Pinnacle SoundBridge Radio review

Many of us have a considerable collection of music on our PCs.

Although this can be streamed across a home network to a media receiver, these are usually attached to the hi-fi or TV in the living room. Now Pinnacle has produced the SoundBridge Radio, which is designed for the bedroom or kitchen. Basically, it combines a media receiver with a set of speakers and a radio alarm clock.

The media receiver component works in the same way as Roku's SoundBridge music streaming device and has the same distinctive green display display. This has the brightness and retro appeal of an old VCR, but with a useful 280 x 32 resolution for legible text. It's easy enough to set up with your network, but disappointingly it only supports WEP wireless security.

The SoundBridge Radio is one of the few devices that works with iTunes, though only up to version 6, and it won't play music bought from the Apple Music Store. It will work with Windows Media Connect though, and play protected WMA tracks. The interface takes a little getting used to, but the remote is clearly labelled, with nice big buttons.

The speakers sound very impressive considering the size of the device. They are clear and well-balanced, while a separate speaker at the rear adds crisply defined bass. It's easily loud enough for its intended purpose, but the volume scale is badly implemented - it's barely audible below half volume and you'll really only use the top third of the scale on the dial.

There's internet radio, as well as the more traditional FM and AM bandwidths. A headphone jack lets you enjoy music alone, while an SD/MMC card reader means you can play back tracks directly from a memory card. There are two separate alarm settings for couples who rise at different times.

It's a good idea and our only real issue is the lack of WPA security. It's not cheap either, but there's nothing else that does everything this does.