Monster is set to enter the wireless multiroom speaker market with a device that features the new Qualcomm’s AllPlay technology which is fast gaining traction among consumer electronics Companies.
The Company has also announced a replacement for its high-end DNA over-ear headphones, which will ship to a limited number of A/V specialists in later this year.
The 2.0 DNA headphone model is positioned as “super-efficient” and “super-sensitive” in order to deliver the dynamic range of a live performance without the use of a headphone amp.
It is not known when Convoy the distributor of Monster products in Australia will launch the new products locally.
The new speaker is positioned as an alternative to proprietary single-brand wireless multizone-audio solutions, enabling consumers to create wireless multiroom-audio systems from multiple brands of products.
Monster will be the first to market AllPlay speakers in the U.S. In Australia several brands are set to launch AllPlay speakers including Panasonic.
Gary Brotman, product management director for Qualcomm’s connected experience group said that Medion whose products are sold by Aldi in Australia also offers AllPlay speakers.
AllPlay delivers up to 10 zones of wireless multizone audio over dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 with 2×2 MIMO. Up to 10 songs at a time can be streamed direct from an Apple or Android mobile device or from a DLNA-enabled computer or NAS drive.
The devices’ AllPlay-enabled apps control the selection of computer- and NAS-stored songs.
Songs from multiple phones can also be streamed simultaneously to different zones. AllPlay technology supports lossless 192 kHz/24-bit FLAC, WAV and PCM files as well as MP3, AAC and AAC+. AllPlay speakers also stream multiple music services via Wi-Fi from a network router.
On mobile devices, the streaming services’ apps will be able to select AllPlay speakers for playback. Other new AllPlay features are on the way, as well as additional Soundstage products. No later than the first quarter, a firmware update will be available to enable Bluetooth sources and sources connected to an AllPlay speaker to be streamed to other AllPlay speakers.
In the same timeframe, a firmware update will enable two tabletop speakers to be turned into a left-right pair. For its part, Monster plans next year to offer a portable AC/DC Soundstage speaker with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and in the first quarter, it will offer a Soundstage receiver that can be connected to existing sound systems to make it part of an AllPlay network.
All three Soundstage speakers feature a pair of front-firing drivers, with the opening price model featuring a rear passive radiator. The other two models feature an active bass driver on back. None features wired-Ethernet port, but all come with optical input, 3.5mm analogue input, and USB ports to charge tablets and smartphones. The smallest model is IPX4-rated for water resistance, making it suitable for bathroom or kitchen use. All feature Monster technology to widen the sound stage and deliver deep bass.
Eventually Monster’s app for mobile devices could be expanded to include Qualcomm’s wireless AllJoyn home-automation technology, on which AppPlay is based, to control TVs, appliances and other products equipped with AllJoyn. TVs could also display music metadata from songs playing through an AllPlay system. The Soundstage speakers replace a proprietary wireless-multiroom technology launched in 2012 and now being phased out. It used a wireless transmitter that plugged into a PC, a wireless receiver that plugged into a powered speaker pair, and a wireless bridge that connected to existing stereo systems and also included Bluetooth.
