Want to learn about the latest Sonos features? Check out Melanie's latest review of the Sonos digital music system.

Paid music downloading services have really taken off. Back in 2000, when I first learned about online music, it was difficult to imagine that our personal computers would one day become essential components of our home audio systems. But for many people, that's just what has happened. For instance, I rarely listen to CDs at home anymore; I burn them to my iMac®, then navigate and play my music with iTunes®.

But what happens when I want to listen to my music in a room with no computer? After all, I don't want to run wires all over my house, connecting my computer to speakers in every room. And having just one music source means I have to share. Heaven help us if my husband craves a musical pummeling by Slipknot at the same time I want to mope to a Radiohead tune.

Fortunately, the clever folks at Sonos™ anticipated this problem. Their Sonos Digital Music System provides an easy way to play PC music in more than one room, without running wire from room to room or spending lots of time on installation. It even lets you hear a different track in up to 32 different rooms, depending on how many zones you set up. The Sonos Introductory Bundle consists of three sleek, décor-friendly pieces: a handheld Controller and two ZonePlayers.

But how — and how well — do these items work together? I borrowed a Sonos Introductory Bundle and installed it in my house to find out for myself. First, let's take a look at each component and what it does.

At less than a foot wide, and under five inches high, the ZonePlayer is remarkably compact.

The ZonePlayer 100

With an amplifier, a wireless transmitter/receiver, and decoding circuitry housed in its smart white-and-gray chassis, the ZonePlayer 100 does most of the work of the Sonos system. You connect one of these pieces to the Ethernet port on your computer (or your separate networked hard drive), as well as to a pair of speakers. It plays the music stored on your computer, and also sends that music wirelessly to the otherZonePlayer(s) in the system — all while powering speakers (which, incidentally are not included with the system). If you have one, you can also send that music to a ZonePlayer 80, which lacks an amplifier but can be used with an existing audio system.

The handy Controller's large LCD is a plus.

The Controller

If the ZonePlayer is the system's muscles, the Controller is its brain. Matching the gray-and-white design of the ZonePlayers, this remote lets you operate every ZonePlayer in your system. That means that using this one component, you can play or pause music in different rooms, create playlists, or choose an Internet radio station to listen to.

Setting up the system

If you've never even considered installing a multi-room audio system because you don't want to deal with complicated setup scenarios or running wire from room to room, the Sonos system was meant for you. I found setup to be simple; Sonos even included a handy one-page quick-reference guide, sparing me the onerous task of opening the manual.

First, I unpacked the Controller and plugged it in so the battery could charge. The next step was to unpack the first ZonePlayer and connect my speakers to it. (Again, speakers are not included with the Sonos system, so you'll need to find or buy a pair to go with each ZonePlayer.) Because the ZonePlayer had spring-loaded binding posts, and because this was a temporary setup in order to review the system, I simply connected my speakers using bare wire. For permanent setups, I recommend pin connectors, which provide a more secure connection.

The ZonePlayer came with its own Ethernet cable, which I used to connect it to my iMac's Ethernet port. Then I installed the software on the included CD. For my computer, the Sonos software recommended that I download updated software from Sonos' website, then guided me through the process. But because I didn't have a broadband connection (yes, I live in the sticks, where only dialup is available), the ZonePlayer wasn't able to update its software to work with the software I had just downloaded. Suffice it to say that broadband connections are recommended for use with the Sonos system — aside from ensuring that you have the latest version of the software, you'll be able to stream Internet radio stations. (Those of us still on dialup dream of the day when we can do cool stuff like that!)

The Sonos software offers a very friendly, easy-to-use interface.

Once I got everything communicating, the Sonos software did a fantastic job of guiding me through the quick and easy setup process. It even let me make the necessary changes to my system settings from within the setup wizard — no need to open separate windows and do the navigating myself. Nice.

Adding the second ZonePlayer to the system was painless. You can add players using either the Sonos software on your computer, or the Controller. I chose to use the Controller. It told me to press some buttons on the new ZonePlayer and name it, and voila! I had a wireless multi-room audio system.

Calling tech support

Let me back up and say that, in trying to get my computer and ZonePlayer on speaking terms, I found it necessary to call Sonos' technical support line. The support reps were very friendly and helpful — never condescending — as they walked me through the process.

You probably won't need to call Sonos (especially if you have broadband), but in the unlikely event that you do, you'll be in good hands. Tell them Melanie sent you.

Using the Controller

The Controller is comfortable to hold and intuitive to use.

Although it's about twice the size of an iPod™, the Sonos Controller isn't bulky or awkward to use. On the contrary, its 3.5" backlit LCD came in quite handy for looking through my music library and picking tracks to play. In designing it, Sonos clearly took a page out of the iPod's book — the Controller has a scroll wheel for navigating through tracks, with a button in the center for entering your selection. It also has a mute button, volume and transport controls, and a few other buttons for adjusting system settings and navigating through menus.

The Controller's menus and buttons are pretty intuitive and easy to use. It only took me a minute or so to figure out how to cue up and play music. There was often, however, a slight lag between pressing a button on the Controller and hearing the result.

The built-in rechargeable battery powered my Controller for quite a while — I used the system for several days before I had to recharge it. But to me, the coolest Controller feature was its motionsensor; you can set the Controller to automatically "wake up" from its power-saving sleep mode whenever you pick it up. Talk about smart — you don't even need to turn it on.

Great-sounding wireless playback

As I mentioned above, the trait that really sets Sonos apart from other systems is its ability to let you listen to different tracks, from the same computer, in different rooms, wirelessly. This is the only system I know of that can accomplish this — and it does a wonderful job.

My past experience with wireless audio products has been spotty, causing me to wonder whether the Sonos system would pump out static or whether the music would drop out intermittently. Those worries were unfounded. Music played flawlessly, and sounded great. I switched to Party Mode, which caused both ZonePlayers to play the same songs simultaneously. I couldn't tell by listening which player was getting the music wirelessly and which was connected to my computer via Ethernet — they sounded completely in sync.

Additional input options on the ZonePlayer add flexibility.

The Sonos system doesn't limit your playback options to PC music, either. Each ZonePlayer has an audio input for connection to an audio source like a CD player. You have to control the source's playback functions separately, but you can adjust its volume from the Sonos Controller.

Compatibility

The system's manual specifies that it's compatible with Windows® 2000, XP, and later operating systems, as well as Macintosh® OS X v10.2 or later. But you can also use it with another operating system, or with a networked hard drive, as long as you enable file sharing. (Don't worry, the Sonos setup software tells you how to do this step by step.) And don't forget, a broadband Internet connection is recommended.

As for file types, the system can play MP3, WMA, AAC, and WAV files — but not copy-protected files. So if you've got Audible, Apple Lossless, or protected files you want to listen to, you'll have to re-encode them in a compatible format.

Sonos: An elegant solution to the problem of multi-room PC audio

When I first unpacked the Sonos system, I was intrigued and my husband was skeptical. By the time we got it set up, we were both impressed.We had become used to playing our computer speakers really loud in the living room so we could hear music in the kitchen. When we disagreed about what to listen to, we had to compromise. Not anymore.

Sure, it boasts easy setup and an intelligent interface. But more importantly, this system is like having a PC music library in every room of the house. Now that I'm used to it, I wonder how we ever got along without it.