New Belkin Airplay 2 device

[Wes]

I am asking about Outputs, not inputs.

 

[Raindog123]

I am asking about Outputs, not inputs.

Let me try again... 'Optical and 3.5mm'

 

[Wes]

the Amazon ad says those are INputs - where are you getting that as the Outputs?

 

[Raindog123]

the Amazon ad says those are INputs - where are you getting that as the Outputs?

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

the Amazon ad says those are INputs - where are you getting that as the Outputs?

Pics on the Belkin site show them as outputs.

This appears to be yet another Linkplay device, though with the newer A98 module (Airplay 2 support).

 

[Wes]

thx, looks like the Amazon seller smoked too much weed to enhance his hearing

 

[zym1010]

Thanks. I think you raised a good point. Historically I felt iTunes to HomePod stereo has been extremely flaky (even after HomePod got firmware upgrades); I previously attributed to bad experience partly to AirPlay 1 but maybe it was more due to HomePod. Let me try things like https://www.airserver.com/ and see how it works. If it works fine I can return the Belkin dongle.

@acbarn I gave AirServer a try and it works well. There are some stutter maybe every few mins; but I typically only use AirPlay instead of a wired solution for very casual listening.

 

[Zensō]

@acbarn I gave AirServer a try and it works well. There are some stutter maybe every few mins; but I typically only use AirPlay instead of a wired solution for very casual listening.

Thanks for the follow up, much appreciated.

 

[Jazz]

Based on some questions and statements here, some people do not understand Airplay.
For music, it is simple. On any iOS or MacOS device, you can send any audio from any app to an Airplay receiver via WiFi. Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, Web browsers, Apple Music, TuneIn, fart apps, whatever. The receiver can be any device with the Airplay royal jelly from Apple inside it. (Like Tidal Connect or Spotify Connect royal jelly) If Belkin slapped an amp on this thing, it would be an amp with Airplay. If Belkin slapped a HDTV on it, it would be an HDTV with Airplay.
So this device is for people with gear missing Airplay royal jelly. I use an old Airport Express on an old reciever. Same thing. Except the Express has a very nice but old AKM in it.
Airplay 2 adds multi room. In attached image of my mixed set up, some are, but some are not. Sadly, Pioneer and Yamaha did not update a few not so older devices. But, this Belkin could revive to Airplay 2. More likely, I’ll just update the equipment, eventually.
As far as quality, for now it is 16/44.1 max. Which is most recorded music. However, June may hold some “improvements” now with Apple lossless on Apple Music.
I am in the 16/44.1 is just fine camp, and is all I ever want or need in PCM.

 

[Zensō]

Based on some questions and statements here, some people do not understand Airplay.
For music, it is simple. On any iOS or MacOS device, you can send any audio from any app to an Airplay receiver via WiFi. Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, Web browsers, Apple Music, TuneIn, fart apps, whatever. The receiver can be any device with the Airplay royal jelly from Apple inside it. (Like Tidal Connect or Spotify Connect royal jelly) If Belkin slapped an amp on this thing, it would be an amp with Airplay. If Belkin slapped a HDTV on it, it would be an HDTV with Airplay.
So this device is for people with gear missing Airplay royal jelly. I use an old Airport Express on an old reciever. Same thing. Except the Express has a very nice but old AKM in it.
Airplay 2 adds multi room. In attached image, some are, but some are not. Unless!
As far as quality, for now it is 16/44.1 max. Which is most recorded music. However, June may hold some “improvements” now with Apple lossless on Apple Music.
I am in the 16/44.1 is all I ever want or need in PCM.

Yup, you nailed it. As you intimated, the advantage of Airplay over something like Roon or Spotify Connect, is that any audio on the sending device can be streamed to the receiving device. It behaves similarly to Bluetooth in this regard, but at higher quality over WiFi.

 

[The Equalizer]

I got the Belkin today. When I try to use it with the Apple Music app on a Mac, while the app is connected to an iTunes shared library running on another computer in the house, I see this: "An error occurred while connecting to the AirPlay device 'Soundform Connect'. An unknown error occurred (-15000)."

This only happens when I select the Belkin from the menu within the Apple Music Mac app (and only when I'm using a shared library). If I select the system-wide sound output, with either the menu bar or the Sound panel in System Preference, no error. But then I can't send the sound to multiple Airplay 2 outputs, which defeats part of the purpose of having an Airplay 2 adapter.

I have other Airplay 2 devices that don't give me this error under the same circumstances (an Airport Express and a Homepod).

If I can't get this to work, I think I'm going to send it back.

 

[Raindog123]

I got the Belkin today

May I ask where did you get it from? It’s still ‘sold out till mid-June’ on [my] Amazon….

 

[The Equalizer]

I ordered it directly from the belkin.com website within an hour or so of the announcement. I think it became unavailable shortly thereafter.

One other thing about this device: according to my router logs, it phones home (or phones somewhere). There are connections to 104.122.45.214 (akamai) and ota.linkplay.com. The online documentation mentions something about automatic firmware checking (can't be turned off). Maybe that's what it's doing.

If I block all internet access to it at the router, the status light on the device goes from solid white to solid red. A solid red light is supposed to indicate that it's not connected to wifi, but in fact it is connected and continues to work. Unblocking internet access changes the light back to solid white.

 

[The Equalizer]

I tried the same thing on iOS - loading a shared local iTunes music library in the Music app on my phone and routing the sound to the Belkin - and I did not get the same error. Everything worked. So the problem with the Belkin seems to be confined to shared libraries and Music / iTunes on macOS.

 

[zym1010]

I tried the same thing on iOS - loading a shared local iTunes music library in the Music app on my phone and routing the sound to the Belkin - and I did not get the same error. Everything worked. So the problem with the Belkin seems to be confined to shared libraries and Music / iTunes on macOS.

Based on my limited experience with Airplay + Mac/iOS, I feel there were definitely more issues with Mac than with iOS in terms of integration with Airplay.

 

[Jazz]

Another one. Other posts here but adding to this thread.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradmo...wireless-audio-to-any-system/?sh=534679d667a6

 

[Music1969]

I placed an order today, planning to feed my Genelecs via its Optical.

Which model Genelec ? feature TOSlink input?

 

[Music1969]

You can pickup discontinued Airport Express on eBay for cheap.

Their last firmware update (came after discontinued) added Airplay 2, which was a nice move by Apple

TOSlink and 3.5mm output, 16/44.1k

Would be nice to see measurement of analogue output comparing to the new Belkin

 

[zym1010]

Which model Genelec ? feature TOSlink input?

7350A + 8330Ax2. I have a TOSLINK->AES converter.

anyway, thanks to @acbarn 's suggestion, I ended up using AirServer and returned the Belkin dongle

 

[Hexus]

Any info on bitperfect and jitter via toslink?