Some Suggestions To Help Select A Cordless Surround Sound Package Recently more and more wireless surround sound transmitter devices have emerged which promise to deliver the ultimate freedom of sending music throughout the house. We will look at the most common technologies for wireless audio and give some recommendations for choosing the best wireless audio product.
A growing number of wireless surround sound transmitter products claim the ultimate freedom in streaming music all over the home. We will take a look at numerous products and technologies to find out in how far these devices are practical for whole-house audio applications and what to look out for when purchasing a wireless system.
Getting audio from your living room to your bed room can be quite a problem particularly in homes which are not wired for audio. Devices which resolve this difficulty are usually based on the following technologies: infrared wireless, RF wireless, wireless LAN or powerline.
Infrared wireless audio devices are restricted to line-of-sight applications, i.e. only function within a single room since the signal is sent as infrared light which can't go through walls. This technology is often found in wireless speaker kit products. RF wireless products will send the signal as RF waves. These waves can without problems penetrate walls. RF wireless audio products either utilize FM transmission or digital audio transmission. FM transmission is economical but rather prone to noise, audio distortion and susceptible to interference.
Digital wireless audio transmitter devices, such as products from Amphony, make use of a digital protocol. The audio is first converted to digital data before being broadcast. This method guarantees that the audio quality is fully preserved. Some transmitters utilize some form of audio compression, such as Bluetooth transmitters, which will degrade the audio to some degree. Transmitters which send the audio data uncompressed will attain the highest fidelity.
Products using wireless LAN are practical when streaming audio from a PC. Their disadvantage is that they typically have some fairly high latency, i.e. the signal will be delayed by some amount since wireless LAN was not specifically designed for real-time audio streaming. WLAN receivers often do not have built-in network access. As a result, such devices frequently require purchasing separate LAN cards. These cards are then plugged into every receiver.
Now we'll give you some recommendations for shopping for a wireless system: Choose a system that supports numerous wireless receivers if you plan to stream audio to a number of rooms so that you don't have to buy a separate transmitter for each receiver. Some devices have some form of error correction built in which will help guard against dropouts in case of strong wireless interference. Digital RF audio transmitters will be able to preserve the original audio quality. If you have time-critical applications where sync of the audio is crucial then you should get a transmitter with a low audio latency. An audio latency of smaller than 10 ms would be suitable for most scenarios.
Now we'll give you some suggestions for shopping for a wireless system: Go for a system that supports numerous wireless receivers if you plan to stream audio to several rooms so that you don't have to buy a separate transmitter for every receiver. Choosing a product with some form of error correction will help mitigate against strong RF interference. Such interference can be caused by other wireless transmitters. Digital RF audio transmitters will be able to maintain the original audio quality. If you have time-critical applications where sync of the audio is crucial then you should get a transmitter with a low audio latency. An audio latency of less than 10 ms would be suitable for most scenarios.
Select a transmitter that has all of the audio inputs you need, e.g. speaker inputs, RCA inputs etc. Select a system where you can add receivers later on which offer all of the required outputs, e.g. amplified speaker outputs, RCA outputs etc. Because you may want to connect the transmitter to several sources, you should select a transmitter that can be adjusted to different signal volume levels to prevent clipping of the audio signal inside the transmitter converter stage. Ensure that the amplified wireless receivers contain built-in digital amplifiers with low distortion figures. This will keep the receiver cool due to high amplifier power efficiency and offer optimum sound quality. Make sure the receivers can drive speakers with your desired Ohm rating. Selecting a product where the wireless receivers have a small footprint and easy mounting options will help in the course of the set up. Devices which function in the 5.8 GHz frequency band will have less trouble with wireless interference than products utilizing the crowded 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz frequency band.
A growing number of wireless surround sound transmitter products claim the ultimate freedom in streaming music all over the home. We will take a look at numerous products and technologies to find out in how far these devices are practical for whole-house audio applications and what to look out for when purchasing a wireless system.
Getting audio from your living room to your bed room can be quite a problem particularly in homes which are not wired for audio. Devices which resolve this difficulty are usually based on the following technologies: infrared wireless, RF wireless, wireless LAN or powerline.
Infrared wireless audio devices are restricted to line-of-sight applications, i.e. only function within a single room since the signal is sent as infrared light which can't go through walls. This technology is often found in wireless speaker kit products. RF wireless products will send the signal as RF waves. These waves can without problems penetrate walls. RF wireless audio products either utilize FM transmission or digital audio transmission. FM transmission is economical but rather prone to noise, audio distortion and susceptible to interference.
Digital wireless audio transmitter devices, such as products from Amphony, make use of a digital protocol. The audio is first converted to digital data before being broadcast. This method guarantees that the audio quality is fully preserved. Some transmitters utilize some form of audio compression, such as Bluetooth transmitters, which will degrade the audio to some degree. Transmitters which send the audio data uncompressed will attain the highest fidelity.
Products using wireless LAN are practical when streaming audio from a PC. Their disadvantage is that they typically have some fairly high latency, i.e. the signal will be delayed by some amount since wireless LAN was not specifically designed for real-time audio streaming. WLAN receivers often do not have built-in network access. As a result, such devices frequently require purchasing separate LAN cards. These cards are then plugged into every receiver.
Now we'll give you some recommendations for shopping for a wireless system: Choose a system that supports numerous wireless receivers if you plan to stream audio to a number of rooms so that you don't have to buy a separate transmitter for each receiver. Some devices have some form of error correction built in which will help guard against dropouts in case of strong wireless interference. Digital RF audio transmitters will be able to preserve the original audio quality. If you have time-critical applications where sync of the audio is crucial then you should get a transmitter with a low audio latency. An audio latency of smaller than 10 ms would be suitable for most scenarios.
Now we'll give you some suggestions for shopping for a wireless system: Go for a system that supports numerous wireless receivers if you plan to stream audio to several rooms so that you don't have to buy a separate transmitter for every receiver. Choosing a product with some form of error correction will help mitigate against strong RF interference. Such interference can be caused by other wireless transmitters. Digital RF audio transmitters will be able to maintain the original audio quality. If you have time-critical applications where sync of the audio is crucial then you should get a transmitter with a low audio latency. An audio latency of less than 10 ms would be suitable for most scenarios.
Select a transmitter that has all of the audio inputs you need, e.g. speaker inputs, RCA inputs etc. Select a system where you can add receivers later on which offer all of the required outputs, e.g. amplified speaker outputs, RCA outputs etc. Because you may want to connect the transmitter to several sources, you should select a transmitter that can be adjusted to different signal volume levels to prevent clipping of the audio signal inside the transmitter converter stage. Ensure that the amplified wireless receivers contain built-in digital amplifiers with low distortion figures. This will keep the receiver cool due to high amplifier power efficiency and offer optimum sound quality. Make sure the receivers can drive speakers with your desired Ohm rating. Selecting a product where the wireless receivers have a small footprint and easy mounting options will help in the course of the set up. Devices which function in the 5.8 GHz frequency band will have less trouble with wireless interference than products utilizing the crowded 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz frequency band.
No comments:
Post a Comment