SoundBridge

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A SoundBridge is a remote hardware device from Roku designed to play internet radio or digital audio streamed to it across a home network, either WiFi or Ethernet.

The music is made available by a streaming server, usually a PC running a software server. What sets the SoundBridge apart from other network media players are its high resolution vacuum fluorescent display and compatibility with a lot of different media servers, namely servers using Apple Computer's Digital Audio Access Protocol (popular servers are iTunes or mt-daapd), Windows Media Connect, Rhapsody, SlimServer, and UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) compatible servers like TwonkyVision. Some of these servers can be run not only on PCs, but also on NAS devices like the Linksys NSLU2, so a SoundBridge can be operated without a PC.

There are three SoundBridge models: The M1000, the M500 (an M1000 with a cheaper LCD instead of the VFD), and the discontinued M2000, which had a larger and even higher-resolution display than the M1000. The M1000s sold now are slightly different from older M1000s and can be identified by having their connectors at the back, rather than under the end caps. The new revisions are sometimes called M1001 and are mainly an internal redesign to cut manufacturing costs. Most users won't notice any difference, which is reflected by the fact that these units are still sold as M1000s.

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[edit] Versions

US: M500 (LCD display - 40 characters x 2 lines), M1000 (VFD display - 280x16), M2000 (VFD display 512x32), M1001 (newer version, comparable to M1000, other chipset/hardware internally) EU: from Pinnacle: Soundbridge MusicHome (small LCD, no ethernet, no digital output, cheap, otherwise the same as the following version), SoundBridge (without the MusicHome in the name, more expensive, identical to M1001, just no license for Apples DAAP protocol but mt-daapd/Firefly Media Server will work with RSP).

[edit] WPA support

Firmware version 2.7 supports WPA[1], but only for the M1001 or the European versions from Pinnacle, not for the older M500/1000/2000 versions. It is an 802.11b[2] device, but it is compatible with 802.11g networks.

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