Sirocco Wireless Audio Bridge

Sound, From Here to There, Without Wires

The Sirocco Wireless Audio Bridge is the flagship product of a new company, Sondigo. This wireless audio bridge like many others is designed to simply transport or "bridge" audio from your computer to almost any other AV system,but the Sirocco Wireless audio bridge goes beyond mere bridging and does it with multi-channel capability and Dolby Digital encoding. Now you can enjoy wireless audio in all its glory!

What's Included?

• Sirocco Wireless Audio Bridge
• Detachable Antenna
• AC Adapter
• 3-Foot Ethernet Patch Cable
• Toslink connector cable
• 3.5mm splitter to Dual RCA Connectors
• Instruction Pamphlet
• Software\Driver CD

 Looks like a simple setup, only thing I didn't like was the 3-Foot ethernet cable. I don't care what your doing with it, a 3 foot cable is always too short! But if your geeky enough to buy a product to wirelessly bridge your audio, then shame on you if you don't have an extra patch cable laying around. (or you can't crimp your own!)

On the other hand, it was very nice of Sondigo to include this little baby:

These are made just for us Geeks with crowded power strips and sockets. Plug this onto the prongs of the AC Adapter and it will fit on any power strip!

First Glance

 At first glance the Sirocco Wireless Audio Bridge appears to be your common wireless router. As far as aesthetics go It's slender, lightweight, pure white with Sondigo logos on one side and feet on the other. I wouldn't call it sexy, but it does have a very clean appearance. Though considering it will likely be sitting in your living room near your AV equipment, which is probably gray, silver or black; perhaps something classier than white would have been a better choice of color for the Sirocco unit.

I hope you like LED's, because there is no shortage of LED's on the Sirocco unit. While streaming audio, the LED lights on your unit will start flashing, indicating activity and the types of activity happening. Lights of bright blue and green will shoot forth from the Sirocco for your visual viewing pleasure.

Before we take a closer look at the features, here is an overview from the Manufacturer.

Features:

• Stream your music collection anywhere in 5.1 channel Dolby Digital surround sound!
• Stream wirelessly over your wireless network, or through a connected Ethernet cable
• Send multi-channel audio to your receiver over one digital connection using Dolby™ Digital Live
• Fully compatible with your existing Wireless-B or Wireless-G network.
• Multi-channel analog and optical digital outputs
• Easy Installation with the included Sondigo Setup Wizard
• Easy connect with the included 3.5mm stereo, RCA and Optical Digital cables
• Support every audio player application, and every audio file format supported by your PC
• Supports multiple Sirocco devices on the same network
• Supports every known audio file format, including MP3, WMA, and AAC - even DRM protected files are supported
• Supports all subscription-based music services
• High quality 10 band EQ
• Virtual Speaker Shifter - tune the surround-sound field to your actual speaker placement
• Environmental Effects - EAX2.0, A3D1.0 compatible environmental reverb effects
• If your PC can play it - SiroccoTM can too!

Install and Setup

 If your a decent Geek or even just a tech-savvy consumer, the Sirocco unit will be VERY easy for you to setup. I'm talking plug this baby in and go! But for those who need a little more help or just want to know how it works, I will go into a little more detail.

What do you need to get started? You DO need to have a pre-existing Wireless b/g network or adapter set in place. This is the most important part, as your Sirocco unit will be using your Wi-Fi network to transmit audio from your PC to your other AV devices. Of course you also need a computer with a connection to your Wi-Fi network (Your PC also needs to be running Windows XP Service Pack 2). This is where you will plug in your Sirocco and install the included audio drivers and software.

As for our installation at TechAbsorbed, it couldn't have gone smoother! First you plug the Sirocco into your computer via ethernet and power the unit up. After you insert the CD, drivers and software will be installed very quickly. The software then takes you through a setup wizard which will detect your wireless network and the Sirocco device.

Now the Sirocco is connected wirelessly to the audio software installed on your PC. You can unplug the ethernet cable and move the Sirocco unit anywhere in your home, plugging it into Speakers, a Input on your TV, whatever you want! Anything with a Analog, Digital or Optical connection!

Performance & Testing

The Sirocco unit is refreshingly easy to use. After the quick setup, your only a few clicks away from streaming music wirelessly to pretty much wherever you want, in your home or office. Let's take an in-depth look at the features and how see how it performs.

Software Features

The Sondigo software runs in the background with it's tiny icon appearing on your system tray. Simply double click the system icon and when the sondigo window pops up, just click the "Connect" button next to your detected Sirocco unit and BAM, your computer's audio is rerouted by your new sondigo drivers and wirelessly streamed to the Sirocco unit. That's all you have to do to get up and running, but there's more to the software.

The control software and drivers are powered by C-Media. The audio options via the software offer many of the same features that you would see with the typical C-Media driver software packaged with many modern motherboards. The tab which contains unique options for this product is titled "Audio Link"(shown below).Here you can scan for nearby Sirocco units, Connect or Disconnect to and from them, select a Playback Buffer Mode, and view your Buffer Usage or History, launch the Configuration Wizard as well as some advanced options.

Most of the options are self-explanatory. Some of you may not understand the Playback Buffer though. What the buffer basically does is prevent signal loss or "dropping out" when there is heavy traffic on your network. Though it also adds a delay between when you perform an action (like pausing or changing a song) and when you hear the corresponding sound. Choose a small buffer if you don't want a long delay or choose a large buffer if you want to ensure that your audio doesn't drop out. They even included an option for a custom buffer if you feel so inclined.

I like the layout of the control software, everything is simple and easy to understand, even for a beginner.

Clean, Clear and Fast Wireless Audio

We tested the Sirocco Wireless Audio Bridge in typical Home and Office environment's, at ranges up to 100 feet, with three to five walls between the Sirocco and the Wireless Router. We jacked our headphones into the Sirocco with an analog connection and we did not experience any signal loss, or distortion of the sound quality. The router we used for testing was the D-Link DGL-4300.

As for speed, we tested Gaming by switching the software over to the buffer size recommended for gaming (200ms) and then loaded up Battlefield 2. No matter how fast the explosions and gun fire came at us, there didn't appear to be any lag or distortion of the effects. It was simply beautiful!

The Sirocco would be really nice for streaming audio from your laptop to your home audio system, so when your in the living room doing a little Mobile gaming, you can still get great audio and not have to rely on your crappy notebook speakers.

Compatible with Copy Protection, DRM, etc

Another good point to note is that the installed Sirocco software and drivers act as your Primary audio drivers when you are connected to the Sirocco Wireless Audio Bridge. That way ANY audio playing on your computer is streamed to the outputs of the unit. What this means is that it doesn't matter what file formats or types of media you are playing, any audio can be successfully streamed, doesn't matter whether it has DRM or Copy Protection.

Dolby Digital Live

The Sirocco unit is also Dolby Digital Live compatible. To find out what that means, you can read it better explained at Sirocco's web site. It is a good thing to say the least!

Summary

 My experience with the Sirocco Wireless Audio Bridge was a good one. The product is quality built, it may not be sexy, but it does the job smoothly and efficiently. It is easy to setup, even for a junior Geek. I recommend the Sirocco to anyone who needs a flexible audio solution around the home or office. You won't be disappointed with the ease-of-use or the price.

PROS

• Quality, clear, distortion free audio
• Simple, easy to implement solution
• supports 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Digital Live
• Affordable price to value ratio
• Supports WEP & WPA encryption
• Includes an downsizing adapter for the power transformer

CONS

• Comes with a 3 Ft Ethernet Patch Cable (rather it be at least 6 Ft)
• Aesthetics, it's plain white and covered in text, not too sleek looking

Editor's Ratings

Product Available At: www.Sondigo.com

 We'd like to thank Sondigo for giving us the opportunity to check out their first product under the Sondigo name! We look forward to reviewing more of their products!