Which wireless technology is right for you?

Comparison of AirPlay, Bluetooth, DLNA, Play-Fi, Sonos and other technologies

In the field of audio, wires are gradually becoming history, as has already happened with dial-up modems. Most modern portable systems, like a large number of headphones, sound panels and receivers, are created using built-in wireless technologies.

This technology allows you to stream audio from your smartphone to wireless speakers or from an iPad to a soundbar, or from a network hard drive to your Blue-ray player.

Most of these products include only one type of wireless technology. It is important to make sure that the new wireless audio system that you buy will work with your smartphone, laptop or any other device from which you prefer to listen to music.

In this article, I'm going to review the most popular wireless audio technologies and help you understand which one is best for you.

Airplay

Cambridge Audio Minx Air 200 uses AirPlay as the main wireless technology, and also supports Bluetooth

Advantages:

• Works with multiple devices in multiple rooms
• No loss in sound quality

Disadvantages:

• Doesn't work with Android devices
• Does not work outside the home (with some exceptions)
• No stereo pair support

If you have any device from Apple, or at least a PC with iTunes, then you have AirPlay. This technology transfers audio from any iOS device (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch) or a computer using iTunes. It transmits audio to AirPlay-enabled wireless audio speakers, soundbars, and an audio / video receiver, and it can also work with your audio system if you connect AirPort Express or Apple TV.

Music lovers love AirPlay, because this technology does not degrade the sound quality and does not compress music files. It works only with audio formats that iTunes supports, and also allows you to listen to Internet radio and podcasts from iTunes or applications on the iPhone and iPad.

This site contains detailed instructions for using AirPlay.

AirPlay uses your home Wi-Fi network, so it works only at home. Several AirPlay audio speakers, such as Audio Pro AllRoom and Libratone Zipp, have a built-in Wi-Fi router and do not need to connect to a Wi-Fi network for AirPlay to work. Apparently, AirPlay synchronization is not reliable enough, which does not allow using two AirPlay speakers in stereo pair mode.

You can play audio from one or more devices to multiple speakers by simply using the AirPlay control menu on your phone, tablet or computer, and choosing which speakers you want to connect. Thus, AirPlay is suitable for family use, when several people want to listen to different music at the same time, as well as for parties if you want one music to play all over the house.

AVB (Audio Video Bridging)

AVB is still looking for its way into the consumer audio market, but has already established itself as a professional audio product due to the Biamp Tesira line of digital signal processors.

Advantages:

• Works with multiple devices in multiple rooms
• Allows working together several products of different brands
• Does not affect sound quality, compatible with all formats
• Achieves almost perfect (1 ms) synchronization, allowing you to use a stereo pair
• Industry standard - controlled by more than one company

Disadvantages:

• Not available as consumer audio product. Only a few network products currently support AVB.
• Does not work outside the home

The AVB standard, also known as 802.11, is a new industry standard that allows multiple devices on a network to “use” a common clock that syncs approximately every second. Packets with audio (and video) data are marked with temporary instructions, which essentially say: “Play this data packet at 11: 32: 43.304652”. Synchronization is as good as using simple audio cables.

I did not include AVB on the list because it is a real option for you (not yet), but because I believe that you will still hear about this technology. Right now, AVB support is included in several network products and computers and in several professional audio products, but I'm not afraid of consumer goods.

Curiously, AVB does not necessarily replace existing technologies such as AirPlay, Play-Fi and Sonos. In fact, AVB can be added to them, and I believe that, to some extent, this will happen.

Bluetooth

There are a large number of shapes and sizes of Bluetooth audio speakers. Shown here are Peachtree Audio deepblue (far), Cambridge SoundWorks Oonz (front left) and the AudioSource SoundPop (front right)

Advantages:

• Works with any smartphone, tablet or computer
• Works with a lot of speakers and headphones
• Works anywhere
• Allows you to use a stereo pair

Disadvantages:

• May decrease sound quality.
• Difficult to use in different rooms
• Works over short distances

Bluetooth is one of those formats that is used almost everywhere. It is available on Apple and Android smartphones and tablets, and if your laptop does not support it, then you can purchase an adapter for less than $ 15. It is built into countless wireless speakers, headphones, sound panels, and audio / video receivers. You can purchase a Bluetooth adapter for less than $ 30 and use it in your current audio system.

For music lovers, the disadvantage of Bluetooth is that it almost always, to some extent, degrades the sound quality, because it uses data compression to reduce the size of the original audio stream to the size of the Bluetooth bandwidth. The standard Bluetooth encoding / decoding technology (codec) is called SBC. Be that as it may, Bluetooth devices can use other codecs, such as AAC, apt-X, and various MPEG codecs (including MP3).

If the source (your phone, tablet or computer) and the receiving device (wireless receiver or speaker) support a specific codec, then the data encoded with this codec does not require an additional layer to add compressed data. Therefore, if you listen to, say, an MP3 file with a bit rate of 128 kbps or use the audio streaming service and your output device accepts MP3, then there is no need to add an additional compression level to Bluetooth, and as a result, sound is reproduced without loss.

Deterioration in sound that may occur when using Bluetooth - is it audible? On a high-quality audio system, yes. On a small wireless speaker, perhaps not. Bluetooth speakers that offer AAC or apt-X audio compression options that are considered superior to the Bluetooth standard are likely to provide better results, but only some phones and tablets are compatible with these formats. The online hearing test allows you to compare aptX and SBC.

Any application on your smartphone, tablet or computer will work fine with Bluetooth, and connecting two Bluetooth devices is quite simple.

Bluetooth does not require a Wi-Fi network, so it works everywhere: on the beach, in a hotel room, even while driving a bicycle or motorcycle. Be that as it may, the use distance is limited and is usually 15 feet. 30 feet at best.

As a rule, Bluetooth does not allow transmission to multiple audio systems. The only exceptions are systems that can work in pairs: with one speaker playing the left channel, while the other plays the right. Some of these devices, such as Beats and Jawbone Bluetooth speakers, can play a mono signal in each speaker, so you can place one speaker in, say, a living room and another in an adjacent room. Although you still need to consider the remote limitations of Bluetooth. Summary: if you want to listen to music in different rooms - do not use Bluetooth.

DLNA

JBL L16 is one of the few wireless speakers that supports DLNA wireless broadcasting.

Advantages:

• Works with many audio / video devices such as Blue-ray players, TV and audio / video receivers
• No loss in sound quality

Disadvantages:

• Doesn't work with Apple devices
• Does not broadcast to many devices
• Does not work outside the home
• Only works with saved music files. Doesn't work with streaming audio

DLNA is a network standard, not a wireless audio technology. But it allows you to play files stored on network devices, because it has applications for working with wireless audio. It is not available on Apple phones and tablets running iOS, but DLNA-compatible applications, such as Skifta , are available for Android devices. Moreover, DLNA works with a PC running Windows, but not with an Apple Mac.

Only a few wireless speakers support DLNA, but this is a standard feature with conventional audio / video devices such as Blue-ray players, TVs and audio / video receivers. This is useful if you want, say, to stream music from your computer to your home theater system using a receiver or a Blue-ray player. Or stream music from your computer to your phone (DLNA is great for viewing photos from a computer or phone on a TV, but now we're talking about audio).

Since DLNA is a Wi-Fi-based technology, it does not work outside the home network. Since DLNA is essentially a file sharing technology, not a broadcast technology, the sound quality is not reduced. However, it does not work with Internet radio and streaming services, although a large number of DLNA-compatible devices already have these built-in functions. DLNA is capable of simultaneously playing audio on only one device, so it is inconvenient to use it to play music throughout the house.

Play fi

This Phorus PS1 speaker uses Play-Fi sound technology.

Advantages:

• Works with any smartphone, tablet or computer
• Works with multiple devices in multiple rooms
• No loss in sound quality

Disadvantages:

• Works (for now) with only a few wireless speakers
• Does not work outside the home
• Limited streaming capabilities (currently)

Play-Fi was declared as a “platform-independent” version of AirPlay, in other words, it should work with everything. There is a Play-Fi application for Android devices, and an application for Apple devices running iOS, as well as support for personal computers with Windows. Play-Fi appeared at the end of 2012, and at the time of this writing, only a few Play-Fi devices are available. Play-Fi is licensed by DTS, a recognized audio technology company known for its technology used on many DVDs, and it is very likely that the universe of Play-Fi devices will expand over time.

Like AirPlay, Play-Fi technology does not reduce sound quality. It can be used to transfer sound from one or more devices to multiple audio systems, so it’s convenient if you want to play music all over the house, or want family members to listen to different music in different rooms.

Play-Fi works over Wi-Fi, so you cannot use it outside the network. The Play-Fi Android application currently includes the function of Internet radio and music broadcasting using Pandora, Deezer and Songza, but any other streaming options are available only in the Asian market.

Qualcomm AllPlay

Monster S3 is one of the first audio speakers using Qualcomm AllPlay.

Advantages:

• Works with any smartphone, tablet or computer
• Works with multiple devices in multiple rooms
• No loss in sound quality
• Supports high resolution audio
• Products from different manufacturers can work together

Disadvantages:

• Products announced but not yet available
• Does not work outside the home
• Streaming capabilities are somewhat limited.

AllPlay is a Wi-Fi technology from Qualcomm processor manufacturer. It allows you to play audio in ten zones (rooms), in each of which the same or a different audio recording is played. The volume can be controlled simultaneously for all audio speakers or in each zone individually. At the time of writing, AllPlay provides access to nine different streaming services, including Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneInRadio, Rhapsody, Napster, and more. They are not controlled by a separate application, as is the case with Sonos, but as part of the streaming services application that you use. The technology also allows you to share products of competing manufacturers, as long as they support AllPlay.

AllPlay is a lossless compression technology that does not affect playback quality. It supports many basic codecs, including MP3, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, and WAV, and can work with audio files with resolutions up to 24/192.

At the time of this writing, no company has equipped its product with AllPlay technology, although Panasonic and Monster showed products equipped with it at the September international IFA show in 2014. Altec Lansing also announced that they will use AllPlay in upcoming projects.

Sonos

Play3 is one of the smallest models of wireless audio speakers from Sonos

Advantages:

• Works with any smartphone, tablet or computer
• Works with multiple devices in multiple rooms
• No loss in sound quality
• Allows you to use a stereo pair

Disadvantages:

• Available on Sonos Audio Systems Only
• Does not work outside the home

Although Sonos wireless technology is only available on Sonos devices, their competitors have told me that it remains the most successful wireless audio company. At the moment, the company offers two wireless audio speakers, a soundbar, a wireless amplifier (using your own speakers) and a wireless adapter that connects to your existing stereo equipment. The Sonos app runs on Android and iOS smartphones and tablets, on Windows and Mac.

The Sonos system does not reduce the quality of audio playback because it does not use data compression. Be that as it may, Wi-Fi is required for its operation, so it does not function outside the network. You can transfer one audio track to each audio speaker in the house, you can broadcast different audio recordings to different speakers and so on in any other combinations.

Sonos required each Sonos device to have a wired Ethernet connection with your router, otherwise you had to buy a wireless bridge from Sonos for $ 49. Starting in September 2014, you can install the Sonos system without a bridge or a wired connection if you are not using a 5.1 surround sound configuration.

You can access all your audio through the Sonos app. It can stream music stored on your computer or network drive, but not on your phone or tablet. A phone or tablet in this situation acts as broadcast controllers, and not as its source. Using the application, you can access more than thirty different streaming services, including such well-known as Pandora, Rhapsody and Spotify, as well as Internet radio services: iHeartRadio and TuneIn Radio.

WiSA

Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 17 - one of the first audio speakers with WiSA wireless capability

Advantages:

• Possibility of simultaneous operation of devices from different manufacturers
• Works with multiple devices in multiple rooms
• No loss in sound quality
• Allows the use of a stereo pair and multi-channel (5.1, 7.1) systems

Disadvantages:

• Separate transmitter required
• Does not work outside the home
• While there are no products that work in several rooms and support WiSA

The WiSA (Wireless Speaker and Audio Association) standard was developed strictly for use in home theaters, but in September 2014 it was also used in multi-channel audio systems. It differs from other technologies presented here in that it does not rely on a Wi-Fi network. Instead, you use a WiSA transmitter to transmit sound to audio speakers, soundbars (etc.) equipped with WiSA. The most notable user of this technology is Bang & Olufsen.

Full details of WiSA’s multi-function capabilities are not available at the time of writing, but the association’s website says the technology allows the transmission of uncompressed high-resolution audio from 20 to 40 meters through walls and achieves 1ms synchronization. The release of products with multi-function WiSA is scheduled for 2015.

Other proprietary Wi-Fi systems: Bluesound, Bose, Denon, Samsung, etc.

Bluesound elements are among those few wireless audio products that currently support high-resolution audio.

Advantages:

• Offers selection features not found on AirPlay and Sonos
• No loss in sound quality

Disadvantages:

• There is no possibility of simultaneous work of products of various companies
• Does not work outside the home

Several companies have entered the market with patented Wi-Fi wireless audio systems to compete with Sonos. These include: Bluesound (presented here), Bose SoundTouch, Denon HEOS , NuVo Gateway , Pure Audio Jongo , Samsung Shape and LG NP8740. Their work, to some extent, is similar to Sonos: they transmit digital audio over Wi-Fi very accurately and are controlled using Android and iOS devices, as well as computers.

So far, none of these systems has attracted a large number of followers, but some of them have certain advantages.

Bluesound equipment, offered by the same parent company, which produces recognized NAD audio electronics and a series of PSB audio speakers, is capable of broadcasting high-resolution audio files, and based on it, a higher quality standard is created than is used in most wireless audio products. It also supports Bluetooth.

Samsung includes Bluetooth in its Shape line, which does not require the installation of an application and simplifies the connection of any Bluetooth-enabled device. Samsung also offers Shape wireless compatibility with an ever-expanding range of products, including Blue-Ray players and soundbars.

From the translator:this review, of course, does not purport to be exceptional, but contains some interesting insights on the topic of further development of the industry. And for those who still prefer to use cables, we have prepared this translation.