Libratone Zipp has Airplay2 with new firmware

Support
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Libratone accounes Airplay 2 support for Zipp devices

Sounds great but I have two questions @support

  1. Will it work with Roon as before (without using the new airplay 2 features) or should I expect problems like with the airport express update?
  2. If it will work, could I still group it with an airport 1 zone?

I will wait for answers before I update my Zipp.

3

+1
Would really like to know…

4

How is Roon supposed to inform you what effect a firmware update on a completely non Roon related component might have on AirPlay?

Ask Libratone. Ater the firmware update, does it continue to support both AirPlay and AirPlay 2?

AJ

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Hi Andrew,

I’m afraid you might be missing the point of a community. There might be fellow users out there who tried and either succeeded or failed. Just trying to learn from experiences others might have. I hope that’s not offensive to you.

Have a great day!

Frank

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Hello @AE67,

Unfortunately, since we do not have the Libratone hardware in-house, at this time I am unable to say with certainty how the Airplay 2 update will effect playback with Roon. If they implemented Airplay 2 to work alongside their Airplay 1 like many other manufacturers have done, there should be no change in performance or functionality. I would recommend checking with the manufacturer before executing the update to see.

-John

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And I am afraid, Frank, that you are missing two points.

  1. AE67 directed the query at Roon support.
  2. I replied to AE67’s post, not yours.

Well, Roon support responded, and just as I insinuated, Roon does not have info on this non Roon related component.

AJ

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As it is, I stand corrected. Still hoping for someone in the community to come up with the info, though :slight_smile:

9

I have 5 Libratone devices running on one network. I had been looking out for the Airplay 2 update and saw it had arrived last night. Updated 3 of our Zipp units before thinking about any implications.

Units updated are now not available in Roon! They also don’t play with the non updated units in iTunes. So a disaster for me. I have raised a request with Libratone to see if I can roll the firmware back, in the meantime my partner who uses this ‘whole house’ system is quite happy to return to iTunes with Airplay 2 as long as it syncs across the house. It was the syncing that attracted them to Roon in the first place.

Without Airplay 2 support I can guarantee that Roon will lose some customers. At least 1 in any case :slight_smile: .

For my part, I had been weighing up the lifetime membership as I’m very happy with Roon but this is the kind of problem that puts me off. I’ll probably stick with Roon as it’s great for my other systems but my partner won’t want or need it without Airplay 2.

In short, don’t update your Libratone products at the moment.

1 Like
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Just finished updating all the Libratones to Airplay 2 and they do sync very well across the house from iTunes now. Slight improvement in stability over Roon and Airplay 1 so for this application Roon is no longer required. I will miss the extras Roon brings to the table like, lyrics, artist details and especially the Radio function.

Fingers crossed Roon are working on an update for Airplay 2. Maybe I’m wrong but they do seem to be a bit frustrated about having to tow the line after Apple, not unusual for software companies to feel this way but as a customer I’d love to see them step up to the plate here.

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thanks for the information

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Further update having used the system last night for a dinner party. Problems with iTunes not controlling the volume on the Zipp speakers. Started out with just 1 not behaving normally and escalated to the whole system only responding to the volume controls on the top of the Zipp.

This morning the bedroom speaker is glitching out after 10 seconds until the main computer has been woken up.

However, the syncing across the house is still spot on. Clearly there’s still some work to be done on Airplay 2 in general and the Zipp firmware too but they have got the multiroom syncing working at the moment.

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Thanks a lot for sharing!

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I’ve started using Airfoil with Roon and have full functionality with the updated Libratone. It does add a little latency and some small complications but it works very well in terms of syncing and control.

So an alternative for anyone awaiting Airplay 2 functionality from Roon is Airfoil.

15

This all became resolved with a timely update by Roon. As a consequence I bought the lifetime membership.

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