Tag Archives: bluetooth

CES Multi-room News Part 4

Read previous parts here: part 1, part 2 and part 3.

Bang-Olufsen-BeoSound-Moment

Bang & Olufsen BeoSound Moment is a device with a minimalist wooden panel that lets you start playing music with just a tap somewhere on the circular part of the wood that is touch sensitive.

Bang-Olufsen-BeoSound-Moment wheel

The other side of the device has a metallic face and touchscreen where you control music stored on your local network or outside sources.

The system supports Deezer for music streaming, TuneIn for Internet radio and from your local iTunes library. Bluetooth is also integrated.

The Moment learns your music habits during different times of the day and week.

You can then access different music types based on that learning from the MoodWheel, that is a colorful circular interface where you can tap around the display spectrum to play music different mood music. The blue side plays something with a slower tempo, like jazz. The opposite side plays more aggressive or fast paced music. The center plays more familiar music and the edges gets music that is further away from your usual.

It will be in B&O stores in January 30, costing $2,795 in the US, £1795 in the UK and €2195 in the rest of Europe.

Moshi-Spatia-image-001

Moshi has revealed its new AirPlay speaker Spatia that is focused on design with metallic, wood and fabric accents for a modern look.

The Spatia also supports playing music through Wi-Fi Direct.

The Spatia has an app in AppStore to set it up, adjust its equalizer, save sound profiles and playing ambient sounds for sleeping and relaxation.

On the inside there are two 2.75-inch drivers, a four-inch subwoofer and twin one-inch tweeters driven by two digital signal processing chips.

monster soundstage
Monster showed their upcoming SoundStage speaker system that is based on Qualcomm’s AllPlay technology.

The SoundStage line will include three speakers, the S1, S2, and S3. Music can be streamed from your mobile device using supported apps like Spotify to the speakers ower Wi-Fi. The speakers also supports Bluetooth. After the initial command to the speaker what to play, Qualcomm AllPlay uses direct streaming from the cloud to the speakers, not passing through your mobile device which is good for battery usage and you being able to do what you want with your mobile without disturbing the steaming.

The system has its own SoundStage app, that lets you stream music to one, some, or all speakers. You can also access media connected to your home Wi-Fi network, and have different speakers play music from different sources. Or, the same, in party mode.

The SoundStage line arrives in stores this spring. The price tags for S1, S2, and S3 are $250, $300, and $400.

Devailent Silver Phantom
French audio firm Devialet has demonstrated their upcoming speakers Phantom and Silver Phantom. According to Devialet they both sound the same, it’s only how loud they can play that differs.

Phantom can receive sound signals over WiFi, Ethernet, Power Ethernet and usual audio input formats. You can pair several Phantom units to build a stereo pair or place them in different rooms.

Since they have no lights to indicate the on/off state, very light music plays when the speaker is turned on. When the remote control pairs with one or more Phantoms the woofers flex a few times.

Devialet has a program for streaming to their different speakers from a computer called Air and an app for managing the speakers. Other than that, the system is lacking support for mayor online services as Spotify and Deezer.

They are priced at around $2390 (3000W Phantom Silver) and $1990 (750W Phantom). Harrods sells them in England from 1 February. They will probably launch at the same time in the US.

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 2

More Multi-room news is coming in from CES. Read part 1 here.

Raumfeld stereo M
The German company Raumfeld is launching its multi-room system in the US in 2015. Previously launched in Europe. The speakers use your existing Wi-Fi, uses 24-bit FLAC and WAV decoding, services like Spotify and Wimp HiFi, and DLNA. The system is controlled with the free Raumfeld app for iOS and Android.

The system has stereo speakers, stand alone speakers and a connector box for connecting to an existing stereo. Prices start at $299 for the stand alone speaker One S.

capsule-mat
The French company Voxtok launches its Audio Capsule that is both a multi-room music player and server. It incorporates local storage and access to Cloud services (backup of library. Streaming of library). Based on dual Wolfson WM8741 DAC chipsets, it supports audio quality up to 24-bit/192kHz. The server can transcode to formats that is supported by the client in real time. You can also connect an external CD player and rip music to the server, which then can add the right cover art. It can handle most audio formats and is both AirPlay and Bluetooth compatible. The Audio Capsule is controlled by an app available for iOS, Connected TVs, computers and soon for Android and some smartwatches.

Audio Capsule had a failed kickstarter campaign before funding the work in other ways (or maybe the campaign was marketing). I think its an interesting product and good for them to make it a reality even though the campaign failed. They will probably need to add support for the most common services like Spotify and Google Music to succeed.

Musaic

A kickstarter project that succeeded in reaching its goal is Musaic. They are now showing their new system at CES. The system has two stand alone speakers. The big brother Musaic MP10 Music Player, with integrated subwoofer, and the smaller Musaic MP5 Music Player. They support up to 24 Bit /192kHz quality in the usual formats (MP3, AAC, FLAC, Apple Lossless, AIFF and WAV). Both units has preset button on them so you do not always need the app. Musaic also supports Bluetooth and UPnP/DLNA.


Musaic is based on Qualcomm AllPlay. They currently have partnerships with services like Rhapsody, Napster, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, DAR.fm and Grooveshark. Musaic is also in the certification process for Spotify.

DISH
The satellite and internet TV company Dish is powering their existing and new set top boxes with multi-room functionality that supports Pandora, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn Radio from the start. An upcoming Dish Music app will control the system. Worth trying out for people that already has Dish set top boxes in their home, probably connected to sound systems.

EMTEC Air Music Streamer - 3_4

EMTEC has announced the Music Cube Air Music Streamer and the Sound Unity Multi-Room Speakers. EMTEC will probably not win any design awards for their products, but its the inside that counts, right?

The Music Cube Air Music Streamer can be connected via analog or digital audio input to an existing audio system. It supports AirPlay, Miracast Audio, DLNA and Bluetooth. The Music Cube Air Music Streamer will be in stores in summer 2015 with an estimated price of $129.

EMTEC Sound Unity speaker - small package
The Sound Unity Multi-Room Speakers will be available in a variety of sizes and configurations, including portable, bookshelf, medium, large, soundbar and subwoofer. They can also be configured into a 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound. It is unclear whether they have the same functionality as The Music Cube. But it would be a bit strange if they were not interoperable. The Sound Unity wireless speaker line will be in stores Summer 2015, with estimated prices from $99 to $299.

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.

Mu-so with AirPlay and Spotify Connect

mu-so_05_0
Mu-so is the first wireless music system from well known hi-fi manufacturer Naim. Mu-so is a standalone system that pack a lot of punch. With 450W it literally blows the competitors smaller stand alone speakers away, for a higher price.

Mu-so supports both AirPlay and Spotify Connect. And it dont stop there because Mu-so also supports Bluetooth, UPnP, USB, Optical input and internet radio stations. Which adds up to one of the broader platforms in the multi-room market.

mu-so_03_customisation_nogrilleSix 75 watt digital amplifiers deliver a total of 450 watts of power and a porting system moves large volumes of air with low turbulence for the bass. the audio brain of the system is a 32-bit digital signal processor. The touch panel control interface is illuminated around for feedback.

The system has an iPhone and an Android app that you can control volume, light settings, room modes, create playlists and activate multi-room with. AirPlay and Spotify Connect are used in their ordinary way.

It is interesting to compare Mu-so with Sonos because the two systems are each others opposites, in a good way, for both. Sonos has gone for massive support of services with their own software and Naim has instead broad support for standards like AirPlay, Spotify Connect and Bluetooth. So two different approaches to multi-rooming.

Naims offering would obviously be even better if they complemented the Mu-so with a smaller version and a dedicated non speaker player (like Sonos ZonePlayer). And Naim probably will. The price is around £895.

Moto Stream

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.