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Beep Wi-Fi Music Streamer [Fall 2014 Pre-Order] Special 60% off US $59 Ea +US $20 Shipping

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Beep Wi-Fi Music Streamer [Fall 2014 Pre-Order] Special 60% off US $59 Ea +US $20 Shipping
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Lnorkle on 15/05/2014 - 12:37 thisisbeep.com (334 clicks)
Last edited 15/05/2014 - 12:49 by 1 other user
BEEPMY60

Beep is a compact streaming audio player that connects to your HiFi system or powered speakers. Play music from a network device or Internet streaming service like Pandora. It provides a simple 'click' button to start/stop music, and a wheel to control volume. You control it's playlist from a mobile device. Multiple Beeps can be configured to synchronise and stream music around your house, or play individually.

EDIT: The pre-order is currently US$99 and with the coupon is US$59. However Beep also say the pre-order is a saving of $50 on the cost once released. So the coupon code saves you 40% on the pre-order cost (+ shipping), or saves you 60% on the final cost (+ shipping). Shipping is a flat US$20 whether you buy 1 or 2 beeps.

Beep is still in development and their website says it is expected to ship in 'Fall 2014'. I take that to mean by end of November, so be prepared to wait.

With the 60% off this is great value for a streaming wifi music player with Analog and Digital line out. Use the analog line out to connect it to any player with an Aux input: clock-radio, portable speakers like Logitech Boom, or even headphones. If you have a Stereo or surround system, use a digital input to your system for even better sound quality.

My motivation in getting a Beep was to find an alternative to my Squeezebox's and lossless FLAC music library, which Logitech has pretty much abandoned. Beep does much of what Squeezebox does but without a display or the need for Logitech Media Server/Squeezecenter. It's also a less-expensive alternative to Sonos, albeit without the range of options they offer.

Another alternative is Rocki www.myrocki.com which now has a digital out option, and excels for it's battery-powered portability. I prefer Beep because of it's value, but also for use around the house (where I don't need battery power and prefer higher audio quality). Also Rocki only plays what is on your mobile device, whereas Beep does it's own streaming and can keep playing regardless of what your device is doing.

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closed Comments

  • SteveAndBelle on 15/05/2014 - 12:41
    +2

    +1 for the detailed writeup!

    • norkle on 15/05/2014 - 12:43
      +1

      Thanks, as a first poster, nice to get a +1.

      • SteveAndBelle on 15/05/2014 - 12:46
        +1

        I'm very tempted at that price just to have a play with one but with a house full of SONOS it's difficult to justify ;) Will keep tabs on these though as it could be the start of a SONOS-like revolution for a lot less cash… well, not until November/December at least ;)

        • norkle on 15/05/2014 - 13:16

          That was exactly my justification too Steve. I have a houseful of Squeezebox so don't NEED the Beep, but figured at that price it was worth a play. Would also be very handy on my work desk where space is a minimum and play/pause/volume control is all I want it to do.

        • SickDmith on 15/05/2014 - 23:58

          Sonos rocks!

        • eug on 16/05/2014 - 00:00

          I find it annoying how Sonos only has line/spdif out on their $500 Sonos Connect. They could have easily added it to their $299 Sonos Play or even sell a Sonos Bridge-type device for $150 with line out, but no .. you have to spend $500 for a device that doesn't have speakers or a power amp.

        • SickDmith on 16/05/2014 - 00:23

          Agree. I found Sonos Connect and Sonos Connect Amp are way too overpriced.
          Sonos Play's are much better value.

  • Doge on 15/05/2014 - 13:01

    Doesn't really seem like good value unless you're specifically after this device. This unknown and unproven (and ugly) device is ~85AUD while an Airport express is around 99 locally. Also there are numerous Bluetooth music receivers for $50 or less. Yes, yes, this is "High Quality" with an in-built 24-bit DAC, Designed by who? I would be skeptical about anything wireless producing high quality audio.

    • norkle on 15/05/2014 - 13:14
      +2

      That's absolutely a fair call. These guys ARE startups. The pre-order also means you are waiting until as late as Nov/Dec for it to arrive. More info/reviews on beep are at: http://bit.ly/1hMNJW2 and http://bit.ly/1iVr9hQ

      But compared to Sonos or Squeezebox, and with the discount and reasonable international shipping, I felt this was a good enough bargain to give it a try, so thought others may be interested too. For A$150 you can have a 2-room streaming HiFi setup connected to your NAS or preferred streaming service - to me that is a bargain. But you are quite right, there are Apple or other Lo-Fi options that can be cheaper.

      I wouldn't compare this to Bluetooth streamers, because they rely on your mobile device - the Beep can stream straight from your network or an Internet service. However it does allow (and require) the mobile device to control the Beep.

    • eug on 15/05/2014 - 13:45
      +3

      Wireless and high-quality audio can easily co-exist, if it's over wifi and not Bluetooth.

      You can transmit bit-perfect completely uncompressed audio over wifi if you wanted to - there's plenty of bandwidth available for that. The audio quality will be exactly the same as if you were playing a CD, SACD, or pure audio bluray.

      The DAC and output section is where the quality will lie in devices like these.

  • StevieRay on 15/05/2014 - 13:21
    +3

    Another option is the Gramofon that ends in a couple of hours on Kickstarter for $50US delivered.
    https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fon/gramofon-modern-clo…

    • norkle on 15/05/2014 - 13:26

      Nice, hadn't seen that. Can it stream from a NAS?
      EDIT: I read the FAQ - seems it will support DLNA via AllPlay - nice. Their FAQ also nicely answers the question about the advantages of WiFi over Bluetooth.

      • SteveAndBelle on 15/05/2014 - 13:38
        +1

        … and it LOOKS so much better than the Beep too ;)

        • norkle on 15/05/2014 - 13:39

          Well was all set to back Gramofon on Kickstarter when I realised it wasn't clear whether there would be an additional cost for shipping, and that the power will be a US brick (the Beep uses USB for power).

        • eug on 15/05/2014 - 14:18

          I got this reply:

          Thanks for your interest! Shipping is included to all countries.
          Best,
          Team Gramofon

          The power supply is 5V 1A which is what a USB charger would supply, so powering it via a USB PSU should be no problem. At most you might have to cut-and-join a cable.

        • C781097 on 15/05/2014 - 14:36

          Yeah I backed the gramofon. The Squeezebox is coming to the end of its life and just need NAS support and Spotify. Beep is sooooo fugly!

        • ryang on 15/05/2014 - 14:43

          Shipping is included to all countries

          SOLD! :D

          It would've been nice if the power supply was just a USB connection though, but meh.. That's what the soldering iron is for!

          FYI: Only 32 black units left. 134 white @ $60.

        • eug on 15/05/2014 - 14:44

          I wonder how the Fon open public wifi features will work here.

        • ryang on 15/05/2014 - 19:52

          Kickstarter for Gramofon has finished, but they've started preorders for the same price on their website - http://www.gramofon.com/

        • StevieRay on 16/05/2014 - 11:14
          +1

          Does not include delivery or a lifetime membership to a service we cannot access in Aus
          https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fon/gramofon-modern-clo…

        • ryang on 16/05/2014 - 12:33

          Yeh, read that this morning.. Damn!

      • C781097 on 15/05/2014 - 16:14

        Hmm FAQ say dlna support, but backers forum says not in v1..oh no!

        • Arghs on 15/05/2014 - 16:47

          Glad you mentioned that here
          Was just debating whether this was worthwhile..
          DLNA would have been my primary use!
          So hmm..i'll do some waiting.

    • norkle on 15/05/2014 - 15:03

      On second thoughts, I realised the Gramofon is really just Fon's version of the AirPort Express (which is very cool, but not what I want). No support for digital out. Great that there is a bunch of great ideas for hardware coming out of these startups. I guess that's what Squeezebox was like until the Logitech behemoth swallowed them up.

      I guess I'm happy with my Beep order.

  • PonyTable on 15/05/2014 - 15:26

    As mentioned last time these were on OZB if you are a tinkerer and want to achieve the same/similar things with a Raspberry Pi (with the option of adding integrated DAC for the Audiophiles amongst us) Take a look at pimusicbox, runeaudio and fidelio.

    Not as simple and plug and play as the beep but pretty close in my opinion.

  • Forgot69 on 15/05/2014 - 16:34
    -1

    If anyone would like to use my referral link, that'd be awesome! http://thisisbeep.com/QwKzGdcW

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