Watch out Sonos! Here's the second coming of Yamaha MusicCast

Sound thinking

Evidently, Yamaha wants to make sure that its MusicCast brand revival doesn’t underwhelm this time, as the whole ecosystem is designed to work with just about anything – smartphone, tablet, computer, NAS box, CD, even your TV can stream audio to MusicCast kit. And if you hook up a vinyl record player to a suitable receiver such as the R-N602, your record collection can be broadcast around your home too.

R-N602 Hi-Fi receiver (left), NX-N500 active speakers with laptop (middle) and MCR-N870 micro component system (right)
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Having Ethernet on every device enables areas with weak Wi-Fi reception to join in the fun if you’re networked up or have Powerline adapters. And of course, it doesn’t matter which platform you’re using if you’re simply going to rely on Bluetooth for playback, so even Windows Phone users can get streamy.

A glance at the spec released today suggests that it's Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (A2DP, AVRCP profiles) across the board. Its DSP tech does feature the proprietary Compressed Music Enhancer which has been featured on Yamaha kit for quite a few years now, that makes rather dubious claims "to restore what was lost" which is presumably some kind of equalisation profile and may well make MP3 playback easier on the ear.

Lest we forget having Apple AirPlay not only works for iOS devices but iTunes on Macs and PCs. Spotify, Juke, Napster, Pandora, Rhapsody and Sirius XM are also supported, depending on your region.

The RX-S601, one of three Slimline AV receivers due later this year

Besides being the curator of the music sources, the iOS and Android app side of things also makes light work of configuring the connected zones in the home equipped with MusicCast devices. During the demo there appeared to be just four zones, however, up to ten available and even more if your mix of devices includes say, a couple of AV receivers. Get too much traffic going on though and you'll need a reliable network support it as each zone can be independent (playing different music) and zones can be grouped or set so all play the same music.

Now some of those 23 devices mentioned earlier are going to be variations on a theme.

For instance, the RX-V79 series for newbies and enthusiasts has the RX-V479, RX-V579, RX-V679, RX-V779, and the new Aventage RX-A50 family for audophiles comprises the A-550, A-750, A-850, A-1050, A-2050 and A-3050 – prices range from £400 to £2000. So that’s 10 off the list.

Yamaha MusicCast product portfolio certainly takes some beating

If those models sound familiar, they were released in May and June, respectively and are MusicCast ready, all they need is the latest firmware update available from today to enable it.

So there’s a treat for you if you bought one. The update can be installed over-the-air directly to these receivers or downloaded from the product page support tab.