Thanks for the suggestion but it seems like none of their products natively support Airplay 2, at most Bluetooth 5.x.
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Eve Debuts AirPlay-Compatible Eve Play and Eve Thermo Control
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1. Just ordered this Eve product. $150 is not expensive.
2. We currently use an Airport Express.
3. Had an Airport Express just die. It fried its brains after 8+ years. Went down to the basement and got the spare.
2. We currently use an Airport Express.
3. Had an Airport Express just die. It fried its brains after 8+ years. Went down to the basement and got the spare.
I have the Wiim Pro, and it is fantastic and vey easy to use. My only gripe is I have to use AirPlay2 which only supports loss AAC 320 Kbps. If only Apple would let streaming devices from third parties add Apple Music so we get better audio quality than AAC
Agreed. Unfortunately AirPlay2 even over WiFi streams the lossy AAC 320 Kbps 16 Bit 44.1 KHz. Shame on Apple!
This device seems to have the advantage of wired ethernet and maybe 5GHz Wifi over the WiiM and Belkin. I think the RCA connectors are also a differentiator, not that 3.5mm is terrible or RCA is the pinnacle of interconnects, but some people have their preferences.
AirPlay 2 actually supports lossless audio encoded as either PCM or ALAC. Apple Music will send ALAC to AirPlay 2 receivers when playing back an ALAC rip from a CD, but only sends 256kbps AAC when playing from the Apple Music streaming service.
The lack of HiRes audio with Apple Music is fairly unimportant because the people who are sure they can hear a difference vs CD-quality audio, or even 256kbps AAC, are most likely wrong and would fail to distinguish them in a double-blind test.
AirPlay 2 actually supports lossless audio encoded as either PCM or ALAC. Apple Music will send ALAC to AirPlay 2 receivers when playing back an ALAC rip from a CD, but only sends 256kbps AAC when playing from the Apple Music streaming service.
The lack of HiRes audio with Apple Music is fairly unimportant because the people who are sure they can hear a difference vs CD-quality audio, or even 256kbps AAC, are most likely wrong and would fail to distinguish them in a double-blind test.
Is that through headphones or through some high-end speaker systems? I'm guessing that if you are listening to different formats through non-audiophile grade cans, you most likely wouldn't hear any difference but I'd have to think some nice studio grade speaker systems might highlight more of the differences? 🤷♂️
Probably zero macrumors reader could hear the difference between 24 bit 192khz and 24 bit 96khz, even given the best possibls speaker setup, but a fraction probably could hear differences between 24 bit 96khz and 16 bit 44.1khz. At least on very complex songs.
Of course that's for very high end systems, any Sonos system, two homepods, any soundbar, etc..., won't be able to reproduce even 90% of the acoustics of an actual high end concert hall.
Of course that's for very high end systems, any Sonos system, two homepods, any soundbar, etc..., won't be able to reproduce even 90% of the acoustics of an actual high end concert hall.
Somewhat disappointed that Eve chose a barrel connector (instead of USB) for powering the device. Basically means having to use another wall wart. Especially considering that some powered speakers/amplifiers provide USB power output.
On the other side of things, as a homeowner with radiators, I really wish they would sell these thermoproducts for the US market. Honeywell has something similar, but again available only in UK.
Biggest issue with radiator heat - which is wonderful and better than forced air by far - is getting each room balanced right.
Biggest issue with radiator heat - which is wonderful and better than forced air by far - is getting each room balanced right.
My three-year-old might be able to hear >20khz frequencies properly reproduced by ultra high-end speakers, but his taste in music is mostly anchored around hearing the same pop song over and over and over again. For the rest of us, 256kbps AAC at 44.1khz is *plenty* of quality.
That's a nice phone. Can someone tell what the brand is?
Eve Systems today announced the upcoming launch of the Eve Play, an audio streaming interface created for AirPlay 2. Eve Play adds AirPlay streaming capabilities to existing amplifiers, active speakers, and sound bars, allowing them to be synchronized with other AirPlay 2 speakers for whole-house audio.
The Eve Play includes RCA connectors, optical digital outputs, and coaxial digital outputs, along with an Ethernet port and the option to connect to either 2.4 or 5GHz WiFi. According to Eve, the digital-to-analog converter has a signal-to-noise ratio of 112 dB for an "audiophile sound experience."
When used with the Apple Home app and Apple Music, the Eve Play can be integrated into automations similar to other AirPlay 2-equipped devices.
Alongside the Eve Play, Eve today introduced the Eve Thermo Control, a wireless temperature sensor and controller for rooms that are equipped with the Eve Thermo smart radiator valve. The Eve Thermo radiator valve is sold in Europe, so the new temperature sensor is also designed for the European market.
The Eve Thermo Control senses the ambient temperature and relays it to the smart radiator valve for more accurate climate control.
In November, Eve plans to release a Matter update for Eve MotionBlinds roller blind motors and the Eve MotionBlinds Upgrade Kit, adding Adaptive Shading as a free upgrade feature. Adaptive Shading allows the blinds to open and close automatically based on location, date, and time.
Eve Play is priced at $150 and it will be available starting on November 14. The Eve Thermo Control is priced at €79.95 and will also be available on the same day. More information is available on the Eve website.
Article Link: Eve Debuts AirPlay 2-Compatible Eve Play and Eve Thermo Control
I’ve been wanting to buy a record player for the longest time, but all of my good speakers are Airplay. Am I interpreting this correctly that I could get the Eve Play, connect a record player to it, and the Eve Play would send the audio around the house to my various airplay speakers? If so, I’m incredibly excited and have been waiting for a product like that for years now!
But that's not what I asked...
Anyhoo, I prefer to buy my Beatport tracks in AIFF/WAV version versus MP3 as I don't think the MP3 versions pack enough fidelity when playing over large speaker systems, especially with the low-end. While I'll agree the the average consumer isn't going to get more bang-for-their-buck outside of a 256 AAC, I can definitely "feel" the differences on certain tracks.
It doesn't appear that the Eve Play has any inputs so I'm guessing it is simply taking streamed/wireless signals and sending it to any outputs on the device. You'd still need some sort of Airplay transmitter coming off the turntable that would then send it to the Eve.
Others have mentioned the WiiM Pro, which would be able to broadcast AND has a line-in for a turntable but I couldn't find any mention of a phono pre-amp for the line-in.
I use belkin audio connect, works with airplay 2 for my subwoofer. quite good.
www.belkin.com
AirPlay 2 Audio Adapter with Optical + 3.5mm | Belkin US
Our Audio Adapter with AirPlay 2 is a plug-and-play way to wirelessly stream from your iOS device to any speaker with an optical or 3.5mm input. Shop now.
www.belkin.com
Just got one of these. Highly recommended. Digital audio connection to our Denon and Dali speakers. The audio sync works very well with our existing HomePods - one in an adjacent room and one in a bedroom.