I’ve had my eye on the Pulse Flex for a while. But I haven’t been able to figure out how the preset buttons on top work when playing in Roon.
I’m guessing that it’s not radio through Roon you are playing. Are the button funtions limited to the Bluesound software or can they also be set to Windows tasks?
And a sub question: Any trouble going back and forth between radio and Roon (I’m thinking exclusive mode conflicts)?
Presets are set using Bluesound software. I don’t use the Bluesound software for anything else so, once set to the 6 internet radio stations (using TuneIn) that I want then it’s just a case of pressing the button on the speaker. I could to the radio stations using Roon but it’s just that bit more convenient to just press a button on the speaker.
As far as I know preset buttone can’t be set to windows tasks (@Andrew_Haines ?)
No exclusive mode conflicts - if I play something on Roon to the speaker then it just stops playing the radio station and plays from Roon - and similarly, if Roon is playing then pressing a preset switches to the radio station.
That’s great to hear. Thanks.
The BluOs widget is great actually. On ios a swipe down from the top will give direct access to volume, pause, forward,back and the 5 preset buttons.
These work perfectly for roon as a source.
It’s also easy to configure Bluesound speakers to accept commands from an IR remote. I bought a cheap (£6) Toshiba TV remote from Amazon and configured it to do on/off, pause, volume and presets - sometimes quicker than looking for the iPAD 
Logitech harmony also works great… but the iphone is always in my pocket 
While not portable or RoonReady, I would love to try the Kii Three (kiiaudio.com) in my home. The wireless/Bluetooth aspect requires their Control accessory, as does USB input (which is limited to max of PCM 24/384kHz and DSD64/DSD128). So I could feed it with the mR. Or I could feed it with XLR from Brooklyn which is in turn fed by mR.
While I used to think of myself as a less-dsp-is-better listener, the reviews of the Kii Three have me intrigued. The though of also feeding it with a room corrected convolution filter in Roon 1.3 has both amped up my dsp concerns and my curiosity. Based on the individual proven/reported performance of each element, I suspect that the combination would be quite good. It would likely be the best fit for my large loft-like room and avoid the mess of amps and other equipment.
Of course, I have managed to take my own thread off-topic. Clearly, this is not the same room that I wanted the portable speaker for. If anyone has listened to the Kii Three before and especially used it with Roon I would love to hear your feedback.
EDIT: I just noticed there was an earlier post on these speakers: Kii Three speaker
Any news on new wireless RoonReady speakers?
KEF LS50 Wireless and Dynaudio Focus XD would seem obvious choices.
Maybe possible to get an update over wireless speakers support Roon ?
I am also looking for wireless speakers (preferrably ones for outdoor) that are able to support roon?
For situations where the speakers are providing background music/radio, AirPlay speakers work great with Roon. I have the Oppo Sonica in my kitchen and really like it.
But airplay can’t be grouped with RoonBridge for those who want a whole house/yard solution.
I can select an AirPlay speakers from the Roon app on my iPhone just like a Roon ready device/speaker. That is all I personally need. If you want music while say sitting on your patio, I think an AirPlay speaker will meet your needs.
If you are having a party and want all your devices/speakers to be playing the same thing, it would be a problem. Beyond that, I’m not sure what the advantages of grouping are, but I live in an apartment, not a huge house.
I’ve gone ahead and ordered the ELAC Z3 wireless speaker for $499 and will report my findings. I was happy to learn that it was designed by Andrew Jones, a guy who has a lot of experience designing speakers and who has worked at KEF and Pioneer.
Here is a review of the Z3:
and here is an interview with Andrew Jones and what it takes to design a speaker at a certain price point:
He talks about designing a much more expensive speaker but I have to believe that he cares about getting good sound out of a little $500 package, after all, I have 60 days to return the speaker. I believe they build their own drivers to fit the design and don’t just throw drivers in a box.
I’m not expecting the world from a $500 speaker, I just need something in the kitchen that will keep the beat with my Gryphon Cantata speakers that are in the living room. I’ll see how well it does with multiroom playback. As far as I know, this speaker is ROONReady and supports RAAT, so it should be easy, right?
I think I could get away with the Oppo or the Elac. I was thinking 500 was my budget for the yard. It’s not a huge yard (1/4 acre so 1/3rd of that is fenced) but I wanted something with nice full sound as a lot of my friends while not audiophiles are very into music.
I appreciate the help!
Well, I just got the ELAC Z3 and set it up in my kitchen. I think the speaker sounds great. The sound is detailed, the bass is surprisingly good but not boomy, vocals sound terrific, as do individual instruments, piano, electric bass, and saxophones on the recording of Herbie Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters that I’m listening to.
I’m a happy camper.
I’m sure you could spend more money and get better sound but it’s for my kitchen. My critical listening is done on my two channel system. I’m not sure what to say about listening outside, I never do that.
The unit is heavy and looks solidly built. I was afraid the speaker grills were fabric but they’re not, they’re metal. The top is covered with a rubber mat. Perhaps it’s not a good idea to put a drink on it, lol, but it’s tempting.
Setup was pretty easy. I downloaded the Z3 iOS app and found the Z3 over Bluetooth. It wants to update the speaker’s firmware, which I did but it seems to want to update it again.
Ok, I updated to 1.0.47 and then again to 1.0.48, twice using the same steps and the speaker does not want to be updated anymore. It seems like the Z3 app hangs with the message Success: Restarting the Speaker which never seems to go away. I killed the app and ran it again and it was fine.
If the LED light on the front of the Z3 is blinking, it has not connected to your network. I’m using wireless but you can plug an Ethernet cable into the back for a wired connection. There is also a 3.5mm jack for analog input.
There are volume up and down buttons on the front of the Z3 and there is a pause button which pauses the streaming to the Z3 while the music continues to be streamed to your other zones.
I enabled the device in Roon and grouped it with my home stereo zone and it just worked. Cool.
Thanks for the update! It sounds like exactly what I am looking for.
You’re welcome! Let us know how it goes.
In other news, I splurged on a membership with the Naxos Music Library. Not only am I able to stream CDs from Naxos on my Mac Mini into my DAC on my stereo, but I can stream from the Naxos app on my iPhone through Bluetooth into the Z3. It’s awesome. The app remembers which track I’m on, as does Roon. I can switch back and forth between streaming wirelessly from Roon into the Z3 or my stereo, or from Naxos.
We live in great times.
It would be great if Naxos could integrate with Roon.
Yeah, I brought that up on a separate thread but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen. Naxos is an amazing resource for classical music.