AudioEngine W1 experiences?

[al128]

 

Hi there,

 

on amazon i found a neat gadget, that replaces a USB cable between a - say - computer and a DAC (for quite a long distance)

 

http://www.audioengineusa.com/w1_home.php

 

seems to have rather good reviews (around the www) ...

 

- has anybody here tried this device?

- how is its sonic quality?

- how "stable" is it?

 

anything more you care to share or any thoughts?

 

cheers

al

 

[PeterSt]

Hi Al,

 

Where did you find that this can operate at the "USB level" hence can be between a computer and a DAC ?

 

I must say honestly the information looks a bit confusing, but I'd say this connects analogue only.

If not, we should be able to find supported sample rates and things !

 

Peter

 

[Audio_ELF]

I'm with Peter...

 

My understanding of this device is that it sends analogue audio - the only link to USB is that it can use a USB port to provide the power it needs.

 

Eloise

 

[al128]

http://www.audioengineusa.com/tech_stuff_w1.php

 

Range:100ft (30 meters)

Wireless protocol:802.11

Frequency band:2.4-2.4835GHz

Latency:

[Audio_ELF]

When they talk about PCM, I think it just means that the first thing that happens to the analogue audio is that it's converted to digital audio.

 

Eloise

 

[Ashok]

I own one of these devices, and use it off and on.

• It consists of a transmitter unit, that plugs into the USB port of your computer.
  
• A receiver unit plugs into a power pack, which you can then insert into a power strip near your stereo.
  
• The receiver unit also has a 1/8 inch stereo jack. The supplied 1/8 inch to stereo RCA cable can be used to connect the receiver's audio output to a line-level input in your preamp or receiver.
  

 

I found that it worked quite well. It supports playback of 16 bit files, up to 48kHz sampling frequency.

 

Sound quality is pretty good for the price. It will not beat quality playback systems, but it certainly is a reasonable method for computer-based audio.

 

I used it with JRiver's media center.

 

It did cause my laptop to lose connectivity with my home wireless network. Audioengine provides tips on how to fix this issue, but I was not really concerned.

 

Enjoy the music reviewed the W1 in June 2008.

 

Just wanted to add that the receiver unit is the one that does the Digital to Analog(ue) conversion, if that was not already obvious from my description.