I am a newbie (still one day left on my trial) and am somewhat limited in my knowledge of streaming. I notice that my KEF LSX can only play via Airplay without significant gaps and drops, so am pleased about that given all I have read about connectivity issues. What is disappointing is that I am not getting the full potential out of the LSX’s as the bit rate is compressed via Airplay.
I’d like to get a simple set up that isn’t too expensive, but provides the lossless music to be fully enjoyed with the LSX’s.
Any thoughts? Would connecting to my MAC mini via ethernet help? MAC mini is operating wirelessly, so unclear about that. My router is too far away from my set up to connect directly into that, so I’m trying to understand options.
Thanks for your support and help.
BTW… I’m hooked on Roon! What an awesome music interface. Completely changing my experience with music, and bringing back to the days I went to a store to browse the CD’s, read covers, etc… Both nostalgic and contemporary. Love it!
If you are able to get ethernet to your Mac Mini, then do that.
For your speakers, you’ll need to find a wireless endpoint that can stream high-def audio and connect it directly to your speakers . There are many different solutions from a 2nd router or node, mesh device, network audio player, rasberry Pi device, etc.
Here is an old post about endpoints. There may be some better options available now, but this should give you some ideas of what’s available.
Chromecast Audio or a Raspberry Pi running Ropieee with a Hifiberry Digi+ Pro HAT are both good options with the LSX (since they have toslink out).
As an aside, my LSXs were basically unusable when I set them up on my network’s 2.4ghz channel, but work great on the 5.0ghz channel. Maybe worth a try (especially if you’re in an urban environment).
Ethernet over powerline adapters will give a direct “hard wired” connection to your Mac Relatively cheaply and it’s worth the cost. Hardwire then to your lsx will give the maximum performance capability.