Several Tips To Help Decide On A Cordless Surround Sound System

By Scott Humton


Various Tips To Help Decide On A Cordless Surround Sound Package

The newest series of wireless surround sound transmitter devices promises streaming of music throughout the house without limits. We will check if these newest devices are suitable for whole-house audio. Also, we will give important guidelines for choosing a wireless music system.

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

Infrared is restricted to line of sight because the audio signal is sent as lightwaves and therefore products utilizing this technology, such as infrared wireless surround sound products, are limited to a single room. RF wireless products send the audio as RF waves - either by utilizing FM transmission or digital transmission - and can therefore easily transmit through walls. FM transmission is inexpensive but rather prone to noise, audio distortion and susceptible to interference.

Digital wireless audio transmitter devices, such as products from Amphony, use a digital protocol. The audio is first converted to digital data before being transmitted. This conversion and transmission in the digital domain will guarantee that the original audio quality is preserved. On the other hand, this is only the case of the data is sent uncompressed. Some wireless audio transmitters will apply some form of audio compression. Such products include Bluetooth audio transmitters. Audio compression will degrade the quality of the audio to some extent.

Products utilizing wireless LAN are practical when streaming audio from a PC. Their downside is that they typically have some fairly high latency, i.e. the signal will be delayed by some amount since wireless LAN was not particularly designed for real-time audio streaming. WLAN receivers ordinarily require purchasing a separate LAN card to be plugged into every receiver.

Here are some pointers for choosing the perfect wireless audio system: Try to find a system that can run several wireless receivers from a single transmitter. Ideally an unlimited number of receivers should be supported. That way you don't need to buy extra transmitters when you begin adding receivers in several rooms of your home. Products with some form of error correction will be more resistant against radio interference from other wireless transmitters. Pick a digital RF audio transmitter to ensure that the audio quality is maintained. Make sure the audio latency is less than 10 ms if you have a real-time application such as video.

Make sure the wireless transmitter offers the audio inputs you require. You may need amplified speaker inputs, RCA audio inputs etc. Select a system where you can add receivers later on which offer all of the necessary outputs, e.g. amplified speaker outputs, RCA outputs etc. If you go with a digital audio transmitter, select one with an input audio level control knob to avoid the music signal from clipping inside the transmitter audio converter. This will guarantee optimum dynamic range regardless of the signal level of your equipment.

For high amplifier power efficiency and best sound quality, verify that the amplified receiver has a built-in low-distortion digital amplifier. Choose a system that offers 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 set up. 5.8 GHz wireless products usually have less trouble with interference from other wireless transmitters than products operating at 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz.




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