Last time I checked the IOS DTS Play-Fi App was next to non-accessible
though its been nearly a year since I've look.ed
You should be able to get around the Windows DTS Play-Fi App and the
Android Play-Fi App, that's probably the easiest and most straight
forward of them all surprisingly <smile>.
On 11/9/2017 7:02 AM, Gordon Smith wrote:
To be truthful, I haven’t yet tried the Windows app. In the Android
app, on my S6 I can’t even get the DTS app to work. I need to use the
Polk app in order together sound.
That said, I am more than happy with the sound that I get from my
speaker. Because of the discrete separation in channels, I can
actually detect the stereo image, and it’s the only system that I’ve
used about which I can say that.
But back to the point of generalisation, not personalisation. I have
no idea how long ago he wrote that article. But I did notice that he
failed to be specific when making some of his claims. He didn’t talk
too much about his hardware, for example. I’m going to go in a moment
and play around with the Windows DTS app. For this, I will use my
ElBraille, which has all modern networking protocols licked. See what
happens. I’ll comment later.
========================================
My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..
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On 5 Nov 2017, at 17:00, Dane Trethowan <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Thanks for posting this interesting article and I’ll comment thus.
I’ve been using Play-Fi audio devices for nearly a year.
The first Play-Fi device I bought was my Rotel T14 tuner/streamer
which I love though at the time of purchase I knew nothing about
Play-Fi audio and how it work and naturally I negotiated an agreement
with the audio store I purchased from for a return of the item if I
couldn’t get Play-Fi going due to issues of accessibility, usability
and so on, naturally then the first thing I had to do once I got the
equipment out of the box was to setup Play-Fi.
I found the system to be more user friendly than I expected so there
was absolutely no need for me to arrange a return journey for the
Rotel Streamer.
Now down to the tin-tabs of Play-fi.
Several updates to the Play-Fi App have been released over the year
which have made it more stable, addressed issues of dropouts etc.
The author of the article devotes a large amount of time to discussing
the fact that Play-Fi doesn’t directly stream content - apart from
Spotify - to your Play-Fi device and this is all true.
He bangs on about the disadvantages but doesn’t talk about the very
many advantages and I’ve discussed some of these when writing about
Play-Fi.
Let’s discuss the example the author of the article likes to use as an
illustration, Google Cast devices stream audio directly and that they
do but therein lies a problem.
I like my Chromcast devices very much however I have to double-check
them to see that they’ve actually stopped streaming when I’ve
commanded them to do so say from Google Home, my xPeria phone or
whatever whereas with the Play-Fi system, when I stop streaming - say
by dismissing the Play-Fi App - then it all stops.
Streaming via your phone opens up the system to all sorts of other
possibilities, the ability to use VPN for instance, you could use a
VPN on a Google Chromecast but its a lot of mucking about to get that
going.
I regularly use a VPN on my xPeria phone with Play-Fi in order that I
may listen to the 320K stream of BBC Radio 4 or listen to the live
1010 WINS news radio station from New York.
Streaming is lossless - or supposed to be - so therefore streaming
through your phone etc shouldn’t be a problem in that regard either.
Yes, Play-Fi devices are certainly DLNA compatible but to what degree
is I think - given the devices here - more determined by the
manufacturer rather than by Play-fi App itself.
You can log into DLNA servers using Play-Fi and some of the Play-Fi
equipment I have here can be directly streamed to from other equipment
or Apps that have the ability to stream DLNA.
Yes, Play-Fi has been a little frustrating at times for me here with
connectivity and Wi-Fi issues - mainly to do with the xPeria phone as
far as I can tell - but I resolved those by placing the xPeria phone
on my desk rather than the bedside table where it normally resides,
perhaps the Wi-Fi signal isn’t as strong there as it should be for
whatever reason.
Quality audiophile names have signed up to the Play-Fi standard so I
doubt whether these company’s would bother if the standard was a bad one.
More and more of the “bulk item company’s” as I call them - Pioneer
for example - are coming on board and you can see the list of
company’s who have signed up on the Play-Fi web site.
It is also true to say that all Play-Fi devices are not equal
For example, the Polk systems here won’t play files with higher
sampling rates than 44.1KHZ, well yes they do play but the sampling
rates are down converted to 44.1KHZ for the Polk systems and again,
that’s where the streaming through the phone etc comes in as it has to
do the sampling rate conversion which is handled by the Play-Fi app.
I’m sure the same is true about Play-Fi devices not being equal when
it comes to Wi-Fi connectivity.
My Rotel Stream has 3 Wi-fi antennas and I barely have any
connectivity problems with that device.
The Polk Omni S2R portable from Polk Audio is very good too, I use
this Play-Fi speaker outdoors.
I’ve had no connectivity issues wit the Polk Omni S6 though connection
issues have been an irritation with the Definitive Technology’s W9
speaker system which is now hard wired to the Lan.
Now having said all that I do have 1 gripe about the system and its
simply this, as far as I’m aware the Play-Fi IOS App isn’t accessible
and this should not be given just how accessible and usable the
Android and Windows Play-Fi Apps are.
**********
“For the gardener nothing is more handier than bulbs, I mean the 1’s
you put in the ground and not the electric light 1’s.”
On 6 Nov 2017, at 3:24 am, Gordon Smith <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Hello everybody
This article might be of interest to those who either use, or are
considering using, Play-Fi hardware. I have to admit that my own
success rate with this platform has been patchy so far. And the
reasons for that are probably contained within this article.
Yes, it is true that the device I prefer to use is probably not the
best, in terms of its networking support. But with the exception of
the new AC standard, it supports all common Wi-Fi standards,
including both 2.4 and 5.0 GHz networking. Anyway, read on if this
interest you.
<SNIP>
https://www.computeraudiophile.com/ca/bits-and-bytes/dts-play-fi-has-major-design-flaws/
<https://www.computeraudiophile.com/ca/bits-and-bytes/dts-play-fi-has-major-design-flaws/>
========================================
My compliments and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..
This Message Was Created Using 100% Recycled Electrons. If you can
avoid printing it, please do so. Think of the environment, save a tree!
Contact:
• UK Free Phone:
0800 8620538
• UK Geographic / Global:
+44(0) 1642 688095
• UK Mobile/SMS:
+44 (0)7804 983849
• Vic. Australia:
+61 38 82059300
• US/Canada:
+1 646 9151493
----------------------------------------
--
**********
"For the gardener nothing is more handier than bulbs, I mean the one's you put in
the ground and not the electric light one's."
**********
