Sometimes called digital media adapters, or digital audio receivers, a standard digital music system bridges the gap between your computer's audio stores and the airwaves, allowing you to enjoy your collection of MP3s or your music subscription service in any room of the house. A standard digital music system runs on WiFi or Ethernet bandwidth, and can be carried a good distance away from your computer. This allows for a high amount of flexibility when deciding where to place it. Aside from these standard functional qualities, today's digital music system generally offers a wider assortment of gadget like usefulness, but is any of that needed in your home, especially considering the presence of a gaming console or blu-ray player?
Read on and get the scoop on a few of this year's top digital music systems, and get a better idea of what to look for in the best. Let's start the contenders with the Logitech Squeezebox, a standard WiFi powered digital music system that includes a color LCD display and a single, built-in speaker. It allows for the streaming of a variety of online music sites and radios such as Sirius, Rhapsody, Pandora, and Slacker, but doesn't stop there, as it also allows for any audio format to be played directly from the PC. This feature is further enhanced by the ability to play even loss-less audio files like Apple LossLess and FLAC. This digital music system is a great choice for those that have a laptop or want to bring a little jam to a small get together with their iPad or iPhone, as either a standard web browser tuned to control the player or an iPhone with relevant app, can be used to switch radio stations and create playlists. A portable battery rounds out the ability to take it where you want, and a standard adapter makes it easy for home use, as well.
Moving on, we have the Sonos ZonePlayer S5, another single speaker setup that is easily controllable from an iPad or iPhone touch. This model doesn't have the web browser functionality of the Logitech model, but has a nifty feature that allows for the stringing together of multiple ZonePlayers to stream music to each one at the same time. The ZonePlayer also offers quality audio from a smaller framed design, and can play any number of radio or internet based radio stations, as well as the standard assortment of audio MP3 file types. Or you can step up to the Sonos ZP100 for a great system!
The best information I have found is at www.digitalmusicsystem.net.