(Welcome to Ryan, one of the finalists vying for a blogging position at the upcoming AT:Home Tech. Comment away.)
Have you spent hours painstakingly converting your collection of CDs into digital files only to realize that now, instead of the tattered cardboard box housing your cd collection sitting in your living room, a beige plastic box with a noisy fan and a plug needs to take its place in order to access and play those very same songs? Hardly the visual tradeoff you want to make in order to minimize the clutter in your space. Fortunately, Roku has the solution to this problem.
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Chances are, if all your music is now digital, you are using either iTunes or Windows Media Player, and this is where the 
Looks like a sleek device--it would look great in my apartment (no more linking my laptop directly to my stereo!). Glad I read the fine print on the Roku website, though--this bit of info gave me a bit of pause:
"Please note: Protected AAC files purchased on the iTunes Music Store cannot be played. And, currently, SoundBridge is compatible with iTunes version 6.0.5 and earlier. iTunes 7.0 compatibility is expected in a future software update coming soon."
Luckily, I don't purchase much music from iTunes...but I do use iTunes 7, so I might wait a bit before dropping a few dollars for this gadget.
sleek--yes, but how do you navigate songs/playlists/albums on this? does it have a remote? is it user-friendly?
apple is supposed to release their streaming media player which does the same thing and will, presumably, be iTunes compatible. Plus it allows you to stream video (initially probably iTunes purchases). Similar price point too, I think.
wordsmith - navigating songs/ playlists/ albums etc. is quite good considering the limited screen real estate. The UI filters the content by the entire library/ artists/ playlists/ albums and you can browse your content with the included remote. Also, there is a search function within these categories that you can use, although it is a bit of a pain having to scroll though letters alphabetically using the remote. Personally I try to keep a good number of playlists organized on the computer and keep the interaction to a minimum...or you can just listen to internet radio stations which the soundbridge streams as well.
I'm also curious to see what Apple comes in with (being a Mac head myself) to strengthen its presence in the home media area....although I've been using the soundbridge for the past year now and it serves its purpose very well.
Ryan, I would love to read a comparison of this system vs. Sonos. Thanks!
Apple already has a way to stream music from iTunes to your stereo, including protected AAC files. It's called Airport Express.
Airport Express sounds like crap. The Roku is good, the Squeezebox is good but the software is infuriating, and the Sonos, while expensive, has the absolute best implementation as well as a remote/controller that everyone else should be mimicking.
I wouldn't think the Airport Express would sound any worse than the other solutions provided you used the digital audio out. I'm betting the Roku (and I know the Sonos) have nicer analog outs.
Sonos is phenomenal, but if you live in a wifi network rich apartment you may have troubles. I had to send mine back because all the interference made the zoneplayer units skip and reboot every few minutes. Sonos had great tech support though who spent a week troubleshooting my issues.
The AirPort Express sounds alright thru its analog output, and also sports digital optical output, so you can plug it straight into most modern surround receivers. Then the sound quality is limited only by the source material and the abilities of your receiver's digital to analog converters (most are pretty good these days).
The big advantages to the AirPort Express are:
1) It's cheaper than most solutions.
2) It's easier to setup than most solutions.
3) It looks a hell of a lot better than most solutions.
4) It works with purchases from the iTunes store.
5) It integrates seamlessly with iTunes, the most popular music library manager out there at the moment.
6) It'll work perfectly with a PC or a Mac.
7) There are plugins which allow it to work with WinAmp and MediaMonkey on the PC, in addition to iTunes (if you hate iTunes - some do).
8) If you decide you don't like to use it as a music player, the AirPort Expressed can be repurposed as a wireless router (for home or portable use), a wireless range expander or a wireless print server. Units like the Roku or Squeezebox can't.
The only downside is, the AirPort doesn't come with a remote control. There are several options on the market though, ranging from inexpensive units that allow you to pause playback and skip tracks remotely to more complex solutions that allow you to view your library and build playlists remotely (some are software-only solutions which convert Bluetooth-capable cell phones or PDAs into smart interactive remotes).
The Sonos unit is great - it turns your whole computer into one big wireless iPod and comes with a phenomenal remote - but the cost is outrageous and most apartment dwellers don't require a solution which streams music to a slew of rooms, which is the real forte of the Sonos (it's much cheaper than the existing wired multi-room solutions on the market).
The best thing about Sonos is you can have zones. I have 3 zones in my house that can have separate streams or play the same song with no delay or skipping. I can control it from the remote or my Powerbook.
The Roku has been compatible with itunes 7 for quite a while. While not familiar with the other products mentioned, this is the best piece of hardware I own.
I have well over 1500 cds in my itunes and I can access them as fast as my ipod.(There is no compatability with songs purchased on itunes however, this doesnt affect me however,and only discouraged me from buying songs from itunes)
The other joy is listening to internet radio. I had XM and Sirius and I can find better, & more eclectic radio played through my stereo with the Roku. Great product.