in regular AM and FM radio. At long last, the SoundBridge Radio has arrived with the ability to play both Internet and regular radio. The SoundBridge is great. It is the best thing of any kind that I have purchased in several years. That said, it is not perfect. Internet Radio The SoundBridge delivers Internet radio every bit as well as a computer. Once you have your favorite stations programmed in, it is easy to switch between them - just press the preset button and you're streaming. The downside is that it is a bit laborious to enter those stations. To add new stations to the presets, you need to log in to the web interface of the radio, using your web browser. No big deal if you are computer savvy, but it would be nice if there were a way to program the presets from the radio itself. AM/FM Radio The SoundBridge closed the deal with me just by offering regular AM and FM radio in addition to Internet radio. This was a feature I required and SoundBridge Radio delivers. However, that is as much praise as I will give it for the standard radio features. There are several annoyances. You cannot scan stations manually. To select a station, you must select it from a list. A tuning dial would be much, much more useful. The reception is poor. This is probably due to the internal AC power supply. Don't expect to pick up weak, remote stations with the SoundBridge. The radio does provide AM and FM antenna ports, so you can improve on the poor reception by adding a quality antenna. Radio Controls There are four ways to control the radio - the physical controls, the remote control, the web interface, and the command line interface. This provides a great degree of flexibility if you are willing to learn them all. It could also be confusing. The biggest problem with the SoundBridge Radio is that each of these four control sets works differently and does not allow you to control the full set of features. If I had designed the SoundBridge Radio, I would have made sure you could manipulate every feature from every interface. Sadly, this is not the case. The physical radio controls allow you to do almost everything you will need to do once the wireless network is set up and your presets are programmed. However, you need to use the remote control for setup. The web interface allows only very basic control of the radio, but is necessary for manipulating presets. You can program the presets for Internet radio stations simply by pasting in the URL. The command line interface can be accessed by Telnet. I have only done basic tinkering, but it appears you can control most of the radio functions from the command line. You can also do interesting things, such as rewriting the radio display. Sound The sound is fine. You're listening to the radio - how good do you expect it to be? Voices are clear and well balanced. Music sounds fine, though a bit heavy on the bass for my tastes. If you crank the volume while playing music, you will overload the speakers - they aren't very big. This is a table-top radio. You probably won't be blowing the windows out with your clock radio and you won't be with the SoundBridge either. I have no complaints. If you want better sound, there is a port for headphones. Security? The SoundBridge Radio is a computer, running Linux - it just looks like a Radio. It checks in regularly with Roku for software updates, but you should think of this little box as a computer before you plug it in to your network. I haven't tried to hack it, but just about any computer can be hacked if you try hard enough. You wouldn't connect your PC to the Internet without some kind of firewall and I wouldn't recommend that you connect the SoundBridge Radio to the Internet without some protection of its own. Overall I have been using the SoundBridge Radio for a week. I love it. Sure, there are a number of annoyances in the design, but they are far outweighed by the positives. Most of the irritations come during setup. Once you have the radio set up, you just punch your presets and listen to the radio. 18 of 18 people found the following review helpful: All I can say is WOW! This review is from: Roku SoundBridge R1000 Radio Network Music System (Electronics) Expect to be amazed. I'm now a born again radio listener with Internet radio. No commercials, it's free, and a ton of choices - what else do you want? I bought this (from Fry's $249) after I read a New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/09/business/09pogue.html). Arrived in 2 days. Opened the box. Popped the batteries into the remote. Plugged the radio to the AC outlet.The display in the front panel asked a few questions so that the radio can get connected to your wifi network. Fairly easy even if you are using WEP security and you know how to hook up a wireless device. But if you are using WPA security, you may have to start up with WEP, upgrade the firmware, then move to WPA. The unit I got had version 2.5 and the current version is 3.0. WPA is supported starting from version 2.7. Once you have the radio hooked up to wifi, there's really nothing else much to do but start selecting your stations. I suggest that you go directly to Radioroku.com. This site helps you find internet radio stations and listen to them on your PC or on your Soundbridge with a click of a button. Believe me radioroku will make things a lot easier for you. If you want to control and monitor the radio remotely from your PC, you can also download Roku Radio Snooper (http://www.rokulabs.com/support_sb_dwnld_radiosnoop.php). You can easily command the radio to play audio files on your PC or store URLs of radio stations using the snooper. The real value from this (and any) Internet Radio is the amount of content you can get for FREE and at your own leisure without annoying commercials. Remember this radio does NOT need a PC (or MAC) to download music or to run. All it needs is a wireless broadband internet connection. Finally, the sound coming out of this small radio is truly phenomenal (within reasonable expectations). I'm buying another one soon. 16 of 16 people found the following review helpful: Good idea in theory, but bad power supply kills it This review is from: Roku SoundBridge R1000 Radio Network Music System (Electronics) After a great deal of research I settled on the Roku Soundbridge. I bought it and loved it until a week later, on moving it to a different room and plugging it in, it failed to work. Research on the forums for this product on the Roku website reveals that this product has a common defect--a power supply that usually fails within the warrenty period. I returned it to Amazon, but I have not got a replacement, as the Roku is the only one with an Atomic clock based alarm, a concept I like very much. I am waiting for the new model whenever that comes, hopefully with a better powersupply in it this time. A great idea/concept, but badly flawed by the low quality power supply.  Unit Dead after 15 months I have been very happy with this unit - I waited for this unit thinking they had solved the power supply problems witht this later unit. It failed about 2 days ago. by Jonathan Mcdonnell Should you buy a Roku SoundBridge Radio? Perhaps. The Roku SoundBridge and SoundBridge Radio were vanguards; they were among the first Internet receivers on the market, about six years ago. by Lew Miller biggest turkey in history Poor compatibility with some shoutcasts. I try not to hold that against them, but it prevented me from getting any serious use out of this during the ~20 month life expectancy. by Matthew Gambrell Good Ideas, Bad Execution, Even Worse Customer Service. The only thing wrong with this RADIO is it is made by ROKU! Just remember the old saying,"You Pays Your Money and You Takes Your Chances. by NYBill Roku Soundbridge R1000 Do not - I repeat - do not buy that thing. The power unit died after one year and Roku wrote me that they don't have replacement units any more. by jsleeckx wonderful radio with a horrible design flaw in the power supply I bought my Soundbridge Radio well over a year ago. I love radio and this immediately became my most favorite gadget. I kept it next to my bed. by Curt Elsbernd The worst support ever... BEWARE! I rarely weigh in on these reviews but I have to tell people this: ROKU internet radios are nice when they work, but if you ever need technical support FORGET IT. by Steve Kellar Discontinued - Customer Support Non-Existent I am an experienced technical user and own three Roku Soundbridge units and a Roku Netflix player. I ordered this from Roku when I saw the price cut to under US$200. by Zzyzx Oh Power supplies do not last During my second year of ownership, the power supply stopped functioning. I found that many other owners of this radio have experienced the same problem. by Lynn S. Burger Two FAILED Units in Three Years My SECOND Roku unit failed 14 months after the first one. When the first one failed, I went 15 rounds with their "Customer Service" reps who disowned the problem. by Sam McNair |
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Roku SoundBridge R1000 Radio Network Music System
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