RMAF 2007

Audioengine Pushes the Envelope

John Atkinson  |  Oct 14, 2007

Audioengine is making a name for itself with its extremely affordable powered speakers. But rather than photograph the speakers being demmed at RMAF, I concentrated on the Apple iBook running iTunes being used as the source. "What's that?" I asked, pointing to the dongle.

It was the Audioengine WI, which uses IEEE802 WiFi hardware (but not the protocol itself), to send the audio signal to the Audioengine 5 speakers, which have a socket in the top for the receiver. The transmitter/receiver combination will cost $149 and is the easiest way of eliminating wires from your listening room, or perhaps more importantly, your desktop.

COMMENTS
cf's picture
Submitted by cf (not verified) on October 17, 2007 - 7:12am

Just wondering... is this taking the analog signal from the Mac's onboard DAC?thanks.

Bradyb's picture
Submitted by Bradyb (not verified) on October 18, 2007 - 10:49pm

The picture shown is using USB audio to send audio to the receiver unit, which looks the same as the sender. You can also plug the sender into any USB power supply - or directly into the USB port on the top of Audioengine 5 (A5) speakers - and connect your iPod or whatever into the sender input. The format is lossless with an SNR of 92dB, which is the same audio quality as Apple's Airport Express but without the setup hassle (no drivers to download and install and no network issues). Latency is under 20mSec so you can use the Audioegine W1 to play movies, etc. from any media player if you're using a computer. I love this thing because it's simple, small, and sounds great - but I'm a bit biased as I do work for Audioengine!

Richard's picture
Submitted by Richard (not verified) on October 19, 2007 - 1:07pm

Audiowngine's powered speakers are the best bang for the audiophile buck.

Bill's picture
Submitted by Bill (not verified) on November 9, 2007 - 4:54pm

Audioengine makes awesome powered speakers. I'm so happy with my purchase and couldn't recommend a better product for the price. I can't wait to see what they come out with next.

X