Monster's Linux-based network media and automation devices

Monster Cable, the company best known for its, um, cabling, has announced more information about its network media and home automation devices recently displayed at CEDIA. Everything in the Monster Einstein system is controlled by the Nucleus head-end, which runs the home automation and control elements, using Z-Wave and Bluetooth to control sensors and devices throughout the home, as well as interfacing with the media devices on the network. It has gigabit Ethernet and 802.11n network capabilities as well as a VOIP interface, and should retail for around $4000. The $2500 Electron components are the client end points and connect to the televisions and receivers on the network. You'll want at least one Photon 200-disc DVD changer in the system, because even though they're $2400 they have dual transports, meaning two different discs can be played simultaneously over the network. Also plan on attaching one or more of the $4900 Neutron RAID5-capable storage boxes -- each comes with 960 gigs of storage standard but can scale up to 7.2 terabytes. Other devices in the chain include the $1500 Astro Sirius satellite radio tuner with three zones, and the $1300 Tron seven-inch touch panel. Keep reading for more specifics, as well as another shot of the "monster" Photon changer...

Because the system is based on a variant of Linux, extensibility and openness should be better than the other closed-box systems from manufacturers like Crestron or AMX, and should cost less overall. The system is also designed to have a "follow me" mode for remote controls, where the preferences and user interface follow the device being used from room to room throughout the home. The Bluetooth capability means that cell phones, notebooks, and VOIP devices should be able to replicate many of the control functions without requiring a dedicated panel, although that option is still available. As with other home automation and media networks, this system is designed for resale through integrators. Expect more complete details on the connections for the end points and other technical information at CES 2007 when the system will be soft-launched, and look for it to be available from select retailers and custom installers at the end of next March.

[Greg @ Oct 6th 2006 2:03PM]

These things are pretty cool, I saw a competitor product demo where the store DVDs on hard drives. It is like Tivo on fire.

[glacia00 @ Oct 6th 2006 2:14PM]

Coming from a company whose products and practices are a hair from illegal and with a long history of lying to and scamming customers I would avoid this like a plague infested tax-collecting aligator.

[freak1c @ Oct 6th 2006 2:28PM]

glacia00 - can you say more about this? I haven't heard anything about them being shady (admittedly, I've not looked into it) and would like to know more.

Thank you.

[disciple83 @ Oct 6th 2006 2:38PM]

I just can't wait to promise my first and second-born children so I can watch movies at once anywhere in my house! (insert dramatic volumes of sarcasm here)

[Simon P @ Oct 6th 2006 2:39PM]

The components may actually be decent, but if anything like their cables will be hideously overpriced. Aimed at posers with no clue, not the kind of people that read this.....I hope

[Pete @ Oct 6th 2006 2:56PM]

"Because the system is based on a variant of Linux, extensibility and openness should be better than the other closed-box systems from manufacturers like Crestron or AMX, and should cost less overall."

Good Lord, if that's with the cost savings of Linux, how much are the closed solution competitors going to cost? Just in the summary above, you mention a cost of ~$19,000...and that's with only one of the 2.5k "endpoints" and 1 of the 4.9k "whatchamacallits".

[Wonderboy @ Oct 6th 2006 3:16PM]

I think they've got the numbers a little off... According to the link, they're expecting to make the whole package available for "around $8000". Compared to the apparent $40,000 competitors, yeah it's a good price.

Not that it matters to me. Don't think my landlord would appreciate me installing this stuff into my 2 bedroom apartment. ;-)

[glacia00 @ Oct 6th 2006 2:59PM]

balls is right. Wow never wrote that before... lol

The article was a couple years back but I'm sure it can still be found on the web. An interview with one of the management people working in the plant that makes the copper cabling for their products. It says basicly what everyone already knew.

He admitted that the same copper wire coming off of the same machine goes one dirrection to make $01 per yard lampcord and the other direction it becomes $20 per foot Monster speaker cable.

Again no one is surprised by this. I can show you on a network analyzer that the impedance and loss of lampcord is no different than their highest end cables at the lengths you would use for speakers. But they've built a huge business on complete lies.

[o rly @ Oct 6th 2006 3:10PM]

This will be overpriced and offer no benefit over a similar "generic" product, just like their cables. Expect a pushy (possibly brainwashed) sales associate trying to convince you that this is needed more than "solution X" in the near future.

[joshj @ Oct 6th 2006 4:00PM]

Let me preference this by saying I have been at monster hq in brisbane and saw the demo live about 3 months ago. It is killer.

The price points in the article are exactly correct (and less than what we suggested).

They basically hired the guy who did pluto(http://plutohome.com/index.php?) for all development. he was there at the demo and was very impressive. Our company will be getting a "live beta" sometime soon to check this out.

Right now it blows away control4 from what I have seen anhey aren't really attacking AMX or crestron at the higher level in price (MAX, kalidescape etc). But they are really going after the typical family that has digital photos and a decent sized digital media collection, and a decent amount of expendable cash.

This truly is some amazing stuff, so stay tuned with it's progress.


Right now it blows away control4 from what I have seen, and if you were at CEDIA you saw the doors were closed to this booth and they had a bouncer at the door (to keep out prying eyes).

They aren't really attacking AMX or crestron at the higher level in price (MAX, kalidescape etc), but are really going after the typical family that has digital photos and a decent sized digital media collection.

This trueley is some amazing stuff, so stay tuned with it's progress.

[Adam Lenio @ Oct 6th 2006 3:55PM]

actually, cable descriptors such as "oxygen free" do have value, but it is not realized unless you are talking about long term defects due to corrosion and such... the kind of things you'd want to accomodate for should you be placing wire in the walls of your home (I'm sure your landlords would love it, but hardly worth it for you!)

also, the pricing mentioned is targeted at CEDIA folks - these are Custom Electronics Installers - so the actual price will most likely include the tack-on of installation costs beyond whatever they suggest. Possibly not an issue though since they are claiming wireless connectivity. Of course the Gigabit side of things will need to be addressed by copper, especially if they hope to stream more than one HD source on their network.

[Chris Greene @ Oct 6th 2006 11:16PM]

To resond to Adam, yes this product is definetly targeted at teh CEDIA crowd for the first release next year. It's a difficult message. Media over IP, home automation, control, etc. Not really a big box product. However the programming costs we hope to be minimal. We have been working with our retailers and gettiing their input on what connected devices they are installing so that we can make sure those elements can be integrated into Einstein as just a plug-and-play connection. The mistake that other developers are making is that they create the API and then just hope that manufacturers will deisgn products that fit within their architecture. We've spent the last 4 years doing the heavy lifting in the back-end so that we don't have to wait. I'd rather write the drivers and figure out the MAC addresses of gear that my dealers like to use than wait for Panasonic to make an IP camera that will work natively. I'd be waiting for decades. In addition to all that work with non-standards based legacy and IP equipment we are also working with UpNP, DLNA, Z-wave, Windows DRM, and others.

[jimsum @ Oct 6th 2006 3:57PM]

Just to add a counter-opinion on cable, I find that cables do make a difference. I originally scoffed at the idea, but when I actually took the trouble to audition 3 different cables (to connect my digital CD transport to my preamp!); I could clearly hear differences -- and that's with a low-bandwidth digital signal. Changing from lamp cord to expensive speaker cable improved the sound as well.

Measurements are not very reliable when it comes to music. For example, most people would say that MP3s sound pretty close to CDs; but the signal-to-noise measurements on MP3s are crap. Also, I found that the special audio burning mode on my Yamaha CD burner sounds much better than CDs that are burned normally. Both my wife and I could easily recognize the difference in a blind test on a friend's stereo system.

Yah, yah, I know, I am completely deluded; bits are bits. But I'm a cheapskate, I didn't want to beleive cables made a difference, but I found I was wrong. If you haven't actually tried to compare audio cables, you shouldn't necessarily beleive the people that claim it is all a scam. Try it. If you don't hear any difference in your system, good for you, you'll save a lot of time and money by using the cheapest cable you can find. But don't just assume it is a scam because someone else claims there is no difference or can't explain why it is different. Changing your cables just might be a cheap way to upgrade your system.

Also, take a good look at Monster Cable products, they are often just as good as the overpriced competition.

[az1324 @ Oct 6th 2006 11:21PM]

Yes it basically IS pluto and pluto is FREE so you're only paying for hardware and setup.... meaning "This will be overpriced and offer no benefit over a similar "generic" product, just like their cables." wasn't too far off.

[glacia00 @ Oct 6th 2006 4:46PM]

jimsum, you're making a schitzophrenic argument. Your example with MP3s is in fact making my argument for me because as you said many people tell the difference but the equipment built for measuring it can. And it's the equipment that says there is no difference between the cables.

I agree with you on one thing try a blind comparison and not in some shop that is trying to make that extra $200 from you on cables. I've done it with 8 people who swore by Monster Cables and none of them could pick out the Monster cables on their own systems more often than just random chance guessing.

[jimsum @ Oct 6th 2006 6:15PM]

glacia00, my point was more that you need to know what to measure. A measurable difference may not lead to an audible difference, and an audible difference may not be measurable. Are impedance and loss the only significant measurements of a cable? Do those values vary by frequency, or over time?

I'm not sure what your point about cable is though. Are you saying that all cables sound the same or that all cables that measure the same sound the same? Assuming you think it is possible to make a bad sounding cable, maybe Monster cable will sound different than a cable with poor measurements. If there is a difference, someone might just consider that the Monster cable sounds better than another cable.

Is it the price of the cables that bothers you? Do you think people are wasting money buying Monster cable when something cheaper would sound as good? I can't disagree with that, but I'd love to know which cheap cables are better than Monster cable; Monster sells in enough volume that their prices are typically on the low end for fancy cables.

I can't be sure I haven't conned myself into wasting money on cables. But my wife heard the same differences, and I wanted to believe there was no difference between cables. Unfortunately, I don't know how the cables I have listened to have measured; it could be I just haven't found the cheap cables that measure as well as my expensive cables.

I'm glad you did the test with those 8 Monster fans though. Maybe next time they will listen to the cables before buying them and avoid the expense and embarrassment.

[Dobber @ Oct 6th 2006 5:06PM]

Fact is, you can buy very similar stuff to Monster cable for fractions of the cost. I won't argue the whole lamp cord vs oxy free whatever, but you can but a 500ft spool of Matra 12 GA speaker wire (also fancy Oxy-free mega-strand power-happy blah-blah-blah) for less than $100. Similar Monster 12 GA cable is well over $350 for the same spool, and they have some stuff over $1200 per spool that aint much different.

I have no doubt this thing could be cool, as their remote very cool is as well. Problem is it will be significantly overpriced as all of their stuff is.

[Chris Greene @ Oct 6th 2006 7:05PM]

Okay....given dont like our cables (Which is fine. You don't have to buy them and if you do buy them and don't like them you can return them). What does that have to do with Network Entertainment and Control devices? Our cables are hardware. This is software. Two COMPLETELY different groups of engineers. In fact the lead hardware designer isn't even on cables. He has done work in our power categiry before. Are you thinking that by being able to move media over IP and control everything in your house "you won't be able to hear a difference because it's snake oil"? I don't get it.

[madgamer @ Oct 6th 2006 6:53PM]

I think that in an ideal environment the cables might not make a difference, but behind my TV/in the floor with power cables, speaker cables, tons of audio cables and more in a huge rats nest, there is noticibly less noise/fuzz on the picture when using better quality component cables (eg monster or some other brand) as opposed to generic ones. This was most noticible for me on the original xbox, where the super cheapy component cables that came with the hd output kit were a clear step down from better shielded, higher-end cables. I'm not arguing for 200$ per 3' cables or something, but in my expereience, there is some difference between ultra cheap stuff and slightly higher end cables, at least in a noisy environment.

[geese @ Oct 6th 2006 7:02PM]

Who the fuck is the target consumer, Huge Hefner, or Donald Trump?

[Erik Hanson @ Oct 7th 2006 12:25AM]

Let me first say Chris thanks for replying multiple times, even though obviously some people have a strong opinion about Monster as a company, it's great to see someone from the company actually reads our articles about you, and responds back to at least attempt to have dialog with your potential customers.. so to everyone commenting, at least give this guy some credit for that.

Secondly, I do realize media/automation centers aren't cheap to build or spec, so I understand _some_ of the initial cost, and as the article states, 40% of the hardware cost goes directly back to the installer/reseller, so there goes a ton of cost as well.

My question is, how open exactly will your API be? I was recently reading about the Moxi cable box, where you can download an open source API to build plugins, but the cable company has to "approve" them before they'll work on the Moxi box, which basically means it's not really open at all. Will it be (relatively) easy to create add-ons to the Einstein system? I have coworkers who are SO into home automation, but it's always been a pain to make or find any sort of add-on or monitoring or third-party plugs and peripherals. Do you think having a Linux base and an open, extensible architecture will really help in this sort of area? Thanks again for your comments so far.

[Grant @ Oct 6th 2006 8:07PM]

Taking a step back from Monster's questionable cable quality (and I'm definitely in the 'no better than lamp cord' camp), Monster also has a history of extremely aggressive legal action against ANYONE who tries to use 'Monster' in their name. SFGate did a story on it about two years ago:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/11/08/BUG1J9N3C61.DTL&type=business

Perhaps the most ridiculous case involved their offering to 'license' the name BACK to MonsterVintage.com - the archive of correspondence has been removed from monstervintage.com (no doubt as part of the settlement), but archive.org still has the goods:

http://web.archive.org/web/20050205205551/http://www.monstervintage.com/

Do you really want to support this company?

[Chris Greene @ Oct 7th 2006 11:41PM]

Hey Erik,

I'm just glad that a product of ours is creating this level of interest.

To answer your API question, we plan on keeping the open source build available for anyone to add upon. Once enhancements have been made, Monster will need to evaluate them, add the proper wrappers and incorporate them into the Einstein platform. Honestly I don't know how often something like that will actuallly happen. We have worked with out developers for more than a year building a new version of the platform that is designed specifically for the hardware we are adding. I'm not really sure how well that kind of effort will translate to an opensource community. for examplle, our new GUI supports some sofisticated alpha blending that has to be done on a custom MB and GP architecture. That's sort of the problem with any open source application that tried to behave like a CE appliance. Tivo is built on Linux but the reason it works so well is that the Tivo OS is really designed around getting the most out of their series 2 and 3 hardware designs. Same thing here with Monster. You could run the app on any old X86 processor but how is it going to perform?

[Michael Anderson @ Oct 7th 2006 3:09AM]

I work for Pluto. Monster's offering will be different from the open source offering in 3 ways: 1) It includes a bunch of stuff that requires licensing and can't be offered in the free open source version. For example, Gracenote technology will 'listen to' all your music (called fingerprinting) and provide clean attributes, meta-data and cover art, and Pluto has special modules to work with this to catalog all the media in the home. These can't be offered in any free open source product because it requires per unit license fees. There's about 30 such 3rd party licensed modules in Monster's offering. 2) Monster is investing a lot in doing a pretty extraordinary new GUI based around special gyro-enabled remotes. 3) Monster is building specialized hardware; it's not just a normal PC. It has specialized video decoding chips to pro-grade de-interlacing and upconverting, and a purpose-built motherboard and special low-power embedded processor so it can run without a fan and be put in a normal a/v rack and run cool and silent.

Functionality-wise Pluto holds nothing back from the open source product, and except for the GUI and 3rd party licensed modules, you can build a system with the same features. Just like you can build your own mp3 player with off-the-shelf parts. However, that doesn't mean there's not a huge market for iPod. Our philosophy is that the tech-saavy do-it-yourselfers who want to build their own smarthome solution and get under the hood with the code will download the open source version, and the mainstream consumer who wants a prepackaged product will buy Monster's solution at retail. There's probably little overlap. Few techies who build a Linux box would ever buy Monster's retail product, and few of Monster's retail customers would be interested in building their own home-grown solution. We hope, then, both types get what they want.

[glacia00 @ Oct 7th 2006 4:46PM]

jimsum, it obvious you're trying to convince yourself at this point.

"and an audible difference may not be measurable" Ridiculous, unless you're some Android from the future with ears a thousand times better than a dogs. And since Monster is bragging about their measured specs then you're also saying their data is wrong.

"Do those values vary by frequency, or over time?"
Frequency yes time no. In my first comment I mentioned measuring cables with a Network Analyzer. This device measures frequency response over a range many times greater than the highest end audio system. Unless you're talking about kilometers of cable you won't detect a difference between the highest grade of copper and industial grade. A 10 meter strand will be indistinguishable.

"Are you saying that all cables sound the same or that all cables that measure the same sound the same?"

I'm saying that Monster's own data that they brag about is no different than what you would see if you did the same measurement on industrial grade cable.

"Is it the price of the cables that bothers you? Do you think people are wasting money buying Monster cable when something cheaper would sound as good?"

As an engineer with 20+ years of experience and training their pseudo engineering offends me. Like any situation where someone is running a scam all that can be done is present the facts and if people choose to ignore those facts and science in favor of the pseudo variety then what can you do?