Oct. 11-17, 1999

MP3 won't take over until there's an easy way to pump digital music onto a home or car stereo. MP3 Anywhere solves half of that problem.

MP3 goes wireless

My editorial focus is often a little too autobiographical. It's easy to see what's going on in my life based on what appears in this column or on the Technology Channel each week. When I'm trying to get my personal finances in order you're likely to see a page about Quicken or Microsoft Money. When I get back from a vacation with high-fidelity plane rides, you see a column about portable MP3 players. You may have seen a recent Technology page on the @Home service about budget PCs. That's because I'm in the market after spending a few days with the wireless MP3 Anywhere. It's a system that turns your PC into a true MP3 jukebox that can beam audio to your home stereo system. After trying out the system, I'm now shopping for a low-cost PC to turn into a dedicated MP3 server for my home.

I didn't think I'd go discless for some time, but a day of playing with MP3 Anywhere has shown me how constraining CDs are. When a convenient means of moving music from home to portable to car arrives, I'll make the jump completely. For now, MP3 Anywhere affords me the convenience of digitizing my entire CD collection and having every track available at the click of a button. I can create custom playlists on the PC using standard MP3 software including MusicMatch, RioPort Audio Manager, WinAmp, and RealJukebox. And then I can listen to the music on my legitimate stereo in the living room, instead of on my PC.

MP3 Anywhere, from X-10, is comprised of three main components that use 2.4 gigahertz wireless signals to communicate. First, there's the universal remote control. You can use it to control electronic devices as well as your PC. An RF receiver connects to the serial port on your PC. You can move the mouse on your PC and control your MP3 program of choice using the remote. Second, there is a software component called Boom, which receives and translates remote commands for your MP3 software. Lastly, there are the 2.4GHz send and receive transmitters that work with audio or video. MP3 Anywhere is based on X-10's DVD Anywhere kit, which can send DVD signals from a PC to a television. The DVD and MP3 systems share the same hardware, with different software components.

MP3 Anywhere was a little difficult to set up and configure. You have to position the send and receive antennae just right so that signals come through clearly. And you have to alter your mouse settings files to enable use of the remote control. Also, the video sender includes jacks for right and left-channel RCA plugs, but not many PCs have outputs in that format. You'll need a special cord or adapter to output from a headphone or speaker out jack on your PC to connect to the MP3 Anywhere video sender.

Once configured, the system works quite well. The 2.4GHz technology can effectively work over distances up to 150 feet, even through walls. My PC is two rooms away from my stereo, and the system worked without a hitch. The remote control can even be configured to navigate playlists in RealJukebox.

Speaking of RealJukebox, now that I've gotten a chance to enjoy my MP3 collection pumped through a Marantz receiver and Cambridge Soundworks speaker system, I can honestly say that it's horrible and I may never use it again. In the past, I've been a big fan of RealJukebox. And while the skin features and organization tools remain superb, the most important feature, the audio quality, is subpar.

MP3 tracks encoded with the RealJukebox, at data rates between 64kbps and 320kbps, sounded muddy, anything but CD-quality. For a while, I thought it was the MP3 Anywhere kit. But WinAmp, Sonique, MusicMatch and the RioPort Audio Manager all sound much better than the RealJukebox. I thought that this might have been a calculated move on Real's part. Maybe the company, with a strategic interest in the RealAudio format, was deliberately making MP3 sound worse than RealAudio. But the RealAudio doesn't sound great either.

Fortunately for prospective MP3 Anywhere customers, the included Boom software works with all of those applications, with the exception of Sonique. Particularly nice is the independent shareware application MuzicMan. The organization tools are superb, the interface is crude yet refreshingly simple, and the music quality is excellent. Unfortunately, MuzicMan doesn't encode files or have CDDB connectivity.

MP3 Anywhere is available only for Windows from X-10. If anyone creates shareware that would work with the system on a Macintosh, I'd be willing to pay for it.

Eric Elia is the wireless Technology Editor of @Home Network.