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Zensonic Z400 Media Player |
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Zensonic Media Server, Test Setup, Notes on uPnP
Installing and running Zensonic Media Server:
The version of Zensonic’s Media Server used for this review is 1.03.RC8, current at the time of writing. Zensonic Media Server was a snap to install and set up - pretty much a matter of hitting the install button and watching it go to work. There were no configuration options required until the software is installed and running for the first time. Configuration is controlled through five tabs in the main window of the application.
 
The first tab, “Shared Folder”, allows you to define which folders of digital media you want to share with the Z400. For this review I shared three folders - one holding some MP3 music, one holding some movies, and another with a few digital photos.
The “Media Files” tab shows some information about the files that are being shared, including the filename, bitrate, location and some ID tag data (the information shown depends on the kind of file).
 
The “System” tab is where you can give your media server a name, which will show up when the Z400 scans for servers. This tab also shows some status information about the Z400 as it plays media being streamed from the media server.
The “Internet Radio List” tab lists streaming internet radio stations that have been set up using Shoutcast. When the media server software is started, a small “drop window” appears, which looks like this:
Internet Radio stations are added by browsing to the Shoutcast website, and dragging the icon of the desired station into the drop window. They then appear in the “Internet Radio List” tab.
The “File Types” tab allows selection of the types of files to be scanned for sharing within the directories defined in the first “Shared Folder” tab. Once the files you want to share have been defined and other options set, the media server can be closed, which minimises it to the system tray. The version of media server under review had no option to run as a service, but it was possible using third party software such as firedaemon.
Connecting the Zensonic Z400 to a TV/home theatre:
The Z400 has quite an array of output options, and the outputs used will depend on what you’re connecting it to. For this review I connected s-video and optical digital audio outputs of the Z400 to my trusty home theatre amplifier, a Yamaha DSP-A1.
The Z400 includes component video outputs as well as s-video and standard composite video, but there is no RF output, so people with really old TVs with only an RF input will unfortunately be out of luck. I’d suspect that there wouldn’t be too many people who’d buy something like a Z400 but only have an RF-capable TV though, so this wouldn’t affect many.
The triple-RCA cable supplied with the Z400 seems to be of good quality, it’s quite thick, with nice solid gold-plated connectors, and is about 1.8m long. This cable is also sold separately by Zensonic (for a recommended retail price of A$47.95), along with s-video and optical digital audio cables. It’s a bit of a shame that the other cables aren’t included in the Z400 package, though I guess that could add considerably to the cost of the unit (nearly A$70 at their recommended retail prices), and would only be used by some.
Connecting the Z400 to the Media Server:
Once Zensonic Media Server was running happily on the Media Server PC, and the Z400 had been connected into my TV/home theatre, it was time to introduce them to each other.
There are two options for connecting the Z400 to the media server - a standard 10/100 wired network connection, and an 802.11g wireless connection. This review only examines using a wireless connection, partly because the majority of users will probably want to connect the Z400 using wireless, as that’s a significant part of its appeal, but mostly because I didn’t have a network cable long enough to reach from my computer room to my lounge room :). In any case, connecting the Z400 into a network is fairly simple, and once connected, the connection type makes no difference to the operation of the unit.
Because of the lack of storage inside the unit, the wireless connection used with the Z400 needs to be fairly stable, and able to provide enough bandwidth to stream digital media without stuttering and dropouts. The PC running the media server software also needs to be able to provide the streaming data reliably. Let’s have a look at how the network has been set up for this review.
Test Network Configuration:
The wireless network that the Z400 was connected into comprised a Linksys WAP54g (v2) wireless access point (running in 54g-only mode) connected into a Linksys 10/100 switch. The PC running the media server software was connected directly into the same switch with Cat5 cabling.
The Z400 supports WEP encryption, so wireless security between the wireless access point and the Z400 was configured to include 128-bit WEP, MAC filtering, and SSID broadcast at the access point was turned off.
Test Media Server PC specifications:
The PC running the media server software for this review was a Shuttle SN41G2 small form factor PC, based on nVidia’s nForce2 IGP chipset, with:- An Athlon 1700+ CPU running at stock 1.46GHz
- 512MB RAM
- An 80GB HDD
- Onboard 10/100 LAN adapter
- Running Windows XP Pro
A word on UPnP:
The Z400 uses “Universal Plug and Play” (UPnP) to communicate with the Media Server PC. UPnP is an architecture designed to enable simpler, form factor-independent networking of devices (not just PCs). The Z400 uses a limited implementation of the UPnP standard, where all control is given to the Z400 itself. The Z400 requests data from the Media Server - there’s no provision to control the Z400 from the Media Server PC.
It’s worth having a bit more of a look at this technology before moving on, as it’s an important aspect in allowing the Z400 to operate correctly, and it also has some potential security implications.
From www.upnp.org: "UPnP™ architecture offers pervasive peer-to-peer network connectivity of PCs of all form factors, intelligent appliances, and wireless devices".
Pervasive is an interesting word to use to describe UPnP, as it has a reputation for being open to exploits. Some virus software and any decent firewall will block the ports it requires (1900/udp and 5000/tcp) by default.
As the Z400 is based on UPnP architecture, it requires connectivity on the UPnP ports to properly connect to the media server, which means that you need to open these ports on your media server PC, if it has a firewall or antivirus software preventing access for the Z400. My Media Server PC has Norton Antivirus 2005 installed, and it was blocking these two ports as “Internet Worm” threats. Provided your PC is behind a firewall from the internet, this is probably not a real issue, and the UPnP ports only need to be opened to the local network that the Z400 is connected into, but it’s something to keep in mind.
As well as unblocking the ports, UPnP relies on windows services to work properly. Under Windows XP, there are two UPnP services. One is fairly obvious, called “Universal Plug and Play Device Host” and the other is not quite as obvious, called “SSDP Discovery Service”, which (as its description notes) “Enables discovery of UPnP devices on your home network”. Both of these services need to be running for the Z400 to properly locate and use the media server. Interestingly, it still seems to find the server without them running, but it takes a long time, and the connection seems to be unstable. Both services were set to run in “automatic” mode on the Media Server PC for this review. The Zensonic Media Server software itself uses port 5643/tcp, so that must also be available to the Z400.
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