The Streamium specialises in playing your music collection wirelessly. It supports 802.11b/g the same standards as your s wireless router and WEP and WPA, and theres a wired Ethernet port just in case.
Setting it up is easy: it found our home network in short order and tapping in letters and numbers on the bundled remote control is quick. Then, with the included TwonkyMedia software installed on our media PC, we were browsing through our album and artist lists in no time. The menu system on the Streamium works well: its smooth, and the way menus slide to the left and right make it easy to see where youve come from and how to get back. Not only that, but the remote control is exceedingly useful: plenty of descriptively-labelled buttons means youre not left hunting around for the main menu.
Tinkers' paradiseSound quality is superb. Philips has squeezed in four speakers: two on the front and two more on the side, the upshot of which is that you get a full sound even when the Streamium is backed against a wall. Its capable of enjoyably-loud performance, and bass notes in particular stood out. Our only complaint is the sheer number of ways to tinker with the Streamiums audio: between the Living Sound button, the equaliser, Full Sound and DBB, there are dozens of slightly different ways to configure the audio. While audiophiles are likely spend countless hours getting things just so, everyone else should be warned that its possible to get lost trying to get the Streamium to sound as good as it did when you pulled it from the box.
In the unlikely event that you dislike the Streamiums crystal-clear audio, there are some useful external options. The back of the NP2900 has a co-axial S/PDIF port to allow you to connect to a meatier sound system, plus a headphone jack should you find yourself within cable distance. A final cheer goes to the twin RCA ports, which allow you to use the Streamium as a kind of pass-through device, playing back music from other audio sources.
And, if your media library isnt doing it for you, the Streamium works as a perfectly good internet radio. We found the sound quality to be crystal clear, and searching and favouriting radio stations is the work of moments.
Hey, good lookin'It looks good while it's at it. The excellent 3.5in screen is used to good effect, and the Streamium had no problem finding album art for our songs. When a song is playing, its album art is displayed in the background. The screen is bright and sharp, and contributes to the Streamiums ease of use you can see the menu from far away, which is no bad thing. Its also undeniably neat-looking: its fascia is unspoilt by logos, and the wireless antenna is pleasingly discreet.
Its occasionally less than perfect. We found there was about a four-second delay between pressing Play on a song and playback actually starting. There was also occasional lag between tracks, which can be annoying if youre listening to an album with gapless tracks. Still, the menu makes finding a specific track or album easy, and you can make life simpler still by setting up playlists on your host PC the Streamium found our iTunes playlists with no prompting at all.
Winning ticketWe love the Streamium. Crucially, it sounds superb, and the ability to output its signal via S/PDIF should convert anyone who wants to stream their music through a decent set of speakers. And while it doesnt always perform flawlessly, the occasional lag between tracks shouldnt be enough to put you off the total convenience of playing your music wirelessly without needing to lug a laptop around the house. And, for the ultimate convenience, you could pair the Streamium with a network hard disk that supports TwonkyMedia and keep your PC powered down entirely. The NP2900 is obviously expensive, but it more than justifies its price with excellent performance and a host of well-implemented features.
Author:Dave Stevenson
Copyright 2009 Dennis Publishing All Rights Reserved.
Philips Streamium NP2900
