High-res audio company Nativ announced a software update enabling wireless multiroom music streaming via Apple AirPlay, Google Cast and other streaming protocols for its Vita network music server and touch-screen control center. Vita plays through amplifiers and digital-to-analog converters via a digital output stage and now to networked wireless speakers via the update, co-founder Michael Li said Tuesday. The update also adds compatibility for up to 5 TB additional storage, bringing total storage to 10 TB, which Li translated as 40,000 albums or 200,000 tracks. Additional metadata and album artwork databases are part of the update, along with improvements to browsing speed. Other supported protocols in the update are UPnP/DLNA and Qualcomm AllPlay, and users can stream music to wireless speakers and devices from Sonos, Denon Heos, Bang & Olufsen, Amazon, Roku and Samsung, Li said. Users can play music on one or multiple speakers simultaneously and control the volume from the Vita’s interface, he said. Starting price is $1,599.
Emotiva announced new subwoofers and an amplifier Tuesday. The company added 12- and 15-inch subwoofers to its Airmotiv line, joining the 10-inch model. The $799 S12 has a 500-watt amplifier and the S15 ($1,199) packs a 650-watt amp. The X Series PA-1 Class D amplifier ($299) is a monoblock design delivering 140 RMS into 8 ohms, 300 watts into 4.
Denon announced the AVR-X3500H AV receiver with Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and DTS Virtual:X processing. The 7.2-channel $999 receiver, rated at 105 watts per channel, is enabled with an Alexa smart home skill for entertainment devices, Apple AirPlay2, enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), said the company Thursday. Its AKM 32-bit digital-to-analog converter enables decoding of ALAC, FLAC and WAV files at up to 24-bit/192-kHz for Hi-Res Audio files, and it's compatible with 2.8/5.6-MHz Direct Stream Digital files playable from memory devices over the front-panel USB port. Support for eARC and ALLM will be available in a future firmware update, it said.
MSE Audio will show what it calls the industry's first smart outdoor amplifier at CEDIA Expo in San Diego next month. The amp can connect wirelessly to a network via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and function as a Google Chromecast device in a multiroom configuration, interface with DLNA servers and provide multizone control, the company said. Operating as a hub for an outdoor audio space, the OS-440 amp is controllable via app, MSE Audio President Laura Waldon said. It's voice-controllable via Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant and can be hard-wired to an audio system, the company said.
Yamaha announced its next sound bar, the $499 Bar 400 with a wireless subwoofer, due to ship next month. Features include voice control via Amazon Alexa devices, support for Hi-Res Audio formats up to 24-bit, 192 kHz, Dolby Digital and DTS Digital Surround, DTS Virtual:X post-processing technology, Audio Return Channel and Yamaha's proprietary MusicCast multiroom and surround technologies. Clear Voice is said to improve dialogue audibility, and a compressed music enhancer restores high frequencies lost during compression, Yamaha said.
Roku announced Monday wireless speakers, the first speakers designed specifically for its TVs. Roku's control of software in the speakers and the TV enabled engineers to optimize wireless setup and connectivity and ensure audio video synchronization, it said. Once speakers and the TV are paired, users can listen to audio from any streaming channel on the Roku platform, live TV from an antenna or set-top boxes, it said. The wireless speakers support Bluetooth music streaming from mobile devices, have dialogue enhancement to improve intelligibility and automatic volume leveling, Roku said. In preorder through July 23, the speakers have a $149 introductory price, going up to $199; shipping is set for October. Voice and tabletop remotes are part of the bundle.
Lifestyle brand Shinola said Monday it partnered with Barefoot Sound, a manufacturer of professional audio recording monitors, to create its first Bluetooth bookshelf speaker system. It's Barefoot's first foray into the consumer market. The two companies re-engineered Shinola bookshelf speakers with a higher level of sonic quality based on Barefoot's pro-audio experience and Shinola's design prowess, they said. The speakers, with RCA, auxiliary, optical and USB ports, were assembled and tested in Barefoot's Portland, Oregon, facility. The speakers are slated to ship Thursday at $1,500 a pair.
James Loudspeaker bowed two downsized versions of its W-Series wedge speakers that are designed for placement where walls and ceilings converge. The 42Qw ($900), with a single 4-inch driver, and the 43Qw ($1,100), with two 4-inch drivers, can be used in multizone audio systems, as height channels for immersive theater systems -- including Dolby Atmos, Auro3D and DTS:X -- and outdoors, said the company.
The BBC released the “first version” of audio app BBC Sounds that “brings together our live and on-demand radio, music and podcasts into a single personalised app for the first time,” blogged the broadcaster Tuesday. The free app is downloadable from the Apple, Google and Amazon app stores, it said. “It’s all part of the BBC reinventing itself for a new generation, helping people to discover new things to listen to and navigate the 80,000 hours of audio we have available,” it said. “This is very much a first version -- we’ll be adding new functionality and looking for people to feed back on their experience over the summer.”
A new app from DTS allows users to stream lossless content from Play-Fi-supported speakers to a pair of headphones, said the company Thursday. The free app enables users to stream content playing on any DTS Play-Fi-supported product in a home to any pair of headphones connected to a phone or tablet for private listening, it said. The Play-Fi Headphones app is available for iOS now, with an Android version due next month, it said. DTS’ Play-Fi AV synchronization technology ensures audio tracks simultaneously with video content played on a TV, said the Xperi company. The app is compatible with the Definitive Technology W Studio Micro sound bar; Klipsch Gate receiver, PowerGate amplifier, RSB-8 sound bar, RSB-14 sound bar, RW-1 speaker, Capitol Three speaker and Three speaker; McIntosh’s MB50 streaming audio player; the Onkyo Smart Speaker G3; Paradigm PW Link pre-amplifier; Phorus PS10 speaker; Pioneer Elite Smart Speaker F4 and Polk's Omni S6 speaker and SB1+ sound bar, DTS said. Additional products will launch this year, it said.