Music Server System Sound & Vision 2009 (644.9Kb)

ELECTRONICALLY REPRINTED FROM test reports John Sciacca soundandvisionmag.com FEBRUARY/MARCH 2009

Sooloos offers the Source: Five ($5,000), which is identical to the One but has five Sooloos analog outputs. Ethernet connections can either be made directly to the Source or to music storage and server system a standard network switch or router. While my review system featured the Store:One, Sooloos has since phased out nce thought to be niche prod- SETUP that component in favor of the Twin- ucts, digital music players Unpacking the 70-pound box containing store, which has an identical form factor have become nearly ubiqui- Sooloos’s Source:One, Store:One, and but contains a mirrored 1-terabyte hard O tous. Between iPods, comput- Control:One components, I was struck drive to automatically back up your music ers, and smart phones — not to mention by the system’s build quality and appear- library in case of drive failure. A/V receivers, gaming systems, and even ance. With their machined-aluminum After the components power up and TVs — you’ve probably got a number of chassis and elegantly understated front discover one another, the Home menu devices at home that can stream and play panels, these components exude high- appears on the Control:One’s screen with digital music. And while these devices end panache. selections for Music, Settings, Informa- can do a serviceable job of sorting and The second thing I noticed was the lack tion, and Shutdown. Selecting Music playing music files, chances are you’re of a user’s manual. Upon requesting one, takes you to your stored music library. looking for a richer, more elegant solu- I learned there isn’t a manual. While you Going to Settings reveals options like tion. For the well heeled, there are a few could argue that the system is so easy to adjusting cross-fade time between tracks servers that fit the bill, like those from use that a manual is superfluous, I’d coun- (from Off to 10 seconds), browsing prefer- Kaleidescape, ReQuest, and Qsonix. ter that the Sooloos is also a luxury prod- ences, and volume leveling. And Informa- But a new contender has entered the uct not unlike a 7-Series BMW or a hyper- tion displays the number of albums and high-end server arena. Two years ago, expensive timepiece, and that it should tracks currently in the library, as well as I discovered Sooloos tucked away in a include documentation that befits such a the available drive space. small downstairs area at the CEDIA Expo purchase. A slot-loaded CD drive for import- in Denver and was instantly enamored. Installation was simplicity itself. The ing music is tucked discreetly into the The company’s founders have music- Store:One and Control:One have only Control:One touchpanel’s base. Putting industry backgrounds, and Sooloos was power and Ethernet connections, while it there was a great idea. Since you’ll be borne from the need to manage their mas- the Source:One features a four-port Net- constantly accessing the touchpanel, it’s

sive music collections. They also wanted work switch, along withLOGO WITH analog NO BACKGROUND and coax SCREEN- the perfect place for importing music, the experience to be fun, social, and light- ial digital-audio outputs, both simulta- especially if the system’s other compo- ning-fast. After 2 years of waiting, a sys- neously active. For house-wide systems nents are hidden in an equipment room. tem finally arrived. where multiple streams are needed, Brilliant, Sooloos! CDs took 8 to 11 minutes to import with the tracks ripped simultaneously in FLAC format and in 192-kbps MP3 for transfer to portable players. While FLAC’s lossless compression saves drive space, a system this expensive really should also offer an “audiophile option” to import in WAV format as well as in higher-rez MP3. (You can also import previously ripped songs from computers on the network as long as LOGO WITH BACKGROUND SCREEN they’re in the FLAC or MP3 format.) There’s also no remote control, because the system has no IR capabil- ity, period. Sooloos does provide a Cre- stron interface, plus the Conrol:One panel can run Crestron X-Panel proj- ects — a huge added benefit for Crestron owners, because using the Sooloos basi- cally gives you a free 17-inch house-wide touchscreen controller. For the rest of us, Sooloos has an application called Control:PC so that you can control the system using a computer hooked into the test reports Sooloos Music storage and server system

be quickly generated based on your most ting you jump in and insert selections. For The Short Form frequently played songs, or from songs instance, if you get the urge to hear a dif- played or added in the last day, week, ferent song or album while Swimming in a Snapshot month, or over longer periods of time. You certain genre, simply browse to the genre can even generate them based on a partic- and hit Play Next. Once that song or album Audiophile-level build quality and a GrAYSCALE ular decade or record label! is finished, Sooloos returns to Swimming terrific user interface let this server When you select an album, the touch- mode without missing a beat. do much more than just manage a panel displays a host of information, Sonically, the Sooloos system was music collection including the date it was released, the date utterly beyond reproach, producing you added it to the Sooloos library, and detailed and engaging audio. Delicate Plus other albums by that artist. You also get sounds like soft brush strokes on cymbals :: High-end look and build quality the option of reading a full album review. or the subtle nuances and inflections in (Having immediate access to reviews helps voices were clearly audible. I felt that the :: Simple yet powerful touchpanel you rediscover gems in your library.) Sooloos reproduced music as faithfully to interface Tabs on the album-view screen can the original as my system would allow. :: Easily handles even the largest music show the genres and Moods an album falls collections into, along with a very cool Credits option BOTTOM LINE :: Stellar sound that lists everyone who worked on a par- Sooloos is a phenomenal music server that ticular album. This offers another great combines style and performance in equal + way to explore your music library as well measure. Music lovers with large collec- Minus as your own music preferences. For exam- tions will be hard-pressed to find some- :: No IR control ple, I like Cannonball Adderley’s sax work thing that does a better job at any price. :: Pricey on Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue. By select- The company also plans to shortly intro- ing Cannonball Adderly in the credits tab, duce a photo, movie, and online compo- Price $11,600 I discovered that he performed on eight nent that will be compatible with all its other albums in my library. Nice! existing systems. Based on how Sooloos –same network as the system’s compo- Finding what you want gets a lot handles music, these additions should cat- nents. While this is nowhere near as ele- harder as the size of your stored music apult the system into rare territory indeed, gant as the panel interface, it will let you collection grows. Randomly playing the making it a real contender for the title of queue up and change music. Also, iPhone entire library produces a hodgepodge of ultimate server. S&V and iTouch users can control the system, results, and even narrowing your choice thanks to Wi-Fi. to Play Jazz likely won’t deliver desired results. Sooloos’s solution to this problem Key Features PERFORMANCE is Focus. After I selected a combination :: Advanced interface easily tames even Ultimately, a server’s job is to make it as of Moods and subgenres, Sooloos dialed the largest music collections easy as possible for you to find and play in exactly the style of music I wanted to :: Remote backup and location your stored music, and that’s where hear. For example, choosing the Soothing synchronization for protecting your Sooloos truly excels. With no manual, I and Sensual Moods options produced 473 music library and for sharing it in just jumped right in and started explor- albums — way too many. By additionally multiple locations ing the system. Thankfully, the smartly selecting the Vocal/Easy Listening genre, I :: Twinstore 1-terabyte drives redundantly designed interface greatly simplified this. was able to whittle the list down to a more store up to 2,400 CDs in both lossless And if you get stuck, several screens have manageable 30 choices. But selecting the FLAC and 192-kbps MP3 “?” icons offering page-specific help. Lounge and Torch subgenres produced 10 :: Additional Twinstores can be used to The big Control:One touchpanel makes relevant albums. That’s focus! increase storage capacity music browsing a treat. The main screen While there’s a “Focus on albums like :: Focus and Swimming modes provide displays eighteen 2 x 2-inch covers at a this” mode, I would have appreciated a sophisticated ways to find and enjoy time, and it lets you page through addi- Pandora-esque feature like AMG’s Tap- your music tional screens literally as fast as you can estry or iTune’s Genius to highlight the :: Source:One single-source output push a button. When you know what style of a single song. Fortunately, Sooloos ($4,000); 17 x 23⁄4 x 141⁄2 in, 123⁄4 lb you’re looking for, the A–Z keys at the top agrees with me. According to the com- :: Control:One 17-inch touchpanel of the screen let you jump to the first let- pany, something “much better” is coming controller ($4,400); 18 x 131 ⁄2 x 71⁄4 in, ter. Or you can tap multiple letters, like by way of a free software update. 231 ⁄2 lb hitting F-R-A, for example, to go right to Another very cool Sooloos feature is :: Twinstore mirrored 1-terabyte drives for a screen with Frank Zappa albums. You Swimming. This provides a way to keep automatic library backup ($3,200), 17 x can also hunt for albums, artists, songs, or a constant flow of music coming automat- 23⁄4 x 141⁄2 in, 123⁄4 lb any combination of the three using a vir- ically, either from your entire library or SOOLOOS.COM :: 866-606-0333 tual QWERTY keyboard. Playlists can also from your current Focus, while still let-