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Audioengine was founded by two friends who previously worked at some of the biggest names in audio including Apple, Alesis, Gibson Guitars, and Harmon/Kardon. When they decided to form a company together, the founders knew that they had the experience to change the way people listen to music. In 2005, the two friends created their first high-performance audio product — the award-winning A2 powered speaker, and the rest is history. The new Audioengine B-Fi Multiroom Music Streamer, featured in today's review, brings Hi-Res Audio music streaming with multiroom functionality over your WIFI network to a much lower price-point enabling more music lovers to enjoy its benefits for almost the same price of an Apple TV. We see several use cases for the B-Fi.
The build quality feels pretty solid, and yet it only weighs 5 oz — enough substantial weight to station it securely right on top of a speaker cabinet without having to worry about it falling off. The housing is a sturdy aluminum chassis that comes in a white finish with a black finish on both front and rear panels.
The front panel is minimalistic and simple. There’s a round push-button that also functions as an LED indicator light that will show you the status of the unit and guides you through the initial setup process. There’s also a black antenna that’s permanently fixed on the unit. The other end is where you’ll find all the inputs and outputs. From left to right, there’s a micro-USB input for connecting the included DC power supply that powers on the unit, one digital audio output for connecting a Toslink digital optical cable to your music system or a set of powered speakers, and a pair RCA left and right analog outputs that can also be used to connect any music system or a set of powered speakers with the B-Fi.
Connecting the B-Fi with your stereo system and your WIFI network couldn’t be easier. The B-Fi is compatible with any 802.11 a/b (2.4GHz) wireless network router, and the setup is extremely straightforward. All you have to do is connect the included RCA cables (or a digital audio optical cable) to your music system or powered speakers, and then follow a few simple steps. The B-Fi will play the instructions audibly through your music system to complete the integration process, so it’s important that you select the correct audio source on your music system so that you can hear the instructions coming out of your speakers.
We streamed hi-res music files stored on our phones and a computer. We also used Qobuz to stream CD-quality music from a laptop. We used the Toslink optical digital audio output to bypass the B-Fi’s built-in DAC and followed the voice-prompts coming out of the speakers while using the companion app from an iPhone to connect everything with our wireless network. Finally, we connected a second B-Fi to a stereo system in another room with the B-Fi’s RCA outputs so we could take advantage of the B-Fi’s built-in DAC for comparison.
Many of you may have great audio systems with some sort of DAC in the system, but lack a way to stream music. The B-Fi will allow you to try out streaming, and should you really enjoy it, there are multiple choices of even higher performing streaming units on the market for even better sound. The B-Fi is the least expensive way we have ever seen to test out wireless music streaming from a true high quality unit.
