Pretty much the title. I’m planning to buy a new AVR. It’ll be my first. But my first concern after sound quality is whether I’ll be able to stream music to it in sync with my other speakers using Music Assistant. Will it need to have HEOS for that?
I have no clue about your setup but I am using a Denon AVR 3800h and you can stream DLNA and Ariplay to it. When streaming DLNA it will go to HEOS mode.
My previous one (oldie) did not have HEOS but also accepted Airplay and DLNA. Look at the specs.
On quality side, that is personal … I added a higher level DAC + transport (WiiM streamer) to bypass the Denon DAC (which is not bad but I wanted more)
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You are talking well above my knowledge level. LOL. I’m afraid I know next to nothing about home audio. I’m trying to learn, because I’m sick of my 2.1 soundbar and having to turn the volume up and down according to what’s happening in a movie.
All I know is I want to make sure I can use Music Assistant with whatever I get.
MA is able to stream and sync as long as your devices support the correct protocols…it is also under heavy support with loads of improvements. If you want a Denon AVR then I believe all new ones can do pretty much all you need but do think it through on which one to buy…my 9.1 AVR is only used as sound processor towards a separate amplifier … and I have only 4 speakers…in short: do not overdo it unless you really have a plan to get all these speakers setup. MA handles the sync to other protocols, e.g. if you have speakers in another room not connected to the AVR.
If you want to go for more than 2.1 and have multi-channel output then you need the proper AVR for that, could be 5.1 7.1 /etc…
MA itself will only stream the same sound to other speakers and this is not the same as multi-channel which the AVR can support
Thank you!
The plan currently is a Denon x1800H. It’s a 7.1. I’ll also be getting the front three speakers plus the sub. And my husband would eventually like surround sound. So I was thinking that model would fit our needs now and in the near future without going overboard.
the 1800 is a great device and should support all you describe. MA will stream in stereo to the avr and that one can ‚process‘ it to sound like surround over x-amount of speakers connected to the avr
If you want to have the same music played on other devices like a sonos speaker then you can group that with the denon and sync or play one via denon and other via sonos …options a plenty
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and if you hook the avr to a dvd or blueray player you get the full immersed surround
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Thank you so much for confirming for me!
I wanted to add something only just today discovered in Music Assistant (might have been there longer, no clue) … one can stream to individual speakers and send left or right channel signals separately. This should enable stereo image too, did not try this as I have no such speakers. Wrt to surround, this is still not supporting ‘surround’ as MA is only sending stereo but it is on the list of future improvements. Other streaming servers can do more but then they usually come at a (interesting) price
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