If you want a Wi-Fi-based multi-room audio system, you so far haven’t had many alternatives to the market leader, Sonos. Other manufacturers offer their own solutions, but generally only in a handful of products. That looks set to change as Yamaha today announced that its MusicCast system will be supported by more than 20 products, with pricing starting from $250. That includes all but one of its 2015 receivers, reports CNET.
Unlike Sonos, MusicCast supports five different lossless audio formats, including Apple Lossless, FLAC and WAV. It’s controlled by an iOS app, which can stream both your own music library and services like Spotify, Pandora and Rhapsody. Support for Apple Music seems likely further down the road …
The entry-level MusicCast Wireless Speaker, which supports Bluetooth as well as Wi-Fi, is available today for pre-order at $249.95, shipping on September 20th. It’s available in a choice of black or white. Other MusicCast products include a $500 Sound Bar and a $600 TV Speaker Base. Expect more announcements between now and the end of September.
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“If you want a Wi-Fi-based multi-room audio system, you so far haven’t had many alternatives to the market leader, Sonos.”
What about AirPlay? Nearly every room in my house has an Airport Express or Apple TV in it, so I can stream audio pretty much anywhere.
By default, AirPlay can only have one destination speaker (set) at a time, so is not a great multi-room solution. There are ways around that, but rather clunky ones. I’ll have more to say on this next week.
I think you’ll find GK is talking about multiple speakers via itunes to multiple airplay enabled speakers (express or apple tv). I have this setup too and it is mint. Perfect sync between all zones and great control via remote app.
So you have an Airport or Apple TV attached to each set of speakers?
Speaking for myself, I do have an Airport Express or AppleTV in all rooms I want music in, including a feed to our yard. As noted by Daryl, I can either do a quick hit from my iPhone direct to any one room, or use the MacBook to play simultaneous to any/all rooms. When using the MacBook, the Remote App on iPhone/iPad will control the MacBook playback.
Also, when streaming Spotify from my PowerBook over AirPlay to multiple rooms, I can use my iPhone to control the playlist. The Spotify app is smart enough to “see” the MacBook playing and “offer” to override and control the MacBook. Pretty nice.
Jim in Boulder