Digital Trends

Sondigo Sirocco

June 27th, 2006 | by Ian Bell

Setup and Use

When we first opened the Sirocco packaging and saw the quick start guide, we absolutely cringed thinking that either the real manual was on the software CD or they simply overestimated the intelligence of our review staff (which we have been told is easy to do haha). But we quickly found out that setting up the Sirocco is very easy. First you want to plug in the A/C adapter so you have power going to the Sirocco, then you will want to disconnect your Ethernet cable from your PC (don't worry it's only temporary) and then connect the Sirocco directly to your PCs Ethernet port. Next you will install the software and run through the wizard. The Sirocco software will ask you for which network workgroup your PC is a member of including the SSID name and WEP password. When you are finished with the wizard, simply unplug the Sirocco from your PC and connect it your home theater. You then control the Sirocco using the software installed on your PC and it will output what you tell it to your home theater system. We were dissapointed to find out that the software only supports Windows XP and 2000. There is no Linux or Mac OS support at this time.

We decided to open up the unit to take a look at the PCB board and found that the Sirocco is basically a soundcard combined with a Wi-Fi and Ethernet card. Below is a picture of what's inside. The concept is pretty genius. There is an embedded RISC CPU, and a shield to protect the Wi-Fi receiver. If you are worried avout security, Sondigo includes an embedded security engine that supports WEP (64/128 bits), WPA and WPA2 standards. You will not see this level of security on some standalone wireless routers or gateways.

The inside of the Sondigo Sirocco

We will walk you through the software settings and configuration.

On the Audio Link settings, it will show your wireless/Ethernet network information including the MAC address, Owner Name, and whether the link is active or turned off. One of the most important aspects of any media streamer or audio bridge is the Playback Buffer. Usually these are defined by the manufacturer, but with the Sirocco you can choose to use either of the preset configurations, or choose to define your own. Sondigo calls their buffering technology "Dynamic Sync" with "FlexBuffering" technology. Under the user defined settings, you can tune the buffer from 50ms all the way to 300ms depending on your needs.

The Audio Link Tab Settings

We were told by one of Sondigo's engineers that they are using a proprietary lossless compression (50%) codec loosely based on FLAC. It is sending the music at about 700KB/sec in stereo audio mode and a little more for 5.1. If you place the Sirocco far away from your wireless router, then make sure you set the buffer to the appropriate configuration (a larger ms time) to help compensate for the weaker signal. Under the Audio Link tab you can also connect or disconnect the Sirocco from your PC.