High-definition audio-technology firm DTS has announced the availability of Apple's AirPlay 2 in select DTS Play-Fi products. AirPlay 2 support is now available on the McIntosh RS200 and Arcam rPlay, with additional products to be announced this year.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Xperi Corporation (Nasdaq: XPER), DTS launched Play-Fi streaming and control technology in 2012. The technology enables lossless multiroom wireless audio streaming on supported products from popular music services including Amazon Music, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Juke, KKBox, Napster, Pandora, Qobuz, QQ Music, SiriusXM, Sound Machine, Spotify and TIDAL, and thousands of Internet radio stations.
Rewind: DTS Play-Fi Adoption Grows with Addition of Fusion Research, Paradigm, MartinLogan, McIntosh & Arcam
In addition, DTS Play-Fi features advance streaming functionality like wireless surround sound, stereo pairing, music station presets, and audio/video synchronization.
AirPlay 2 “opens a world of multi-room streaming possibilities,” DTS says in a statement.
Music playback on AirPlay 2 products can be started via spoken commands to Siri or to a HomePod. Alternatively, users can use spoken commands to add AirPlay 2 speakers into a group with a HomePod or transfer music playback from the HomePod to other AirPlay 2 products in the home.
Apple users have a variety of other ways to access their AirPlay 2 products, including direct streaming from iTunes, iOS, MacOS and AppleTV. The additional network buffering in AirPlay 2 provides “greater transmission reliability” in cases where Wi-Fi connections are temporarily unavailable or unstable, according to DTS.
“We are thrilled to bring AirPlay 2 into the DTS Play-Fi experience,” says Dannie Lau, general manager, DTS Play-Fi. “With this new ability, our partners can better service Apple users with a feature set that meets their expectations for interoperability with the products they love.”
Now Play-Fi Works with Siri and Alexa
DTS Play-Fi products supporting AirPlay 2 are also Works with Alexa compatible, allowing household users to choose between Siri or Alexa voice assistants to control the same product.
All these features work in conjunction with DTS Play-Fi features such as on-product music presets, wireless surround sound, whole-home TV audio streaming to any DTS Play-Fi product and/or the DTS Play-Fi Headphones app, and 24/192 Hi-Res Audio streaming.
“AirPlay 2 brings multiroom music playback to the Apple ecosystem,” said Nicholas Clarke, senior director, global engineering, luxury audio at Harman, which owns Arcam. “Combining AirPlay 2 with DTS Play-Fi gives Arcam rPlay customers even more ways to access their product while providing the hi-res streaming audio support they demand.”
Charlie Randall, chief executive officer (CEO) at McIntosh, says, “Supporting AirPlay 2 and Works with Alexa in the RS200 offers choice to our customers with music assistant control. Integrating these protocols with DTS Play-Fi gives the RS200 a sophisticated set of streaming capabilities unmatched by our competitors.”
DTS claims its Play-Fi ecosystem features “the largest collection of products in the whole-home wireless audio space,” with more than 200 interoperable speakers, sound bars, set-top boxes, and A/V receivers from the top names in premium audio including Aerix, Anthem, Arcam, Audiolab, Definitive Technology, DISH TV, Elite, Integra, Fusion Research, Klipsch, MartinLogan, McIntosh, Mission, Onkyo, Paradigm, Phorus, Pioneer, Polk Audio, Quad, Rotel, Sonus Faber, Soundcast, SVS Sound, Wharfedale, and Wren Sound.
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