Belkin Designing 'Soundform Connect' Adapter to Add AirPlay 2 to Speakers

[MacRumors]

Belkin appears to be working on a new "Belkin Soundform Connect" adapter that will connect to a standard speaker to add AirPlay 2 capabilities.

The adapter was found in FCC filings by Janko Roettgers (via 9to5Mac), and it looks like it will be powered by a USB-C cable and will feature a 3.5mm mini jack port for audio output and Optical Digital Audio.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1364611855348424708

The functionality may be similar to the AirPort Express, which is no longer available. The AirPort Express enabled AirPlay functionality on a standard speaker through the 3.5mm jack.

When a speaker is connected to Belkin's adapter, an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or other Apple device will be able to see it as an AirPlay 2 speaker.

AirPlay 2 is a multi-room audio feature that lets you stream music to more than one AirPlay 2 enabled speaker. AirPlay 2 is available on the HomePod, HomePod mini, Apple TV, Sonos speakers, and other third-party speaker options.

The Belkin Soundform Connect will also add HomeKit support, which will allow the speakers to be assigned to a room and to be controlled with Siri voice commands or the Home app.

There's no word on when the Belkin Soundform Connect will be released, but it could be priced at around 100 euros or $120.

Article Link: Belkin Designing 'Soundform Connect' Adapter to Add AirPlay 2 to Speakers

 

[Htsi]

Outrageously priced, but it’s a chrome cast Audio. Can’t help but remember I paid $40 for my airport express

 

[ouimetnick]

FINALLY. Praise the lord 😂

I’d like to replace my aging AirPort Express (also supports AirPlay 2).
The 3rd party AirPlay receivers out there from Dayton Audio, AudioEngine, etc only support AirPlay 1. I posted in several audio forums I visit to see if anyone knew of an AirPlay 2 adapter/receiver, and came up short.

 

[munpip214]

If Belkin is able to do it we should see others too, maybe cheaper.

 

[BF1M]

It'll lag.

 

[ouimetnick]

It'll lag.

Have to wait and see. What I like about my HomePods is when I AirPlay music from my library, I can scrub around and it’s practically instantaneous, but on the AirPort Express, the audio drops out for 5 seconds or so and they continues where it should.

It’s like the HomePod buffers the entire song into it’s 1GB of ram (or into its 16GB of storage)

The AirPort Express doesn’t have that.

EDIT: Looked at some tear downs of the 2nd gen AirPort Express and it appears to have 64MB of ram and no storage, so it obviously can’t really buffer anything sent to it from a Mac/iOS device like HomePod can. Hopefully this Belkin device can behave like the HomePod. If it acts the same as the AirPort Express, I’ll be returning it.

 

[iGüey]

OMG! That’s exactly what I need to convert my HiFi amp into an AirPlay capable amp, thus avoid the lossy bluetooth link.

 

[ouimetnick]

OMG! That’s exactly what I need to convert my HiFi amp into an AirPlay capable amp, thus avoid the lossy bluetooth link.

You can already do it today with a used AirPort Express (2nd gen) for cheap. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past 5 years.

 

[throAU]

What I really want is a device to add airplay OUT to an audio source.

i.e., line-in from some device, output to airplay.

Right now I've got a heap of airplay enabled outputs, and looking to hook up a record player.

 

[goobot]

That’s cool but why would someone buy this over a 20$ Bluetooth one

 

[iGüey]

You can already do it today with a used AirPort Express (2nd gen) for cheap. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past 5 years.

Yeah, for sure that’s the finest solution. The problem is that where I live (Mexico City) the second hand market for those devices is virtually non existent, so if I happen to find a working one, it likely will be more expensive than if it was new.

Anyway I appreciate your advice, so thank you.

 

[ouimetnick]

What I really want is a device to add airplay OUT to an audio source.

i.e., line-in from some device, output to airplay.

Right now I've got a heap of airplay enabled outputs, and looking to hook up a record player.

There is no commercial product that I know of. Only thing one can do is use a Raspberry Pie and install “BabelPod”

I have ever tried it so I can’t comment

BabelPod: Line-In and Bluetooth Input for HomePod

BabelPod on Github

faden.me

It would be nice to output a record player, tape deck or reel to reel to a device like HomePod or stream from those devices to a AirPlay enabled A/V receiver.

 

[hlfway2anywhere]

That’s cool but why would someone buy this over a 20$ Bluetooth one

Do you have any recommendations for sending BT audio from iPhone to several receivers simultaneously?

 

[iGüey]

That’s cool but why would someone buy this over a 20$ Bluetooth one

Just because bluetooth is a lossy transmission protocol, while AirPlay is lossless. So if you want hear to HiFi music, you’d like to play and transmit as lossless as you can.

 

[BaltimoreMediaBlog]

LAWSUIT from Apple. That's where my Vegas money is.

 

[iGüey]

LAWSUIT from Apple. That's where my Vegas money is.

Maybe Apple licensed it to Belkin.

 

[amphiton]

This, but with optical out.

 

[seek3r]

I have a couple raspberry pis scattered around the house hooked up to old stereos for this (https://github.com/mikebrady/shairport-sync is awesome), I'm sure a lot of people would appreciate a device that's a plug and play adapter for the same thing (though the pricing seems pretty steep)

 

[QT317]

That’s cool but why would someone buy this over a 20$ Bluetooth one

Bluetooth is lossy, doesnt allow you to stream to multiple rooms/endpoints.

There is no commercial product that I know of. Only thing one can do is use a Raspberry Pie and install “BabelPod”

I have ever tried it so I can’t comment

BabelPod: Line-In and Bluetooth Input for HomePod

BabelPod on Github

faden.me

It would be nice to output a record player, tape deck or reel to reel to a device like HomePod or stream from those devices to a AirPlay enabled A/V receiver.

Getting analog audio onto a digital music streaming device is pretty edge case. the whole point of airplay and streaming more broadly is its controlled from a central device (usually your phone) and therefore a turntable or similar doesnt make a lot of sense.

airplay is also only CD quality so if you were looking to get the vinyl/tape/analog hi-fi sound, its still gonna only ever be as good as a WAV file.

This, but with optical out.

did you look at the picture? it is optical out.

 

[ruslan120]

Do it for a fraction of the quality and cost using radios!

 

[scuac]

$120? Could just buy a bunch of Echo dots and have audio all over the house (and yes, those also have an audio jack to connect to better speakers)

 

[ouimetnick]

$120? Could just buy a bunch of Echo dots and have audio all over the house (and yes, those also have an audio jack to connect to better speakers)

I don’t believe that the Echo Dot has AirPlay 2 (or even AirPlay in general) support. That’s the kicker. Otherwise I’d buy a few Echo Dots.

 

[iGüey]

Do it for a fraction of the quality and cost using radios!

Oh boy! Watching your video brought me back very good memories due to I recall having in my adolescence a Sony mini system very similar to your CFD-440. Mine was a Sony CFD-454 which actually sounded great for its relative small size. So thank you for the memories and for the great advice.

 

[NapoleonIV]

I would buy this, though not for that price.

 

[SirChristopher]

Man, at first glance I thought I was looking at the underside of the old Mighty Mouse...my favorite Apple peripheral of all time!