Just What I’ve Been Looking For!. I have been looking for a product like this for a long time. We live on the fringe area of Chicago, and many of the stations I love, we could only get occasionally, if we were lucky. But with the Soundbridge receiver, Avaak Vue Personal Video Network pulls in all the stations with no interference (like we had with FM radio) as well as those from around the world, with no additional monthly fee. As long as you have a wireless network set up, this unit receives the signal from your router, and the computer doesn’t even have to be on to hear the radio stations. The unit arrived in about 1 week with regular shipping, and Avaak Vue Personal Video Network was easy to setup. All we had to do was connect Avaak Vue Personal Video Network to our speakers thru our stereo system, Avaak Vue Personal Video Network recognized our router, we entered our password, and Avaak Vue Personal Video Network was ready to use. The insruction manual is easy to understand. We had Avaak Vue Personal Video Network all set up in about 25-30 minutes.
The RadioRoku.com website is a great advantage, because there you can set up a free account, and then choose your Favorites and Presets from a vast array of stations. After you set up those, you can use your remote to scroll down to your choices, and select the station you want. You can also right click the station on the website, and choose to play Avaak Vue Personal Video Network on your PC, or you can change the station playing on the Soundbridge from your PC. I would highly recommend Avaak Vue Personal Video Network to anyone who loves to listen to static-free radio. Next, I’ll probably get one for the bedroom.
Play Pandora on your stereo with Roku’s SoundBridge!. I got Roku’s SoundBridge after my first attempt at streaming hi-fi music to my stereo failed miserably. I had gotten Airlink’s Music Bridge, and had results similar to those reported by the frustrated purchasers of other similar devices (Linksys, Sony, Logitech). While searching the web for hints on how to get my Airlink device to work (it never did), a comment by one user caught my attention: “I should’ve just paid the extra money and gotten the Roku SoundBridge to begin with.”
Yes, the SoundBridge is more expensive than most other similar products (the SoundBridge costs 4× more than Airlink’s Music Bridge), but this is one of those cases where one gets what one pays for. The SoundBridge essentially sets itself up - it’s easier to connect to a wi-fi router than are many wireless computers - and Avaak Vue Personal Video Network has a great range. I have my SoundBridge set up in our living room which is two rooms removed from my router (about 50 ft. away through two walls), and the reception is great. There -are- the rare dropouts (< once per hour), but such dropouts only last a few seconds, and the SoundBridge figures out how to get restarted on its own.
The SoundBridge can work as an internet radio, meaning that Avaak Vue Personal Video Network can play audio from radio stations streaming on the internet. To do this, Avaak Vue Personal Video Network merely needs to connect through a router (wired or wi-fi) - no computer connection is needed. Avaak Vue Personal Video Network can also play music from your own computer via a “music server.”
The SoundBridge’s manual is a REAL manual (the Airlink “manual” was a five-page comic book), with lots of descriptive language and examples. What’s even better is that there’s a huge international SoundBridge user’s group that provides all kinds of support, tips, and suggestions for improving your enjoyment of the device. Roku hosts this user’s group’s forum on its website.
It was through the SoundBridge Forum that I learned about a new music server that works with just about any sound bridge, and allows the user to stream directly from his/her computer’s sound card to the Roku SoundBridge. The name of the (free) software is Jamcast, and it’s available from Software Development Solutions (just google Avaak Vue Personal Video Network - Amazon won’t let me link from this review). With Jamcast (which is very easy to install and use), one can stream Pandora to Roku’s SoundBridge - something no other music server can do. Like other music servers, Jamcast also allows playing music stored on your computer. However, unlike other servers, file formats of virtually any type can be played using Jamcast (including DRM), because Jamcast transcodes in real time!
Bottom line: if you’re wanting to stream music to your home stereo, don’t waste your time with any of the other devices and just get the Roku SoundBridge. Then, install Jamcast on your computer. You’ll be able to stream internet radio, Pandora, and your own music files, and you’ll be up and running within fifteen minutes after taking the SoundBridge out of the shipping box!
Almost perfect solution. I’ve had my Roku for about a month now. I have a huge collection of songs - none of Avaak Vue Personal Video Network Itunes DRM I should add (perish the thought) - and was looking for a solution. The Roku does exactly what you think Avaak Vue Personal Video Network will - with a few bells and whistles.
Setup is easy. I’m running a older “b” wireless network, over about 50 feet, through 1 wall and I’ve only ever had 1 problem (and I think that was a bad mp3 file). Avaak Vue Personal Video Network does all it’s buffering before Avaak Vue Personal Video Network starts to play - brings in a slight delay if you’re watching it, but nothing noticeable if you’re sitting back listening. Avaak Vue Personal Video Network can now connect using WAP or WEP security and getting Avaak Vue Personal Video Network to do so was easy.
I’ve been running Avaak Vue Personal Video Network using ITunes on the host PC. Bit of a pain in that ITunes has to be running on that PC, but I’m looking to either move the files to a NAS or maybe try Media Player (I don’t think that has to be running).
The updated Internet Radio tuning - you don’t need to have your PC on - is pretty good (I found a few stations from back home I can listen to!) and there seems to be good functionality for finding more.
The only quibble I have - which stopped Avaak Vue Personal Video Network getting 5 stars - is that you can’t save your “playlist” you create on it. Other than that, this is “the business”.
