Latest news with #HEOS
Forbes
15-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Denon Takes Shots At Sonos In Multi-Room Speaker War
Denon HEOS multi-room speaker While Sonos continues cleaning up the mess from its disastrous app overhaul, Denon is quietly rolling out some pretty nifty upgrades that feel suspiciously well-timed. The latest Denon Home update adds Qobuz Connect support, which is a boost for audiophiles who've long wanted native control over the French brand's highly regarded streaming service, with the new platform launching today at High End Munich 2025. Like Connect options that already exist from the likes of Spotify and Tidal, Qobuz Connect lets you stream high-resolution music directly from the Qobuz app to compatible hi-fi devices, so no Bluetooth, AirPlay, or third-party apps are needed. It hands off playback to your audio gear, so your phone just acts as a remote, and you can switch between devices without interrupting the music. But that's not the only boost for Denon as the Japanese audio brand has announced a raft of quality-of-life tweaks to the HEOS ecosystem. The HEOS app now loads faster (we're told it shaves off two seconds before you see your homescreen populate), and playlist limits have jumped from 300 to 1,000 tracks. You can also save room group presets and Denon has also added Roon Ready support and network sharing via SMB 3.0. Denon has had a busy month. A couple of weeks ago, its umbrella company Sound United was sold by the Masimo Corporation to the Samsung-owned Harman International, for a cool $350 million. That means that Denon, along with Bowers & Wilkins, Denon, Polk, and Marantz are now part of a big audio family with the likes of Harman Kardon, JBL, AKG, Mark Levinson, Arcam, and Revel. Like Sonos, Denon's HEOS range includes a variety of wireless speakers designed for different room sizes and audio needs. With Sonos still having to make amends to its existing user base, and having a much harder job attracting new users after a disastrous 12 months, brands like Denon have a better chance than ever to steal a march on the ever-expanding multi-room music market.
Digital Trends
15-05-2025
- Digital Trends
Qobuz Connect launches with Denon, Marantz, and 58 more hi-fi brands
Fans of Qobuz, the France-based subscription music service that specializes in lossless, hi-res audio, now have a new way of streaming their favorite tracks to their favorite devices. Qobuz Connect has been added to the company's iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows apps, letting them control compatible streaming speakers and components from a big list of hi-fi brands. Most folks will recognize names like Denon and Marantz — every device made by these brands that work with the HEOS streaming software are now Qobuz Connect compatible — but the list also includes niche hi-fi players, such as Rotel, Nagra, HiFi Rose, Lindemann, Wiim, and Volumio. Here's the entire list. 'Qobuz Connect is a feature that has been eagerly awaited by our subscribers,' said Qobuz's Chief Product Officer, Axel Destagnol. 'We are proud to offer the most complete Connect solution on the market today, combining high resolution, app synchronization and remote control. Our priority has been to develop a simple, intuitive interface, to facilitate the experience of all our listeners.' Recommended Videos Much like Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect turns the Qobuz app into a single point of control, avoiding the need to use Bluetooth, AirPlay, Google Cast, or proprietary apps like Wiim Home. If you use your computer as your streaming device (perhaps connected to an external DAC), as long as the computer's Qobuz app is open, you can remote control it from the Qobuz mobile app. Moreover, all streams are sent from Qobuz's servers to the receiving device directly, at their maximum supported resolution, without needing to pass through your smartphone or computer first. I tried it out using the Qobuz app on iOS and macOS, sending streams to the Wiim Ultra network music streamer and it worked seamlessly. You'll need the most recent version of the Qobuz app, and you may need to update the firmware on your streaming device if it's on the list of supported brands. The new version of the app also simplifies the interface. Instead of offering two output menus (the bottom-left device menu and the top-right casting button), all connection options are now chosen from the bottom-left device menu. Qobuz Connect is perfect for the music fan who wants any easy way to stream to a single device, but at the moment, there's no way to connect to multiple Qobuz Connect devices simultaneously and no way to group them. If you need that kind of control, you'll have to use the native control app (HEOS, Wiim Home, etc) for your gear, or switch to a protocol like Apple AirPlay.
