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Better known for making radios, Revo also make a handful of all-singing, all-dancing models that have the ability to stream music from your PC or Mac.

How it works

Revo’s media-streaming devices use your normal household wireless network to access the music files on your computer.  Once you’ve plugged the device into the power socket, it automatically detects available wireless networks.  You’ll have to choose the network you want and provide the password and there’s also some setting-up required on the computer where the music is stored.

What to buy

Revo makes four wireless music streamers, each with slightly different features.  The first four are slight variations on each other - see the table below for exact details.

If you buy one of these four, you don’t need any other equipment to start streaming, except of course a wireless network and a computer.  Revo also make the Mondo, a component to add to an existing Hi Fi sysemt that allows you to add internet radio and music streaming to your Hi Fi set-up.

Good points

Revo’s Bliks and iBliks are great single-box music systems, and the alarm clock feature certainly makes them a boon as a bedroom music player.  The simplicity of set-up gets some praise too:

“I would wholeheartedly recommend this item to anyone. There is nothing out there to touch it. Plug it in - turn it on - connect to wifi - it works - ’nuff said!”

Sound quality is moderately praised by Reevoo reveiwers, who mainly agree with Mark from Warrington: “sound quality very good considering its just one speaker”.

The price of Revo devices is also an advantage: the Blik/iBlik/Wifi/RadioStation models mostly cost between £100 and £150, while the Mondo starts at £80.  These prices look especially good when you consider that popular DAB radios like the Roberts Revival RD-50 or RD-60 or some of Pure’s Evoke range can set you back as much.

While the combination of an iPod Dock/MP3 player line-in and music streaming capability might seem like covering the same ground twice over, this combo means that you can stream your digital music from your computer, while a friend can plug their MP3 player in if you fancy a change.

Bad points

Revo music streamers generally garner high ratings on Reevoo, from 7.6 to 10 out of 10 (although this perfect rating comes from just one very happy customer).   In general, people thought the display was too small and found the controls (both the buttons on the top of the unit and the remote) could have been easier to use.  The Mondo attracts more serious criticism in this area, with one dissatisfied reviewer saying “Its interface is very bad for virtually everything”

Because the streamers work across your home wireless network, low signal areas or other people using the network can affect their performance.  One reviewer who lives in a rural area comments: “If someone else in my household is also using the internet then internet radio is variable.” For best result, you need a fast connection and to put the Revo in a high-signal area.

Perhaps the biggest hidden pitfall of the Revo streamers is their lack of support for AAC files.  If your music has been purchased from iTunes or is stored in your iTunes library, you probably won’t be able to play it through the Revo without first using conversion software.  This can be found for free online, but the process can be fiddly and time-consuming.

The bottom line

If you’re looking for a multi-room system, then Revo is not for you.  But if you’ve got a strong wifi signal at home and don’t use iTunes, this would make a good all-singing, all-dancing upgrade to your current radio or add-on to your hi fi.

First up in our series on wireless media streaming systems, we’re looking at Sonos, one of the best known names in the field.  Sonos specialise in multi-room music streaming systems, at the upper end of the price scale.

How it works

Sonos products use a wireless mesh network to stream music between the different components in the system.

Connect one component to your broadband router, and then connect other supplementary components to speakers or hifis in other rooms. The components connect to each other wirelessly, and you can use controllers to browse through the music stored on your computer and play it through the components.

What to buy

You need at least one ZonePlayer to start your system.  Plug this into your router and then into either speakers or a hifi system.  (If you don’t want music to play in the room where your router is, you can use a ZoneBridge instead of a ZonePlayer.)

Next, add another ZonePlayer in every room you want music to play, plugging each of them into speaker or a hifi.  The ZonePlayer 120 has an integrated amplifier, so can be directly plugged into speakers.  The ZonePlayer 90 doesn’t, so you would need to plug it into an amplified music system, such as a standard hifi.

There are a range of ways to control the system, from two different kinds of remote controls (the older CR100 and the newer touchscreen CR200), to an iPhone app, to a program you can install on your computer.

You can also access music from internet radio and online music services through your computer and play them on your Sonos system.  If you haven’t heard of these services yet, watch out for a blog post explaining the different options in the near future.

Sonos sells each component separately, or offers bundles of everything you need for the simplest Sonos set-up

Good points

Sonos has tried to make its systems as simple as possible to understand and to set up.  Judging from Reevoo reviewers, they’ve seem to have succeeded on the set-up front - as one reviewer puts it, “it does what it claims to do, and it does it without any setup problems”.  One happy owner of the Sonos 120 bundle commented:

“Simple to set up and use out the box. My 11 year old son set up 8 rooms in an afternoon!”

Sound quality is also highly praised by Reevoo reveiwers.

Another advantage (and one not available with all media streamers) is the ability to use Sonos systems with online music services.

Bad points

The high ratings for Sonos products on Reevoo.com (between 8 and 10/10) indicate that owners have few complaints. The appearance comes in for a certain amount of criticism - as you can see from the pictures in this post, all components are grey/white boxes - but, as one reviewer points out, “what does that matter really!”

Another down-point is the price - the cheapest you can get a bundle is a whisker under £650, and outfitting an entire house can quickly add up to much more.

Some users have encountered problems with Sonos’ wireless transmission, saying it’s patchy at times, or occasionally drops out.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if your stereo could play all the music on your computer? Or play the same music in all the rooms in your house? Or if you could watch the videos you’ve got on your computer on your TV?

If any of this sounds appealing, you should consider buying a wireless media streamer.  These devices use a wireless internet connection to share music and videos between devices including hifis, computers and TVs, and between different rooms.

Although this arrangement might sound tricky to set up, you don’t need a degree in electrical engineering to set up most streaming systems.  Some manufacturers, like Sonos, go out of their ways to make it easy, by selling ‘bundles’ of everything you need to get started, while others design ’single unit’ systems, like the Sony NASSC55PKE

There are two main varieties of media streamer.  The first variety concentrates on music, detecting the music files on your computer and either plugging into your stereo system or speakers to play them.  Audio streamers from the upper end of the market will usually work with a subscription to a music-streaming service like Napster, Spotify or Last.fm (more about these services later).

The other kind streams both audio and video content, and is usually used to display videos saved to your computer hard drive on your TV, or show TV on your computer.  More high-end versions also display your photos on your TV or offer direct access to sites like YouTube.

You may already be familiar with some of the big names in the media streamer area: Sonos multi-room music streaming systems are well-known, as are the Squeezebox range of video streamers and Apple’s Apple TV.

Unfortunately, the variety of different types of streamers on the market means that it’s much harder to decide which streamer to buy than, for example, which TV to buy.

We’ve just added a dedicated media streamers section to Reevoo.com which is a great place to start.  We’ll add in more detail on the different types over the next few weeks and we’ll also be writing some blog posts to guide you through this complicated market.