Hi!
today I started the upgrade of the Hi-Fi system in the Den and the first
component arrived that being the Rotel T14 DAB/FM/Network Player.
I'll be writing a review shortly for the list though it won't be for a
while as the T14 is a piece of comprehensive music kit.
What I would like to mention is the standard that the T14 uses when
streaming over a network.
Up until now - when using my Sangean WFT3 DAB/FM/Network Player tuner
which in many ways can be compared to the Rotel - I was used to using
devices with all the network streaming capabilities built-in and thus
using an iPhone or
Android Device as a remote.
The Rotel T14 Tuner reverse the whole equation
http://wrensound.com/hi-fi-over-wi-fi-a-new-era-of-old-school-sound-by
having the streaming component as part of the Tuner but relying on an
App to actually do all the streaming work, retreive the file or stream
and then stream that content via the Wi-Fi network to the player.
The App recommended for the Rotel T14 is the excellent Play-Fi App
http://www.play-fi.com
Setup of the App for connection to the tuner was fast though I note with
interest that the Android version is 100% more accessible than the IOS
version though its early days so perhaps I'm missing something.
So Play-Fi is yet another emerging Wi-Fi standard which prides itself on
streaming losslessly from a Smart Device to a pair of compatible Wi-Fi
Speakers or - in the case of the Rotel T14 - a dedicated Network player.
Unlike Airplay, Play-Fi doesn't have any "Drag Time", your source is in
complete sync with the speakers.
Unlike AirPlay Play-Fi can stream with effortless ease high bit-rate
files such as HD FLAC though this capability isn't turned on by default
as this sort of streaming requires quite a lot of band width that some
Wireless router systems may not be capable of providing.
Anyway the link below takes you to an article which discusses using
Play-fi on Android devices streaming to compatible equipment.
for-android/