5 ms·

Many modern receivers support both Chromecast and Airplay, as well as some level of HomeKit / Google Home / Alexa integration. I think for Onkyo, they just fel

by boulos 4y ago

Many modern receivers support both Chromecast and Airplay, as well as some level of HomeKit / Google Home / Alexa integration. I think for Onkyo, they just fell in an awkward middle. Not as high end as Denon/Marantz/etc. and not as cheap as < cheapest thing you can find >. Combined with the drastic decrease in people "needing" receivers and speakers (many people now just get a sound bar, or Bluetooth speakers) and the market squeezed them.

doyouevensunbro 4y ago
Shame, middle was right where I liked to be audio equipment wise. Ive had my Onkyo receiver for a long time, guess when I do finally replace it I’ll go high end.
- ahartmetz 4y ago
  Consider trying a current generation class D amp first. I switched to the SMSL SA-50 from a pretty decent Marantz. The SA-50 sounds MUCH better for a fraction of the price, and it's tiny and uses very little power.
mpol 4y ago
That awkward middle also included the reputation that they would easily break down after a few years, which made many people choose for a different brand.
garyfirestorm 4y ago
Unfortunately AirPlay doesn't support Atmos music. Despite spending thousand dollar plus on a Denon and Klipsch setup, I quickly found out that my Apple Music Atmos songs play only as stereo using AirPlay. It's probably Apple's fault...but it reduced the value of my receiver for me. Buy a 7.1 channel setup and effectively listen to only 2 channels :/
- boulos 4y ago
  Yeah, AirPlay is such a disappointment. I'm thinking about investing more heavily into Chromecast related things since they're more amenable to custom code. Unfortunately, there's no way I'll sign up for any Google-based music service (and I work for Alphabet!). Edit to add: Dolby <anything> is also a bit of a fiasco. LG TVs went through multiple firmware updates to attempt to correctly negotiate Dolby Vision. I appreciate that they want to push audio / video quality, but it seems weird that the industry testing process for integration is so poor.
  - notatoad 4y ago
    Spotify on Chromecast works great!
  - seabrookmx 4y ago
    Spotify works great with Chromecasts. I'm still really bummed they killed the Chromecast audio.. there's workarounds but it was the perfect device IMO. If you're a tinkerer there's also DIY solutions like running snapcast on a Pi.
    - liketochill 4y ago
      I’m running strong with three chrome cast audios and a 1970’s sansui in my living room, a little speaker with line in for the outdoor system, and a jbl boom box with line in in the garage
    - notatoad 4y ago
      I'm also bummed they stopped selling the Chromecast audio. But if you can get your hands on on they still work perfectly.
- danachow 4y ago
  It’s entirely limitations of Apple Airplay that are known and not new. Whether it’s Apples fault - I mean Airplay does what it says it does. Anybody that cares about would simply not use Airplay. If you want to use Apple Music then the best bet is an Apple TV which can stream it over HDMI to the receiver. But it’s not like there aren’t alternative music providers - Spotify, qobuz, tidal, your own pick your poison DLNA all +/- Roon. I’m not an Apple fanboi but having to purchase an Apple TV when it’s pretty clear they’re a lifestyle brand just doesn’t make me feel too bad for anyone.
  - garyfirestorm 4y ago
    exactly! despite spending money on a receiver, TV (smart OLED), nVidia Shield and a bunch of speakers - i now have to buy yet another device (AppleTV) to be able to maximize my experience.
    - danachow 4y ago
      And? This is Apples business MO for nearly 40 years. I don’t see any piece of Apple hardware there. The Shield in your setup is superfluous, no? Apple is a hardware company - they need you to buy at least something for that HT setup. I mean use Apple Music or don’t, but this sounds a bit leopards ate my face.
- ethbr0 4y ago
  > Buy a 7.1 channel setup and effectively listen to only 2 channels :/ Apple determined that multiple channels were confusing for customers. One should be enough. /mouse/s
codefreeordie 4y ago
The middle of the market is actually all messy generally these days. The very high end wants systems that feel like current systems, but if you want something in the middle, you don't actually really want the awkwardness associated with having an audio system today. A system of passive speakers, an amplifier or two, and the complexities of the user interface (I can't hear the TV, which of these three remotes do I need to push the "source" button on?) isn't actually a good experience -- and in the middle of the market, there's no particular reason it needs to stay this way. At the highest end, people want analog sound processing. At the bottom end, we have cheap powered smart speakers using Bluetooth for connectivity. In the middle, we could easily have good quality powered speakers and some reasonable mixture of wireless and wired interconnect that didn't require all the legacy nonsense of a separate amplifier/audio receiver.
- pbronez 4y ago
  There are products there… plenty of good powered monitors available. Some of them have integrated DAC with an optical, line and USB inputs. Those are pretty easy to connect to a TV or whatever. I’m actually hacking on a project to make it easier to sift through all this stuff. The work that Audio Science Review and a (very) few others are pumping out some great objective data on audio equipment performance. My goal is to pull that together in a data-first way that will allow for robust cost/quality/criteria queries.
  - convolvatron 4y ago
    yeah. i mean i understand the value of being able to replace components, but for the not-super-concerning the integrated amp silicon is just fine. digital in means a lot less opportunity for noise injection, and the manufacturer gets to tune it all as a unit. i got some prosumer roland monitors a few years ago and they've had excellent clarity, flat frequency response, plenty of power at 60w on each of the drivers. why aren't there more products here between the crappy little usb speakers and the $5k/channel real gear?
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]

by boulos 4y ago

doyouevensunbro 4y ago

Shame, middle was right where I liked to be audio equipment wise. Ive had my Onkyo receiver for a long time, guess when I do finally replace it I’ll go high end.

ahartmetz 4y ago
Consider trying a current generation class D amp first. I switched to the SMSL SA-50 from a pretty decent Marantz. The SA-50 sounds MUCH better for a fraction of the price, and it's tiny and uses very little power.

mpol 4y ago

That awkward middle also included the reputation that they would easily break down after a few years, which made many people choose for a different brand.

garyfirestorm 4y ago

Unfortunately AirPlay doesn't support Atmos music. Despite spending thousand dollar plus on a Denon and Klipsch setup, I quickly found out that my Apple Music Atmos songs play only as stereo using AirPlay. It's probably Apple's fault...but it reduced the value of my receiver for me. Buy a 7.1 channel setup and effectively listen to only 2 channels :/

boulos 4y ago
Yeah, AirPlay is such a disappointment. I'm thinking about investing more heavily into Chromecast related things since they're more amenable to custom code. Unfortunately, there's no way I'll sign up for any Google-based music service (and I work for Alphabet!). Edit to add: Dolby <anything> is also a bit of a fiasco. LG TVs went through multiple firmware updates to attempt to correctly negotiate Dolby Vision. I appreciate that they want to push audio / video quality, but it seems weird that the industry testing process for integration is so poor.
- notatoad 4y ago
  Spotify on Chromecast works great!
- seabrookmx 4y ago
  Spotify works great with Chromecasts. I'm still really bummed they killed the Chromecast audio.. there's workarounds but it was the perfect device IMO. If you're a tinkerer there's also DIY solutions like running snapcast on a Pi.
  - liketochill 4y ago
    I’m running strong with three chrome cast audios and a 1970’s sansui in my living room, a little speaker with line in for the outdoor system, and a jbl boom box with line in in the garage
  - notatoad 4y ago
    I'm also bummed they stopped selling the Chromecast audio. But if you can get your hands on on they still work perfectly.
danachow 4y ago
It’s entirely limitations of Apple Airplay that are known and not new. Whether it’s Apples fault - I mean Airplay does what it says it does. Anybody that cares about would simply not use Airplay. If you want to use Apple Music then the best bet is an Apple TV which can stream it over HDMI to the receiver. But it’s not like there aren’t alternative music providers - Spotify, qobuz, tidal, your own pick your poison DLNA all +/- Roon. I’m not an Apple fanboi but having to purchase an Apple TV when it’s pretty clear they’re a lifestyle brand just doesn’t make me feel too bad for anyone.
- garyfirestorm 4y ago
  exactly! despite spending money on a receiver, TV (smart OLED), nVidia Shield and a bunch of speakers - i now have to buy yet another device (AppleTV) to be able to maximize my experience.
  - danachow 4y ago
    And? This is Apples business MO for nearly 40 years. I don’t see any piece of Apple hardware there. The Shield in your setup is superfluous, no? Apple is a hardware company - they need you to buy at least something for that HT setup. I mean use Apple Music or don’t, but this sounds a bit leopards ate my face.
ethbr0 4y ago
> Buy a 7.1 channel setup and effectively listen to only 2 channels :/ Apple determined that multiple channels were confusing for customers. One should be enough. /mouse/s

codefreeordie 4y ago

The middle of the market is actually all messy generally these days. The very high end wants systems that feel like current systems, but if you want something in the middle, you don't actually really want the awkwardness associated with having an audio system today. A system of passive speakers, an amplifier or two, and the complexities of the user interface (I can't hear the TV, which of these three remotes do I need to push the "source" button on?) isn't actually a good experience -- and in the middle of the market, there's no particular reason it needs to stay this way. At the highest end, people want analog sound processing. At the bottom end, we have cheap powered smart speakers using Bluetooth for connectivity. In the middle, we could easily have good quality powered speakers and some reasonable mixture of wireless and wired interconnect that didn't require all the legacy nonsense of a separate amplifier/audio receiver.

pbronez 4y ago
There are products there… plenty of good powered monitors available. Some of them have integrated DAC with an optical, line and USB inputs. Those are pretty easy to connect to a TV or whatever. I’m actually hacking on a project to make it easier to sift through all this stuff. The work that Audio Science Review and a (very) few others are pumping out some great objective data on audio equipment performance. My goal is to pull that together in a data-first way that will allow for robust cost/quality/criteria queries.
- convolvatron 4y ago
  yeah. i mean i understand the value of being able to replace components, but for the not-super-concerning the integrated amp silicon is just fine. digital in means a lot less opportunity for noise injection, and the manufacturer gets to tune it all as a unit. i got some prosumer roland monitors a few years ago and they've had excellent clarity, flat frequency response, plenty of power at 60w on each of the drivers. why aren't there more products here between the crappy little usb speakers and the $5k/channel real gear?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]