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MUZO Cobblestone audio stream receiver review


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MUZO was kind enough to send over the Cobblestone for review. This device supports streaming of Airplay, NAS, Spotify, Pandora and more. Here is a look into the features and the accompanying application. When you start looking to reuse old powered speakers or amp system with new streaming technology, finding something affordable and flexible is tough. I got lucky when I was able to test out the MÜZO Cobblestone.
MUZO Cobblestone
The Look and Design

The MUZO Cobblestone looks just like a river cobblestone that has been smoothed over time as the name suggests. It blends into almost any decor, outside of the power cord that is required. The sleek look makes it become a bit visible and a few people just thought it was a rock for decoration till they saw the cables.  If it was also battery operable it would be an even bigger win.  The top of the Cobblestone has a few function buttons for play/pause and skip backwards/forwards.  Since I seem to always have my phone or tablet around  they never got touched during my tests except the first day.

The back of the device, as shown below, has a micro USB port for power, a speaker/headphone port, an ethernet port and the WPS button for wireless setup. One thing I did not like, and another online reviewer pointed out, was the proximity of the ports if you had wider cable ends.  It made a tight fit and slightly pushed against each other.
MUZO Cobblestone back
The packaging does come with an audio cable, RCA cable, micro  USB cable and even the wall plug adapter. This is a great packaging choice by them to give you all the required parts unlike some other systems where you need cables still.  It supports Hi-Res audio but not digital output.  With the output you can hook it to most any speaker letting you put those old ones to use if they are self powered.

The Application

The MUZO Cobblestone is controlled by their own application, even when using Spotify, iHeartRadio or Pandora.  MUZO Cobblestones can be paired to allow you to send music to different rooms or all rooms together. This is a great pricing against some other systems (Sonos) that do that same capability  The difference is the need for speakers and/or an amp for Cobblestone.

I loaded the app called MÜZO Player on both iOS and Android with no problem. I tested setup using wifi manual configuration and ethernet. WPS is also an option. The self setup over wifi never worked on either platform but manual did each time. Once connected I gave the Cobblestone a location name and got ready to stream. I did have to do a firmware update right away which I think fixed issues other had seen not even weeks ago around iOS9 and other items.

Overall Satisfaction

For the price I definitely want another MUZO Cobblestone to mesh them together to have a better whole house audio using a couple old sets of speakers and amps that were there. I love to easily have streaming music all controlled via my phone/tablet at a great price. Thanks to Muzo for sending the Cobblestone over.

Please check out the product page on SproutUp for more Buzz about MUZO Cobblestone at http://goo.gl/pWLkP6

You can also track down the Cobblestone on Amazon at http://idonot.es/muzocobble. As a favor, even if you are not buying, click Yes  while there on Amazon to at least let them know the review is helpful. Please see all the product reviews here on the IdoNotes blog and subscribe to the SpikedStudio channel or product review playlist  on YouTube