Orb music player

We started offering a new product a few months ago called the Orb Music Player. A guy from SiriusXM told me about it and how he thought it would fit in with what we do. I decided to get one to try out and immediately realized how cool the Orb is. That said it's one of those products that is easier to use than to describe.

I sent one to DAB to do a more extensive review in this thread later so I will just provide a summary.

The Orb allows you to stream and control wirelessly to any speaker. It works great with SiriusXM, Pandora, iTunes, etc. You connect the small Orb to a speaker or Boombox, and then you download the app you need to play the content. Within minutes you are able to play SiriusXM to a speaker across the room and pause, rewind, etc on your phone. It's very convenient and fun. For us in the warehouse it's an easy way to change the channels without having to use a remote. We just use our Android or iPhone to do it.

Here's a video that helps demonstrate what it does.
Orb Music with SiriusXM Internet Radio.mp4 - YouTube

If you are interested in getting an Orb Music Player we offer them for $79.99 shipped free and so far those that are using them are very pleased.

Watch this: Orb Music with SiriusXM Internet Radio.mp4 - YouTube

SiriusXM was fairly quiet at the Consumer Electronics Show this year but, that doesn’t mean some cool new products related to satellite radio are not kicking around. In fact, one product in particular, ORB, comes in at a great price point and offers functionality that SiriusXM subscribers will love. Have you wanted to stream SiriusXM in your home, but do not want the satellite antenna cable running across your floor? ORB is your answer! Would you like the ability to use your iPhone or Android smartphone as a remote control? ORB is your answer.

The team at TSS-Radio sent over an ORB for some testing and review. Stream SiriusXM Through Your Home Stereo With ORB - SiriusBuzz

That thing looks cool as hell.
I like that you don't have to stream through your phone to use it.

I've been using one for a while now and really like it. I have one in a detached garage (workshop really) and another in the barn. I have one that I take with me while traveling as well (provided I remember it) I've been thinking of getting the Orb TV but I have Apple TV for those needs. Once my wife goes from Apple to Android I'll probably get an Orb TV. I do have an Orb BR but I haven't used it yet. I have a PS3 that I have never hooked-up. Once I hook it up I will use the Orb BR. One of the great features is it will work anywhere in the world. It doesn't have to be on the same network as your music collection. This allows me to keep my collection at my house and listen to it while traveling.

Any idea of I can dl an app for a Kindle Fire?

I'd imagine there is one but I don't have a fire so I can't confirm.

EDIT: It looks like there is one. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Orb-Networks-Controller/dp/B006MIOAAA/ref=sr_1_1?s=mobile-apps&ie=UTF8&qid=1359131850&sr=1-1&keywords=Orb"]Amazon.com: Orb Controller: Appstore for Android[/ame]

Wow, you really know the Orb line.

I think they are coming out with something new. And hoping they have an announcement soon about it.

Love the orb. I don't own one but I have been of fan of their stuff for a while. my squeezebox serves this purpose already (control via my phone) otherwise i'd get this!

About two years ago I was looking for a way to get music out to my barn without taking up space in the conduit with more wires. This serves me perfectly because I have wireless blanketing my entire property (not easy to do but well worth it). I just happened to read a review on some tech site (Engadget I think) and it sold me. When I saw how well it worked I had to get one for my shop even though I already had a system in there. I simply have this hooked-up to my Onkyo in the shop.

Orb Music Review

Taylor sent me one of these after sending me a quick text asking me for my address. I had no idea what he was sending. LOL Anyway, it was probably the worse time in he world for me to try out something new as I've been in the middle of adding some new programs and working with CARF for accreditation. That is why it has taken me several days to finally post.



The Orb Music comes in small box, which includes the user guide, usb cable, power adapter and an audio jack. It looks like the average retail price for this is around $79.

Initial Setup:

You must initially plug the Orb Music into your PC or Mac (Software can be downloaded for Windows or OS-X). Once you get the software downloaded you simply run it and after it reaches a certain point during the setup process, it will ask you plug in the Music Orb. Once finds the Music Orb, it checks for any updates to the firmware. It found there was two firmware updates that were quickly downloaded and installed. The next step is you have to set it up on your wireless network, by entering the required password. This is then saved to the Orb Music and once that process is completed; you'll see a pop up screen saying you can now unplug the Music Orb, plug it into power and connect the speakers in any location within your wireless network.

Connection:

Once you decide where you are going to install it, you simply use the power adapter and usb cable to power the Music Orb. Then connect it to your stereo or other speaker system. In my case I was not going directly to a stereo so I didn't use the include RCA cable. I instead just used a cable that has a 3.5mm plug on each end. I connected the 3.5mm jacks to the Music Orb and my Kicker Boom-box's Aux input. When you first plug it in to power it takes a minute or so to get reconnected with your wireless network.

Using the downloaded Orb Caster software on my Mac Mini I was able to not only access my iTunes library, but also had a choice of several music services. iHeart, Pandora, NPR, SiriusXM, Amazon Music just to name a few. You have to login to these services and all this information is apparently stored somewhere within the Orb Music cloud. It never asked for this information again, even if you use your phone (iPhone in my case, along with iPad mini) to access to Orb Caster and stream music to the Music Orb.

iOS/Android:

Orb Music has apps that can be downloaded from Apple App Store or Google Play Store depending on your device. You have to do this if you plan to use it from your mobile device. As indicated above because you had already set it up from the desktop application. When you connect the first time via your iOS or Android device it already has the username and passwords stored for the services you may want to connect to like Pandora, Amazon Music and/or SiriusXM. Once it connect the music immediately starts streaming to the Orb Device and of course will be heard through the speaker system you have connected.

You can stream music that is already on your device and if you have music in a library on your computer and you are connected to the same network as your computer, you can stream the music from there or you can opt to use one of the supported music services.

I moved it around to several locations within my home and it always connected without issue and streamed the music without interruption. One thing I was looking for was if there would be any cutting out of the sound and what about the sound quality? I had no problem with either of these. I will say that on my Kicker Boom box I did notice a slight reduction in SQ, but you really have to pay attention to notice it.

When I purchased a Nexus 10 one of the things I was most disappointed about was no ability build in like Apple's Airplay. Though Airplay does require an Airplay enable speaker system ($200 plus), Airport Express ($99) or Apple TV ($99) to work. The $79 make this a great alternative for getting music wirelessly to speaker systems in your home or work space. I certainly see this as a very great option more so for Android than iOS, but unless you already have Airplay devices this is certainly a cheaper alternative even for iOS users.

This is very much so a fun little device which makes setting up any speaker system in your home/office for playing back music wirelessly easy peasy...

Check it out for yourself! You can buy yourself one from TSS Radio where they have great customer service. Orb Music Player

I don't work for TSS-Radio, but I have to say WOW they have done a lot work on their web site, it looks great. SIRIUS XM Radio, SIRIUS XM antennas, SIRIUS XM accessories | TSS-Radio

Do newer units not allow you to stream over the Internet, causing your computer to act as a NAS?

Basically, if you can stream it from your computer, you can transmit it through your orb using your wi-fi.

Yes, that is the idea of the Orb. I am wondering if they removed the ability to turn your computer into a NAS. DAB's review makes it seem like that functionality has been removed.

This is what you get if you try to connect outside your own wireless network:

In the case of the Orb Music, you can stream music that is on your computer or one of the music services that is supported. In my effort to stream to my Orb outside my wireless network I get the message in the previous post.

So, just to clarify its just just anything on your computer or if you have the App on your Android whatever music is on your device. They make other Orb devices for doing things outside of music.

Did you setup mycasting?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

I did have it setup, but it didn't work outside my own network. According to ORB web site I should be able to connect even from my cellular network, but I keep getting the message that I must be connected to a wifi network. I won't be able to test that again until tomorrow when I get to the office.

I did reset everything and it appears to work just fine as long as I am on my own network. Let me test it again tomorrow and I'll post back.

However, to answer your question, YES this should work as a NAS by enabling remote access, but thus far I've been unable to get it to work that way. I even did a live chat with them and they tell me I have everything setup correctly. She tried connecting from her side and got the same message I got. So, I don't have high hopes of it working from my office tomorrow.

That sounds like my hardship with Apple TV. I had a horrible time getting it setup at first. I had no issues with Orb so hopefully you get it figured out. It is a great way to extend your cloud services.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

I want to get it figured out, because I think this would be a good add on for the review, but I didn't include it because I was unable to get it to work.

I may try deleting everything and starting over again.

Damn it. Just when I thought I had everything I wanted. Curse you TSS & DAB. Curse you.