Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Several Secrets To Help Decide On A Wireless Surround Sound Package

By Scott Humton


Various Suggestions To Help Pick A Cordless Surround Sound Product A growing number of wireless surround sound transmitter products claim the ultimate freedom in streaming music all over the house. We will investigate if these newest devices are suitable for whole-house audio. Also, we will give vital guidelines for selecting a wireless audio system.

Lately more and more wireless surround sound transmitter products have emerged which promise to deliver the ultimate freedom of broadcasting music throughout the home. We will take a look at various products and technologies to find out in how far these devices are effective for whole-house audio uses and what to look out for when purchasing a wireless system. If your residence is not wired for audio then you face quite a challenge when you want to get your music from your living room to your bedroom. Often the audio source cannot be moved. Running speaker wires between rooms will be costly and for that reason many people are searching for other options. Devices which resolve this difficulty are usually based on the following technologies: infrared wireless, RF wireless, wireless LAN or powerline.

Infrared wireless audio devices are restricted to line-of-sight applications, i.e. only work within a single room since the signal is broadcast as infrared light which can't go through walls. This technology is often found in wireless speaker kit products.

Infrared wireless audio products are restricted to line-of-sight applications, i.e. only work within a single room because 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 will broadcast the signal as RF waves. These waves can easily go through walls. RF wireless audio devices either use FM transmission or digital audio transmission. FM transmission is inexpensive but rather prone to hiss, audio distortion and susceptible to interference.

Products which employ digital wireless audio transmission utilize a digital protocol. Such products include transmitters from Amphony. In this protocol, prior to transmission the audio signal is converted to digital data. Some wireless audio transmitters will use audio compression, such as Bluetooth transmitters which will reduce the audio quality to some extent. Digital wireless audio transmitters which send the audio uncompressed provide the highest audio fidelity.

WLAN products are practical for broadcasting audio from a PC. However, wireless LAN was never designed for real-time audio streaming. As a consequence, products using WLAN will introduce some amount of delay to the signal. WLAN receivers frequently do not have built-in network access. As a result, such devices often require buying separate LAN cards. These cards are then plugged into every receiver.

Powerline products use the power mains as a medium to broadcast the music. These products typically offer excellent range. However, they face problems if there are several separate mains circuits in the house. In this situation 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.

Select a transmitter that has all the audio inputs you need, such as speaker inputs, line-level RCA inputs etc. Make sure that you can purchase separate receivers later on as you expand your system. Check that you can get receivers with speaker outputs for connecting regular loudspeakers as well as receivers with line-level RCA outputs. Given that you may want to connect the transmitter to several sources, you should pick a transmitter that can be adjusted to different signal volume levels to prevent clipping of the audio signal inside the transmitter converter stage.

Make sure the wireless transmitter offers the audio inputs you require. You may need amplified speaker inputs, RCA audio inputs etc. Get a wireless system where you can purchase additional receivers later on. You should verify 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. Pick a transmitter that can regulate the audio volume of the input stage. This will give you the flexibility to connect the transmitter to any kind of equipment with different signal levels. Otherwise the audio may get clipped inside the transmitter converter stage or the dynamic range is not fully utilized. Check 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. Choose a system that provides receivers that can drive speakers with the desired Ohm rating. Make sure the receivers have a small form factor and are easily mountable. This will help during the installation. 5.8 GHz wireless devices usually have less problems with interference from other wireless transmitters than devices operating at 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz.




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