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Review and Measurements of Klipsch PowerGate DAC & Amp

Teslar

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I bought the Klipsch PowerGate just to use as an amp. (I use Airplay 2 through an Airport Express connected to the Aux input; I don't need the Play-Fi stuff unless they actually do a firmware update that would allow me to use Airplay 2 directly to the PowerGate.) I also was unhappy with how warm the PowerGate gets if you leave it on continuously, so I use a little Arduino to control a relay that provides power to the PowerGate. I added an IR receiver and IR LED to the Arduino. When the relay is off and the PowerGate has no power (so it cannot respond to IR commands itself), the Arduino is "listening" for the power toggle command from the Klipsch's handheld remote. When the Arduino receives the power toggle signal, it turns on the relay to power up the PowerGate, waits a few seconds, and then sends the IR signals to wake up the PowerGate and switch to the Aux input. After two hours the Arduino will gracefully power down the PowerGate (sending it IR commands for mute and power off, before actually killing the power from the relay). The Arduino consumes only a fraction of a watt, so everything stays much cooler when I'm not using the amp.
 

marffeus

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I received my Powergate on Monday and have only had limited time to play with it so far, but one thing I noticed is the unit doesn't appear to go into standby on its own (after 15 min idle, etc.) I assume standby is when the red LED is the only thing on and otherwise full power mode is with the white LEDs active on the volume, etc? Mine will always stay in the "full" white LED mode and never go into "red LED" mode standby. Is that normal for everyone else? Is Network standby not obvious?
 
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GGroch

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....the unit doesn't appear to go into standby on its own (after 15 min idle, etc.)....

No that is not normal, unless it is being fed a signal it shuts down.

There is a Klipsch Powergate Firmware Update that you should complete which will modify the sleep behavior. I would do the update before determining anything is wrong.
The instructions and a short video on how to do it is here. It involves installing another app on your phone called Klipsch Utility.

There are also a few Play-Fi firmware updates the Klipsch Play-Fi app installs. If you have completed those and it still does not sleep we can try more troubleshooting.
 

marffeus

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No that is not normal, unless it is being fed a signal it shuts down.

There is a Klipsch Powergate Firmware Update that you should complete which will modify the sleep behavior. I would do the update before determining anything is wrong.
The instructions and a short video on how to do it is here. It involves installing another app on your phone called Klipsch Utility.

There are also a few Play-Fi firmware updates the Klipsch Play-Fi app installs. If you have completed those and it still does not sleep we can try more troubleshooting.

Thanks for the reply! I actually did install the firmware update (and had to borrow and use an iOS device which was frustrating as there were none in my house) and also the software updates from the Stream app. I'm using Spotify Connect as my primary input source and did make sure it was all fully disconnected from Spotify and even from the Klipsch Stream (Play Fi) app before watching it for the 15 min standby.

Am I right to assume standby occurs when all lights go out except for the red LED?
 

GGroch

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Yes, it switches automatically after no signal for 15 minutes from White lights to red...which is standby. If you are certain there are no other live inputs I am not sure what the reason is. I know that when I had issues with one of the updates (...the newest Playfi on android update came to me 2 days ago), the Klipsch utility allowed me to install the system firmware again. You could try that.

ADD: I see in the most recent version of the Android Play-Fi app (original and Klipsch flavored) there is under Advanced Settings a "Power Sleep Timer" setting. I cannot adjust this on mine, but you might look there.

There are a few people here who want that feature (no turn off). So, you could contact Klipsch for a fix, or perhaps sell it as a beneficial mod for a profit.
 
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marffeus

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Yes, it switches automatically after no signal for 15 minutes from White lights to red...which is standby. If you are certain there are no other live inputs I am not sure what the reason is. I know that when I had issues with one of the updates (...the newest Playfi on android update came to me 2 days ago), the Klipsch utility allowed me to install the system firmware again. You could try that.

ADD: I see in the most recent version of the Android Play-Fi app (original and Klipsch flavored) there is under Advanced Settings a "Power Sleep Timer" setting. I cannot adjust this on mine, but you might look there.

There are a few people here who want that feature (no turn off). So, you could contact Klipsch for a fix, or perhaps sell it as a beneficial mod for a profit.

Well after spending more time testing it seems to be related to the streaming function. In effect, if I turn on the amp from standby and do nothing, switch to aux, etc it does go to standby after 15 min. However if I stream using Spotify connect (which activates the network source), even if I stop Spotify, disconnect it, kill the app, kill PlayFi, turn off WiFi on phone, etc the amp stays on indefinitely. I am using wired Ethernet for what it's worth.
 

GGroch

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Hmm. Spotify Connect is one of the few Play-Fi compatible services that plays directly to the Powergate, rather than from the app or phone. The expected behavior would be that if you shut down both Spotify and Play-Fi apps, without pausing the music first, your queue would continue to play.
The most recent Play-Fi app and firmware release allows other apps to do this as well. There is a "transfer to device" function. That is, continue playing a queue after the phone closes the app or leaves the area. Perhaps this is related.
 

BillG

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As for the supposed design flaw within Play-Fi, I thought that as well upon my initial review of the PowerGate. However, I've come to view my assessment as erroneous: it operates just like Apple's AirPlay and various DLNA/UPnP implementations I've used, in that the stream initiator acts as a gateway to the endpoint. Yes, this is different from how Chromecast functions (Chromecast fetches the stream independently of the initiator) and I do prefer Chromecast's ease of use and battery savings on mobile devices. But flawed? No, I don't believe so... :cool:

Klipsch has updated their Android app and PowerGate firmware so that streaming now behaves like Chromecast when using the new "Transfer to Speaker" function... :D

Screenshot_2019-06-06-17-16-19.png
Screenshot_2019-06-06-17-16-30.png
Screenshot_2019-06-06-17-16-39.png

P. S. The icon with the arrow in the middle lower right, below the station banner, activates the function.

P. P. S. Some information about the update:


https://play-fi.com/news/new-featur...uHT2JB6wNX8yDP5Ru1QZzWKFl_TnZQJSAPBHWUKbxrxVk
 
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Toma

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OK guys here is my experience with the Powergate after using it for around two weeks now.

The second one I purchased is very stable and I can't really complain of any major issues.

A few useful tips that I learned. First I've never had any problems playing music from my Android phone using the Play-fi app, before or after the latest update. I finally received my CCA which gives much more flexibility using different options for android music players for my phone. The one I use now are Pulsar and Hi-Fi Cast, I paid for them as they are cheap and add free. Both of them find the CCA without any issues, the sound is good and they can play my stored music directly to the CCA, my only disappointment is that both of them do not have an equalizer. Actually the Pulsar app has one but it doesn't seems to make any difference regardless of what settings I choose. I would say that at this time using these two apps for CCA or Play-fi app doesn't make any difference, they all have been stable.

One of the main reasons I wanted to have the Powergate was to be able to play music wirelessly from my laptop to the device and until today I couldn't do it in a stable fashion using the Play-fi app for Windows 10. Regardless of the fact that the gate is wired to my router it would still cut off periodically when playing from my laptop, I also tried connecting the laptop directly to the same router with an ethernet cable and it wouldn't make any difference. So I started searching for solutions to play the music from Windows directly to the CCA which I couldn't accomplish natively from the PC. Finally I found a forum that suggested using a third party software called Airfoil that gives you the ability to do that. The software costs 30 bucks, I would highly recommended it if you are willing to pay for it and of course if you have the need to connect the CCA to a PC. It finally allows me to use my Foobar2000 to play directly my music library to the CCA = gate. After installing it you can choose the source of your music, it has its own equalizer and a few other tweaks for your sound, you could also choose which audio driver you want to use, very simple and useful features. And most importantly Airfoil has been absolutely stable connecting and keeping the connection with the CCA.
You could also try it before buying and decide if it's worth the $$.

Needless to say I am very happy finally making the Powergate fully functional for my needs and I hope you would find the information helpful.

PS I just found that the Airfoil has an Android app that allows you to control its settings, volume etc. from your phone while open on your PC.
 
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BillG

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my only disappointment is that both of them do not have an equalizer.

CcA does have a rudimentary EQ, akin to the Tone controls of old, within the Google Home application:

Screenshot_2019-06-11-13-47-01.png

If you're looking for a full featured Android music player, which supports casting from local storage with DSP enabled, it doesn't get any better than Poweramp:

https://powerampapp.com/

Screenshot_2019-06-11-13-58-36.png

My own Chromecast Audio is wickedly named "The Opium Den" in the screenshot above, and please take note of the activated Goggle Cast icon in the upper right... ;)


So I started searching for solutions to play the music from Windows directly to the CCA which I couldn't accomplish natively from the PC. Finally I found a forum that suggested using a third party software called Airfoil that gives you the ability to do that. The software costs 30 bucks, I would highly recommended it if you are willing to pay for it and of course if you have the need to connect the CCA to a PC.

Had you asked here first I could have saved you the money: VLC is capable of streaming natively to CcA from Windows. And it has built-in DSP for EQ, spatialization, compression, limitation, and a few other things that I can't recall at the moment... :cool:

https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html

It also has numerous remote control applications for Android:

https://wiki.videolan.org/Control_VLC_from_an_Android_Phone/
 
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Toma

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Thanks, as always good suggestions.

I've been using VLC for playing videos since the beginning of time (winkle) but my favorite music player for Windows is Foobar2000. It plays whatever I trough at it and it's very customizable. This doesn't mean I am not going to explore the VLC ability with CCA. The Airfoil however gives the ability to your PC to stream anything from your pc to CCA and not only one application, it establishes a permanent link to the CCA. I would still suggest you try it and see for yourself, again this is only my individual opinion, however in your case it might not be worthy.

Plus $29 for my "deep pocket" is what, 3 movie thickets or a couple of cases of bear, hmm? Cheers!
 

Toma

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No, it wouldn't be for me as I've no problem with Play-Fi on Windows. As for why you were, I can't say other than the usual advice of checking out your entire network configuration... :cool:

I will try it tomorrow from another PC to see if it's going to make any difference. It could be that my laptop is old, but at the same time I can play any other video streaming, Netflix, Youtube videos, Sling TV etc. on it without any glitches. I'll let you know what my result is. By the way my router is Netgear R7000 and I haven't experience any issues with it, plus it's one of the tested routers on the Klipsch site.
 
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amirm

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The Airfoil however gives the ability to your PC to stream anything from your pc to CCA and not only one application, it establishes a permanent link to the CCA.
Does it look like a sound device then?
 

Toma

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Does it look like a sound device then?
It establishes the connection between the PC and the CCA. Opening the "door" sort of speaking to choose what application you want to use to stream to the CCA. It has a drop down menu where you can select what to use for playing your music, in my case I selected Foobar2000 being my favorite player. It can also adjust the volume, has it's own equalizer and additional sound tweaking features. By itself it's not a player. Because of whatever reason my laptop doesn't like the Play-Fi software but has no problems streaming any other programs. The Airfoil has been a revelation, at least in my case. On the other hand I never had any problem streaming from my phone using the Play-Fi app which has been very stable.
 

Toma

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If you're looking for a full featured Android music player, which supports casting from local storage with DSP enabled, it doesn't get any better than Poweramp:

https://powerampapp.com/

Thanks for the Powerampapp, you are right it's the best app I tested so far and the equalizer is actually working. I'm still exploring its features. I also like your screenshot. Mine doesn't have "back" and "forwarding" arrows, but I guess it's part of the customization process.
 

BillG

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Thanks for the Powerampapp, you are right it's the best app I tested so far and the equalizer is actually working. I'm still exploring its features. I also like your screenshot. Mine doesn't have "back" and "forwarding" arrows, but I guess it's part of the customization process.

Settings -> Look and Feel -> Skin:

Screenshot_2019-06-12-09-08-27.png

P. S. That's a third-party skin that I'm using on mine. "Sample Black" is the name and it's available on Poweramp's support forum, if I recall correctly... :cool:
 
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OrrinC

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I just ordered four of the regular Klipsch Gate units from Amazon to try to extend my audio system to more rooms. I'm using one at the main system as an Analog Input, and the other three in remote rooms.

Although the system works, the audio latency is around 5-10 seconds, making it extremely annoying when you can hear the source from another room!

No one has mentioned this issue- my other streaming devices have latencies of less than one second.

Has anyone else experienced this, or know of any workaround?

Thanks!
 

GGroch

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.......Although the system works, the audio latency is around 5-10 seconds, making it extremely annoying when you can hear the source from another room!

I have not tried this, but the Gate is supposed to be able to sync with select other Play-Fi devices with very little latency.
See: https://play-fi.com/news/dts-play-fi-launches-whole-home-tv-audio-streaming

I know that when I stream music and have my PIoneer F4 and Powergate synced (in the same zone)..I get little/no latency.
 
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