Pros & Cons
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- Remote is easy to use.
- Works with all digital audio, including protected content.
- Reasonably good sound quality.
- Supports up to four wireless receivers.
- Doesn't require a network.
- Very interference-resistant.
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- Interface is a bit sluggish.
- You can stream to only one receiver at a time.
- Software is Windows-only.
The Logitech Wireless DJ Music System ($249.99 direct) is a Bluetooth-based wireless audio solution that lets you stream music from your PC to your stereo and control it using a handheld remote with an LCD screen. The required software is currently Windows-only, but the system works with Windows Media Player, iTunes, and Musicmatch libraries as well as Internet radio. The controller is easy to use, and the sound quality is pretty good, considering that the system uses the Bluetooth 1.2 (A2DP) profile. The controller doesn't always operate smoothly, but overall this is a solid wireless solution that supports up to four receivers. The Wireless DJ provides a lower-cost and non-network–based alternative to the far more powerful
The Wireless DJ consists of three major parts: a USB transmitter that plugs into your PC, a receiver/charging cradle that plugs into your home stereo (via the included RCA cables) and is powered by an AC adapter, and a handheld remote with a built-in rechargeable battery. The system uses adaptive frequency-hopping to avoid interference, but Logitech recommends placing the receiver and transmitter as far as possible from potential sources of 2.4-GHz interference (including Wi-Fi components, cordless phones, Bluetooth devices, and microwave ovens) to maximize the effective range.
After you install Logitech StreamPoint software from the included CD onto your Windows-based PC, a wizard software system walks you through the setup process. The wizard lets you choose which music libraries you want the software to access, and whether to update its index automatically or manually. You can also set up the system to work with content from Rhapsody and Yahoo! Music Unlimited (support for more services is planned), as well as the iTunes Music Store—as long as you've actually downloaded the tracks to your machine and added them to your music library. No, Apple didn't license its FairPlay technology; the Wireless DJ simply acts as a sound card to stream music, so it doesn't need to have the appropriate codecs installed. Setup is fairly quick, although if you have a lot of music files, it can take several minutes for the software to index them all.
Next, the wizard walks you through the process of plugging in and setting up the hardware components, a simple, clear process. Once everything is hooked up and installed, you're ready to start streaming music. The remote doesn't require line-of-sight operation and is rated for a range of 165 feet. I did my testing in a New York City apartment, so the system had more than enough range to cover the entire flat. You can have up to four wireless receivers paired with the system and control each one via the remote. But you can stream music to only one receiver at a time, which is a significant drawback compared with the Sonos ZonePlayer system.—
How the DJ spins
During testing, I didn't run into any problems connecting the devices, and the remote, receiver, and transmitter are prepaired at the factory. The remote itself is quite intuitive, with a mechanical scroll wheel; large, clearly labeled buttons; and a brightly backlit 2-inch LCD. Its battery takes three hours to charge fully and lasts for a few days with normal usage. The included receiver/cradle keeps the remote upright and juiced up, but it would be nice if the remote weren't so easy to knock over—it's not held securely in place.
The controls aren't as quick and smooth as they could be—there's a slight lag that can get annoying if you're scrolling through a long list, and play doesn't start for several seconds after you select music, because there appears to be a lot of back-and-forth communication between the Wireless DJ and the music libraries on your PC. I also experienced a few crashes in which the remote needed to be turned off and then on again. For the most part, however, operation was reliable, and the adaptive frequency-hopping feature was very effective at avoiding interference. In fact, I put the transmitter in front of a running microwave oven and didn't experience any audio dropouts or noise.
The system picks up Internet radio stations if you've got them listed as favorites in your music-management software. For example, I had to put stations in an iTunes playlist, since the Wireless DJ didn't automatically pick up the entire range of stations listed in iTunes' Radio directory. In Windows Media Player 10, you choose a radio station and add it to My Stations by clicking on the round icon with the plus sign on it next to the station you want.
You can configure the StreamPoint software to manage podcasts in your iTunes library. If you use another program to subscribe to and download podcasts, simply point the StreamPoint software to the folder where the program saves the files and set StreamPoint to automatic update mode. You can also do this for your music files if you keep your music organized in folders but don't use music-management software.
One interesting feature of the Wireless DJ system is a playlisting function called DJ List. It's basically a dynamic playlist; whenever you play an album, that album shows up on the list automatically. To view the list, simply press the DJ List button below and to the right of the scroll wheel. You can also manually add songs to the end of the list using the DJ List Add button, which is just to the left of the DJ List button. And you can clear the list or shuffle it.
The sound quality of the streamed music is better than I'd expected, though my test files were encoded at very high bit rates. The compression that occurs during Bluetooth 1.2 (A2DP) streaming is within the acceptable limits for many listeners, though it still wreaks havoc on certain types of music with prominent cymbals (such as jazz). And audiophiles, or even people who aren't used to listening to compressed music and who have good home stereos, will certainly notice the "Bluetooth bite." Still, this system will satisfy those who just want to hear the music without wires in the way—and who aren't overly concerned with truly pristine audio quality.
The Logitech Wireless DJ is a solid lower-cost alternative to the Wi-Fi–based Sonos ZonePlayer system, though it can't handle multiple simultaneous streams. Its sound quality will please many ears, setup is simple, and the remote is intuitive, if not as responsive as it could be. Best of all, the system works with protected content—and any other type of audio, because the transmitter basically acts as an external sound board. I hope Logitech will release a version of StreamPoint for Mac OS X, so Mac users can use this product as well.
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