Escient FireBall ZP-1 Network Music Player

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The ZP-1 is the latest FireBall Networked Music Player that provides all of the familiar on-screen browsing and control features of the Escient FireBall. Each ZP-1 provides independent audio, control, and on-screen music access, allowing you to play music from a FireBall server independently in every room of your home.
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Technical Details

- Use your TV to access and play all your digital music on your home theater system or in different rooms
- Supports streaming PCM, MP3, FLAC (CD Quality), WMA, AAC
- Built-in 10/100BaseT Ethernet networking; Wired IR, RS232 and Ethernet port for 3rd party external control interfaces
- Web interface for remote control via web browser; PDA interface for controlling from any pocket-sized web device
- Wireless network compatible via optional WiFi 802.11 network adapters
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 "Buggy software, difficult to use music manager on PC" 2008-03-21
By M. Johnson (San Diego, CA USA)
I have had two of these for about a year now. In that time, I've discovered these issues:



1. The Fireball PC software used to manage your music from a PC or Mac is kludgy, slow, and unreliable. I have never been able to get it to run without crashing on my iMac running Leopard. Escient claims it works on an iMac, but it doesn't, in my experience. (And I am running a brand new iMac purchased in December of 2007). As a result, I have to run the Escient PC software on a Windows PC rather than a Mac.



2. If you are used to music player software like iTunes, Escient's PC software will drive you nuts because it is so slow and crude. It feels like it was designed in 1996 and has never been usability tested or updated since. For example, there is no way to simply play all songs by an artist--which you can easily do in iTunes or Windows Media Player. With Escient's software, to queue up all the songs in your collection by an artist, you must first add all the artist's songs to a playlist, and then play that. For guests at your house who want to simply hear music by one artist, it's a perplexing, counter intuitive process. Also, the PC user interface is often very slow to load and refresh. (I am running it in a house that is wired throughout with gigabit switches and cabling.)



3. Escient playlists will not hold more than 500 songs.



4. When playing songs in a playlist, I found that the playlists often stop playing for no apparent reason.



5. With the PC software used to manage and play music from your computer, there is no way to scroll through albums and songs. Instead, you have to use a page down button, which only moves you through about six albums or songs. Because there is no way to scroll through your music library, it's a huge pain navigating extensive music collections using the PC software. I have contacted Escient about this, and they said they do not have an update to the PC software planned. Oddly, you can scroll through music when using the TV version of Escient's software. It's just that the scroll functionality is missing on the PC.



6. On the upside, Escient is extremely quick to get back to you when you contact them with support questions. I've contacted them about all the problems above. Unfortunately, the responses I have gotten to most of these issues is either that's just the way it is, or it's a bug in the software that Escient has not fixed. That or they involve complicated workarounds that defeat the purpose of installing a user-friendly system for managing and playing your music collection.


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NETGEAR Wireless Digital Music Player

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NETGEAR's Wireless Digital Music Player lets you enjoy your digital music files stored on your computers and unlimited, worldwide Internet radio with your friends and family throughout your home. It connects your existing home stereo to your home computer network so you can listen to the digital music collection from any PC on your home stereo system. You can also listen to music directly from a 30,000 track digital jukebox using the RHPSODY¿ service (only available in U.S.) or hear thousands of Internet radio stations even when your PCs are turned off. Easy-to-install software on one PC automatically finds all your music files on any networked PC and collects them into one complete database. The remote control and stylish user interface let you sit on the couch and wirelessly stream MP3s or Windows Media format files from any PC on your home network straight to your stereo! The MP101 supports many PC operating systems, not just Windows XP, and the LCD display means you don't need to turn on your TV when you want to listen to music.
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Technical Details

- Streams and plays MP3s and Windows Media format digital files from all of your networked PCs and Internet radio directly to your home stereo
- Compatible with your existing 802.11b or 802.11g wireless home network
- Remote control and vivid LCD interface for easy browsing of music collection
- Listen through your stereo, boom box, headphones, or powered speakers
- Compatible with Windows 98, 98SE, Me, 2000 or XP
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 "Great Purchase" 2008-06-23
By Milo (Eastern Canada)
I picked one of these up at a local computer store last week for $39.00 and love it. Took a little while to get onto my wireless network, but now streams music into my hifi system flawlessly, giving me essentially a 200GB MP3 player. User interface a bit primitive compared to latest colour screen portables, but it gets the job done and seems to have picked up the other playlists and favorite categories from my other media software. Output seems a little low compared to the line out on my portable, but that can easily be adjusted by volume. One of the big advantages is the ability to use higher bitrates for ripping music to maintain optimal quality. Not sure if they still make them but recommended if you can find one. Use the latest software which apparently fixed many earlier issues that put people off. Since I did this original review I have picked up a second one off ebay and discovered some features I didn't know were there. For example you can do a search within each music category using the remote keys to type in a name. You can also, by holding down the arrow buttons, fast forward through your music database. Overall a great cheap way to enjoy your music collection straight from your PC to your home stereo.

 "terrible product" 2008-02-23
By lw (cerritos usa)
Just a terribly designed product and it wastes your time,freezes up all the time, and you lose all your playlistS and songs and have to reload,their outsourced c/s dept is a joke and give out erroneous info,save your money and avoid this netgear product.

 "Falls short on many fronts" 2007-07-14
By E. Barnes (Solana Beach, CA)
About the only thing this media player was good for was connecting to Internet radio. It failed at streaming more than one song in a row from my PC. It also doesn't have WPA security for the 802.11b so you're best to hard wire it.



Since I don't think you can buy it anymore, I'm not sure what good this review is, but if you're thinking of getting a used one from somebody, I'd recommend you steer clear of the MP101. There are other alternatives that I'm told work much better.



Oh yeah, I spent about 3 hours on the phone with Netgear tech support (sure sounded to me like everyone I spoke with was in India) and they were unable to solve the problem.

 "Decent nont wireless though" 2007-02-08
By Jose Borrego (McAllen, TX)
So I ordered this and surprisingly found this 250 dollar product for 30 dollars , i got standard shipping came in about 5 days, installed the cd to my desktop in my living room, which is where i have my roadrunner Cable modem, and my netgear Super g 108mbps wireless router, sothat all goes good, than i connect the player and i put the red and white audio cables in my reciever and i turn on the netgear, and it says found wireless network, it found it but when i tried to log on , nothing just this network not available, after finding it and putting the name of my network right there, so than i connect the short ole ethernet cable to the 2nd port on my router , and i connected the green audio cable that was going from my speakers to my computer , to the player. i turn it on, it says wired network found, bam it has my netowkrs name, and sure enough all the songs i uploaded onto the program they gave me, were there. i was so releived thihnking i had wasted 37 dollars. so i go online find the firmware 3.7 ithink and i do all taht jazz than when i turn it on it finds my laptop and all my music i have there. i was like whoa amazing, i forgot to include taht i had installed the program in my laptop as well. so i had songs there on my laptop, and my moms songs on the desktop. now i just need to buy a 50 foot ethernet cable to run along the wall to my receiver than i can put the player on top of my audio reciever and plug in the redwhite to redwhite and bam 5.1 surround. lcd screen is bright and easy to see, control is very handy, no buttons on player, so my suggestikon do not lose the remote.all in all worth 37 dollars.

 "Works perfectly with other server software" 2007-02-01
By Efthymios Kallos (Los Angeles, CA USA)
Many of the problems that are being mentioned have to do with the server that netgear provides with the package. Don't bother to use the CD. Don't even bother to download the new version from the netgear website because it has issues.



The MP101 is a client that supports the UPNP protocol for streaming music. You can use any other software that can be installed as a server as long as it supports the UPNP. Two good examples are TwonkyMedia and Windows Media Player 11.



Specifically, windows media player 11 (that comes with Vista) has a built-in UPNP server. So when you have both the MP101 and the Windows Media Player (WMP) 11 on, the WMP will recognize the client and start streaming music to it. Then you go to the MP101 and acccept the WMP11 as a server. The interface is much better that the default server that netgear provides, since you can instantly see now whatever you have imported in the WMP library, including the fact that you can browse the music directories directly!



Users with Windows XP can also download WMP11 to enjoy these features.



Given this setup, I connected the MP101 wired to my router and using WMP11 I never had any problems browsing and playing my music. It also worked perfectly with my Rhapsody account.






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Escient FP-1 Music Manager with Universal Dock for iPod

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The FP-1 provides all of the great on-screen music management features you expect from a FireBall for your iPod. It's a complete FireBall Music Manager with all of the custom install features you need to provide seamless integration of iPod music into any home audio system. The FP-1 can also stream music from any FireBall music server or PC/Mac with or without a docked iPod. The FP-1 even allows other FireBalls to access and play music stored on the iPod including music purchased from the iTunes Music Store.
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Technical Details

- Browse and play digital music stored on any FireBall Music Server, PC, or Mac
- Use your home theater to experience iPod audio, video, and photos using the Fireball interface
- Supports iPod nano (1st and 2nd generation), iPod mini, iPod with color display, iPod with video
- Web interface for remote control via web browser; PDA interface for controlling from any pocket sized web device
- Stream iPod audio to other FireBall media managers and networked players
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 "Pile of Garbage" 2009-01-25
By T. Phillis (Phoenix, AZ USA)
This product is a pile of garbage. I have a brand new 80 gig classic Ipod that I have been trying to get to work with this product for over 3 months now. I have structured wiring in my house and I have everything set up to distribute the IR Controls to this unit, and have the video and audio ditributed throughout my house. When the product was actually working, I had to reboot it every three or four days, becuase the software would lock up for no apparent reason. Lately, when I updated my Ipod with new Music, the unit just locks up, claiming it is updating the database. I am on my second unit (the first one was repaired by Escient), and I am now experiencing the same problem. This product should have never been released, it hasn't gone through the proper quality control testing to be released to the general public. Do not buy this unit. This product seemed too good to be true, and it actually is too good to be true, becuase it doesn't work.

 "music client" 2009-01-06
By Christopher Malavasi
escient is a great product, i control it with a philips tsu 9600 and

rfx 9600, this is a music client, you will need to buy a music server or connect an ipod.

i will give a three star because to controll it with the computer web page is very slow. They need to make a software to speed thing up..

 "They got it half right; need to hire "younger" software engineers" 2008-10-18
By Robert L. Rauch (Chappaqua, NY United States)
I was pretty excited when my AV guy told me that there was a product that could not only dock my IPOD but also play the music I have stored in my iTunes on my PC even without the iPod. And, indeed, the Escient FP-1 Music Manager Universal Dock for iPod does just that. Unfortunately, the software appears to have been written by software engineers whose careers were aborted in the days of MS-DOS 3.1 or maybe Windows 95. The software is slow, klugey, non-intuitive and just plain hard to use. The limitations are truly surprising. If you are are used to the flexibility, ease of use, and design of iTunes, you may despair and just stop trying to work with this woefully inadequate software. It's really too bad because the product hardware works pretty well (even if the latency of response is pretty slow). A complete overhaul of the software, not a simple patch, would be imperative for me to consider increasing my rating from 2/5.


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Escient FireBall SE-80 Digital Music Manager

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The award winning Escient FireBall Digital Music Manager is now available at a more affordable price! You get the same great features as the current FireBall Music Managers, including extremely easy to use on-screen interface, 80GB of music storage, automatic disc recognition, built-in CD-RW drive, free Internet Radio, network file sharing, web browser control and streaming, multi-zone support and several new features such as a PDA web interface, WMA audio, Shoutcast Internet Radio, gapless song playback, enhanced widescreen user interface, and the ability to "skin" the interface for the ultimate customization for your customers - all at a new low price. The FireBall SE-80 is the perfect solution for entry-level single room and IR based multi-room distributed music installations.
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Technical Details

- 80GB hard drive--enough storage for large music collections
- Built-in CD Player – play any standard CD and get the cover art, artist, title and song list on-screen
- CD Burner – create the perfect mix CD to play in your car, office, or portable CD player
- Fast CD Ripper – copy a CD to the internal hard drive in MP3 format in less than 5 minutes
- Multi-Zone Support – Connect one FireBall to another FireBall to share the music, double the storage capacity, and create a second music zone or add FireBall Network Players for music in every room
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 "Not what I expected" 2009-10-05
By Herbert H. Newton (Florida)
Liked the features of the unit so tried it out. Loaded 220 Cd's and the red light goes a flashing. Reboot etc to no avail. Returned to Escient. My UPS ticket said it arrived on a Monday. The repaired unit was on my doorstep Wednesday PM !! Escient said they replaced the HD and upgraded my power supply.( apparently the one whose fan runs every half hour even when it was off,,annoying feature)Saved all my previous loaded music tho.

Good news so far...Then started to load my remaining 100 or so CD's. Program locks up.Cant get out of the one window,,, would continue to load music but loading progress would indicate 32 minutes to load a 48 minute CD !!

That was it for me.Returned for a refund.

 "nice product, expensive to repair !!" 2008-03-25
By Robert Mcneil (philadelphia, pa United States)
I bought this a little over a year ago, the mother board just died -- out of the blue, no warning. The escient customer service is very very good (they dont out source to india, ireland etc). It cost me almost $300 to have it repaired !!. So, like i said, its an excellent product, but for almost $1000 I think they might be able to cut someone a break.

 "Essential Component for Your Stereo" 2007-07-20
By Electronic Gadgetphile (St. Paul, MN)
I bought a new house and first became aware of the SE-80 when the Home Theater installer recommended it. I was initally skeptical and not too willing to pay close to $1,000 for what I considered an iPod on steroids. Ultimately, I relented and went with the installer's advice and included it in the system. I am really glad that I did because the SE-80 does everything I hoped for and more. In my installation the unit is hooked up to the home network, Sony XBR LCD and stereo system. I have numerous albums loaded on the 80 GB hard drive and was able to do it wirelessly from the iTunes application on my laptop. You just network into the SE-80, open the folder for adding music and drag and drop the mp3 albums out of iTunes into the folder. You can then call up the albums on the TV and select the ones you want and you're good to go. Another feature I really like is the Internet Radio which brings in numerous stations from across the net including several choices of NPR which is difficult to receive OTA where I live. All in all I really like the unit, the documentation is great, it is simple to use - only wish it was a bit less expensive. Having said all of that, I would buy it again.


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VTech IS9181 WiFi Streaming Music Device with Access to Online Content

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WiFi Streaming Music Device with Access to Online Content
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Technical Details

- Stream music across the 802.11 b/g WiFi network with "Best-in-Class" range. Brodband Internet service and a home WiFi network router are required
- Listen to Internet radio from the available 11,000 stations with no monthly fee
- Access Internet radio stations from our user-friendly online site or on the device itself
- Play music from any audio device (I.e. CD player, MP3 player, etc.)
- Connect to any stereo system or powered speakers to access sreaming internet radio or music files stored on a PC or Mac
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 "It's a basic, easy-to-use internet radio, but it could've been so much more." 2009-10-14
By alltheusernamesaretaken
(Disclaimer: I received this product from the Amazon Vine program.)



"So much potential" -- that's what I couldn't help but think every time I played with this radio over the course of a few weeks.



First, the good: It works. That's actually saying a lot: In an age of over-complicated gadgets and annoying setup routines, this radio was easy to set up and straightforward (if just a bit slow) to use. Plugged it in, turned it on, entered my hotspot info using the control wheel and beautiful color screen and was presented with a list of genres and stations. Navigation takes a few seconds between each screen, but not long enough to be an issue. Pick a station, it starts buffering, and within a few seconds I'm listening to radio from the Internet -- woohoo, welcome to 1999!



And that's the thing, unfortunately. Anybody who's likely to be interested in this product is probably already tech-savvy, and expecting them to be pay this much for a single feature (standalone Internet radio) is, in my opinion, unrealistic when another $50 will get you an iPod Touch and some decent speakers which, together, can do much more. A little more than that would get you a full netbook.



The product's best part, its simplicity, is perhaps also its fatal flaw. There's no Pandora or Last.fm support. There's no Windows Media Center or even Windows Media Player "shared media" support. You CAN listen to your own music, but to do so you have to create a new user account on your computer and manually share the files; the radio can only browse through them in folder mode and has no playlist or even shuffle support. Beyond that, expandability is limited to adding your own internet streams through the "My Stations" feature, which to its credit works well enough, but overall this device is just a bit too limited for my tastes given its pricing.



I originally envisioned it as a full-time music device, replacing my laptop as my primary source of tunes. That didn't work out because of its limitations. Then I just left it in the kitchen, thinking I'd make breakfast every day to a weather report and some radio. The weather feature is too clunky and slow (taking several screens and about half a minute to download the info), but at least the radio portion works well enough: Push the On button and the radio automatically connects to the last station and starts playing. You can also set it up in alarm mode if you want to wake up to music.



So, ask yourself: Is basic internet radio all you want? Do you want it in one simple-to-use, custom-designed device? Is the price acceptable to you? If all of the above is true, I'd say the VTech fits the bill. If you want more power from your fancy internet gadgets, however, I'd look elsewhere.

 "Versatile and room filling sound, but a sub woofer which is substandard and weak WiFi should be a consideration" 2009-09-17
By Anonymous (United States)
The controls are simple and easy to use, but the subwoofer becomes overstresssed around 40% of volume and more of an annoyance.



The lack of basic treble / bass adjustment controls is frustrating and can't be adjusted without using a PC or external player as the source and with finer controls found in basic speakers for 1/3 the price.



The polished case is elegant without pretension and scratch resistant, recessed controls make it suitable for resting items w/o risking accidental buttstructions and a simple jog wheel makes it easy to configure.



The WiFi antennas are weak and the Wireless Network Finder doesn't consistently locate every available network at the first try, you may have to repeat the "Find Network" function repeatedly unless the VTech is inside the same room and practically next to the access point.



A warning about configuration, settings including WiFi keys and network affinity are lost if power is interrupted, even a minor glick that may leave the VCR and Microwave clocks alone will flush all of the settings and requires reprogramming of favorites and WiFi keys, there doesn't seem to be a remote console or management software and frustrating if you can't provide highly reliable power.



Entering WiFi keys is annoying, the onscreen AlphaNumeric keyboard only scrolls left <--> or right and only a network named "A" with "aaaa"'s as the password are convenient to use.



The vTech can retain these items with six AA batteries but they won't display the time nor provide Alarm clock functions and a household with power issues and heavy sleepers shouldn't replace their clock radio just yet. Even when kept on steady power, the device still drained the batteries and trickled out 50% of their capacity in three weeks.

 "Who's VTech?" 2009-09-17
By Frederic Woodbridge (ID, USA)
This impressive-sounding "device" is simply a radio with Internet capabilities, but so be it: we'll call it the IS9181.



The IS9181 is a cute little gadget that didn't take me long to get working, which is a plus, but there were various little annoyances that I thought detracted enough from using it that I have decided to give it a less glamorous review: 3-and-a-half stars.



I subject most electronics to what I call the "dumb male" test: is it possible to set it up without reading any manuals of documentation and if so, how long would it take to get the majority of the features working. I award a five-star rating if I can get it operational within 15 minutes. I'm happy to report that I was able to get the IS9181 working within 10. (5 stars)



Plugged in, the operating buttons are easy to read, but only if you're directly above them but even with that slight drawback, the menus were intuitive to navigate and the device to configure. Anyone who's used any electronic device within the last five years should not have too much difficulty working the IS9181. The rotating wheel used to move backwards and forwards had a pleasing feel to it while the colorized menu on the front was clear and readable. I soon had the device connected to my WiFi access point easily. The speakers are pretty good with the woofer hidden directly underneath adding a nice bit of depth to what could have been a teeny sound system.



Within another five minutes, I was streaming music from Internet radio stations around the world. I do wish I could choose/sort the stations according to their streaming speeds, however. In addition, all the stations are arranged alphabetically, which can be a real drag to sift through. (-0.5 stars)



The range of musical styles and genres is impressive as is the fact that with just a few clicks, it is possible to enter your ZIP code and get the weather report both for today and five days ahead. When not working, the display shows the time (although it is not intelligent enough to use Daylight Saving Time automatically; -0.5 stars). It is also a bit inconvenient that the rotating wheel used to highlight menu items cannot also be used to choose the item, instead of having to click on the "select" button to the side. (-0.25 stars)



A little weirdness happened when I chose the "Popular stations": of all the stations, the device thought was the most popular a *Dutch* talk radio station. Strange :-)



A small remote control comes with the IS9181 which, considering how difficult it would be to be fumbling around if you use it as a bedside alarm clock-radio, is a boon. However, mine simply stopped working after only one use . (-0.25 stars)



Apparently, it was also possible to add stations by registering on the manufacturer's website. I haven't bothered to try although that sounds like a good idea. The other slightly annoying bug is that, when the device is turned off, it disconnects from the access point and turning it back on and attempting to do anything related to online activity throws the device into a loop of error messages with no way of breaking out until the WAP is back online.

 "Pretty sweet" 2009-09-17
By - Kasia S. (New York City)
This radio player is pretty good but I still love my Logitech Sequeeze box better, call me silly but upgrades aren't always better. The screen display on this one is color and bright enough where it annoys me at night, I often think of places I can use it in that wont be staring me in the face when I'm trying to sleep. Also when not using the remote, the control buttons are on top, which makes it a little cumbersome to use, I prefer the Squeezebox set up of front buttons and dials.



Easy to use and sounds good, so far it's not bad , but the search option can be tedious and I do love the weather forecast at front, useful when I don't have time to turn on the tv or search the net for the weather. I do love these devices, they reach out to so many cool internet radio stations that I would never hear otherwise, and I like setting up my favorites and with one click being able to hear great sounds.



For the price this is a good pick and it's not super huge so finding a place for it is a cinch.

 "The best internet radio I've tried" 2009-09-17
By J. Moore (Garden of Earthly Delights)
I've tried a couple of Internet radios and haven't been too impressed with sound quality and ease of setup, the VTech IS9181 was a pleasant exception. Out of the box, setup was a breeze. I am impressed with the sound from the small built-in speakers, and the unit does support plugging into external stereo or speakers.



I have yet to try the file-sharing feature, but the ability to stream music or audio books from my PC is very cool. I have had no issues with the wireless.



I love that this unit displays the weather forecast on the front - it's a very cool little add on. You can plug in other audio sources, but I'd love to have a built in iPhone jack (that wold make this just about perfect for me).


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