After the Electronic House Expo in March, CE Pro declared that Autonomic “won” at the show with its Media Control Server (MCS), which turns virtually any PC or Windows Home Server into a multizone music player, including DRM-protected iTunes.

All you need is a sound card. A 5.1 surround card delivers three simultaneous streams (six channels) of audio, while a 7.1 card gives you four streams. Double the capacity by doubling up on sound cards.

All iTunes and WMA files stored anywhere on the home network are presented in one interface from AMX, Crestron, HAI, NuVo and RTI (with more to come).

With the MCS-EX version of the Autonomic software, users can also browse movies, recorded TV, videos and photos—again, in one unified interface. “The consistency of the interface is what makes the server easy to use,” says Nelson Ortiz of New York-based Stereo Exchange.

Gold Winner

26 High-Impact Products: The 2008 CHIPs