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Pioneer Drops AirPlay Speaker Prices, Now Competitive with Bluetooth Models
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No, that sounds like a pain in the ass. Why would I want to convert close to 900 gigs of music ?
Not understanding my original post and responding with something as catty as THIS is the definition of a Fail.
900 gig? Even considering you've got it all encoded at lossless compression ratios, that's like...all the music, isn't it?
It sure as hell makes my 12GB of music seem puny.
I'm not trying to be a jerk, but 12 gigs in lossless is like 12- 20 records .
In Lossless , yeah , that would be puny
Right, I'm not a massive audiophile, so most of my collection is a mix of 250k M4a files and 250-320k MP3's, each album pegs out around 80-150 meg or so. I've got about 86 albums altogether.
I really hate saw the old Kuro went off the grid, and now Panasonic is raising the white flag too. I wish all HDTV is plasma
No thanks.
Some of use have eyes that are sensitive to Plasma refresh rates inducing flicker.
Plasma is old tech and has been superseded by more energy efficient and quite frankly better tech.
Better tech than plasma? Like LCD? Barely
Like I said, LCD or LED backlit tv might have to be overcomplicated and overpriced to compensate lots of things a cheap, simple, low end Plasma could do out of the box.
LCD needs more costly IPS panel to have a better viewing angle and contrast ratio
LCD needs super sophisticated auto dimming backlit array to barely compete with plasma black level an uniformity
LCD needs soap opera effect a.k.a motion smoothing to overcome motion blur
After all that advanced technology, LCD is still much more suscpetible to dead pixels more than plasma
One technology which truly compete with plasma and make it obsolete is OLED. Might need several years before mere mortals could afford one.
And yet it seems that not a small number of people are susceptible to flicker with them which renders them completely uncompetitive to LCD.
Plasma had its time and when I was researching my TV purchase last year, the gap in terms of Black Depth and IQ was narrowing!!
Yes! You can connect an iPhone directly to it wirelessly.
"With Wireless Direct, you can enjoy wireless music far beyond your homes wireless network. Wireless Direct allows for a direct wireless connection between your smartphone and the A3 speaker, without the need for a wireless router."
Airplay requires WIFI, but the poster asked about connecting directly to the Pioneer [without a WIFI Router], which you can do.
I bought one at Best Buy at $199. It was simple to setup and the sound is wonderful out on my deck. I checked the sound on both the portable and the plugin models. Even though the price is the same for both, the sound on the plugin was overwhelmingly better. I am very pleased with the quality build, the sound and ease of setup. This was just perfect for what I need at an excellent price!
We were really on the fence which way to go and we went with SONOS
for a number of reasons, including flexibility of format and ease of use.
And yes - like many before us, we got hooked on the whole Sonos system
and now have a playbar as well as the sub. Couldn't be happier with our choice.
I don't know if you've made your purchase yet, but if you haven't, this is a really good moment to take advantage of a sale Sonos has going - when you buy a Sonos Play 3, they will give you a free Sonos Bridge plus 90 days free access to Rhapsody.
I came across this web site that has a free 2 day fedex shipping coupon for Sonos when we were shopping. They also have info on there about how to get the free sonos bridge. I think that sale ends really soon, so if you are reading this and have been considering buying a play 3 or need a bridge - this is a good moment to get it.
Personally - I don't think you'll be disappointed with any sonos product.
http://www.squidoo.com/sonos-playbar-soundbar-and-wireless-speakers-for-streaming-music
So Bestbuy just had a sale on the A1 model for $50. I bought 2.
Had a little difficulty setting it up. Ultimately the main problem was the firmware needed to be updated.
After it was set up I'm more than satisfied with the results all around. $50!
Can't wait to get both speakers set up although based on my tests in my apt this single speaker gets loud enough to disturb the neighbors on its own let alone paired with another speaker.
BASS is awesome.
2 things I'm a little concerned with so far.
Start up time from complete power off to ready to use is at least 30 seconds.
Second concern is adding a password to the airplay so my neighbors can't connect to it.
Had a little difficulty setting it up. Ultimately the main problem was the firmware needed to be updated.
After it was set up I'm more than satisfied with the results all around. $50!
Can't wait to get both speakers set up although based on my tests in my apt this single speaker gets loud enough to disturb the neighbors on its own let alone paired with another speaker.
BASS is awesome.
2 things I'm a little concerned with so far.
Start up time from complete power off to ready to use is at least 30 seconds.
Second concern is adding a password to the airplay so my neighbors can't connect to it.
if everything else is equal like cheapo speakers, or earbuds, you wont tell a difference. But with quality speakers you will.I've been told by a couple of AirPlay speaker owners (self-proclaimed audiophiles
Anyone with more technical knowledge care to elaborate?
With myself being quite satisfied with the sound quality of 256kb AAC, I'm no audiophile. So in listening to the same track, will I be able to tell the difference if I listen to an AirPlay output versus a Bluetooth one? (assuming that everything else is equal like the quality and build of the speakers)
Airplay transmits with AAC lossless. So your AAC/MP3 files etc while lossy dont go through a lossy transcode for transmission and decode.
Bluetooth can support direct AAC and can be similar quality, but in reality very few bluetooth receivers support and negotiate for receiving AAC.
Instead they fall back to their basic standards compliant SBC codec which is very poor. So you convert your lossy AAC into another lossy crappier SBC for transmission to be decoded by the receiver. You'll lose a lot of dynamic range.
There is no such thing as AAC lossless. May be you mean Apple Lossless. If you store everything in Apple Lossless and are sending it to premium speakers through AirPlay, everything remains lossless throughout the path. With Bluetooth, it does not.
With quickstart my two A4s and one A1 responds nearly instantly. Why would you want to keep it completely on all the time?
AirPlay is outstanding for the range it offers, our BT speaker has craptacular range (and it's a higher-ish ended product).
You're in luck, you can.
You're in luck, you can.
Good News! Sonos is currently offering a free bridge.
I just found out that SONOS is once again offering a free Bridge.
If you've been thinking of buying any of the Sonos products,
don't miss this opportunity. The link below has the details:
http://www.squidoo.com/sonos-playbar-soundbar-and-wireless-speakers-for-streaming-music
PS. We have now had our Sonos system for 7 months and we are still in love!
I just found out that SONOS is once again offering a free Bridge.
If you've been thinking of buying any of the Sonos products,
don't miss this opportunity. The link below has the details:
http://www.squidoo.com/sonos-playbar-soundbar-and-wireless-speakers-for-streaming-music
PS. We have now had our Sonos system for 7 months and we are still in love!