Firm pitches 'HD audio' wireless streamer
Uncompressed tunes on the 2.4GHz band
CES Getting music from A to B wirelessly has just become a little easier, thanks to the i2i Stream.
Connect one Stream to any audio device with a 3.5mm output jack, connect another your headphones, speakers or stereo, and your music just flows from one to the other.
Makers Aerielle reckons the 2.4GHz link warrants the label "HD quality audio" as it doesn't compress the signal in any way. Judging by what we heard at CES today, the sound quality was significantly better than anything we've heard over a Bluetooth link. In fact, we couldn't tell when we were listening to a Bose stereo over the Stream or a cable.
Aerielle's i2i Stream: wireless music, uncompressed
Aerielle said you can put the transmitter and receiver "30+ feet" apart, something we will able to check out when review the device later this month.
The Stream can powered direct from the mains, by USB or from its internal rechargeable battery - which should be good for around seven hours of operation, the company claimed.
The starter pack comes with two transceivers but others can be added to the network. Set up was so easy it didn't really dignify the term "set up", it is simply a case of plug and play.
A UK release is imminent but no prices were available. In the US, the two-unit pack has a RRP of $119.95 (£79/€87) but can be found for under the $100 mark.
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COMMENTS
"it doesn't compress the signal in any way"
What exactly does that mean in this context? They're taking an analogue signal from a copper wire and transmitting it as a digital signal over the ether (a particularly busy part of the ether at that). At some point they are going from analogue to digital and back again ... unless they (or you) tell us what that A to D stage is and how reliable that (proprietary?) wireless link is then the rest is meaningless. They could sample the analogue and transmit it at 100 bps if they liked ... it would sound like absolute toss but they could still quite honestly say "it doesn't compress the signal in any way".
