Which wireless option?

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

I am considering purchasing a hifi mini stereo system (with a pair of decent speakers) for listening primarily to music that is on my computer (in Ogg Audio and MP3 format primarily). As far as wireless solutions go, I have found:

1/ DLNA: but it tends to be found only more expensive receiver, and I do not know how convenient DLNA really is when it comes to browsing the music library on the small screen of most receivers

2/ Airport Express: Some receivers come with Airplay/Airtunes, but I like that I could pick any receiver and just add an Airport Express to it. This option is attractive because the streaming has a pretty good range (since it uses WiFi) and the Airport Express has a digital output, which means that the DAC of the receiver would convert the music from digital to analog, am I right? The downside is that all what Apple does is proprietary, but I suppose that I could deal with it if this option is really better than the others.

3/ Bluetooth: I have read about the Qed uPlay. I like the fact that bluetooth audio is a proper standard supported by many devices. The range is about 10m which is fine by me. I am wondering how good the sound quality is though, especially considering that my computer is not Bluetooth apt-X capable as far as I know (it is just regular bluetooth). My main question regarding this solution is if there are ways to transfer the music digitally to the receiver, so that its DAC can be used. So far, I have not seen any bluetooth receiver that has an optical/digital output, even on the expensive Chordette ones (Gem, Peach, Maxx). So maybe it is impossible?

Thanks for your advices

 

[professorhat]

2/ Airport Express: Some receivers come with Airplay/Airtunes, but I like that I could pick any receiver and just add an Airport Express to it. This option is attractive because the streaming has a pretty good range (since it uses WiFi) and the Airport Express has a digital output, which means that the DAC of the receiver would convert the music from digital to analog, am I right? The downside is that all what Apple does is proprietary, but I suppose that I could deal with it if this option is really better than the others.

The Airport Express does have both an analogue and digital output so you could do as you say. Are you going for a hifi / stereo amp or a home cinema receiver though? Most mini hifi / stereo amp's won't have a built-in DAC so you'd still have to use the analogue connection. I'd still recommend this over using a home cinema receiver for music, unless you of course also wanted to put in a home cinema system at the same time. What sort of budget are you looking at?

By default, the Airport Express is proprietary, so you would need your music in iTunes to run it in this format, but you can purchase an Airfoil license (about £15) which lets you stream music from any PC / Mac application to the Airport Express, removing any restrictions.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks professorhat!

I did some more research and it looks like the Airport Express has the advantage over Bluetooth in terms of music quality:

http://www.stereophile.com/digitalprocessors/505apple
http://www.stereophile.com/content/chord-chordette-gem-da-processor-measurements

But in all honesty, having both may be convenient and would allow me to compare them.

For the Airport, I would not use any Apple software. I use GNU/Linux and I would simply use a plugin for the Pulse sound server: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/apples-airtunes-ubuntulinux/

I am planning the setup around music requirements, although I may also use it to listen to movies (without surround sound obviously). I was looking at some of these small systems: Denon N7, Denon DF107DAB, Denon DM38DAB, Marantz CR503, Marantz CR603, TEAC CR H500DNT

Actually, from these systems, it looks like both the Marantz CR603 and Denon N7 have an optical input, which limits the options. Do you know of any other such systems?

Edit: They seem like the only such systems at this point in time. I am pretty convinced by the Marantz and ethernet - wireless bridge option.

 

[Anonymous]

The Denon N7 has dlna over built-in wifi or ethernet so u wouldnt need anything else - you just connect the N7 to your wifi network. The Denon's support for flac is a bonus.

If u have an android phone (or even a newish symbian with the right app) you can use it as a dlna remote.

You're not using a mac/itunes so theres no need for Airplay/Express

 

[Anonymous]

I discovered two more wireless options, the Sonos (too proprietary for my taste), and the Logitech Squeezebox Touch, which has a nice touch screen and optical output (http://www.logitech.com/en-us/speakers-audio/wireless-music-systems/devices/5745).

But in the end, I purchased a Marantz M-CR603. It does not have any sort of fancy color display like the Sqeezebox, but if you have an Android phone then, there is an app to control it: AV-Remore (http://www.appbrain.com/app/avr-remote-for-denon-marantz/de.pskiwi.avrremote). I'm happy with my system!