Multi-room

Polk Omni

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Polk-Omni

Polk audio has a new Wireless Music System, Omni. Coincidentally the same name as Harman Kardon’s new Omni line. The multi-room market is so crowded that it’s running out of names, almost. Well, back to this Omni line. It consists of five product that maps the Sonos lineup quite well.

Omni S2 ($179): A small wireless speaker for smaller rooms. It has two 2-inch drivers and two passive radiators. There is also an USB plug to charge your phone. Omni S2 is a competitor to Sonos Play 1.

Omni S2 R ($249): A rechargeable version of the S2 speaker that can be moved around without the need for a power source. It will play for up to 10 hours.

Omni P1 ($299): An adapter that connects to an existing system and turns it into a Omni zone. You can also connect external players to it and use them as a source to play on other Omni zones. P1 is a competitor to Sonos Connect (ZonePlayer 90).

Omni A1 ($399): A 75 watt-per-channel amp that you connect speakers directly to. It also has a phono input. A1 is a competitor to Sonos Connect AMP (ZonePlayer 120).

Omni SB1 ($699): A soundbar with a wireless sub.  The SB1 has three drivers and features that are designed to help you hear dialog. The sub has an 8-inch driver. Obvious contenders to Sonos Playbar and Sub.

The Omni line has a gap where Sonos has their Play 3 and Play 5 speakers.

The system is controlled with smartphone apps for Android and iOS. It uses DTS Play-Fi technology over your existing network.

The Omni app currently supports Pandora, Songza, iTunes and Deezer, with Spotify on the way.

Multi-room

Spotify speakers from Philips

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SW750M speaker

If you just want to play Spotify on your speakers and nothing else. Then Philips has two new speakers for you. You remote the speakers from Spotifys own app with their Spotify Connect technology.

You can also group up to four speakers and play the same music on them all. Usually called party mode. I read a customer complaint about not being able to play music on the individual speakers when they have been grouped in SpeakerSet. So switching from party mode to individual requires a small configuration task.

Named SpeakerSet is for configuring the speakes and exists for both iOS and Android.

The sound quality is specified at CD-quality 320 kbps.

The SW750M has four drivers that deliver 20-W and two bass ports for expanded low-frequency bass. Price £150.

The SW700M has two drivers that deliver 4-W and two bass ports for expanded low-frequency bass. Price £100.

Spotify connect has an advantage over Bluetooth and AirPlay in that the smartphone remote app only tells the speaker what to play, which the speaker then streams directly from Spotifys server. So the smartphone does not stream the music to the speaker, which would take a toll on the phones (or tablets) battery.

Given its limited support for music sources, it is rather far fetched to compare it with Sonos, that supports so many more sources. But if we look at only Spotify in a multi-room setting, then there are pros and cons with both platforms.

  • Philips has the better app for playing Spotify, which is Spotifys own.
  • Sonos can play different Spotify songs in different zones at the same time, which is somewhat of a killer feature.
  • Both can play in party mode.
  • Philips has a lower price.
  • Sonos has a broader offering with both stand alone speakers and integrated with existing HiFi.

It probably comes down to if you are really sure that you do not need support for other sources than Spotify now or in the future.

Multi-room

Harman Kardon Omni

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Omni 10

The Harman Kardon Wireless HD Audio System consists of the Omni 10 speaker, the Omni 20 speaker and the Adapt, for connection to an existing Hi-Fi system. They are controlled with the Harman Kardon Controller App for iOS and Android. As always, Sonos is the biggest contender that comes to mind.

Omni 10 and Omni 20

The Omni 10 is a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth speaker. It fills small to medium sized rooms with music up to HD quality. The Omni 20 is for larger rooms. Both supports 24bit / 96kHz HD audio streaming. They also got a 3.5 mm audio input.

Bluetooth

Connect a device to one speaker via Bluetooth and it can re-stream the same song through every other speaker in the system. Or play it on just one speaker.

Multi-room

The system supports up to 6 speakers which can be played individually, or linked together.

​Place two Omni speakers in the same room and link them together for 2.0 stereo sound, or add more speakers for a full 5.1 surround configuration. Future software updates will support more multi-channel configurations like 2.1 and 5.0.

Music sources

​Deezer and MixRadio are integrated on launch. Music on devices through Bluetooth.

Price

They will be released soon and has the following target prices: Omni 10, 199$. Omni 20, 299$. Adapt 129$.

Multi-room

LG let’s the Music Flow

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Music_Flow_system

Yet another electronics dragon enters the multi-room market, LG, with the Music Flow system. Targeting Sonos of course and bringing both usual and unusual functionality to the fight.

Music Flow supports 24 bit, 192kHz quality audio across its devices, offering HD music playback. Which Sonos does not.

Music Flow is controlled by the Music Flow Player app on iOS or Android, which streams music sources and services such as Spotify (integrated with Spotify Connect), Deezer, Napster, Internet radio, or sources connected to your Wi-Fi. The devices connect with mesh network technology and dual-band Wi-Fi. They pair with a single tap via NFC (which iPhone does not have). The system has a party mode for playing the same music in all zones and a cinema mode for watching movies.

The Music Flow Player app can also be used for listen to music when you’re on the move.The app works as a standard music player on your phone when it isn’t connected to the speaker setup, so the music can continue to play in it when you leave the house.

You can also interact with the system through instant messages with an IM app. That’s called HomeChat and lets you ask the system for musical recommendations when you are away from home and more. Why is the first question that comes to mind but maybe it has a good answer?

The R1 network bridge (£49.99),  the 40W H5 speaker (£229.99) and 70W H7 speaker (£328.99) will hit the shops first, arriving within a month. The 30W H3 speaker (£149.99) and the HS6 320W Sound bar (£499.99) will follow soon after, according to LG.

Summary

The LG Music Flow system is unusually mature at launch. It meets the core requirements for a multi-room system well and also supports HD audio which not even Sonos does. The competition for the number two spot, behind Sonos, has gotten tighter.

Multi-room

HEOS by Denon challenges Sonos

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heos product family

Read about Denon upgraded HEOS line with hi-res and Bluetooth.

HEOS is a new multi-room music system by Denon that wants and has to compete with the market leader Sonos.

HEOS is made up of three stand alone speakers, the HEOS 3, 5 and 7. And two players without speakers, the HEOS Amp and HEOS Link pre-amp. Then there is the wi-fi extender HEOS Extend. The system is controlled with an iOS and an Android app.

HEOS has support for Spotify Connect which means that you play Spotify from Spotify’s own smartphone app. Other streaming services available are TuneIn Radio, Pandora, Deezer, Napster and Rhapsody. HEOS also plays music from a NAS or PC,  attached hard drives and local music on iOS and Android devices. The system supports FLAC lossless audio, MP3, WAV, AAC, WMA, ASF and MP4.

HEOS 3 has dual custom full-range drivers and a two-channel digital amp. You can pair it with another HEOS 3 for stereo.

HEOS 5 has a carrying handle. It has four class D amplifiers, two tweeters, two mid-range drivers and a passive radiator.

HEOS 7 has a subwoofer, two full-range drivers, two tweeters and two passive radiators.

HEOS Amp drives external speakers.

HEOS Link pre-amp turns your existing Hi-Fi or AV receiver into a HEOS zone.

Connectivity

HEOS 3, 5 and 7 has the same inputs on the back. A USB in, a aux in and an ethernet port. The HEOS 7 also has a 3.5mm connector on the side side for headphones. Both Amp and Link has a digital out, a digital in and a USB in.

If you attach a music source through USB, it is playable by all devices in the system.

The HEOS system uses your existing Wi-Fi network to get connected, with support for dual-band 5GHz 802.11n.

Summary

So, does all this sounds familiar? Well, yes, everything from names to functions to designs has Sonos written all over it. But less trimmed and missing features here and there because of less time in the market. Spotify Connect is a welcome addition but at the same time goes outside of the usual way of controlling the system, thus making the user experience less stringent.

Denon is a welcome player in the multi-room market and the HEOS system is well thought through. But it needs to support more services and techniques (Google Music, Wimp, Rdio, AirPlay, Bluetooth) to stand out.

Multi-room

Samsung Shape gets Spotify Connect

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Samsung Shape gets Spotify Connect

Samsung Shape continues its big push into the wireless audio market and becomes the first multi-room system to support Spotify Connect.

Shape users will be able to use the native Spotify app, rather than the Shape app, to queue up and play songs.

The update applies to all Samsung Shape speakers. The Shape M7, Shape M5 and other audio components like Shape-compatible sound bars and Blu-ray players.

The addition strengthens both the Shape platform and Spotify, that needs adoption in the market for Spotify Connect.

Multi-room

uPlay Stream

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uPlayStream

uPlay Stream from QED is a multi-room Wi-Fi (and ethernet) streamer that focuses on playing music files stored locally and on a few cloud services (sky drive and dropbox). Thats it. No airplay, bluetooth, internet radio or native solutions for Spotify. Just playing audio files.

It plays both standard resolution and uncompressed high resolution files up to 24-bit/96 quality, which is higher than Sonos can (16-bit/44.1). uPlay Stream supports the formats: MP3, AAC, WMA, WAV, FLAC and Apple Lossless.

It connects to a receiver with analogue connections to Phono and 3.5mm jack. So no digital connection available.

You can play music from Mobile devices, Computers, Network Storage and Cloud storage. Either with the dedicated smartphone app for iOS and Android. Or with any DLNA/UPnP compatible client.

uPlayStreamApp

You can have up to 8 uPlay Streams in a multi-room solution. Controlled separately (one controller for each zone is required when playing different music simultaneously) or playing the same music in party mode on all zones (from one controller).

If you don’t have the need for online services like Spotify but want to play your own music files in different quality and formats, uPlay is a product to consider. It’s low price makes it an even more interesting deal.

Multi-room

Moto Stream

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Moto Stream

Turn any speaker wireless by connecting Moto Stream to its receiver, which lets you stream music from smartphones, tablets and computers within 300 feet / 90 meters.

Up to five people can be connected as a collective DJ. Hiest it if you don’t like the music that is playing.

The streaming is done by either Bluetooth or NFC. Moto Stream is connected to the receiver by 3.5mm – RCA or 3.5mm – 3.5mm.

As a Bluetooth and NFC adapter, it simply plays what the connected device is playing without the need for any specific app or in app functionality.

Moto Stream looks a bit like Googles failed Nexus Q. In fact both Moto Stream and Chomecast can be seen as better priced and niched offsprings to Nexus Q (Google owns Motorola that makes Moto Stream).

Motorola sells it here.

Multi-room

Spoticast brings Spotify to the Chromecast

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Update: Spoticast has been removed from Google Play.

Update 2: Spoticast is avaliable on an alternative source.

The android app Spoticast brings Spotify to the Chromecast before Spotify themselves have done it. Just download the app, login with your Spotify account and connect to your Chromecast. Screenshot_2014-05-18-17-29-44 Then switch to spotifys own app where the music you choose will be played on the chromecast. Screenshot_2014-05-18-17-30-05 You don’t need a Spotify premium subscription to use it. If you want to control the volume, set focus on the Spoticast app and use your device volume up and down. This should be a signal to Spotify that they need to get in the game and develop native Chromecast support instead of just focusing on their own Spotify connect technology.