Tag Archives: bluetooth

Multi-room

Sonos Era 100: Stereo Sound in a Compact Package

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The Sonos One set a standard in 2019 as a compact, versatile wireless speaker. Enter the Sonos Era 100, which aims to build on its predecessor with several key improvements.

Design and Build

The Era 100 introduces a new oval design, moving away from the Sonos One’s rounded square shape. It’s slightly taller and heavier but maintains a compact footprint. Available in matte black and white, the design is sleek with a wraparound grille. Personally, I was pleasantly surprised by its substantial feel—indicative of its robust build quality.

Enhanced Sound and Connectivity

A major upgrade is the shift from mono to stereo sound. The Era 100 features two angled tweeters and a larger woofer, each powered by its own Class D amplifier, delivering improved bass and sound separation. The sound quality, with its signature Sonos richness and strong bass, is impressive for such a compact package. It surpasses the Sonos One Gen 2 and even rivals the older Play:3.

Bluetooth 5.0 has been added, enhancing connectivity alongside wi-fi capabilities, allowing for easier pairing and stable connections.

Features

The speaker works seamlessly with the Sonos S2 platform, supporting a wide range of music sources and settings. Voice control includes Sonos’s assistant and Amazon Alexa, though Google Assistant is not supported. Installation was straightforward, and Spotify Connect functions smoothly through the Spotify app.

Trueplay tuning, now available for Android users, optimizes sound based on room acoustics. The Era 100 can also pair with another unit for stereo sound or serve as rear speakers in a home theater setup.

Addressing Critiques

Sonos has faced criticism for the sound quality of the Roam and bugs in the new app. However, with the Era 100, they seem to have addressed these issues effectively. The sound quality is robust, and the app experience during setup and use has been smooth.

Pricing

The Sonos Era 100 launched at £249 / $249 / €279 / AU$399. This represents a modest increase from the Sonos One’s original price, reflecting the new features and enhancements.

Performance

The Era 100 offers a larger soundstage than the Sonos One, with more detailed bass and clarity. It provides a robust sound experience, though the Apple HomePod 2 may offer slightly more nuanced detail.

Position in the Sonos Lineup

Within the Sonos lineup, the Era 100 serves as a versatile, mid-range option, bridging the gap between more basic models and the advanced Era 300. While the Era 100 focuses on stereo sound and compact design, the Era 300 offers spatial audio capabilities for an immersive experience, catering to different audio preferences and room setups.

Conclusion

The Sonos Era 100 brings notable improvements over the Sonos One, focusing on enhanced sound and connectivity. Despite previous critiques, Sonos has effectively addressed these with the Era 100, making it a strong choice for those invested in the Sonos ecosystem or seeking a versatile wireless speaker.

Multi-room

Sonos for when you want to Roam the streets

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So Sonos will finally release a true mobile speaker, Sonos Roam. One key element to mobility is weight and Sonos Move is not that mobile, due to its size and weight, 6.61 lb / 3 kg. So even if Roam will not output quite the same sound quality, you can actually bring it with you. It weighs just 0.95 lb / 430 gram.

At home, Roam is a WiFi speaker, part of the ordinary Sonos speaker setup. Also using AirPlay 2. On the go, you will have to use Bluetooth (5.0) to play on it. It has 10h battery life, Drop resistant and IP67 Waterproof (Sonos Move is only IP56). Roam also has voice control.

Roam is a mono speaker, like Sonos One and can be paired with another Roam for stereo. It has Trueplay technology for adapting the sound to the surroundings.

Sonos Roam has, compared to Sonos other speakers, a lower price of 169$.

It comes with a charging cable and can be upgraded to a snap on wireless charger with an additional 59$ (Totals 218$ for the speaker and the wireless charger).

Sonos Roam starts to ship on 20th April.

Multi-room

Music on the go with Sonos Move

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Sonos has had a blind spot in their speaker lineup, a speaker with an integrated battery. This has finally been fixed with the new Move speaker.

Move charges wirelessly on the indoor charging base. It can then be moved around by its back handle.

At home, it works as any other Sonos unit with network streaming of music. Away from home, it can use Bluetooth instead. Move also supports Apple AirPlay 2. If you want to talk to it, do so with either alexa or google assistant.

Sonos Move is bigger than a Sonos One. It actually weighs a full 3kg. Because of its size and weight, the Move is not really optimal to take with you on trips. It is more suitable to move around the home and outside in the garden or balcony. As a comparison, JBL Charge 4 weighs just 1kg.

The Move has a low level of water resistance, ip56, which is worse than JBL Charge 4 with its IPX7 (can be dropped in water).

So you get a great sounding Sonos speaker that can be moved around the home and outside in the garden. But take it inside if it starts to rain and you will probably not take up half your backpack with it when you go camping. A smaller version with lower weight would be an interesting addition in the future.

The price is 399$ and it ships from september 24.

Multi-room

Audio Pro Addon series

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Sweden’s acclaimed speaker manufacturer Audio Pro has an interesting range of Multi-room products called the addon series. It consists of the midsize speaker addon C5, the larger speaker addon C10, the wireless sub addon C-SUB and the Link 1 which is connected to an existing setup. The brand is known for their sound quality and has been around since the seventies.

All the speakers supports Spotify Connect, Apple AirPlay and Bluetooth 4.0. They also support Tidal, TuneIn, Deezer and more through the Audio Pro multiroom app for iOS and Android. Up to five speakers can be grouped together in the app. Supported audio formats are MP3, WMA, AAC, FLAC and Apple Lossless. They can be played from a local NAS.


Addon C5 is a mid range speaker with a 40W Digital class D amplifier, 2 x 3⁄4” textile dome tweeters and a 4” long throw woofer. Apart from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth it inputs RCA and 3.5 mm stereo. The speaker was awarded product of the year 2017 by what hifi in the category Best wireless speaker £200-£500.

Addon C10 is the larger speaker with a 80W Digital class D amplifier, 2 x 3⁄4” textile dome tweeters and a 5.25” long throw woofer. It has the same inputs and outputs as C5.

Link 1 is an adapter that attaches to an existing system through 3.5mm stereo or TOSlink optical. Thus enabling wireless music on that system. A cost effective upgrade if you already have invested in a system.

Addon C-SUB delivers even more bass to the system through Wi-Fi or RCA. It connects automatically to the closest speaker in the system. It has a 200W Digital class D amplifier, a 6.5” long throw woofer and 2 x 7.5″ passive radiators.

Conclusion

The Audio Pro system has broad support for the key protocols and services in the multi-room market, is award winning and competitively priced compared to Sonos. So it should be considered when going multi-room.

Multi-room

Google Home Max with Chromecast and Assistant

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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.

Multi-room, Uncategorized

JBL Playlist with Chromecast audio

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JBL Playlist

JBL Playlist is a Wi-Fi speaker with Chromecast audio. It is always on and ones you have set it up in the Google Home App, it is available for casting music from all devices on your network. With a few of them, or other Chromecast speakers, you’ll have a multi-room music system for a low price.

JBL Playlist also have Bluetooth 4.2 which could come in handy if you bring it with you on a trip and do not have Wi-Fi available. Spotify Connect is also included. It also has a 3.5 mm connector for analog input.

JBL Playlist top

The speaker has controls for power, play/pause and volume on top of it.

The price is quite competitive at 150£.

Multi-room

Urbanears Baggen and Stammen

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Baggen Stammen

The Stockholm based headphone company is entering the multi-room speaker market with the two colorful speakers Stammen and Baggen. Depending on the color they can be a design piece in your home or a discrete sound system.

Both speakers handle Spotify Connect, AirPlay, Chromecast, Bluetooth, 3.5mm and aux input. Baggen is the bigger one with two 2.5˝ full-range drivers and one 5.25˝ woofer. It costs $450. Stammen is smaller one with two 3/4˝ neodymium dome tweeters and one 4˝ woofer. and costs $350. They both have 3 Class-D amplifiers.

Urbanears Connected app for iOS and android lets you flip through presets, browse internet radio stations, manage multi-room settings and tweak the equalizer.

You can combine up to 5 devices in a multi-room setup. Playing different music or combined in multi mode, which is Urbanears name for party mode.

Urbanears combination of design, good sound and support for both Spotify Connect and AirPlay makes them an interesting newcomer in the market.

Multi-room

Denon upgrades HEOS with hi-res and Bluetooth

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Heos products

Denon upgrades its HEOS line of multi-room products and ads integrated bluetooth and hi-res 24-bit support. Basically what we have been waiting for Sonos to do a long time..

All products have been upgraded to the new HS2 platform (except the soundbar). So the new generation still has HEOS 1, HEOS 3, HEOS 5 and HEOS 7 wireless speakers. HEOS Amp for connecting to external speakers and Heos Link for connection to an existing sound system. 5 & 7 are available in stores now. 1 & 3 in june and Amp & Link in July. The prices will stay the same. See product links and prices below.

The HS2 platform has an upgraded processor (ARM A9 at 1.25GHz), 512MB flash memory and 256MB of RAM. This enables it to support high-resolution audio up to 24-bit/192kHz. An update later this year will also add support for the DSD format. Denon also adds fast Wi-Fi 802.11 ac to the existing 2.4/5GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n.

As before, the HEOS system supports the streaming services Spotify (through Spotify Connect), Pandora, TuneIn, Amazon Music, IHeart Radio, SiriusXM, Soundcloud, Tidal and Rhapsody. You can also access local network music through DLNA or attach a drive through USB.

The updated devices plays nice with existing HEOS products and can even down sample hi-res music to 16/44.1 for them when they are grouped. All controlled by the Heos App for iOS and Android.

Multi-room

Yamaha MusicCast multi-room

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Yamaha is going all-in with it´s MusicCast wireless multi-room system. Supported devices keeps growing and so does the functionality. So it is time to take a closer look at what it has to offer.

Let’s start with the basics: MusicCast devices has support for AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Internet Radio, Bluetooth and DLNA. They support 24-bit high resolution audio, can be linked to play in party mode and are controlled by an iOS or Android app. The system includes receivers, amplifiers, stand alone speakers, soundbars and Hi-Fi systems. They connect to each other through your wireless router and can also use wired ethernet.

MusicCast system

Streaming services

MusicCast supports Spotify Connect, Pandora, Rhapsody and SiriusXM Internet Radio streaming services.

AirPlay

You can AirPlay from your iOS device or Mac to all MusicCast devices. You can not AirPlay to multiple devices using the Link function. Use a Bluetooth for that instead.

Bluetooth

All MusicCast devices has Bluetooth. If you play with Bluetooth to a device, that device can in turn link with your other MusicCast devices to play synchronized music in multiple rooms, which is usually called party mode. You can use the app for volume, play/pause and track skip control.

Bluetooth has some latency between for example the phone sending the signal and the input device, but the linked devices will play in sync with each other.

You can also send music from MusicCast devices using Bluetooth to enabled speaker or headphones. But you can’t receive and transmit Bluetooth at the same time. So either as input or output.

DLNA

All MusicCast devices can access DLNA-compatible sources like computers and NAS devices.

Hi-res 24-bit

MusicCast supports true high-resolution audio formats like Apple Lossless (ALAC) up to 96 kHz / 24-bit, AIFF, FLAC and WAV files up to 192 kHz / 24-bit. Most MusicCast devices also support playback of DSD streams up to 5.6 MHz.

MusicCast app

MusicCast app

The app is available on iOS and Android. It provides browsing and playback of music libraries on the network and the device itself. It can also access sources connected to MusicCast products like gaming consoles, CD and Blu-ray players, turntables, and more, which can be played in any room with a linked MusicCast device. Up to 10 MusicCast devices can be controlled by the app.

MusicCast devices

WX-030WH

The MusicCast Wireless Speaker WX-030WH features a large passive radiator combined with Yamaha’s digital sound processing. It comes in black or white with a silver accent. It can be wall mounted using a threaded mounting hole. It is possible to pair two MusicCast Wireless Speakers in stereo mode.

NX-500 powered speakers

NX-N500 is a stereo pair of Hi-Fi network speakers with a built in amplifier and MusicCast. They can be used by themselves via Wi-Fi, ethernet or Bluetooth. Or connected to any music output device you like through optical or analog input.

ISX-80

ISX-80 is a more design oriented wireless speaker in the MusicCast family that can be placed on the wall.

Soundbars: YSP-5600, YSP-1600 and SRT-1500.

AV Receivers / Amplifiers: RX-V779, RX-V679
,RX-V579, RX-V479, RX-S601, RX-S601D, CX-A5100, RX-A3050, RX-A2050, RX-A1050, RX-A850, RX-A750, RX-A550 and RX-AS710D,

HiFi Components: R-N602, CD-NT670 and CD-NT670D,

HiFi Systems: MCR-N870, MCR-N870D, MCR-N670 and MCR-N670D.

Summary

Yamaha’s MusicCast offering is huge and the combinations and ways to use the devices seems almost endless. You get products that has support for the highest audio quality and you will always have Bluetooth to fall back on. Compared to Sonos, it is a more open system with broader technical functionality even though Sonos is best in their niche, in app control of the most streaming services.


Multi-room

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

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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$.