Audio products are talking to each other and to PCs even if they're located in different rooms. Some products communicate by tapping into a home's Ethernet wiring. Others incorporate "no-new-wires" home-network technologies, making it unnecessary to install Ethernet wires behind walls or under floors.

Networked home-audio products fulfill one or more of three basic functions:

•  Moving compressed-music files off the PC’s hard disk drive (HDD). A new type of audio component, called a "digital audio receiver," acts as a bridge between a primary home hi-fi system and a PC located in a separate room. Once plugged into the hi-fi system, the receiver lets music enthusiasts remotely select music files stored on the networked PC's HDD, and then play the songs through the stereo’s superior amplifier and speakers. In a few cases, this capability is built into select HTiBs, A/V home theater receivers and compact music systems.

•  Providing multiroom access to a centralized music server. From multiple rooms in a house, consumers remotely select and play songs stored on a centralized home-wide music server, whose HDD stores hundreds of hours of music. The servers send different songs simultaneously to different rooms in a house, in many cases to existing stereo systems connected to a networked “client.” In other cases, the clients incorporate their own amplifiers, so all you have to add is the speakers.

Some clients include the speakers.

•  Enjoying Internet radio stations without sitting next to a PC. All digital receivers and select other products use home-network technology to play Internet radio stations accessed through a networked modem. The capability is built into select HTiBs, A/V home theater receivers and all-in-one com pact stereo systems.

Network technologies:

Most networked audio products tap into a home’s wired Ethernet network. Some incorporate built-in "wireless Ethernet" technology developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Often called Wi-Fi for wireless fidelity, the technology was built into select audio product for the first time in 2003 (http://www.IEEE.org, http://www.wi-fi.org). Alternately, consumers can plug low-cost wireless adapters into their products’ Ethernet ports to deliver wireless connectivity.

Similarly, consumers can plug low-cost “Ethernet-to-power-line” adapters into a product’s Ethernet port to use their home’s electrical wiring as an Ethernet network. These adapters use a technology developed by the HomePlug Powerline Alliance to let products communicate via a home's electrical wiring. The first audio products with built-in HomePlug capability are expected sometime in 2005 (http://www.homeplug.org/).

CE suppliers also are developing products using rival power-line communications standards developed by two separate groups of CE companies. One group is called the Powerline Communications Group. The second and newest group is the CE-Powerline Communication Alliance (CEPCA). Other companies are using proprietary wireless technologies to connect only their own products. 

Moving Music off the PC:

Among networked audio products, PC/stereo-system bridges are the most affordable, and they're becoming increasingly visible. Only a handful of these “digital audio receivers” were available between 2000-2002, but their selection has grown since then to more than a dozen models at prices starting below $199 to about $499. The selection includes the first receivers from mainstream consumer electronics suppliers, who followed computer-peripheral companies to the market.

Consumer demand for these devices is driven in part by the growing number of compressed-music collections stored on PC hard drives. Demand also is growing because of growing awareness and growing installed base of home PC networks. In a 2004 study, Parks Associates estimated home-network penetration of 12 percent and projected a 26 percent penetration rate in 2008 (http://www.parksassociates.com/).

The most sophisticated digital receivers feature advanced menu systems, which let consumers remotely select songs by title, artist, genre and playlist via a front-panel or TV-screen display. In 2005, about a dozen suppliers planned models that also display still images and/or full-motion video stored on a PC. The video could include TV programs stored in PCs equipped with digital video recorder (DVR) technology. The receivers also stream music from Internet radio stations through a networked modem.

In a few cases, you don’t have to buy a separate digital receiver to network your audio system to a PC. That’s because some home audio products incorporate built-in PC networking. In 2005, for example, HTiBs from at least two companies, multiple AM/FM surround sound receivers from at least three brands, and shelf systems from at least one supplier incorporate wired or wireless connectivity to stream music files from a PC. The HTiBs start at prices of around $599, and the shelf systems cost less than $350. 

Central Music Servers:
Many networked-audio systems don’t rely on PCs as their music source. These systems use component-audio-style HDD music servers to stream different songs simultaneously to networked tabletop "clients" located in multiple rooms. Some clients connect to any existing stereo system. Other clients incorporate their own amplifiers, so all you have to add is the speakers. Some come with speakers as well. Other clients resemble all-in-one compact stereo systems with an amplifier, AM/FM tuner and sometimes speakers.

Servers were priced from about $999 to the tens of thousands.Their clients cost around $500 to $599. The servers store music from hundreds of CDs in such compressed-audio formats as MP3 and Windows Media Audio (WMA), delivering the music-storage capacity of CD megachangers that store up to 400 CDs – but in a lot less space and with near-instant access to every song. Many servers also store music in uncompressed CD audio form. All servers make it easy to find and play individual songs, thanks to music-management software that sorts and displays songs by album title, song title, music genre or artist name.

Like PC/stereo-system bridges, systems with tabletop clients are designed for do-it-yourselfers. All you have to do is plug the components into an existing home Ethernet network (now available in more new homes), plug no-new-wires network adapters into the devices’ Ethernet ports, or purchase devices with integrated no-new-wires technology.

Custom-Install Options: