Several Tricks To Help Decide On A Cordless Surround Sound Product The latest range of wireless surround sound transmitter products claims streaming of music throughout the home without limits. We will take a look at the most widespread technologies for wireless audio and give some guidelines for selecting the best wireless audio product.
A growing number of wireless surround sound transmitter products promise the ultimate freedom in streaming audio all over the house. We will look at the most common technologies for wireless audio and give some recommendations for selecting the best wireless audio product.
If your residence is not wired for audio then you face quite a problem when you want to get your music from your living room to your bedroom. Frequently the audio source cannot be moved. Running speaker wires between rooms will be expensive and as a result a lot of people are looking for other options. The following technologies are utilized by products solving this problem: infrared, RF, wireless LAN and powerline.
Infrared wireless audio products are limited to line-of-sight applications, i.e. only work 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 broadcast the audio as RF waves - either by utilizing FM transmission or digital transmission - and can for that reason easily transmit through walls. FM transmitters are the least expensive alternative. They offer good range but the audio signal is prone to audio distortion and hiss and is very susceptible to interference from other wireless transmitters.
Products utilizing wireless LAN are useful 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. Also, some products require to buy separate wireless LAN modules that are plugged into every audio receiver.
Wireless LAN (WLAN) products are useful when streaming from a PC but will add some amount of latency or delay to the signal because wireless LAN was not originally designed for real-time audio streaming. WLAN receivers ordinarily require purchasing a separate LAN card to be plugged into each receiver.
Powerline devices use the power mains as a medium to send the music. These products usually provide excellent range. However, they face trouble if there are several separate mains circuits in the house. In this case the signal will have problems crossing between these circuits. Also, these products build in a delay of a number of seconds to safeguard against transmission errors during power surges and spikes which prevents their use in applications where the audio from wireless speakers has to be in sync with other non-wireless speakers or video.
Make sure the wireless transmitter offers the audio inputs you need. You may need amplified speaker inputs, RCA audio inputs etc. Get a wireless system where you can purchase additional receivers later on. You should check that you can get receivers for all the different applications you have. Such receivers may include amplified receivers for passive speakers or line-level receivers for active speakers. If you go with a digital audio transmitter, pick one with an input audio level control knob to avoid the music signal from clipping inside the transmitter audio converter. This will ensure optimum dynamic range regardless of the signal level of your equipment.
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 provide optimum sound quality. Check that the amplified receiver can drive speakers with the desired Ohm rating and that it is small and easily mountable for simple installation. Devices which function in the 5.8 GHz frequency band will have less problems 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 promise the ultimate freedom in streaming audio all over the house. We will look at the most common technologies for wireless audio and give some recommendations for selecting the best wireless audio product.
If your residence is not wired for audio then you face quite a problem when you want to get your music from your living room to your bedroom. Frequently the audio source cannot be moved. Running speaker wires between rooms will be expensive and as a result a lot of people are looking for other options. The following technologies are utilized by products solving this problem: infrared, RF, wireless LAN and powerline.
Infrared wireless audio products are limited to line-of-sight applications, i.e. only work 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 broadcast the audio as RF waves - either by utilizing FM transmission or digital transmission - and can for that reason easily transmit through walls. FM transmitters are the least expensive alternative. They offer good range but the audio signal is prone to audio distortion and hiss and is very susceptible to interference from other wireless transmitters.
Products utilizing wireless LAN are useful 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. Also, some products require to buy separate wireless LAN modules that are plugged into every audio receiver.
Wireless LAN (WLAN) products are useful when streaming from a PC but will add some amount of latency or delay to the signal because wireless LAN was not originally designed for real-time audio streaming. WLAN receivers ordinarily require purchasing a separate LAN card to be plugged into each receiver.
Powerline devices use the power mains as a medium to send the music. These products usually provide excellent range. However, they face trouble if there are several separate mains circuits in the house. In this case the signal will have problems crossing between these circuits. Also, these products build in a delay of a number of seconds to safeguard against transmission errors during power surges and spikes which prevents their use in applications where the audio from wireless speakers has to be in sync with other non-wireless speakers or video.
Make sure the wireless transmitter offers the audio inputs you need. You may need amplified speaker inputs, RCA audio inputs etc. Get a wireless system where you can purchase additional receivers later on. You should check that you can get receivers for all the different applications you have. Such receivers may include amplified receivers for passive speakers or line-level receivers for active speakers. If you go with a digital audio transmitter, pick one with an input audio level control knob to avoid the music signal from clipping inside the transmitter audio converter. This will ensure optimum dynamic range regardless of the signal level of your equipment.
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 provide optimum sound quality. Check that the amplified receiver can drive speakers with the desired Ohm rating and that it is small and easily mountable for simple installation. Devices which function in the 5.8 GHz frequency band will have less problems with wireless interference than products utilizing the crowded 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz frequency band.
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