Product Description

CREATIVE Sound Blaster Wireless Entertainment gives you the freedom to enjoy all of the MP3 and other digital audio music on your PC in any room of your home or office, using your existing wireless network. The included RF remote control sports an LCD screen, which lets you scan your entire MP3 collection and choose the music you want hear -- even when the receiver is out of the line of view. OS Compatibility - Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7408 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Creative Labs
• Model: 70PD039000000
• Dimensions: 3.00 pounds

Features

• Listen to the MP3's on your PC in another room of your home over your 802.11b or 802.11g wireless network
• View and choose songs and playlists from your entire MP3 collection on the remote control's built in LCD screen
• Place the music receiver anywhere since the remote uses RF transmission it doesn't require line of sight
• Works with home stereo and standalone speakers featuring digital optical (SPDIF) and standard RCA connectors
• Compatible with Windows 98 SE, Me, 2000, and XP

From the Manufacturer
Early Adopters Pick: October 2003. Sound Blaster Wireless Music is the first wireless music adapter with a remote control that features a large LCD screen that lets you view and choose songs and playlists without needing a TV. The wireless receiver connects to any audio system, so you can listen to your music in any room, on your Home Entertainment system, or with any powered speakers. And Sound Blaster Wireless Music is designed to be easier to set up than other products, detecting your existing wireless network and either connecting automatically or with a simple USB setup.

Sound Blaster Wireless Music gives you the freedom to play all of the MP3 and WMA music on your PC in another room of your home over your existing 802.11b or 802.11g wireless network. The remote control features a large LCD screen that lets you view and choose songs and playlists without needing a TV like other systems. The wireless receiver connects to any audio system, so you can listen to your music in any room, on your Home Entertainment system or with any powered speakers. And Sound Blaster Wireless Music is designed to be easier to set up than other solutions, detecting your existing wireless network and either connecting automatically or with a simple USB setup.

Sound Blaster Wireless Music makes it easy to listen to your PC music collection in the living room, bedroom, or any other room where you want to enjoy music.

Wireless Music Anywhere
Listen to the MP3's on your PC in another room of your home over your 802.11b or 802.11g wireless network, up to 4 wireless receivers can be connected at once.

Your Music, Your Choice--no TV needed
View and choose songs and playlists from your entire MP3 collection on the remote control's built in LCD screen.

Music that's heard, not seen
Place the music receiver anywhere since the remote uses RF transmission it doesn't require line of sight.

Connects to any speakers
Works with home stereo and standalone speakers featuring digital optical (SPDIF)and standard RCA connectors.

Simple Setup
Detects your network, connecting automatically or with a easy USB setup

Retail Box Contents

• Wireless RF Remote
• Receiver (with removable stand)
• 3 x AA Batteries
• USB Cable
• AC Power Adaptor
• Installation CD
• Quick Start Leaflet
• Stereo Audio Cable (2 x RCA to 1 x 3.5mm)

• Microsoft Windows 98 SE, Me, 2000, XP (Windows 2000/XP required for multi-client streaming)
• Intel Pentium II 350 MHz or equivalent
• 128 MB RAM
• 100 MB free hard drive space (for installation and running software)
• 800 by 600, 256 colors display
• 802.11b, 802.11g (or compatible) wireless network with access point
• USB1.1 port (for advanced network setup)
• CD-ROM drive (for software installation).

Customer Reviews

Is not an appliance, IS a gadget
We have been using the SB wireless music for about a month.

Good points:
System uses same (decent) desktop software as my wife's Zen Micro and my Nomad Zen, so we have one system for managing all our music.
The first unit we received was not working, and Creative customer support replaced it after a short e-mail discussion, which is a big improvement in Creative's approach to customer support.
When working, it works well, and it is cool, because the audio stuff is hidden, only the remote is visible, and with a volume control on the remote, that is all you need.

Bad Points:
Would not connect to WEP encrypted network until we downloaded and updated the firmware.
Required us to re-configure wireless network from "Shared" to "Open" Network Authentication.
If you want to get the SB wireless music to work with an encrypted wireless network, you need to read ALL the KB articles on the Creative site, the directions in the box are insufficient.
Occasionally, the base-station forgets how to communicate with the wireless network (happened 2x in one month) and the only solution is to carry the base-station back to the PC running the creative software and re-configure it with a USB cable.
Regularly, the remote looses communication with the remote, so we need to unplug the base station, and when it wakes up, it finds the remote and starts working again.

Summary:
If Creative could just spend more time &money to get the bugs out of their software they would have an incredible product. Unfortunately, it suffers from the usual flakiness of a creative product, so it is more of a P.I.T.A. gadget than a useful appliance.

Excellent product
This thing is doing EXACTLY what I wanted it to do. My house has speakers wired throughout, but the builder terminated all speaker wire in our mechanicals room next to our furnace...a ridiculous place for a stereo system. To solve this, I installed the sound blaster in the mechanicals room and have it pumping music into a stereo receiver sitting next to it. My laptop is transmitting my music to it over our wireless network and the remote allows me to view, play, queue up songs, trigger pre-made playlists with the touch of a buttom, and adjust volume. The music sounds great, everything was very intuitive, and this is a great product.

If I were to list a downside, I'd say it was the range on the remote. I live in a two story house with a basement and have the transmitter in the basement. The remote will work consistantly and relatively quickly (quick enough, at least) from all three levels, but not throughout the length of the house. In other words, there are dead spots where the remote cannot find the sound blaster receiver. However, my situation is unique in that I'm forced to put the receiver in the basement because that's where the house speaker wires terminate. If I had the receiver on the main level (1st floor), I wouldn't have an issue. It has no problems going through floors, but they do add interference.

This is truly a great product and I can now enjoy my collection of 2500 mp3's throughout my house with the amazing convenience of the remote.

Great So Far!
I received this item about an hour ago. I am currently listening to it through my stereo. Overall easy setup and install.

I found it very easy to install the software and import my 80GB library. The media server is the usual Creative software -- somewhat cumbersome at times, but powerful and not too bad to get used to. I love that you can control the receiver from the computer as well as the remote -- even the current playlist.

The receiver ships with a mini plug. You will need an RCA-RCA or optical cable if you want to plug this into a typical stereo. After I permitted the receiver on my wireless network (I am a tech geek, you don't have to do this) it connected no problem.

The remote works well in almost every room of my house. I have used other products that are controlled with the TV or the PC. That's silly! No need with this remote. There is a little lag time when communicating with my PC, but not more than a few seconds. I assume it would be faster if your library is small. The LCD screen is large enough to read unless you have pretty bad vision. If you have ever used a Creative MP3 player the remote will look very familiar.

The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because of the lagtime with the remote. It's not bad and still faster than thumbing through hundreds of CD's. Not a perfect product, but Creative is close.