Tag Archives: google cast

Google Home Max with Chromecast and Assistant

google home max

Google Home Max is actually quite a big deal. For the first time, Google releases a speaker that is on pair with the top multiroom speakers on the market in terms of sound quality. Loaded with the Assistant, it has voice commands and is also a hub for controlling other smart home devices.

Home Max is twenty times more powerful than the original Google Home (that has quite bad sound) and has dual 4.5-inch high-excursion woofers for deep bass. It has Smart Sound, where Google uses artificial intelligence to make Max adapt to the environment it is in, the context, and your preferences. Smart Sound automatically adjusts the listening experience to where it is placed in a room. If it is moved, it will tune itself within a few seconds.

home max inside

Home Max supports all the services that chromecast built-in does, so every mayor one, except Apple Music. It also has Bluetooth and an aux port. So if you absolutely must play Apple Music, use those.

To enable the Assistant to play Spotify with voice commands, open the Google Home app, link your Spotify account and set Spotify as your standard music service. Then your ready to control Spotify with commands like “Ok Google, play Dr. Dre”, “Ok Google, what song is this?” and so on.

In some ways it is strange that it took Google this long to release a great sounding speaker. But it is probably due to them wanting to incorporate the assistant and having a large enough ecosystem around it at launch.

As with Google’s flagship mobiles, now the Pixel 2 series, it shows other manufacturers what could be achieved with Google technology and is also a clean version of their vision for the multi-room market. It will probably lead to more chromecast built-in speakers from other manufacturers that follows in its footsteps, with built-in Google assistants as well.

Mobile Google Cast and Spotify Connect with Sony h.ear go

sony h.ear go

Sony h.ear go is a wireless mobile speaker in their multi-room line that you can take with you and play music on the go. You stream music to it through Google Cast, Spotify Connect and Bluetooth. It also has a line in for old school connections. It outputs 12W+12W. The battery lasts up to 12 hours and it even supports high resolution audio, even though it may be on the small side for you to actually hear the difference. So have it at home as part of you ordinary multi-room setup and bring it with you on your trips. A great addition to the Sony lineup.

Oh, and it comes in lime, pink, blue, red and black. The price is 199$.

Multi-room news from CES 2016 part 3

Read part 1 here and part 2 here.

philips-izzy-multiroom-range-image-1-1

Philips has shown four new Bluetooth speakers in the Izzy line that can be paired together to play the same music in different zones or seamlessly switch speaker when changing rooms. Bluetooth is usually used in simpler stand alone speakers and more advanced uses Wifi due to the added range, throughput, network environment with attached devices and obviously an internet connection. So it will be interesting to see if Philips can deliver on a more advanced Bluetooth based system. Comparing it against Sonos is stretching it a bit far, but it can add value compared to a stand alone Bluetooth speaker.
You will of course need your smartphone to play the music that is outputted to the Izzy speakers and it will take a toll on your battery while doing it.

Insteon supports Sonos

insteon-100588649

Insteon has added the ability to control Sonos multi-room speakers using Insteon’s connected home system. Through their hubs, remotes, and wall-mounted keypads.

This includes basic functions like volume control and more advanced home-automation scenes so that music can be paired with changes in lighting. A morning scene could open your motorized blinds in the morning, turn on your coffee machine and start to play a Sonos playlist or genre.

Users can assign functions such as volume control and radio stations to buttons on the Insteon remote and other Insteon controllers. They also plan to make dedicated keypad buttons for Sonos functions on new controllers.

Insteon adds this feature to their iOS app first, this week. Android compatibility is in the works but they have no official release date. Sonos integration requires Insteon Hub 2245-222.

Klipsch

Stadium-Angle

Premium sound brand Klipsch enters the multi-room market with eight devices based on DTS Play-Fi. Three soundbars, an upgraded Stadium desktop stereo speaker, a Heritage-series stereo speaker, a Gate streamer/preamp, an amplified Gate and two active Play-Fi speakers which also can be used as wireless surround speakers if paired with a Play-Fi soundbar.

Mcintosh

Speaking of high end and DTS Play-Fi, the high end brand Mcintosh also announced multi-room products based on Play-Fi. They are the RS100 Wireless Loudspeaker,  the MB50 Streaming Audio Player and the MX122 A/V Processor.

RS100_Angle_right_grille_400

The RS100 wireless speaker allows you to easily add streaming music capabilities to any room you want. Install the Play-Fi Apple or Android mobile app or Windows desktop app to stream your music. Up to 16 speakers can be connected to a single Wi-Fi network – enough for stereo playback in 8 separate rooms.

MB50_Angle_Right_400
The MB50 Streaming Audio Player should be connected to an existing audio system and the The M​X122 A/V Processor is the heart of your home cinema with support for 4k, Dolby Atmos and DTS X.

Google Cast

A6_Buy_LightGrey

Google announced new partners for its Google Cast audio platform. They include B&O Play, Harman Kardon, Onkyo, Philips, Pioneer and Raumfeld.

Google Cast speakers will also soon get the multi-room playback functionality that Chromecast Audio got in December.

Multi-room news from ces 2016 part 2

Read part 1 here.

srs-zr7

Sony has announced two new wireless speakers. The SRS-ZR7 with four built-in speakers, Hi-Res audio playback, support for Google Cast, Spotify Connect and Multi-room capability through the SongPal app. SRS-ZR7 also has HDMI with ARC so it can be connected to a TV to play Dolby Digital/DTS audio.

The SRS-ZR5 is smaller than its big brother but has the same features except that it lacks Hi-Res audio support and instead has Bluetooth with LDAC and NFC support.

They are both available in spring 2016.

ht-nt53-large

Sony also has two new sound bars that both has Multi-room support in the same way as their wireless speakers. The HT-NT5 sound bar with a wireless subwoofer has Hi-Res Audio playback, support for 4K content,HDR via HDMI HDCP 2.2. The HT-CT790 has similar specs and a few more HDMI inputs.

str-dn1070front-mid

Finally Sony upgrades its A/V receiver line with the STR-DN1070 A/V receiver. It has a new DAC with support for DSD native playback of High-res Audio files. It has 8 HDMI ports (6 in/2 out) with HDCP 2.2 for 4K/60p thus supporting 4K and HDR content. It has support for Sony’s other multi-room speakers, AirPlay, Bluetooth, Google Cast and Spotify Connect. So they all play nice together through the SongPal app.

In all, impressive upgrades across the multi-room product line by Sony.

Libratone

libratone_zipp_cph_edition

Libratone Zipp now comes in an updated design, the Copenhagen edition. The wireless multi-room speakers technology was updated a few months ago and has 360 audio, AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Bluetooth (APTX) and DLNA. The new covers comes in Salty Grey, Pepper Black, Raspberry Red and Steel Blue.

Samsung

Samsung_radiant

Samsung has its Radiant wireless multi-room audio speakers and will launch four new sound bars that will be a part of Samsung’s wireless multiroom-audio system. No mention of their product names yet, exempt for the HW-K950 mentioned in yesterday’s post. They have also added support for the streaming services SiriusXM and Tidal.

All multi-room products will become part of Samsung’s home-automation network controlled by their new line of TVs, that will be home automation hubs.

Intel Compute Stick

906247-computestick-feature-performance-no-icon.png.rendition.intel.web.720.405

If you want to build your own multi-room device based on windows 10, then the new Intel Compute stick line is something to look closer at. The entry level atom has twice the power of last years top device and they have also added the m3 and m5 with even better cpus paired with 4 gig ram and 64 gig on board storage. So with HDMI output and two real USB ports, you can easily play Hi-res audio, stream Spotify and AirPlay, with the right software of course.

Multi-room news from CES 2016 part 1

CES 2016, in Las Vegas, has started and multi-room audio is, just like last year, one of the bigger areas. So let’s go through the hottest news so far.

Harman Kardon Omni+

harmonkardon_omni_plus

Harman Kardon revealed its new Omni+ multi-room system. It includes the Omni 10+, Omni 20+, OmniBar+, Adapt+, and the Omni 50+. Four speakers, a soundbar and a streamer that connects to existing systems.

They all handle high-definition audio streaming with 24-bit/192KHz quality. The system supports both Spotify Connect, Google Cast, Deezer and Tidal. In the controller app, you can group a pair of Omni+ speakers with the OmniBar+ to build a 3.1 or 5.1 wireless surround system. It has 5G WiFi connectivity, Bluetooth, Ethernet and an aux input.

The Adapt+ will cost 129$, The Omni 10+ $199 and the OmniBar+ $999. The Omni+ system arrives in stores in the spring.

Prizm

prizm_music

The Social music player Prizm is getting ready to launch after a successful kickstarter campaign. It is said to be able to sense the mood in the room and choose music type accordingly. If you hear a song in the room that you like, click on its heart icon, and the song will be added to your connected account.

Prizm will have support for Spotify, Deezer and Soundcloud at launch. It will also support AirPlay, UPnP, DLNA and Bluetooth. Prizm does not have integrated speakers and should be connected to an existing sound system through optical or 3.5mm audio output. The price will be 169$.

MQA hi-res audio

The new hi-res audio technology MQA (Master Quality Authenticated), that consumes less bandwidth without sacrificing quality, is a hot topic at CES 2016.

BLS_Gen2_Family_Wifi-600px

Bluesound has announced that all of their products, both 1st-gen and 2nd-gen, will be MQA compatible through a free firmware update later this year.

The music service Tidal showcased its coming MQA support that also will come later this year.

Samsung Dolby Atmos soundbar

Audio_CES2016_Main_2

Samsung’s new HW-K950 soundbar supports Dolby Atmos surround. It has three forward-facing front-channel drivers and two upward-firing Atmos height drivers that reflect sound off the ceiling to deliver height channels. The system also includes a wireless subwoofer and a pair of wireless surround speakers with upward-firing drivers, enabling the system to deliver a 5.1.4-channel Dolby Atmos sound field.

More info will come later this week about pricing and compatibility with the other Samsung audio products.

3 Home theater receivers with multiroom and 4k under 499$

The living room audio Receiver can be the most powerful part of your multiroom setup or its achilles heel. Any decent receiver connected to a pair of decent speakers can output higher quality music than most stand alone multiroom speakers. But what good will it do if they lack multiroom technology?

Im currently in the market for a new home theater receiver and multiroom support is a must. Along with support for 4K UHD, Audio return channel, 7.2 surround, HDMI 2.0, HDCP 2.2 and decoding of the usual HD audio formats. But without multiroom techniques, it would end up collecting dust for most part. Or i would have to buy an external streaming player and connect it to the receiver.

So let’s take a closer look at three receivers that supports the criterias above:

Denon AVR-X1200W
denavrx1200wbk_1

AVR-X1200W is part of Denons 2015 lineup and has Spotify Connect, AirPlay, Bluetooth and DLNA 1.5. Denons own Heos system is not built in. X1200W can drive speakers in a second zone if not all 7 speakers are in use for your home theater setup.

The output is 80W at 8 ohm. It has basic support for DTS Atmos (5.2.2), which can bring 3D surround with ceiling speakers. DTS X will come in a firmware update later this year.

Sony STR-DN860

sony-str-dn860

The STR-DN860 has Google Cast, AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Bluetooth and DLNA. The STR-DN860 is fully integrated with Sonys multiroom system so it can be grouped together with Sony stand alone speakers, in their Song pal link app, to play music in party mode.

The output is 95W at 8 ohm. It also has Miracast. STR-DN860 does not have Dolby Atmos.

Onkyo TX-NR545

onkyo-tx-nr545

The TX-NR545 has Spotify Connect, AirPlay, DLNA and Bluetooth. Which are the same techniques that the AVR-X1200W supports.

The output is 65W at 8 ohm. TX-NR545 has basic Dolby Atmos support (5.2.2) in that two of its 7 speakers can be used for it. The TX-NR545 does not have DTS X.

Conclusion

From a multiroom perspective, the STR-DN860 is the strongest receiver with its support for Google Cast, AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Bluetooth, DLNA and works well with Sonys other multiroom products. The other two supports the same, except Google Cast.

From a home theater perspective, the AVR-X1200W is the strongest receiver with both Dolby Atmos and DTS X support. The TX-NR545 comes second, due to its Dolby Atmos support and the STR-DN860 third. Even though they all support the usual HD formats.

So the AVR-X1200W from Denon seems like the best overall choice, when weighing in both multiroom and home theater aspects. With the STR-DN860 from Sony as close runner up due to its even stronger multiroom support. But maybe the better integration with the other Sony products (and Google Cast) makes me go in that direction. Its a hard choice.

Google Chromecast Audio with Spotify

chromecast_audio

Update December 10, 2015: Google has released the multiroom functionality firmware that enables party mode for Chromecast Audio. Simply group the Chromecasts together in the Chromecast App to play the same music on them. The firmware also includes support for high resolution lossless audio up to 96KHz/24bit.

Google has just announced two new Chromecast devices. One called the new Chromecast that basically is an upgraded version of the existing Chromecast with focus on streaming video. Then there is the Chromecast Audio that is targeted at playing multiroom music in your home. Now with native Spotify support!

Chromecast Audio has both analog and digital audio output through rca, aux (3.5mm) and optical that is connected to a receiver or active speakers (full size or more like computer speakers). This is because Chromecast Audio does not have a built in amplifier that can drive passive speakers on its own.

As the number of chromecast supported apps grows fast, Google has turned its focus to Content discovery, to let you be able to find quality sources that matches your taste. Support for Spotify was also announced which is a great addition. Pandora and iheart radio are two other popular services.

You can play local network music stored on a NAS, computer or a phone by using an App that can play the music from the source and also has chromecast output.

Google also announced the Google Play Music family plan for only 14.99$/month, for up to 6 people simultaneously. It will come later this year.

Chromecast Audio is Googles first Audio Player since the failed Nexus q that costed 8 times more and was withdrawn from the market after a few months. That fiasco led Google to revise their whole strategy for streamers and to focus on simpler and lower prices devices.

new_chromecast

Like the previous version, the new Chromecast (not Audio) has a HDMI output and can be attached to a receiver and play music through it without any loss in quality. The optical out on the Chromecast Audio gives the same quality.

Both new Chromecasts supports 2.4 and 5ghz wireless. The signal strength is twice that of the previous version.

The process of casting audio looks the same as casting video and other.

Chromecast Audio has a guest mode that lets your friends connect and share their music in a safe way.

Multiroom

You can have multiple Chromecasts in your home, in different rooms, and play the music you want on them from your smartphone, one at a time. Each person in your home can play music at the same time on different players.  An update that enables party mode, to group players as one and play the same music on them simultaneously, will come later this year.

Where to buy it

All this makes the Chromecast Audio a great entry level music streaming device for its price.

Chromecast Audio is priced at 35$.

The new Chromecast is priced at 35$.

You can buy them now at the Google online store.

The old Chromecast gets spotify

The owners of the 20 million Chromecast units already sold will be glad to hear that the old Chromecast gets Spotify support in an upcoming firmware update within a few weeks.

New Sony devices with Airplay and Spotify Connect

Sony multiroom

Sony has released three new wireless multiroom speakers that makes them a serious market contender. They are SRS-X77, SRS-X88 and SRS-X99. All three has support for all major streaming technologies: AirPlay, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Bluetooth, NFC and DLNA. SRS-X88 and SRS-X99 also supports Hi-Resolution audio. They can be used one at a time or grouped together in the Song pal link app for iOS and Android. The HT-ST9 and HT-NT3 sound bars and STR-DN1060 and STR-DN860 A/V receivers also has the same functionality.

SRS-X88 and SRS-X99 support playback of a wide variety of Hi-Resolution audio including MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, FLAC, AIFF, ALAC and DSD. You can also attach an external hard drive to the speakers through USB. SRS-X77 has a battery so it is mobile.

The SRS-X99 has 154 Watts and seven speakers: Two super tweeters, two front tweeters, two mid-range drivers and a single subwoofer.

The SRS-X88 has 90 Watts and five speakers: Two front tweeters, two mid-range drivers and a single subwoofer.

The SRS-X77 has 40 Watts and three speakers: Two front tweeters, a subwoofer and dual passive radiators.

The HT-ST9 and HT-NT3 sound bars and STR-DN1060 and STR-DN860 A/V receivers supports the same techniques and audio formats as the three new speakers and all seven units can be used together in the app.

So how do we compare this with Sonos? Sony has stronger hardware with support for hi res audio and all major streaming technologies. Sonys app is limited to grouping the speakers. The market leader Sonos has moderate hardware, that lacks hi res audio and manny technologies that Sony supports but instead has strong software that can handle almost any streaming service and scenario out there in a refined manner, with different songs playing in different zones from the same controller. So which of those two are best for a customer that wants to play multiroom music in the easiest and most powerful way? The boring answer is that it depends on how you want to use it. Both will handle the most scenarios but in different ways.

CES Multi-room News part 3

Read part 1 here and part 2 here.

intel-compute-stick
Intel Compute Stick seems like the multi-room DIY dream. Put it in a receiver and you get digital audio (and video) from a full fledged computer with the size of a (large) usb stick and the power footprint of a smartphone charger. Put spotify on it to enable Spotify Connect functionality and AirServer for AirPlay functionality. Pick your software choice for playing music from the device and your network. I will get back to this type of DIY setup in more detail in the future.

Bluetooth 4.0 is built in. It has a quad-core Atom processor, Windows 8.1, 32 GB of eMMC storage, 2 GB of RAM, HDMI, USB, a microSD slot and wireless 802.11b/g/n. All this for 149$. There is also a 1GB RAM/8GB memory Linux version priced at $89. Both arrive in march.

phplukbcw
Philips adds the Spotify Multiroom Adapter SW100M to its existing Spotify Connect lineup.

The adapter can be connected to existing audio systems through analog (RCA) or digital (coaxial, optical). Then you’ll be able to send music from your Spotify app on your smartphone to the adapter or send it to more than one Philips speaker/adapter in party mode.
It launches in Spring 2015.

omni-bar
Harman Kardon has a new addition to its Omni family of wireless audio products. The Omni Bar is a 2.1 soundbar and has its own wireless subwoofer. The system will cost $800 and arives in April 2015.

The Omni Bar connects to a TV through digital optical or HDMI, and connects to your home wi-fi network. It’s controlled with Harman Kardon’s Controller App. You can stream the same audio (including TV audio) to the rest of the Omni speakers in your system. As the rest of the Omni family, it supports playback of 24-bit/96kHz high-resolution audio.

The Omni system also gets more compatible services including Tidal, Qobuz, Tunein, Rhapsody and Juke, made available in April 2015.

Sony-SRS-X99
Sony announces multiple speakers, support for Google Cast and a new Song Link app to control them with in a multi-room environment, up to 10 wireless speakers/devices.

Among them, the new Sony SRS-X99 wireless speaker that has Hi-Res audio, 154 Watts, supports Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Bluetooth and NFC. The SRS-X99 also supports Hi-Res audio up to 24bit/192kHz.

Sony uses a new LDAC codec that, they claim, transmits data three times more efficiently than Bluetooth.

CES Multi-room News Part 1

The news from CES is starting to drop in and so far we have heard of:

LG_Music_Flow_Wi-Fi_Series_500

A new speaker in LGs Music Flow series with rechargeable battery. The LG H4 Portable is their first wireless speaker with a built-in battery for easy portability in the home. Two Wi-Fi Sound Bars are also added to the Flow seris that aims to deliver rich, full and immersive audio — the HS7 provides HD sound while the HS9 offers deep acoustics.

Googles lanches a new audio streaming platform called Google Cast. It is the same technology as behind Chromecast that lets you cast your favorite music from your mobile device to compatible speakers. Use your Android and iOS tablets and smartphones, Mac and Windows computers to control the music directly from compatible apps like Google Play Music, Pandora, Rdio and programs like Chrome. It reminds a lot of how Spotify Connect works and of course Chromecast. The device tells the speaker what to play and the speaker then handles it from there. This marks the final step in Googles clean up after the failed Nexus q.

Compatible speakers will be available in the spring from Denon Heos, LG Music Flow and Sony. Google is also collaborating with audio chip designers and system integrators, so expect to see more Cast-friendly equipment later in the year.

supertooth_multiroom2-100538468-large

SuperTooth multi-room audio system is the odd bird in the multi-room family with its bluetooth only approach. This makes the system simpler and thus cheaper to buy. The system includes up to five speakers placed around the home. The speaker system connects to SuperTooth’s free multi-room app, from which a user can control both system volume and which speakers that are set to mono versus stereo.

portable-wam6500-100538149-large

Samsung shells the multi-room market with two artillery ammunition like speakers, the WAM6500 and the WAM7500. WAM6500 is a battery portable speaker and WAM7500 its bigger brother. Both are part of Samsungs Shape multi-room family. Both utilize a proprietary “Ring Radiator” technology that “allows sound to flow in a 360-degree radius, with the perfect balance between treble and bass.” according to Samsung. The speakers were developed at their new audio lab in Valencia, California.

Finally, NYNE will demonstrate its new WiHi family of products that you can create a multi-room, multi-source audio experience with using both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, independent of a router or Internet connection.

Users can create a wireless audio network by connecting NYNE’s WiHi Ally box to any existing audio system, transforming it into a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled high definition audio system

Using the NYNE WiHi iOS and Android based apps, you can play your personal music from any source on your network such as a laptop, hard drive or any storage device to any room or all rooms. It also has built-in rechargeable batteries for use away from home.

Listen to your personal music from your smartphone, Internet radio, laptop, or any external device connected to the network. The NYNE Ally box features analog, optical and coaxial digital audio outputs with network access on any DLNA or UPnP server. Lets hope for support for services like Spotify in the future.